Recent advances in electrospun electrode materials for sodium-ion batteries

Sodium-ion batteries(SIBs)have been considered as an ideal choice for the next generation large-scale energy storage applications owing to the rich sodium resources and the analogous working principle to that of lithium-ion batteries(LIBs).Nevertheless,the larger size and heavier mass of Na⁺ion than those of Li⁺ion often lead to sluggish reaction kinetics and inferior cycling life in SIBs compared to the LIB counterparts.The pursuit of promising electrode materials that can accommodate the rapid and stable Na-ion insertion/extraction is the key to promoting the development of SIBs toward a commercial prosperity.One-dimensional(1 D)nanomaterials demonstrate great prospects in boosting the rate and cycling performances because of their large active surface areas,high endurance for deformation stress,short ions diffusion channels,and oriented electrons transfer paths.Electrospinning,as a versatile synthetic technology,features the advantages of controllable preparation,easy operation,and mass production,has been widely applied to fabricate the 1 D nanostructured electrode materials for SIBs.In this review,we comprehensively summarize the recent advances in the sodium-storage cathode and anode materials prepared by electrospinning,discuss the effects of modulating the spinning parameters on the materials’micro/nano-structures,and elucidate the structure-performance correlations of the tailored electrodes.Finally,the future directions to harvest more breakthroughs in electrospun Na-storage materials are pointed out.     

Recent advances in flexible supercapacitors

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - With the rapid development of wearable electronic devices, medical simulation equipment, and electronic textile industries, their energy storage devices...     

Recent advances on quasi-solid-state electrolytes for supercapacitors

Solid-state and quasi-solid-state electrolytes have been attracting the scientific community’s attention in the last decade. These electrolytes provide significant advantages, such as the absence of leakage and separators for devices and safety for users. They also allow the assembly of stretchable and bendable supercapacitors. Comparing solid-state to quasi-solid-states, the last provides the most significant energy and power densities due to the better ionic conductivity. Our goal here is to p...     

A review of electrode materials for electrochemical supercapacitors

In this critical review, metal oxides-based materials for electrochemical supercapacitor (ES) electrodes are reviewed in detail together with a brief review of carbon materials and conducting polymers. Their advantages, disadvantages, and performance in ES electrodes are discussed through extensive analysis of the literature, and new trends in material development are also reviewed. Two important future research directions are indicated and summarized, based on results published in the literature: the development of composite and nanostructured ES materials to overcome the major challenge posed by the low energy density of ES (476 references).     

Advances in in-situ characterizations of electrode materials for better supercapacitors

In past decades,the performance of supercapacitors has been greatly improved by rationalizing the electrode materials at the nanoscale.However,there is still a lack of understanding on how the charges are efficiently stored in the electrodes or transported across the electrolyte/electrode interface.As it is very challenging to investigate the ion-involved physical and chemical processes with single experiment or computation,combining advanced analytic techniques with electrochemical measurements,i.e.,developing in-situ characterizations,have shown considerable prospect for the better understanding of behaviors of ions in electrodes for supercapacitors.Herein,we briefly review several typical in-situ techniques and the mechanisms these techniques reveal in charge storage mechanisms specifically in supercapacitors.Possible strategies for designing better electrode materials are also discussed.     

超级电容器用中孔炭复合电极材料研究进展

超级电容器是一类利用电化学双电层或电极材料在电极/溶液界面发生的氧化还原反应来存储能量的装置,除兼有常规电容器功率密度大和二次电池能量密度高的特点外,还具有可逆性好和循环寿命长等优点.本文重点介绍了近几年国内外对中孔炭材料、表面官能团修饰中孔炭材料、中孔炭-金属氧化物、中孔炭-导电聚合物等几类电极材料的研究现状;并且展望了超级电容器用中孔炭及其复合电极材料的当前研究热点和发展前景.     

