NiSe2/Ni(OH)2 Heterojunction Composite through Epitaxial-like Strategy as High-Rate Battery-Type Electrode Material

Reduced graphene oxide-wrapped ZnS-SnS2 heterojunction bimetallic hollow cubic boxes as high-magnification and long lifespan supercapacitor anode materials

Metal sulfides have attracted extensive attention due to their excellent electrochemical performance. However, issues such as poor conductivity and severe volume expansion during charge and discharge processes affect the applications of sulfides as electrode materials. Here, a combination of coprecipitation and high-temperature sulfidation methods are employed to synthesize a ZnS-SnS2 composite with a hollow cubic structure, which is further composited with reduced graphene oxide (RGO) to form ZnS-SnS2 hollow cubic boxes encapsulated in a conductive framework of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) (denoted as ZnS-SnS2@RGO) for electrode materials. The hollow structure effectively alleviates the pulverization of ZnS-SnS2@RGO caused by volume expansion during charge and discharge processes. The heterogeneous structure formed by ZnS and SnS2 effectively reduces the electron transfer resistance of the material. The use of RGO wrapping enhances the conductivity of the ZnS-SnS2 hollow cubic boxes, and RGO's dispersion effect on the ZnS-SnS2 cubes improves particle agglomeration, further mitigating volume expansion of the material. These results indicate the outstanding electrochemical performance of heterostructural ZnS-SnS2 hollow cubic electrodes encapsulated with reduced graphene oxide as a conductive framework. The fabrication process provides a novel approach for addressing volume expansion and poor conductivity issues in other pseudocapacitive materials.

Ionic Liquid Meets MOF: A Facile Method to Optimize the Structure of CoSe2-NiSe2 Heterojunctions with N, P, and F Triple-Doped Carbon Using Ionic Liquid for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution and Flexible Supercapacitors

The rational design of catalysts' spatial structure is vitally important to boost catalytic performance by exposing the active sites and increasing specific surface area. Herein, the heteroatom doping and morphology of CoNi metal-organic frameworks(MOF) are modulated by controlling the volume of ionic liquid used in synthesis and generating CoSe₂ -NiSe₂ heterojunction structures wrapped by N, P, F tri-doped carbon(NPFC) after a selenisation process. Notably, the unique cubic porous structure of CoSe₂ -NiSe₂ /NPFC results in a specific surface five times that of the sheet-like hollow structure produced without ionic liquid. Moreover, the charge redistribution during heterojunction formation is verified in detail using synchrotron radiation. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the formation of heterojunctions and doping of heteroatoms successfully lower the ΔG_H* and ΔG_OH* values. Consequently, CoSe₂ -NiSe₂ /NPFC exhibits excellent activity for HER in both acidic and alkaline solutions. Meanwhile, CoSe₂ -NiSe₂ /NPFC as a cathode material exhibits excellent performance in a flexible solid-state supercapacitor, with a superior energy density of 55.7 Wh kg^-1 at an extremely high-power density of 15.9 kW kg^-1 . This material design provides new ideas for not only using ionic liquids to modulate the morphology of MOFs but also deriving heterojunctions and heteroatom-doped carbon from MOFs.

Recent advances in epitaxial heterostructures for electrochemical applications

Construction of epitaxial heterostructures is crucial for boosting the electrochemical properties of various materials, however a review dedicated to this attractive topic is still lacking. In this Minireview, a timely summary on the achievements of epitaxial heterostructure design for electrochemical applications is provided. We first introduce the synthesis strategies to provide fundamental understanding on how to create epitaxial interfaces between different components. Secondly, the superiorities of epitaxial heterostructures in electrocatalysis, supercapacitors and batteries are highlighted with the underlying structure-property relationship elucidated. Finally, a discussion on the challenges and future prospects of this field is presented.

In situ growth of ZIF-67-derived nickel-cobalt-manganese hydroxides on 2D V2CTx MXene for dual-functional orientation as high-performance asymmetric supercapacitor and electrochemical hydroquinone sensor

Designing dual-functional electrode materials for supercapacitors and pollutant sensors has attracted great interest from researchers for urgent demand in green energy and the environment. In this work, a novel electrode material V2CTx@NiCoMn-OH was successfully constructed for dual-functional orientation via a two-step synthesis strategy, in which the NiCoMn-OH with a three-dimensional (3D) hollow structure was fabricated by employing ZIF-67 as a template and simple anion exchange and composited with the two-dimensional (2D) layered V2CTx MXene. The intercalation of NiCoMn-OH can effectively limit the self-accumulation of V2CTx MXene nanosheets and build a 3D cross-linked hollow structure, thereby broadening the ion transport channel, exposing more active sites of V2CTx@NiCoMn-OH, and simultaneously improving the conductivity of NiCoMn-OH. Benefiting from the unique 3D cross-linked hollow structure, the optimized V2CTx@NiCoMn-OH-20 electrode material exhibits an excellent specific capacitance of 827.45 C g-1 at 1 A g-1. Furthermore, the electrode material has excellent capacitance retention of 88.44% after 10,000 cycles. Moreover, the V2CTx@NiCoMn-OH-20//AC ASC device displays a high energy density of 88.35 Wh kg-1 as well as high power density of 7500 W kg-1 during operation. Additionally, the V2CTx@NiCoMn-OH-20 exhibited excellent electrocatalytic performance in the detection of hydroquinone, including the low detection limit of 0.559 μM (S/N = 3) and the wide linear range of 2-1050 μM. Therefore, the prepared V2CTx@NiCoMn-OH-20 has great potential applications in the fields of supercapacitors and hydroquinone sensors.

