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Flexible organic cathodes with 3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic diimide (PDI) as the active component, carbon black (CB) as the conductive agent and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) as the elastomeric matrix are obtained in this work via a solution-based phase inversion approach. In the resulting PDI/CB/TPU cathodes, the mass ratios of the three components manifest profound influences on their composition, flexibility, conductivity and lithium storage behavior. The integrated PDI/CB/TPU cathode with optimized ratio can deliver impressive rate capability and good cycling stability in lithium ion batteries (LIBs). More importantly, the full LIBs with PDI/CB/TPU cathode and carbon cloth anode exhibit excellent electrochemical performances, which show no decay even at bending states, demonstrating the appealing prospects of the solution-processed organic cathodes in wearable secondary batteries. Obtained from a solution-based phase inversion approach, the flexible PDI/CB/TPU cathodes manifest excellent electrochemical performances and good mechanical stability in lithium ion batteries. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Hierarchically ordered carbon tube-sheet superstructure (CTSS) is synthesized via combing template-directed self-assembly of polyimide and the following carbonization. Possessing highly ordered superstructures with rich nitrogen dopant and hierarchical porosity, CTSS manifests remarkable performance as both lithium ion battery anode and the carbon support for water splitting catalysts. Highlights • CTSS is obtained by the template-directed self-assembly of PI and carbonization. • CTSS contains vertically oriented carbon sheet arrays with hollow interiors. • CTSS based LIB anode manifests high capacity and good cycling stability. • Water splitting catalysts with CTSS supports have superb activity and stability. • A CTSS-derived self-powered water splitting device is fabricated in this work. Abstract In this work, we report a template-directed self-assembly strategy towards the gram-level synthesis of hierarchically ordered carbon tube-sheet superstructure (CTSS) by using MoO 3 nanorod as the template and polyimide (PI) as the carbon source. Even in large quantities, MoO 3 nanorods can guide the assembly of PI in solution into vertically oriented nanosheet arrays with periodic patterns, which can be converted to nitrogen-doped porous CTSS after the removal of template and thermal carbonization. Possessing hierarchically ordered architecture, rich porosity and high nitrogen content, CTSS is an appealing material for energy storage and conversion devices such as high-performance lithium ion battery anode and water splitting catalyst support. More importantly, the results in this work highlight an avenue for the controllable synthesis of hierarchically ordered carbon superstructures with diversified functions and applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An acid-pasting approach is developed in this work to prepare the composites of 3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA) and carbon black (CB) by mixing both components in concentrated sulfuric acid. Different from the traditional powder processing, the solution-based fabrication strategy easily renders the effective combination of PTCDA and CB in the resultant CB/PTCDA composites, thus greatly improving their electrochemical performances. As the results, the composite with 20 wt% PTCDA shows excellent rate performances as the cathode material for both lithium ion battery (88 mAh g −1 at 5000 mA g −1 ) and sodium ion battery (100 mAh g −1 at 1000 mA g −1 ). As a facile and efficient processing strategy, the acid-pasting approach is expected to have wide application in the fabrication of organic electrodes in secondary batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a facial in-situ polymerization strategy is developed for the first time to fabricate the composites of polyimide and carbon black (PI/CBs) by the condensation of 1,2,4,5-benzenetetracarboxylic anhydride and p -phenylenediamine with the presence of carbon black. This composition method can effectively suppress the crystallization of PI and thus allows the sufficient contact of PI and carbon black. As the cathode material in LIBs, the PI/CB composite manifests an extraordinary capacity of 182 mAh g −1 at 0.1 A g −1 , close to the theoretical value of PI. Moreover, the capacity of the PI/CB composite can be retained as 116 m Ah g −1 even at an ultrahigh current density of 10 A g −1 , outperforming the recently reported polymer LIB cathodes. Under the same conditions, the mechanical mixture of highly crystallized PI sheets and carbon black shows a much poorer performance. The approach demonstrated herein is expected to be further applied as an effective processing method to build up high performance electrodes with organic species in secondary batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the composites of nitrogen-doped graphene framework and Co 3 O 4 nanoparticles with adjustable