Recent progress in 2D materials for flexible supercapacitors

High performance supercapacitors coupled with mechanical flexibility are needed to drive flexible and wearable electronics that have anesthetic appeal and multi-functionality. Two dimensional (2D) materials have attracted attention owing to their unique physicochemical and electrochemical properties, in addition to their ability to form hetero-structures with other nanomaterials further improving mechanical and electrochemical properties. After a brief introduction of supercapacitors and 2D materials, recent progress on flexible supercapacitors using 2D materials is reviewed. Here we provide insights into the structure–property relationships of flexible electrodes, in particular free-standing films. We also present our perspectives on the development of flexible supercapacitors.     

Self-standing rationally functionalized graphene as high-performance electrode materials for supercapacitors

Supercapacitors（SCs） have attracted much attention as one of the alternative energy devices due to their high power performance,long cycle life,and low maintenance cost.Graphene is considered as an innovative and promising material due to its large theoretical specific surface area,high electrical conductivity,good mechanical properties and chemical stability.Herein,we report an effective strategy for elaborately constructing rationally functionalized self-standing graphene（SG） obtained from giant graphene oxide（GGO） paper followed by an ultrarapid thermal-processing.This treatment results in both the exfoliation of graphene sheets and the reduction of GGO by elimination of oxygencontaining groups.The as-prepared SG electrode materials without additive and conducting agent provide an excellent combination of the electrical double layer capacitor（EDLC） and pseudocapacitor（PC） functions and exhibit superior electrochemical performance,including high specific capacitance,good rate capability and excellent cycling stability when investigated in three-electrode electrochemical cells.     

Recent advances and perspectives on vanadium-and manganese-based cathode materials for aqueous zinc ion batteries

The growing demand for energy storage has inspired researchers' exploration of advanced batteries.Aqueous zinc ion batteries (ZIBs) are promising secondary chem...     

Recent advances in carbon nanostructures prepared from carbon dioxide for high-performance supercapacitors

The burgeoning global economy during the past decades gives rise to the continuous increase in fossil fuels consumption and rapid growth of CO₂ emission,which demands an urgent exploration into green and sustainable devices for energy storage and power management.Supercapacitors based on activated carbon electrodes are promising systems for highly efficient energy harvesting and power supply,but their promotion is hindered by the moderate energy density compared with batteries.Therefore,scalable conversion of CO₂ into novel carbon nanostructures offers a powerful alternative to tackle both issues:mitigating the greenhouse effect caused by redundant atmospheric CO₂ and providing carbon materials with enhanced electrochemical performances.In this tutorial review,the techniques,opportunities and barriers in the design and fabrication of advanced carbon materials using CO₂ as feedstock as well as their impact on the energy-storage performances of supercapacitors are critically examined.In particular,the chemical aspects of various Cv2 conversion reactions are highlighted to establish a detailed understanding for the science and technology involved in the microstructural evolution,surface engineering and porosity control of CO₂-converted carbon nanostructures.Finally,the prospects and challenges associated with the industrialization of CO₂ conversion and their practical application in supercapacitors are also discussed.     

PPy doped with different metal sulphate as electrode materials for supercapacitors

A facile approach has been established to prepare PPy via in situ polymerization with different metal sulfate as dopants. The morphology and structure of PPy and doped PPy were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and fourier transform infrared (FT-IR). It was found that doped PPy has different morphology and a slight structure change. The electrochemical performance of the samples has been illustrated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge–discharge (GCD) and AC impedance measurements. Compared with the PPy, the specific capacitance of PPy/Cu²⁺ has been improved to 224 F g^–1 at the current density of 0.6 A g^–1. Also, the relationship between electrochemical properties of doped PPy and various parameters of metal ions has been investigated.     

