In this work, we pioneering issue a fresh bifunctional catalysis strategy by virtue of a cross-scale catalyst composed of RuPt alloy nanoparticle and neighboring RuPt single atom pairs on two-dimensional porous carbon. The mechanistic analyses unveil that due to inter-d-orbital electronic interaction, more flexible absorption/desorption configurations towards different reactants (*O2, *LiO2) at multiple-scale active sites are guaranteed. As a proof-of-concept application in Li-O2 batteries, the rational integrated RuPt alloy nanoparticle with RuPt single atom pairs with different coordination environments function as ORR and OER catalytic centers, respectively, which facilitate simultaneously slowing down the Gibbs free-energy barriers of ORR and OER.

We creatively issue a feasible potassium hydroxide clipping strategy through breaking up partial Co–N bonding and reconstructing Co–Co coordination, thus simultaneously implanting abundant Co atomic clusters and Co single atoms (SAs) on the surface of covalent organic framework (COF)-derived N-doped carbon nanospheres, which are intertwined by surrounding carbon nanotube (CNT) networks.

An anode with excellent flexibility and fast electrochemical reaction kinetics is designed for advanced LICs by coupling highly conductive single walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with the bidirectionally designed Ti3C2Tx MXene (KTi3C2-O). In such a composite (KTi3C2-O/ CNTs), the bidirectional design of Ti3C2Tx MXene based on the interlayers of K+ ions intercalation and interfaces of −O terminal groups modification will increase the interlayer distance, provide more active sites, and improve Li+ ions storage capacity; the introduction of CNTs forming a three-dimensional (3D) interpenetrating structure with KTi3C2-O can alleviate Ti3C2Tx MXene interlayer stacking and offer fast charge transfer kinetics.

We designed a Fe-Co-Pt ternary metal single atom catalyst anchored on covalent organic framework (COF)-derived N-doped carbon nanospheres (Pt, Fe, Co/N-C). Due to effective charge transfer between Pt single atom and neighboring Fe-Co components, an intense electron interaction can be established within the Pt, Fe, Co/N-C catalyst. This is beneficial for enhancing charge transfer efficiency, modulating d electronic structure of Pt center and weakening oxygen intermediate adsorption, thus distinctly accelerating ORR catalytic kinetics.

We designed a nitrogen-doped two-dimensional layered porous carbon material (2D-PNC) based on a covalent organic framework (COF) generated by a Schiff base reaction as a precursor. The characterization analysis results show that 2D-PNC is made of stacked two-dimensional ultra-thin carbon sheets with a porous structure. This unique structure is beneficial for electrolyte impregnation and lithium-ion storage, resulting in excellent electrochemical performance of 2D-PNC.

We present for the first time a preoxidation-assisted mechanism to prepare bismuth oxide and carbon nanofibers (Bi2O3@C-NFs) by electrospinning, using Bi2S3 nanorods as multifunctional templates. The bismuth could be oxidized by C=O bonds formed through the cyclization reaction in the high-temperature calcination process, effectively avoiding thermal corrosion of carbon in oxygen atmosphere at high temperature. More importantly, the uniformly distributed Bi2O3 nanodots and longitudinal tunnels are formed inside the S- and N-doped carbon nanofibers with the continuous diffusion of Bi generated from the decomposition of Bi2S3 nanorods and the conversion to Bi-O bonds with C=O bonds being broken. The effective combination of the well-established electrospinning technology and the preoxidation assisted mechanism provides a new way for the preparation of metal oxide and carbon composites.

We report the synthesis of Co2P embedded in N-doped porous carbon (Co2P@N-C) via a facile one-step strategy. The obtained catalyst exhibits a lower overpotential of 352 mV for OER at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and a small Tafel slope of 84.6 mV dec−1 , with long-time reliable stability. The excellent electrocatalytic performance of Co2P@N-C can be mainly owed to the synergistic effect between the Co2P and highly conductive N-C substrate, which not only affords rich exposed active sites but also promotes faster charge transfer, thus significantly promoting OER process.

In this review, we summarize the recent progress of vanadium-based sulfides applied in aqueous zinc-ion batteries, highlighting their effective strategies for designing optimized electrochemical performance and the underlying electrochemical mechanisms. Finally, an overview is provided of current vanadium-based sulfides and their prospects, and other perspectives on vanadium-based sulfide cathode materials for aqueous zinc-ion batteries are also discussed.

One-dimensional Sb2S3 nanorods with the longitudinal distribution are used as a sacrificial template in this work by a simple electrostatic spinning method. After heat treatment, abundant longitudinal distribution channels within flexible carbon nanofibers are obtained. Meanwhile, Sb ultra-small nanoparticles can be in-situ embedded within N, S co-doped carbon matrix (N,S,Sb-CNFs). Owing to the N, S, Sb co-modification and the well-designed one-dimensional mesoporous carbon substrate, the N,S,Sb-CNFs hybrids achieve better interfacial contact with electrolyte, ameliorated electrical conductivity and distinct kinetic promotion.

Herein, sea-urchin-like vanadium nitride (SUK-VN) was successfully prepared with a simple hydrothermal method combined with an annealing strategy to boost the actual capacity of the vanadium nitride. The special sea-urchin-like morphology effectively suppresses the agglomeration of vanadium nitride nanoparticles and exposes more reactive sites, which facilitates the electrochemical performance of electrode materials.