Themed collection 2016 Journal of Materials Chemistry A HOT Papers

Development of triphenylamine (TPA) based hole-transporting-materials (HTMs) leading to high T_g, higher morphological stability and longevity of dye-sensitized and perovskite solar cells.

Carbon materials for electrodes of capacitive deionization (CDI) process are reviewed.

In this review, we have briefly summarized the fundamental theoretical models and characterization methods of textile surfaces with special wettability, various fabrication technologies and potential applications.

The development of triazine-based COPs using different building blocks or alternative synthetic chemical reactions and their potential application in heterogeneous catalysis.

The recent progress of semi-transparent electrodes based on thin metal layers or metal nanowires and their application in solar cells are reviewed.

Perylenediimides are ideal candidates for the substitution of fullerene derivatives as electron acceptors in bulk heterojunction organic solar cells due to their extremely intense light absorbance, high electron mobility and excellent photochemical stability.

This study summarizes the unique advantages of CNTs and graphene in battery applications, updates the most recent progress, and compares the prospects and challenges of CNTs and graphene for future full utilization in energy storage applications.

The recent development and perspectives of energy harvesting and storage devices including integration strategies are summarized and discussed.

Research progress in the development of various battery type and supercapacitor type materials is discussed from the point of view of Na-ion capacitors.

This review focuses on the aspects of flexibility, stability and large scale, which are very essential for the future commercialization of PSCs, and many effective materials and fabrication strategies which have been reported to emphasize these three properties of PSCs will be introduced.

We review the use of graphene and graphene-derived nanomaterials in perovskite solar cells, outlining design perspectives, device characterization, and performance.

In this review, we provide an overview of recent progress towards the performance enhancement of polymer/polymer blend solar cells.

Graphene based materials can be effectively modified by doping in order to specifically tailor their properties toward specific applications.

The review provides an overall survey on the state-of-the-art silver–silver halide-based photocatalysts, fundamental understanding of their plasmonically induced photo-reactions and their major environmental applications.

This review summarizes the recent progress in preparations, functionalities and applications of composites of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and carbon-based materials.

The advances in the preparation of N-doped carbons and their applications in supercapacitors are reviewed.

PtPd@Pt core/satellite nanoassemblies are fabricated via a novel L-glutamic acid derived method, exhibiting excellent catalytic activity and stability towards ORR.

A highly active bifunctional electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction and evolution reactions was developed based on nanocarbon-intercalated and Fe–N-codoped graphene materials.

We constructed defective heterointerfaces of p-SnO on n-SnS₂ nanosheets by plasma treatment to improve the anode performance in Li-ion batteries.

A novel bioinspired polydopamine derivative was prepared by self-polymerization of 6-(2-aminoethyl)-3-hydroxypyridin-2(1H)-one in an alkaline medium. It could be used as precursor to produce pyridinic N-rich carbon nanocapsules with a desired N doping content and superior electrocatalytic activity and stability for the ORR.

We report an effective double current collector electrode.

A dual stimuli-responsive metal–organic framework exhibits a cooperatively enhanced gas desorption capacity upon simultaneously exposing it to both UV light and an alternating magnetic field, highlighting a low-energy yet highly efficient strategy to regenerate MOF adsorbents.

An attractive metalloring organic framework (MROF-1) containing novel metalloring clusters with the largest diameter and shows a high proton conductivity.

A melt infiltration method is developed to encapsulate SnO₂ nanocrystals into porous carbon as a high-performance lithium storage material.

Enhanced interactions between CO₂ and N-doped carbon surfaces are elucidated by a combined experimental and computational analysis.

An efficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst based on a three dimensional holey graphene framework with precise localization of N-doped carbon nanotubes (N-CNTs) on the hole-edges of graphene is demonstrated.

An experimental and theoretical evaluation of mobility bottlenecks in Mg₂Mo₃O₈, a potential Mg battery cathode material.

Through a layer-by-layer coating strategy, a “buffer zone” created between the coating layers plays a critical role in retarding polysulfide diffusion.

