Lithium metal has been considered the ultimate anode material in Li rechargeable batteries because of its exceptionally high theoretical specific capacity (3860 mAh g⁻¹) and extremely low redox potential (−3.04 V vs. standard hydrogen electrode). However, the uncontrollable formation of dendritic Li during Li plating/stripping cycling processes generates electrochemically disconnected Li chunks from the electrode, which consumes an active Li source in the electrolyte, thus degrading the electrolyte and leading to low Coulombic efficiency and safety concerns in Li rechargeable batteries. Therefore, the development of stable Li-metal anodes (LMAs) is required for highly reversible Li plating/stripping on the anode side. In this regard, magnesium metal and Mg-based alloys have attracted considerable attention as new LMAs because of their good compatibility with Li and high lithiophilicity. In this review, we introduce the recent advances and strategies for Mg-metal- and Mg-based alloy materials to achieve high durability in next-generation Li-ion batteries and all-solid-state batteries. In addition, we discuss the challenges in the development of Mg-based alloys and their future perspectives. The comprehensive understanding of Mg-metal- and Mg-based alloy materials for LMAs in this review will offer the reader the inspiration to establish an effective strategy for future research.

To accomplish mass hydrogen production by electrochemical water-splitting, it is a necessary to develop robust, highly active, stable, and cost-effective hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts that perform comparably to Pt in the universal pH range. In this work, cobalt phosphide hybrid nanosheets supported on carbon felt (CoP HNS/CF) are presented, which exhibit the superior electrocatalytic hydrogen production under a universal-pH. In these nanosheets, a single CoP HNS is composed of polycrystalline CoP and oxygen-enriched amorphous Co-O-P phase. Benefiting from its unique nanoarchitecture, as-fabricated CoP HNS/CF exhibits a tremendous electrocatalytic HER activity and outperforms Pt/C as well as state-of-the-art CoP electrocatalysts in universal-pH. In acidic and neutral media, the CoP HNS/CF shows superior electrocatalytic activity while maintaining its original hybrid crystalline-amorphous phase and morphology. In alkaline medium, the unexpected phase and morphological reorganization of CoP HNS/CF results in outstanding electrocatalytic operation. CoP HNS/CF not only achieves high electrocatalytic activity and kinetics, but also a stable and long operating lifetime even under a high current density of 500 mA·cm^-2. Furthermore, the fabrication of CoP HNS/CF can be scaled up easily, and the large CoP HNS/CF electrode also exhibits similar electrocatalytic activity and stability.

We report the facile, one-pot synthesis of 3-D urchin-like W₁₈O₄₉ nanostructures (U-WO) via a simple solvothermal approach. An excellent supercapacitive performance was achieved by the U-WO because of its large Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) specific surface area (ca. 123 m²·g^–1) and unique morphological and structural features. The U-WO electrodes not only exhibit a high rate-capability with a specific capacitance (Csp) of ~235 F·g^–1 at a current density of 20 A·g^–1, but also superior long-life performance for 1, 000 cycles, and even up to 7, 000 cycles, showing ~176 F·g^–1 at a high current density of 40 A·g^–1.