morphologies (NG/Co 3 O 4 ) were fabricated via a surfactant-assisted hydrothermal route for first time. Three different surfactants including triblock copolymer F127, cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide and sodium dodecyl sulfate are involved in the hybrid-assembly of graphene oxide, o -phthalonitrile and cobalt acetate in water/ethanol. Among the obtained samples, the one using F127 (NG/Co 3 O 4 -F127) manifests the most homogeneous distribution of Co 3 O 4 NPs with the size of ∼ 15 nm in the macropore-walls formed by NG. As the anode material in lithium ion battery (LIB), NG/Co 3 O 4 -F127 exhibits excellent electrochemical performance, which is superior to the other composites and most of the previously reported Co 3 O 4 based anode materials in LIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a novel strategy to fabricate ternary MoS 2 /SiO 2 /graphene hybrids (MSGs) was developed by incorporating amorphous SiO 2 with MoS 2 and graphene nanosheets. Serving as anode material in lithium ion batteries, the inert silica component can effectively prevent the pulverization caused by the inner-plane volume expansion of MoS 2 . It turns out that MSGs with ∼40 wt% of SiO 2 and ∼42 wt% of MoS 2 manifest the capacity stabilized at 1060 mAh g −1 for more than 100 cycles at the current density of 0.1 A g −1 . Further, this MSG electrode maintains the specific capacity of 580 mAh g −1 at an ultrahigh current density of 8 Ag −1 , which outperforms those of the reported MoS 2 and MoS 2 /graphene hybrids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The anodic lithium storage behavior of 2,9-DMQA is evaluated in this work. • 2,9-DMQA anode can deliver a high capacity of 1150 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1. • The lithium storage mechanism of 2,9-DMQA can be verified with DFT calculation. • The full-cell with 2,9-DMQA anode has high energy density and power density. Organic anode materials are of great importance for the development of lithium ion batteries (LIBs) with less reliance on inorganic minerals. In this work, it is found that 2,9-dimethylquinacridone (2,9-DMQA), an organic pigment, can have excellent electrochemical performances when serving as the anode material in LIBs. 2,9-DMQA based LIB anode manifests a high specific capacity of 1150 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1. Even at a high current density of 5.0 A g−1, the capacity of 2,9-DMQA can still be retained at ~385 mAh g−1, outperforming many recently reported LIB anodes. The results from experiments and calculation suggest that 2,9-DMQA can reversibly associate with ~22Li+, corresponding to a theoretical capacity of 1732 mAh g−1. Additionally, the full-cell with 2,9-DMQA as anode and LiCoO 2 as cathode can deliver the energy and power density of 325.8 Wh kg−1 and 1137.1 W kg−1, respectively, which are better than most of recently reported full-cells, implying the intriguing potential of the 2,9-DMQA anode in organic LIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An acid-assisted vacuum filtration approach is developed in this work to fabricate perylene diimide (PDI) and single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) based organic lithium ion battery (LIB) cathodes by using concentrated sulfuric acid (H 2 SO 4) as the solvent. PDI and SWCNT can be readily dispersed in H 2 SO 4 by the protonation of their aromatic frameworks, thus rendering the effective combination of them in the acidic solution. The resulting PDI/SWCNT films are highly appealing flexible cathodes for LIBs by associating the intriguing electrochemical activity of PDI with the excellent electric conductivity and mechanical stability of SWCNT. Either with lithium foils or pre-lithiated carbon clothes as the anodes, the LIBs with PDI/SWCNT cathodes can deliver highly stable electrochemical performances in terms of rate capability and cycling stability. The PDI/SWCNT cathodes also have very good mechanical stability, enabling the LIBs based on them to reserve the battery performances at different bending states. The excellent electrochemical stability of the PDI/SWCNT cathodes is attributable to the acidic solution based processing method, which is expected to be expanded in the electrode fabrication of various organic secondary batteries with π-conjugated components. An acid-assisted vacuum filtration approach is developed in this work to fabricate perylene diimide (PDI) and single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) based flexible lithium ion battery (LIB) cathodes by using concentrated sulfuric acid as the solvent. The LIBs with the PDI/SWCNT cathodes manifest very stable electrochemical performances, attributable to the acidic solution based processing method. Image 1 • An acid-assisted vacuum filtration approach is developed to produce PDI/SWCNT cathodes. • PDI/SWCNT cathodes can deliver high capacities at high current densities. • LIBs with PDI/SWCNT cathodes show highly stable electrochemical performances. • LIBs with PDI/SWCNT cathodes also have very good flexibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]