Graphene-decorated Na₃V₂(PO₄)₃ with superior electrochemical properties is synthesized through an in situ catalytic process using VO_x as a catalyst.

A redox active pyridine based covalent organic framework was synthesized and used as an electrode in faradaic supercapacitors. The pyridine units in the DAP-COF undergo a reversible redox reaction, leading to an increase in specific capacitance relative to both its electroactive monomer and a COF lacking redox-active groups.

A solvent-free ceramic/polymer composite solid electrolyte has been proposed and demonstrated well in solid-state Na batteries for the first time.

A novel non-conjugated small-molecule zwitterion is designed and easily processed as a cathode interface for effective electron transfer and collection in PSCs.

Elm seed-like mesoporous MoO_3−x nanosheets were synthesised, and possess both redox and intercalation faradic pseudocapacitance mechanisms.

We report a gradient-temperature hydrothermal method to construct hierarchical Zn₂SnO₄ hollow boxes, and the obtained results are based on phase transformation between metastable ZnSnO₃ and stable Zn₂SnO₄.

Full cells based on a P2-type Na_0.7MnO_2.05 nanotube/CNT cathode and a helical carbon nanofiber anode are developed and show enhanced sodium ion storage capacity.

The first example of spiropyran (SP) functionalised metal–organic framework (MOF) was synthesised via a two-step post-synthesis modification of the Zr-oxo nodes in MOF-808. The resulting MOF-808-SP showed photoresponsive surface area, pore volume and CO₂ uptake.

Novel thiourethane bridged polysilsesquioxane aerogels prepared by a sol–gel process and vacuum drying method exhibit extraordinary mechanical properties and low thermal conductivity.

Solar cells with a SRO/MAO counter electrode show an increased PCE compared to those with SRO/STO due to in-plane tensile strain.

Greatly enhanced microporosity is obtained for the amorphous porous polymers produced from the AlCl₃-mediated coupling of aromatic hydrocarbons by using dichloromethane as the reaction solvent.

A fiber-type perovskite solar cell is fabricated by wrapping a conducting carbon nanotube sheet onto a perovskite crystal-deposited strip electrode.

Well-arrayed 1-D CuS structures with nanosized grains and high grain boundaries exhibit superior pseudo-capacitive properties.

N-doped holey graphene with a volumetric capacitance of 397 F cm⁻³ for supercapacitors was prepared by a novel “Bottom-up” strategy.

Dinitraminobisfuroxans and their salts were synthesized; their detonation performances were improved with the presence of the N-oxide functionality making them competitive high energy materials.

B₂O₃-modified carbon microtubes, which possess a highly porous structure and well-dispersed ultra-small B₂O₃ nanocrystals (ca. <5 nm) in the tube wall, are successfully fabricated for lithium–iodine and lithium–sulfur batteries.

Ethyl acetate (EA) is introduced in a one-step spin-coating method and can induce instant crystallization of perovskite films to create efficient thermal annealing-free perovskite solar cells.

Solution exfoliated graphitic carbon nitride (C₃N₄) was first employed as an efficient cathode interfacial layer (CIL) in inverted polymer solar cells (PSCs).

A fiber-shaped self-powering device that can simultaneously realize photoelectric conversion and lithium ion storage is developed with high performance.

Due to the abundance of sodium in nature, sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have attracted widespread attention.

We show for the first time that liquid–solid lithium electrolytes can exhibit both a very high lithium transference number (up to 0.89) and high overall ionic conductivity (up to 0.48 mS cm⁻¹) when the solid contains a large number of mesopores covered by a high density of –OH groups enabling anionic adsorption.

Electrochemical generation of oxygen via the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a key enabling step for many air-breathing electrochemical energy storage devices.

Two microporous CTFs with triptycene (TPC) and fluorene (FL) have been synthesized through a mild AlCl₃-catalyzed Friedel–Crafts reaction, with the highest surface area of up to 1668 m² g⁻¹ for non-ionothermal CTFs. CTF-TPC and CTF-FL show an excellent carbon dioxide uptake capacity of up to 4.24 mmol g⁻¹ at 273 K and 1 bar.