Carbon aerogels with modified pore structures as electrode materials for supercapacitors

Carbon aerogels (CA) with uniform pore structures were prepared by the polycondensation of phloroglucinol, resorcinol, and formaldehyde, using carboxylated chitosan as a soft template. The CA were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy, and surface area analysis. When carboxylated chitosan was added, the time for wet gel formation was reduced by 60%, and the CA showed a more uniform pore structures. The electrochemical performance of the CA was measured in a three-electrode electrochemical cell. The CA prepared with added carboxylated chitosan showed lower charge transfer resistance on the electrode surface, and the specific capacitances were also enhanced, showing a specific capacitance as high as 135 F/g at a resorcinol-to-carboxylated chitosan mass ratio of 250:1 at a current density of 0.5 A/g. This specific capacitance is much higher than that of the CA without carboxylated chitosan. The capacitance retention under increasing discharge current density was also enhanced by the addition of carboxylated chitosan. The electrochemical performance of the CA in different electrolytes (1 M LiOH, 1 M NaOH, 1 M KOH, 3 M KOH, 6 M KOH, and 9 M KOH) was investigated. The results show that the electrochemical performance in 6 M KOH was better than those in other electrolytes.     

Recent advances in indoline synthesis

Indoline is an important structural motif present in several biologically active compounds from both natural and synthetic origins. The occurrence of this heterocyclic unity in these compounds is closely related to the biological activities they exhibit. This fact stimulated efforts that have been made worldwide to develop new synthetic approaches to prepare indolines. In this paper we reviewed critically the methods for indoline synthesis developed in the last years (from 2010 to 2018).     

Recent advances in chitosan-based self-healing materials

Research on Chemical Intermediates - Over the past few decades, self-healing materials derived from chitosan have attracted a great deal of attention due to their excellent physical and biological...     

Recent advances in organic mechanofluorochromic materials

Mechanofluorochromic materials, which are dependent on changes in physical molecular packing modes, have attracted considerable interest over the past ten years. In this review, recent progress in the area of pure organic mechanofluorochromism is summarized, and majority of the reported organic mechanofluorochromic systems are discussed, along with their derived structure-property relationships. The existence of a structural relationship between aggregation-induced emission compounds and mechanofluorochromism is recognized based on our recent results, which considered aggregation-induced emission compounds as a well of mechanofluorochromic materials. The established structure-property relationship will guide researchers in identifying and synthesizing more mechanofluorochromic materials.     

Facile fabrication of mesoporous manganese oxides as advanced electrode materials for supercapacitors

Mesoporous manganese oxides (MnO₂) were synthesized via a facile chemical deposition strategy. Three kinds of basic precipitants including sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃), sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO₃), and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) were employed to adjust the microstructures and surface morphologies of MnO₂ materials. The obtained MnO₂ materials display different microstructures. Great differences are observed in their specific surface area and porosity properties. The microstructures and surface morphologies characteristics of MnO₂ materials largely determine their pseudocapacitive behavior for supercapacitors. The MnO₂ prepared with Na₂CO₃ precipitant exhibits the optimal microstructures and surface morphologies compared with the other two samples, contributing to their best electrochemical performances for supercapacitors when conducted either in the single electrode tests or in the capacitor measurements. The optimal MnO₂ electrode exhibits a high specific capacitance (173 F g^–1 at 0.25 A g^?1), high-rate capability (123 F g^?1 at 4 A g^?1), and excellent cyclic stability (no capacitance loss after 5,000 cycles at 1 A g^?1). The optimal activated carbon//MnO₂ hybrid capacitor exhibits a wide working voltage (1.8 V), high-power and high-energy densities (1,734 W kg^?1 and 20.9 Wh kg^?1), and excellent cycling behavior (93.8 % capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles at 1 A g^?1), indicating the promising applications of the easily fabricated mesoporous MnO₂ for supercapacitors.     

Recent advances in synthesis of ketenimines

Ketenimines are a kind of reactive species that can be used as synthetic intermediates. In the last two decades, there has been a surge of interest in this class of building blocks and their applications, which has led to extensive research on ketenimine derivatives such as fluorine ketenimine, metal complexes of ketenimines, and the various methods of their preparation. Ketenimines have been prepared by a variety of methods, including photolysis, elimination, or rearrangement reactions. As well as, ketenimines can be prepared using a variety of useful reagents, including isocyanates, copper acetylide, amides, organometallic compounds, and metal complexes. An overview of these achievements is presented here.