Surface selenium doped hollow heterostructure/defects Co-Fe sulfide nanoboxes for enhancing oxygen evolution reaction and supercapacitors

Compositionally Tunable Mn-V-Fe Phosphoselenide Nanorods with Minimal Ion-Diffusion Barrier as High Energy Density Battery Electrode Materials

The design and synthesis of novel heterostructured electrode materials are crucial to enable the fabrication of efficient supercapacitor devices. In this regard, transition metal phosphochalcogenides (S, Se) are promising candidates owing to their exotic electronic properties. Herein, a facile two-step hydrothermal protocol was used to synthesize binary and ternary metal phospho-selenide electrodes (Mn-Fe-P-Se, V-Fe-P-Se, Mn-V-P-Se, and Mn-Fe-V-P-Se). The chemical composition, morphology, and structure of the as-fabricated materials were fully investigated. The three-electrode electrochemical evaluation at 1.0 A g-1 demonstrated that the ternary metal electrode (MFVP-Se) exhibits a high capacity of 1968.63 C g-1. To assess the practical value of the rationally designed Mn-Fe-V-P-Se electrode material, Mn-Fe-V-P-Se was used as a positive electrode coupled with activated carbon (AC) as a negative electrode to assemble a hybrid supercapacitor device. This Mn-Fe-V-P-Se//AC device delivers a power density of 1999.96 W kg-1 with a high energy density of 149.88 Wh kg-1 coupled with no capacity loss after 5000 charging/discharging cycles. Additionally, density functional theory calculations revealed that our electrode exhibits suitable adsorption energy for OH- ions with a minimal diffusion barrier for ions.

-CoOTe ( = S, Se, and P) with Oxygen/Tellurium Dual Vacancies and Banana Stem Fiber-Derived Carbon Fiber s Battery-Type Cathode and Anode Materials for Asymmetric Supercapacitor

In this work, we demonstrated the synthesis of anions (X = selenium (Se), sulfur (S), and phosphorus (P)) doped cobalt oxytelluride (X-CoOTe) with oxygen and tellurium dual vacancies using hydrothermal methods, followed by selenization, sulfurization, and phosphorization reactions. Especially, the Se-CoOTe-modified nickel foam (Se-CoOTe/NF) electrode delivered a higher specific capacity (752.95 C/g) and an extremely lower charge transfer resistance (0.87 Ω) than S-CoOTe/NF and P-CoOTe/NF due to the higher metallic conductivity of Se. Both oxygen and tellurium vacancies facilitate higher charge transfer conductivity, specific capacity, and stability. On the other hand, banana stem core fiber-derived activated carbon fiber (AC) with exfoliated carbon sheet, cracked surface, and corresponding high surface area boosts the excellent cycle stability up to 4000 cycles with capacitance retention of 100.29%. Thus, the asymmetric device (Se-CoOTe/NF//AC/NF) exhibited an extendable cell voltage (1.55 V), higher energy density (155.6 W h kg-1) at a power density (1356.2 W kg-1), and generous long-term stability (100% retention up to 10 000 cycles) in a liquid alkaline electrolyte. In the practicability test, the proposed asymmetric device mutually showed an increased operating voltage from 1.55 to 4.65 V for a three-series connection. In a three-series connection, a single white LED and an LED string glowed efficiently. This new finding will be very useful to develop tellurium-based chalcogenides and biowaste-derived carbon for energy storage applications.

A Se-induced heterostructure electrode with polymetallic-CoNiFe towards high performance supercapacitors

Rational regulation of electrode materials with high conductivity and unexceptionable cycling stability is crucial to meet the requirements of high-performance supercapacitors (SCs). Herein, a hierarchical porous kebab-like heterostructure (CoNiFe-Se) is prepared by a facile solvothermal reaction and selenization step. Both experimental and computational results demonstrate that incorporating Se via hydrothermal reaction contributes to modulating the morphology and electronic structure of transition metal carbonate hydroxides. The heterostructured electrode with abundant active sites composed of electroactive polymetallic-CoNiFe imparts excellent charge storage. Additionally, the unique structure of CoNiFe-Se with its heterogeneous interface, oxygen vacancies and cavities improves electrochemical activity, accelerates electron transfer and suppresses the volume expansion during the cycling. As a result, the CoNiFe-Se exhibits excellent electrochemical performance of 5040 mF cm-2 at 1 mA cm-2 and long-term durability with 85.7% retained capacitance after 10 000 cycles. Interestingly, an integrated asymmetric supercapacitor performs well for energy storage. This finding opens a new avenue for developing transition metal carbonate hydroxides using selenization strategies in the field of SCs.

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.

Earth-Abundant Electrocatalysts for Water Splitting: Current and Future Directions

Of all the available resources given to mankind, the sunlight is perhaps the most abundant renewable energy resource, providing more than enough energy on earth to satisfy all the needs of humanity for several hundred years. Therefore, it is transient and sporadic that poses issues with how the energy can be harvested and processed when the sun does not shine. Scientists assume that electro/photoelectrochemical devices used for water splitting into hydrogen and oxygen may have one solution to solve this hindrance. Water electrolysis-generated hydrogen is an optimal energy carrier to store these forms of energy on scalable levels because the energy density is high, and no air pollution or toxic gas is released into the environment after combustion. However, in order to adopt these devices for readily use, they have to be low-cost for manufacturing and operation. It is thus crucial to develop electrocatalysts for water splitting based on low-cost and land-rich elements. In this review, I will summarize current advances in the synthesis of low-cost earth-abundant electrocatalysts for overall water splitting, with a particular focus on how to be linked with photoelectrocatalytic water splitting devices. The major obstacles that persist in designing these devices. The potential future developments in the production of efficient electrocatalysts for water electrolysis are also described.

Self-induced cobalt-derived hollow structure Prussian blue as a cathode for sodium-ion batteries

As advanced electrode materials for sodium ion batteries, Prussian blue and its derivatives have attracted considerable attention due to their low cost, structural stability and facile synthesis process. However, the application of commercially available Prussian blue is limited by its poor electronic conductivity as well as the structural defect induced by crystalline/interstitial water molecules. Herein, to address these drawbacks, an etching-agent free method is developed to synthesize Prussian blue with a hollow structure, and the synthesis mechanism is revealed. Owing to the stability of divalent iron ions, the shorter electron/ion diffusion pathway and fewer defect sites of the hollow structure, the obtained Prussian blue exhibits excellent electrochemical performance (specific capacity of 133.6 mA h g⁻¹ at 1C, 1C = 170 mA g⁻¹), which can put forward a new avenue to engineer advanced electrode materials for sodium ion batteries.

By using Fe₃[Co(CN)₆]₂ as a precursor, hollow structured Prussian blue can be synthesized via anion exchange methods without any other additive.