Self-Assembly of Metal-Organic Frameworks on Graphene Oxide Nanosheets and In Situ Conversion into a Nickel Hydroxide/Graphene Oxide Battery-Type Electrode

Graphene oxide (GO) has been widely reported as a supercapacitor electrode. Especially, GO is usually utilized to composite with electrochemical active materials, such as transition-metal oxide/hydroxide/sulfide, due to its considerable conductivity and mechanical strength. However, the ideal design and treatment for compositing GO with active materials are still challenging. Herein, an Ni-metal-organic framework (MOF) was self-assembled on GO nanosheets via the solvothermal method and was subsequently etched into the Ni(OH)₂-GO composite electrode material through a gentle hydrolysis strategy. The GO support enables fast electron transport within the composite material, and the nickel hydroxide growth on GO nanosheets can prevent their aggregation, guaranteeing rapid ion migration. The improved Ni(OH)₂-GO battery-type electrode features outstanding stability (capacity retention of 108% at 8000 cycles) and a considerable specific capacity (SC) of 1007.5 C g^-1 at a current density of 0.5 A g^-1. Compared with MOF-derived Ni(OH)₂ obtained through hydrolysis, Ni(OH)₂-GO only contains 7.41% wt GO, while its SC is almost 50% higher. An asymmetric supercapacitor has an energy density of 65.22 W h kg^-1 and a power density of 395.27 W kg^-1 utilizing p-phenylenediamine-functional reduced GO as the negative electrode, and it can maintain 73.08% capacity during 8000 cycles at a current density of 5 A g^-1.

Rational construction of a robust metal-organic framework nanozyme with dual-metal active sites for colorimetric detection of organophosphorus pesticides

While nanomaterials with enzyme-mimicking activities are emerging as promising candidates in the colorimetric detection of organophosphorus pesticides (OPs), the catalytic activities and recognition ability to analyte of most nanozymes are inherently deficient. In this work, we introduced manganese ions into a typical iron based MOF (Fe-MIL(53)) via a one-pot hydrothermal reaction strategy, which brought out a catalytically favorable bimetallic Mn/Fe-MIL(53) MOF nanozyme. The catalytic performance of Mn/Fe-MIL(53) is superior to that of pure Fe-MIL (53) and the mechanism for superior catalytic activity of material is revealed by active species scavenging experiments and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Besides, the introduction of manganese endows the material with the characteristic of being specially destroyed by choline, which motivates the establishment of a simple, selective and sensitive colorimetric strategy for OPs detection. The proposed colorimetric strategy could quantify the methyl parathion and chlorpyrifos in the concentration range of 10-120 nM and 5-50 nM, respectively. The low detection limit of 2.8 nM for methyl parathion and 0.95 nM (3 S/N) for chlorpyrifos were achieved. Good recoveries were obtained when applied in the real sample detection. Our work paves the way to boost catalytic performance of MOF nanozymes, which will be useful in biosensing.

Regulation effects of Co2+ on the construction of a Cu-Ni(OH)2@CoO nanoflower cluster heterojunction: a critical factor in obtaining a high-performance battery-type hybrid supercapacitor

Electrode materials with a hierarchical nanostructure derived from transition metal-based compounds is an important branch of energy storage materials and have attracted widespread attention in recent years. Herein, a Cu-Ni(OH)₂@CoO nanoflower cluster (Cu-Ni(OH)₂@CoO NFCs) heterojunction was successfully constructed by a simple two-step hydrothermal method in the presence of Co₂⁺. The optimized Cu-Ni(OH)₂@CoO NFCs presented a high capacitive performance and outstanding cycle stability when used as a battery-type supercapacitive electrode material. In particular, an ultra-high areal specific capacitance of 5.8 F cm^-2 (354.8 mA h g^-1) at 1 mA cm^-2 was obtained in 3 M KOH electrolyte. Even after 10 000 cycles, the capacitance still remained 98.4% of its initial value. All the experimental characterization results indicate that the excellent performance of the Cu-Ni(OH)₂@CoO NFC self-supporting electrode can be attributed to the regulatory effect of Co₂⁺ on the morphology and electronic structure, which is induced by the second hydrothermal process. More specifically, the transformations in the morphology and electronic structure will expose more active sites and accelerate charge transfer during the electrochemical reaction. Besides, the rapid oxidation reactions of multivalent transition metal ions and enhanced hydrophilicity promote the electrochemical reaction kinetics processes on the Cu-Ni(OH)₂@CoO NFC electrode. This study provides a promising strategy for exploring low-cost and efficient electrode materials based on transition metal compounds for electrochemical energy storage.

