Xizheng Liu

Tianjin University of Technology · Institute for new energy materials and Low-carbon technologies

Inorganic-organic composite electrolyte is proved an effective way to enhance the overall performance of the electrolytes. However, simply combining powder fillers with polymers is not sufficient for the application of composite electrolytes. In this work, we designed an ultrathin organic-inorganic composite solid electrolyte with high mechanical s...

Due to their exceptional energy and power densities, 3D micro‐batteries emerge as highly promising candidates for miniaturized power sources. However, fabricating a complete and uniform electrolyte/separator membrane to separate 3D electrodes in assembled 3D batteries remains a significant challenge. Herein, the study presents a straightforward app...

Exploring highly stable alloy-type anodes for rechargeable lithium batteries is urgent with the ever-increasing demands for high energy density batteries. The liquid metal (LM)-based anodes demonstrate great potential in advanced lithium-ion batteries due to their high energy densities and self-healing performance. However, its high surface tension...

The direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is considered favorable for portable devices due to its high energy density and the widespread availability of methanol fuel. However, the commercialization of DMFC...

The limited cycle life of Li–air batteries (LABs) with high areal capacity remains the chief challenge that hinders their practical applications. Here, the study proposes a hierarchical porous electrode (HPE) design strategy, in which porous MnO nanoflowers are built into mesopore/macropore electrodes through a combination of chemical dealloying an...

The battery swelling originated from the electrode swelling is a big obstacle for the practical application of high‐energy‐density lithium‐ion batteries (HED‐LIBs). Herein, the HED‐LIBs are constructed by SiOx/graphite composite anode and LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 (NCM811) cathode and their swelling behaviors are investigated at the cell, electrode, and...

Si/graphite composites have long been considered as one of the promising anodes for Li-ion batteries with high energy densities. However, the poor interfacial contact between Si and graphite and the low intrinsic ionic conductivity of Si seriously deteriorate the battery performance and greatly hinder their practical applications. Herein, we report...

Lithium-air batteries (LABs) have attracted extensive attention due to their ultra-high energy density. At present, most LABs are operated in pure oxygen (O2) since carbon dioxide (CO2) under ambient air will participate in the battery reaction and generate an irreversible by-product of lithium carbonate (Li2CO3), which will seriously affect the pe...

A multi-gradient 3D porous current collector (MGC), comprising a lithiophilic gradient layer and a conductivity gradient layer, is prepared to serve as a Li metal battery anode. The bi-continuous gradient layers regulate the lithium flux and induce uniform Li deposition.

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries with high specific capacity are expected to play important roles in next-generation high-energy-storage systems. However, uncontrollable shuttle effect of Li polysulfide (LiPS) and safety concerns still hinder their applications. Herein, we report an in-situ formed asymmetric gel polymer electrolyte (AGPE) fabricated...

Aqueous Zn-I2 batteries (AZIBs) are highly desirable for green energy-storage technologies, but their development was greatly limited by their unsatisfactory energy densities. Herein, we report high-energy-density rechargeable AZIBs achieved by anchoring high-mass iodine to a distinctive N-doped hierarchical porous carbon (NHPC) material with large...

Flexible lithium-air batteries (LABs) are drawing increasing attentions nowadays due to the highest theoretical capacity as power sources for flexible electronic devices. However, the insufficient mechanical strength and catalytic efficiency of air cathode would induce issues like electrode fracture, limited lifespan and reduced battery efficiency....

The major challenge for selenium cathode is the sluggish reaction kinetics and shutting effect of polyselenides upon repeated cycles, which needs an elaborate design of cathode materials to achieve the excellent cycle performance. In this work, we design a composite with hollow shell structure, which contains V-substituted Keggin H4PW11VO40 (PW11V)...

The silicon oxide/graphite (SiO/C) composite anode represents one of the promising candidates for next generation Li‐ion batteries over 400 Wh kg−1. However, the rapid capacity decay and potential safety risks at low temperature restrict their widely practical applications. Herein, the fabrication of sulfide‐rich solid electrolyte interface (SEI) l...

Development of efficient electrocatalysts usually relies on half‐cell electrochemical tests for rapid material screening, which however are not always consistent with the associated full cell evaluation. This study designs a tensile‐strained Pd anode and reveals that with a lower apparent activity toward the hydrogen oxidation reaction as compared...

Lithium metal batteries (LMBs) are well recognized as promising next-generation high energy density batteries, but the uncontrollable Li dendrites growth and the volatilization/gas production of electrolytes, which become extremely worse at low and high temperatures, restrict their practical utilizations. In this work, a hierarchically structured p...

Mn3O4 is viewed as an attractive candidate for rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion battery cathode materials due to the advantages of low cost, eco-friendly nature as well as high capacity. However, it faces inherently poor electronic conductivity and poor cyclability during battery cycling. To improve the electrochemical performance, Mn3O4 nanoparticles...

