Heterostructure engineering for sulfur hosts is an effective way to achieve interfacial synergistic effects on suppressing the "shuttle effect" of polysulfides and thus improve electrochemical performance of lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries. Rational selection and design of different components into heterostructures is vital to enhance the synergistic effect. Herein, MoS₂/MoP Mott–Schottky heterostructure nanoparticles decorated on reduced graphene oxide (MoS₂/MoP@rGO) are fabricated and used as sulfur host firstly. Theoretical calculation and experiment results reveal that the in-situ introduction of MoP could tune the electronic structure, activate the basal plane of MoS₂, and achieve the interfacial synergistic effects between adsorption (MoS₂) and fast conversion (MoP). Such synergistic effects enable MoS₂/MoP@rGO to not only remarkably facilitate Li₂S deposition during the discharging process but also significantly accelerate the Li₂S dissolution during the charging process, demonstrating bidirectional promotion behaviors. Thus, the designed cathode delivers initial capacity of 919.5 mA∙h∙g⁻¹ with capacity of 502.3 mA∙h∙g⁻¹ remaining after 700 cycles at 0.5 C. Even under higher sulfur loading of 4.31 mg∙cm⁻² and lower electrolyte to sulfur (E/S) ratio of 8.21 μL∙mg⁻¹, the MoS₂/MoP@rGO@S cathode could still achieve good capacity and cycle stability. This work provides a novel and efficient structural design strategy of sulfur hosts for high-performance Li–S energy storage systems.

The field of electromagnetic wave absorption (EWA) requires the adaptability, tenability, and multifunction of high-performance materials in the future. The design and preparation of EWA materials aiming at performance requirements is the latest research hotspot. Here, a performance-driven strategy for simultaneously coordinating different target performances was proposed to optimize the structure of the periodical long continuous carbon/glass fiber fabric (PCGF) materials through algorithm and simulation. The optimized structure of the PCGF not only improves the impedance matching, but also introduces the induced orientation effect for a high cooperative loss of conductivity, resonance, and periodic structure. The flexible PCGF shows a broad effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 32.7 GHz covering a part of the C-band and the whole X-, Ku-, K-, and Ka-bands with a thickness (d) of only 0.92 mm and a density of 5.6×10⁻⁴ kg·cm⁻³. This highly designable fabric is promising for the EWA practical application owing to integrating the characteristics of good flexibility, acid and alkali resistance, bending resistance, excellent mechanical properties, and easy large-scale preparation.

Inspired by the pomegranate natural artful structure, pomegranate micro/nano hierarchical plasma configuration of Fe/Fe₃C@graphitized carbon (FFC/pCL) was constructed based on the green sol-gel method and in-situ chemical vapor deposition (CVD) synthesis protocol. Pomegranate-like FFC/pCL successfully overcame the agglomeration phenomenon of magnetic nanoparticles with each seed of the pomegranate consisting of Fe/Fe₃C as cores and graphitized carbon layers as shells. The high-density arrangement of magnetic nanoparticles and the design of pomegranate-like heterostructures lead to enhanced plasmon resonance. Thus, the pomegranate-like FFC/pCL achieved a great electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorbing performance of 6.12 GHz wide band absorption at a low mass adding of only 16.7 wt.%. Such excellent EMW performance can be attributed to its unique pomegranate hierarchical plasma configuration with separated nanoscale iron cores, surface porous texture, and good carbon conductive network. This investigation provides a new paradigm for the development of magnetic/carbon based EMW absorbing materials by taking advantage of pomegranate hierarchical plasma configuration.

Wood-derived carbon has a 3D porous framework composed of through channels along the growth direction, which is a suitable matrix for preparing electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorbing materials with low cost, light weight, and environmental friendliness. Herein, the carbonized wood decorated by short cone-like NiCo₂O₄ (NiCo₂O₄@CW) with highly ordered straight-channel architecture was successfully manufactured through a facile calcination procedure. The horizontal arrangement of the through channels of NiCo₂O₄@CW (H-NiCo₂O₄@CW) exhibits a strong reflection loss value of -64.0 dB at 10.72 GHz with a thickness of 3.62 mm and a low filling ratio of 26 wt% (with the density of 0.98 g·cm^-3), and the effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) is 8.08 GHz (9.92-18.0 GHz) at the thickness of 3.2 mm. The excellent microwave absorption (MA) property was ascribed to the ordered-channel structure with abundant interfaces and defects from NiCo₂O₄@CW, which could promote the interfacial polarization and dipole polarization. What is more, this advantageous structure increased the multiple reflections and scattering. Finite element analysis (FEA) simulation is carried out to detect the interaction between the prepared material and EMW when the ordered channels are arranged in different directions. This research provides a low-cost, sustainable, and environmentally friendly strategy for using carbonized wood to fabricate microwave absorbers with strong attenuation capabilities and light weight.

CoCO₃ with high theoretical capacity has been considered as a candidate anode for the next generation of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, the electrochemical performance of CoCO₃ itself, especially the cyclic stability at high current density, hinders its application. Herein, pure phase CoCO₃ particles with different particle and pore sizes were prepared by adjusting the solvents (diethylene glycol, ethylene glycol, and deionized water). Among them, CoCO₃ synthesized with diethylene glycol (DG-CC) as the solvent shows the best electrochemical performance owing to the smaller particle size and abundant mesoporous structure to maintain robust structural stability. A high specific capacity of 690.7 mAh/g after 1000 cycles was achieved, and an excellent capacity retention was presented. The capacity was contributed by diverse electrochemical reactions and the impedance of DG-CC under different cycles was further compared. Those results provide an important reference for the structural design and stable cycle performance of pure CoCO₃.