The synergistic effects of heterocoupling of SrTiO₃ nanocubes and Ti³⁺ dual-doping could substantially improve the photoelectrochemical performances of TiO₂ nanotube arrays under visible-light irradiation.

A simple approach of fabricating efficient inverted devices with a self-organizing small-molecule electron extraction layer Phen-NaDPO by doctor-blading was demonstrated, which is compatible with roll to roll processing strategies.

Amphiphilic Aquivion®–carbon composites prepared by hydrothermal carbonization of polysaccharides (guar gum or cellulose) were able to catalyze the biphasic acetalization reaction between dodecyl aldehyde and ethylene glycol in the presence of Pickering emulsions.

Enhanced durability of Li–O₂ batteries (more than 500 cycles) based on Ti nanowire array supported cathodes.

We report our findings on Ce_0.9Gd_0.1O_2−δ (GDC) modified (Pr_0.9La_0.1)₂(Ni_0.74Cu_0.21Nb_0.05)O_4+δ (PLNCN) ultrathin membranes as highly efficient and CO₂-stable oxygen transporting membranes (OTMs).

High proton conductivity (2.90 × 10⁻² S cm⁻¹) in an anionic Fe-based metal–organic framework was reached under more practical operating conditions (95 °C and 60% RH).

For the first time it is demonstrated that a dense SiP₂ pyrite-type obtained by a very simple ball milling method delivers outstanding capacity in both lithium and sodium batteries with up to 1000 mA h g⁻¹ and 572 mA h g⁻¹ sustained after 30 and 15 cycles respectively.

Cobalt nanoparticles embedded in porous N-rich carbon (PNC/Co) can perform as both active cathode and anode materials to drive the overall water splitting in alkaline media for simultaneous electrogeneration of hydrogen and oxygen gases.

A new family of elastic and wearable ring-type supercapacitors is developed, which is promising for a variety of wearable applications.

Nanotubes of various dimensions displaying parahydrophobic properties are obtained by a one-step electropolymerization of naphtho[2,3-b]thieno[3,4-e][1,4]dioxine (NaphDOT) without surfactants or hard templates.

Careful interfacial engineering design and construction was carried out to develop a performance-improved polymer Li–O₂ battery.

A method was developed to prepare flexible paper electrodes constructed from Zn₂GeO₄ nanofibers anchored with ZGO/C-P which has long-term cycle stability and excellent rate capability.

MoO_3−x ultrathin nanobelts have been synthesized without using any surfactants. They show remarkable capability in photocatalytic conversion of isopropyl alcohol to propylene depending on their high adsorption energy and strong localized surface plasmon resonance caused by large quantities of oxygen vacancies.

New star-shaped hole transport materials including a 1,3,5-triazine core have been successfully synthesized and investigated for high performance perovskite solar cells.

Hollow carbon sphere sensors were used to determine NH₃ in a humid environment using a tristimulus pattern recognition approach.

Rh–Ag–Si ternary catalysts exhibit more active hydrogen evolution performance than Pt–Ag–Si based on the theoretical calculation and experimental results.

A Co-doped Ni(OH)₂/Ni₃S₂ hybrid was grown in situ on Ni foam (NiCo-10) via a one-pot hydrothermal reaction with two-step temperature control.

A bacterial cellulose based carbon nanoribbon aerogel was employed for a gel-based sulfur cathode, simultaneously achieving both a high sulfur content (90%) and a high sulfur loading (6.4 mg cm⁻²) with a large capacity of 943 mA h g⁻¹ or 5.9 mA h cm⁻².

Hydrothermally fabricated GH and its hybrid incorporated with CuS have been exploited as CEs for CdSeTe QDSCs. High efficiencies of 9.85 and 10.71% were obtained, respectively. The addition of CuS effectively improved the efficiency and stability due to the synergistic effects of the 3D porous structured GH and highly catalytic CuS.