Large scale applications of metal-iodine batteries working at sub-zero degree have been challenged by the limited capacity and performance degradation. Herein, we firstly propose a Zn-I2 battery working at low temperature with a carbon composite material/iodine (CCM-I2) cathode, a Zn anode and an environmentally tolerable Zn(ClO4)2-ACN electrolyte....

Fabrication alloy-type anode into nanoporous structure demonstrate great potentials to solve the problems of their volume expansion and electrode pulverization upon cycling. However, the fine regulation of porous structure and quickly achieving a stable interface remains challenge for the alloy anode. Herein, we design and prepare a three-dimension...

The practical applications of Li‐ion batteries (LIBs) are challenged by their safety concerns when using liquid electrolytes (LEs). Solid‐state gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs) can address this challenge and have drawn increased attention recently. Normally, GPEs are prepared separately and then assembled into cells, which undoubtedly result in diss...

Main observation and conclusion The application of lithium-ion batteries in cold climates has been hindered due to the decline in performance at low temperatures. The increased de-solvation energy and formation of Li dendrites at the anode surface emerge as the major challenges, which rely on the development of stable anode and compatible electroly...

Flexible lithium–air batteries (LABs) with a redox mediator (RM) in the electrolyte demonstrate enhanced round-trip efficiency. However, their cycle performance is unsatisfactory due to severe corrosion of the Li metal anode. Herein, we propose a two step gelatinization strategy to fabricate a gradient RMs (including LiI, TMPD, and DMPZ) gel electr...

Rechargeable Na–air batteries (NABs) based on abundant Na resources are generating great interest due to their high energy density and low cost. However, Na anode corrosion in ambient air and the growth of abnormal dendrites lead to insufficient cycle performance and safety hazards. Effectively protecting the Na anode from corrosion and inducing th...

Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) with Si/graphite composites anode promise a high energy density larger than 400 Wh kg⁻¹ with low costs, however, they still suffer from rapid performance degradation and potential safety hazard at cold climate. This is mainly associated with the fragile solid electrolyte (SEI) layer and the formation of Li dendrite. Her...

Thermal runaway (TR) is the fatal safety defects that hinder the wide application of automotive batteries. The short circuit caused by shrinkage of separators under high temperatures leads to TR. In this paper, we demonstrate the robust thermal stability of an Al2O3 coated non‐woven polyethylene terephthalate (PET) separator. The shrinkage ratio of...

Rechargeable metal–SO2 batteries have drawn tremendous attention because it can accelerate SO2 fixation/utilization and offer high energy density. Herein, a rechargeable Na–SO2 battery based on an ether‐based liquid electrolyte with an ethylenediamine (EDA) additive is realized via the reversible formation/decomposition of Na2S2O4. Experimental inv...

Traditional lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) suffer from tremendous electrochemical performance fading at low temperatures (LT). This work reports a novel MoS2/C hybrid electrode that shows excellent LT performance as LIB anodes. At −20 °C, it delivers a stable discharge capacity as high as 854.3 mAh g⁻¹ which is 72.8% of that at room temperature (RT)....

The dendrite-associated cell degradation is a key challenge to the practical application of sodium metal anodes. Here, we present that tiny amount of mercury incorporation into sodium generates a unique quasi-liquid interface that affords long-term stability cycling. This amalgam layer allows fast electron transfer as well as sodium migration at th...

Aqueous Fe-I2 rechargeable batteries are highly desirable for large-scale energy storage because of their intrinsic safety, cost effective, and wide abundance of iron and iodine. However, their development suffers from Fe dendrite growth and severe shuttle effect during cycling. Herein, we demonstrate a high-performance Fe-I2 rechargeable battery u...

Polymeric membranes with high ionic conductivity and solvent molecule blocking capability are attracting considerable attention as separators for new-generation batteries adopting hybrid electrolytes. The performances of the membranes are closely dependent on their microstructures and functional groups. Here, we report the design and fabrication of...

We investigated tunnel-type NaGe 3/2 Mn 1/2 O 4 ; the main structure is Na 4 Ge 9 O 20 . NaGe 3/2 Mn 1/2 O 4 electrodes as anodes for sodium ions batteries deliver a discharge capacity of 200.32 mAh g ⁻¹ and satisfactory capacity retention after 50 cycles.

High-quality monocrystalline graphene has gained considerable attention in fundamental physics, materials science, and nanoelectronics. However, the performance of the graphene obtained by chemical synthesis methods currently is significantly restricted by the crystal quality. Herein, a seeding chemical vapor deposition (SCVD) method is designed to...