An Amorphous-Crystalline Nanosheet Arrays Structure for Ultrahigh Electrochemical Performance Supercapattery

Hybrid supercapacitors (HSCs), also called supercapattery, which can substitute for low power density batteries have attracted extensive interest. However, when HSCs comes to commercial applications, there is still space for improvement in energy density. It seems that designing of electrode with high capacity is an effective measure. Herein, amorphous-crystalline MoO₃ -Ni₃ S₂ /NF-0.5 nanosheet arrays are developed as battery-type electrodes. Specifically, the sheet-like structure of crystalline Ni₃ S₂ can achieve rich structural nanocrystallization, improving the redox reaction efficiency. Meanwhile, the disordered structure and irregular surface of the amorphous MoO₃ are conducive to maximize the contact between the electrode and electrolyte, slowing down the volume change caused by the continuous charge-discharge process. As a result, it displays an ultrahigh areal specific capacity of 8.52 C cm^-2 at 5 mA cm^-2 , and superior lifespan up to 7500 cycles with 90.0% retention. Further, when assembled into HSCs, the specific capacity reaches 1.47 C cm^-2 , corresponding to an energy density of 4.18 mWh cm^-2 at a power density of 0.34 mW cm^-2 . Totally, the design of the unique structure displays a valuable measure for rational development of high energy density hybrid energy storage devices that are not limited to supercapacitors.

High-rate transition metal-based cathode materials for battery-supercapacitor hybrid devices

With the rapid development of portable electronic devices, electric vehicles and large-scale grid energy storage devices, there is a need to enhance the specific energy density and specific power density of related electrochemical devices to meet the fast-growing requirements of energy storage. Battery-supercapacitor hybrid devices (BSHDs), combining the high-energy-density feature of batteries and the high-power-density properties of supercapacitors, have attracted mass attention in terms of energy storage. However, the electrochemical performances of cathode materials for BSHDs are severely limited by poor electrical conductivity and ion transport kinetics. As the rich redox reactions induced by transition metal compounds are able to offer high specific capacity, they are an ideal choice of cathode materials. Therefore, this paper reviews the currently advanced progress of transition metal compound-based cathodes with high-rate performance in BSHDs. We discuss some efficient strategies of enhancing the rate performance of transition metal compounds, including developing intrinsic electrode materials with high conductivity and fast ion transport; modifying materials, such as inserting defects and doping; building composite structures and 3D nano-array structures; interfacial engineering and catalytic effects. Finally, some suggestions are proposed for the potential development of cathodes for BSHDs, which may provide a reference for significant progress in the future.

Chemical Heterointerface Engineering on Hybrid Electrode Materials for Electrochemical Energy Storage

The chemical heterointerfaces in hybrid electrode materials play an important role in overcoming the intrinsic drawbacks of individual materials and thus expedite the in-depth development of electrochemical energy storage. Benefiting from the three enhancement effects of accelerating charge transport, increasing the number of storage sites, and reinforcing structural stability, the chemical heterointerfaces have attracted extensive interest and the electrochemical performances of hybrid electrode materials have been significantly optimized. In this review, recent advances regarding chemical heterointerface engineering in hybrid electrode materials are systematically summarized. Especially, the intrinsic behaviors of chemical heterointerfaces on hybrid electrode materials are refined based on built-in electric field, van der Waals interaction, lattice mismatch and connection, electron cloud bias and chemical bond, and their combination. The strategies for introducing chemical heterointerfaces are classified into in situ local transformation, in situ growth, cosynthesis, and other strategy. The recent progress about the chemical heterointerfaces engineering specially focusing on metal-ion batteries, supercapacitors, and Li-S batteries are introduced in detail. Furthermore, the classification and characterization of chemical heterointerfaces are briefly described. Finally, the emerging challenges and perspectives about future directions of chemical heterointerface engineering are proposed.

A Hierarchically Porous ZIF@LDH Core-Shell Structure for High-Performance Supercapacitors

Designing nanocomposites with good electrochemical properties is one of the challenges in constructing supercapacitors. Adjustable metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have potential research value in improving charge storage and transfer due to their multi-porosity. Moreover, MOFs can serve as a precursor to various derivatives. Herein, a series of core-shell structures with macro-microporous ZIF-67 (M-ZIF-67) as the core and layered double hydroxide (LDH) as the shell were synthesized based on polystyrene spheres (PSs) template via a simple ion etching method. As a result, the sample of M-ZIF-67@LDH4 shows a specific capacitance of 597.6 F g^-1 at 0.5 A g^-1 and a high rate retention of 92% at 3 A g^-1 .

Improved ionic diffusion and interfacial charge/mass transfer of ZIF-67-derived Ni–Co-LDH electrodes with bare ZIF-residual for enhanced supercapacitor performance

The crystallization of Ni–Co-LDH and the morphology of the hierarchical structure can be simply optimized to achieve improved ionic diffusion and reduce reaction resistance of charge/mass transfer between the electrode/electrolyte interfaces.