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• The special microstructure of urchin-like nanoflowers and nanowires was synthesized, which had superhydrophilicity. • Different sodium borohydride treatment time affects the morphology and activity of the product. • The elements B and P exhibit a synergistic effect, resulting in the attainment of favorable catalytic activity. This study presents a proposed three-step synthetic route for the efficient synthesis of B-NiCoP/NF, aiming to produce a highly active catalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The B-NiCoP/NF catalyst demonstrates a remarkable performance, requiring only 42.1 mV in 1 M KOH solution to achieve a current density of 10 mA·cm−2. Moreover, the catalyst demonstrates exceptional long-term stability, enduring 2000 CV cycles or 55 h of chronopotentiometry tests, at a current density of 50 mA·cm−2. The exceptional performance of the catalyst can be ascribed to the superhydrophilic properties of the unique microstructure of urchin-like nanoflowers and nanowires, as well as the synergistic effect of elements P and B. This effect promotes water dissociation, reduces surface hydrogen absorption, and hinders the oxidation of phosphide active sites. In conclusion, this research has successfully developed and produced an efficient catalyst for the HER, along with a versatile pretreatment technique. The application of this method holds significant importance in enhancing the phosphating process in various catalytic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• NiCoP/NF with nanowire morphology was prepared by hydrothermal method and in-situ phosphating as a precatalyst. • The real active material NiCo 2 O 4 was obtained by spontaneous surface reconstruction of NiCoP/NF nanowires. • After surface reconstruction, the catalyst has a larger specific surface area and better conductivity, thus showing excellent catalytic performance. The investigation of transition metal phosphides (TMPs) as efficient electrocatalysts for water splitting has garnered significant attention in academic research. Nevertheless, limited research has been conducted on the alteration of the structural and morphological properties of TMPs resulting from the unavoidable surface reconstruction during the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). This study introduces a newly developed catalyst, namely nickel–cobalt phosphide nanowires (NiCoP), which facilitates the in-situ growth of nickel–cobalt oxide (NiCo 2 O 4) through surface reconstruction during anodic potential cycling in alkaline electrolytes. The catalyst's extensive modification can be observed through ex-situ characterization techniques. The catalyst undergoes a significant transformation that ultimately yields a phosphide scaffold, leading to the formation of a spinel oxide surface. This transformation enhances the catalytic environment for the OER, making it highly efficient and potent. The transformed catalyst demonstrates comparable catalytic performance to the precious RuO 2 catalyst across various current densities. Importantly, it exhibits remarkable long-term stability, as demonstrated by its ability to sustain continuous operation for 72 h at a current density of 50 mA while maintaining stable catalytic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrolytes for lithium metal batteries (LMBs) are plagued by a low Li+ transference number (T+) of conventional lithium salts and inability to form a stable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). Here, we synthesized a self‐folded lithium salt, lithium 2‐[2‐(2‐methoxy ethoxy)ethoxy]ethanesulfonyl(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide (LiETFSI), and comparatively studied with its structure analogue, lithium 1,1,1‐trifluoro‐N‐[2‐[2‐(2‐methoxyethoxy)ethoxy)]ethyl]methanesulfonamide (LiFEA). The special anion chemistry imparts the following new characteristics: i) In both LiFEA and LiETFSI, the ethylene oxide moiety efficiently captures Li+, resulting in a self‐folded structure and high T+ around 0.8. ii) For LiFEA, a Li−N bond (2.069 Å) is revealed by single crystal X‐ray diffraction, indicating that the FEA anion possesses a high donor number (DN) and thus an intensive interphase "self‐cleaning" function for an ultra‐thin and compact SEI. iii) Starting from LiFEA, an electron‐withdrawing sulfone group is introduced near the N atom. The distance of Li−N is tuned from 2.069 Å in LiFEA to 4.367 Å in LiETFSI. This alteration enhances ionic separation, achieves a more balanced DN, and tunes the self‐cleaning intensity for a reinforced SEI. Consequently, the fast charging/discharging capability of LMBs is progressively improved. This rationally tuned anion chemistry reshapes the interactions among Li+, anions, and solvents, presenting new prospects for advanced LMBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrolytes for lithium metal batteries (LMBs) are plagued by a low Li+ transference number (T+) of conventional lithium salts and inability to form a stable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). Here, we synthesized a self‐folded lithium salt, lithium 2‐[2‐(2‐methoxy ethoxy)ethoxy]ethanesulfonyl(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide (LiETFSI), and comparatively studied with its structure analogue, lithium 1,1,1‐trifluoro‐N‐[2‐[2‐(2‐methoxyethoxy)ethoxy)]ethyl]methanesulfonamide (LiFEA). The special anion chemistry imparts the following new characteristics: i) In both LiFEA and LiETFSI, the ethylene oxide moiety efficiently captures Li+, resulting in a self‐folded structure and high T+ around 0.8. ii) For LiFEA, a Li−N bond (2.069 Å) is revealed by single crystal X‐ray diffraction, indicating that the FEA anion possesses a high donor number (DN) and thus an