Free-standing graphene grown on SiC substrates is desirable for micro- and nano-electronic device applications. In this work, an induced growth method to fabricate quasi-free-standing graphene on SiC was proposed, where graphene nucleation sites were generated on the SiC substrate and active carbon sources were subsequently introduced to grow graph...

Recent researches demonstrated that heteropoly blues (reduced polyoxometalates) could act as a special kind of solid materials with potential function in antiviral activity, photocatalytic, photothermal and semiconducting properties. In this work, we develop a "directed precursor self-assembly" strategy for facile synthesis of heteropoly blues (HPB...

Current lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) suffer from poor cycling and rate performance at low temperature (LT), which prohibit their applications in cold climate area and winter. As temperature decreases, the Li⁺ desolvation energy and electrode polarization increase, which lead to Li dendrite formation and battery performance fading. Herein, we report...

Weak ion diffusion and electron transport due to limited interlayer spacing and poor electrical conductivity have been identified as critical roadbacks for fast and abundant energy storage of both MoS2-based lithium ion batteries (LIBs) and sodium ion batteries (SIBs). In this work, MoS2 porous-hollow nanorods (MoS2/m-C800) have been designed and s...

Herein, the definite structure-dependent evolution process upon lithiation/delithiation and clear atomic images of pure 1T-phase SnS2 can be obtained for the first time, illustrating different insertion-conversion-desertion processes of discharge/charge plateaus....

The unexhausted solar energy has been considered as one of the most promising alternative to traditional fossil energy. The solar energy can be captured by solar cell, converted into electrical power and then stored by supercapacitor or batteries. Toward higher energy utilization efficiency, how to realize conversing and storing solar energy in a c...

Urea/urine as a renewable energy is attracting extensive attention, which represents a promising prospect toward clean environment and energy utilization. We herein report a new Li-urea battery architecture with organic...

To achieve a high sulfur loading is critical for high‐energy lithium–sulfur batteries. However, high sulfur loading, especially at a low electrolyte/sulfur ratio (E/S), usually causes low sulfur utilization, mainly caused by the slow redox kinetics of polysulfides and the passivation of the discharge product, poor electrically/ionically conducting...

Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) process performance fading and safety concerns at low temperature (LT) prohibit their application in cold climates. The alloy-type electrodes demonstrate great potentials in stable and dendrite-free anodes at LT. Herein, we report a temperature-dependent Li-storage performance in Al-based nanoporous alloy anode. The nan...

A hierarchically structured Si/Cu/Ag integrated electrode was fabricated by decomposing Si/CuC 2 O 4 nanocomposites within Cu foam, followed by Ag modifing via a silver-mirror-reaction. The interconnected channels supports Si for cycling-dependent volumetric changes accommodation and Li ⁺ migration, while the Cu/Ag framework endows Si with enhanced...

It is well-known that reducing the nucleation density is an effective way to enhance the growth quality of graphene. In this work, we explore the mechanism of graphene nucleation and growth around CuO defects on a Cu(111) substrate by using density functional theory (DFT) combined with the nudged elastic band (NEB) method. The defect formation mech...

Flexible Li‐air batteries (LABs) have been considered as promising power sources for wearable electronics due to its higher energy density. However, when operated in ambient air, it suffers tremendous issues including Li anode passivation, poor cycle life as well as leakage of liquid electrolyte. Herein, we present a LAB with a tetraethylene glycol...

Flexible Li‐air batteries (LABs) have been considered as promising power sources for wearable electronics due to its higher energy density. However, when operated in ambient air, it suffers tremendous issues including Li anode passivation, poor cycle life as well as leakage of liquid electrolyte. Herein, we present a LAB with a tetraethylene glycol...

Rechargeable Li–CO2 batteries are gaining increasing popularity for reversible electrochemical energy conversion and storage by utilization of the reactions between CO2 and Li metal. However, a high charging voltage (> 4.0 V) should be applied to drive the electrochemical decomposition of discharged products Li2CO3 and C, which results in higher ch...

The moisture/air sensitive properties of electrode materials for Na ion batteries (NIBs) increase their storage cost and prohibit their practical applications. We herein report an ambient stable Na0.76Mn0.48Ti0.44O2 as anode of NIBs. It has been synthesized by sol-gel method and characterized by SEM and TEM, which displays irregular sheet-like morp...

Despite high theoretical specific capacity and uniform interlayer channel for accommodation of ions, poor cycling stability and rate capacity have been identified as critical roadblocks to further development of MoS2-based lithium ion batteries (LIBs) or sodium ion batteries (SIBs). In this study, few-atomic-layered MoS2 hollow nanospheres with exp...

The excessive emission of CO2 and the energy crisis are two major issues facing humanity. Thus, the electrochemical reduction of CO2 and its utilization in metal–CO2 batteries have attracted wide attention because the batteries can simultaneously accelerate CO2 fixation/utilization and energy storage/release. Here, rechargeable Al–CO2 batteries are...

Two-dimensional nanostructures may effectively be utilized as electrode materials for lithium/sodium-ion batteries to enhance the energy and power densities and cycling stability, and to satisfy the increasing demands of electrical vehicles and power stations. This review introduces the “geometry-driven” concept to illuminate the mechanisms related...

To remit capacity fading of lithium ion battery (LIB) anodes, freestanding yucca fern shaped CuO nanowires (NWs) on Cu foams are fabricated as anodes by combining facile and scalable anodization of copper foams followed by calcination. The porous and radial configuration of the hierarchical CuO NWs on the Cu foam substrate guarantees the remarkably...

The undesirable formation and low-efficient decomposition of Li2CO3 on cathode of Li-air battery, is an insurmountable obstacle for its practical applications. High efficient cathode catalysts toward Li2CO3 decomposition still have not been thoroughly studied. Here, we report a porous MnO prepared by heating precursor using a facile ethanol refluxi...

Major obstacles which prohibit the practical application of alloy-type anodes include the insufficient ionic/electronic transportations as well as the structure failure. Herein, we report the fabrication of a carbon coated nanoporous SnSb alloy (NP-SnOxSb@C) and its application as an anode of Lithium-ion battery (LIB). The as fabricated NP-SnOxSb@C...

Owing to its exceptionally high energy potentiality based on Lithium-oxygen chemistry, Lithium-air battery has been boosted as an appealing alternative to current state-of-art Lithium-ion batteries. However, due to the presence of non-O2 components in ambient air, the practical performance of Li-air battery is limited to only few cycles with low en...

Sodium ion batteries (SIBs) have been considered as the promising substitution for the lithium ion batteries (LIBs) due to the abundant resource of sodium. Metal sulfides have been demonstrated as a prospective anode materials for SIBs based on a conversion mechanism. However, the insufficient ionic transportation and low conductivity in discharge...

Graphene is an attractive 2D material for optoelectronics applications. However, due to the spontaneous nucleation characteristics of graphene growth on the metal substrates using chemical vapor deposition method, the polycrystalline graphene exhibited many crystal defects, leading to poor crystal quality. Properly controlling the density of nuclea...

Rechargeable metal-iodine batteries are an emerging attractive electrochemical energy storage technology that combines metallic anodes with halogen cathodes. Such batteries using aqueous electrolytes represent a viable solution for the safety and cost issues associated with organic electrolytes. A hybrid-electrolyte battery architecture has been ad...

Lithium metal has been considered as the most promising anode material for rechargeable Li batteries because of its high theoretical specific capacity. However, significant challenges, including Li dendrite growth, inferior rate and low Coulombic efficiency (CE), have prevented their practical applications. Here we report a facile strategy to impro...

Polyoxometalates as an electron sponge, which process multielectron redox reactions and as a fast ionic conductor, show great potentials as promising electrode materials for next-generation lithium ion batteries (LIBs). However, there are still some fundamental issues which should be conquered before their applications such as what is the stable st...

FeS2 is considered as a high capacity electrode materials based on a conversion reaction mechanism, and mainly applied in primary batteries and rechargeable thermal Li-FeS2 batteries for decades. However, the widely application of FeS2 in rechargeable battery is still hindered by the low efficiency and poor cycle performance caused by the generatio...

Searching for superior air-cathodes is a long-term goal for practical applications of Zn-air batteries (ZABs). The sluggish process of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in air cathodes can be accelerated by introducing heteroatoms into carbon networks, due, most probably, to the improved electron and spin densities of carbon atoms, thus leading to th...

Transition metal oxides anode with high theoretical capacity is still not meeting the commercial utilization due to the low initial coulombic efficiency and poor cycle stability. We herein report the fabrication of bimetallic oxides CoFe2O4 nanoplates with porous feature through a dealloying method for the first time. The electrochemical properties...

Huge volume expansion of Sn-based anode during Li-insertion leads to instability of the electrodes and degrades the electrochemical performances and thus prohibited their practical applications. Herein we propose a new “digging holes” approach to develop a three dimensional CuSn electrode, in which the active Sn adhere to conductive Cu framework. T...

The development of rechargeable batteries with high performance is considered to be a feasible way to satisfy the increasing needs of electric vehicles and portable devices. It is of vital importance to design electrodes with high electrochemical performance and to understand the nature of the electrode/electrolyte interfaces during battery operati...

Tin-based materials have been considered as promising anodes for sodium-ion batteries because of their high theoretical capacity and low-cost. However, their significant volume expansion and low conductivity prohibit their practical applications. A novel CuSn alloy composite with three-dimensional nanoporous structure was prepared by the dealloying...