intensive interphase "self‐cleaning" function for an ultra‐thin and compact SEI. iii) Starting from LiFEA, an electron‐withdrawing sulfone group is introduced near the N atom. The distance of Li−N is tuned from 2.069 Å in LiFEA to 4.367 Å in LiETFSI. This alteration enhances ionic separation, achieves a more balanced DN, and tunes the self‐cleaning intensity for a reinforced SEI. Consequently, the fast charging/discharging capability of LMBs is progressively improved. This rationally tuned anion chemistry reshapes the interactions among Li+, anions, and solvents, presenting new prospects for advanced LMBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A novel lithium salt lithium bis(4-styrene) sulfonyl imine (LiBSSI) is synthesized. • Li+ deposition in cells with P(PETMP-LiBSSI)/PVDF-HFP SICPEs is regulated uniformly to avoid lithium dendrite growth. • P(PETMP-LiBSSI)/PVDF-HFP SICPEs show high t Li+ (0.95) and a wide electrochemical stability window (5.85 V vs. Li/Li+). • Li|P(PETMP-LiBSSI)/PVDF-HFP|Li battery exhibits superior cycle stability at ambient temperature. In spite of the fact that lithium metal batteries (LMBs) facilitate the diversification of energy storage technologies, their electrochemical reversibility and stability have long been constrained by side reactions and lithium dendrite problems. While single-ion conducting polymer electrolytes (SICPEs) possess unique advantages of suppressing Li dendrite growth, they deal with difficulties in practical applications due to their slow ion transport in general application scenarios at ∼25 °C. In this study, we develop novel bifunctional lithium salts with negative sulfonylimide (-SO 2 N(-)SO 2 -) anions mounted between two styrene reactive groups, which is capable of constructing 3D cross-linked networks with multiscale reticulated ion nanochannels, resulting in the uniform and rapid distribution of Li+ ions in the crosslinked electrolyte. To verify the feasibility of our strategy, we designed PVDF-HFP-based SICPEs and the obtained electrolyte exhibits high thermal stability, outstanding Li+ transference number (0.95), pleasing ionic conductivity (0.722 mS cm−1), and broad chemical window (greater than5.85 V) at ambient temperature. As a result of the electrolyte structural merits, the Li||LFP cells displayed excellent cycling stability (96.4% reversible capacities after 300 cycles at 0.2C) without additional auxiliary heating. This ingenious strategy is expected to providing a new perspective for advanced performance and high safety LMBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new fused‐ring electron acceptor (FREA) isomers with nonlinear and linear molecular conformation, m‐BAIDIC and p‐BAIDIC, are designed and synthesized. Despite the similar light absorption range and energy levels, the two isomers exhibit distinct electron reorganization energies and molecular packing motifs, which are directly related to the molecular conformation. Compared with the nonlinear acceptor, the linear p‐BAIDIC shows more ordered molecular packing and higher crystallinity. Furthermore, p‐BAIDIC‐based devices exhibit reduced nonradiative energy loss and improved charge transport mobilities. It is beneficial to enhance the open‐circuit voltage (VOC) and short‐current current density (JSC) of the devices. Therefore, the linear FREA, p‐BAIDIC yields a relatively higher efficiency of 7.71% in the binary device with PM6, in comparison with the nonlinear m‐BAIDIC. When p‐BAIDIC is incorporated into the binary PM6/BO‐4Cl system to form a ternary system, synergistic enhancements in VOC, JSC, fill factor (FF), and ultimately a high efficiency of 17.6% are achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transition metal sulfides are favorable candidates for anode materials in sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), but they are difficult to fully utilize owing to the agglomeration caused by high interfacial energy at the nanoscale during the process of nanoization or compounding with carbon materials. Herein, we make full use of the advantages of the porous structure of electrode membrane (EM) to obtain a new composite electrode material with nickel monosulfide (NiS) nanoparticles uniformly spread in the membrane pores through covalent bonds. The developed 3D hierarchical porous structure and high specific area of membrane matrix provide strong space for the exposure of NiS active sites, and the NiS nanolayers loaded in the membrane pores also exhibit high porosity, thereby greatly improving its utilization. Compared with pure NiS electrode, it exhibits excellent sodium storage performance during long-term cycles and delivers an inspiring reversible capacitance of 658.3 mA h g−1 at 50 mA g−1. Moreover, the designed composite electrode exhibits excellent flexibility and structural stability before and after long cycles. The favorable performance is the result of the synergy between the 3D hierarchical porous structure and the high utilization of NiS. Considering that the unique porous structure of membrane technology can provide a positive effect on the improvement of NiS utilization, this research provides a simple and feasible design idea for SIBs composite electrodes with high utilization of nano-active materials by porous structural materials. [Display omitted] • Flexible composite anodes are prepared with NiS spread in the 3D hierarchical pores of electrode membrane by C-S bonds. • NiS exhibits high utilization for Na+ storage owing to the exposure of active sites by the membrane porous structure. • The maximum reversible capacity in SIBs is 658.3 mA h g−1 at 50 mA g−1. • This paper provides an idea for SIBs composite anodes with high utilization of nano-active materials by porous structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]