Aluminum (Al)-ion batteries have emerged as a potential alternative to conventional ion batteries that rely on less abundant and costly materials like lithium. Nonetheless, given the nascent stage of advancement in Al-ion batteries (AIBs), attaining electrode materials that can leverage both intercalation capacity and structural stability remains challenging. Herein, we demonstrate a C₃N₄-derived layered N,S heteroatom−doped carbon, obtained at different pyrolysis temperatures, as a cathode material for AIBs, encompassing the diffusion−controlled intercalation and surface-induced capacity with ultrahigh reversibility. The developed layered N,S-doped corbon (N,S-C) cathode, synthesized at 900 °C, delivers a specific capacity of 330 mAh g⁻¹ with a relatively high coulombic efficiency of ~85% after 500 cycles under a current density of 0.5 A g⁻¹. Owing to its reinforced adsorption capability and enlarged interlayer spacing by doping N and S heteroatoms, the N,S-C900 cathode demonstrates outstanding energy storage capacity with excellent rate performance (61 mAh g⁻¹ at 20 A g⁻¹) and ultrahigh reversibility (90 mAh g⁻¹ at 5 A g⁻¹ after 10000 cycles).

Solid-state lithium batteries using composite polymer electrolytes (CPEs) have attracted much attention owing to their higher safety compared to liquid electrolytes and flexibility compared to ceramic electrolytes. However, their unsatisfactory lithium-ion conductivity still limits their development. Herein, a high ion conductive CPE with multiple continuous lithium pathways is designed. This new electrolyte consists of poly(vinylidene fluorideco-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) and lithiated X type zeolite (Li-X), which possesses a high ionic conductivity (1.98 × 10⁻⁴ S/cm), high lithium transference number (t ${}_{{\mathrm{L}\mathrm{i}}^{+}}$ = 0.55), wide electrochemical window (4.7 V), and excellent stability against the lithium anode. Density functional theory (DFT) calculation confirms that the Lewis acid sites in zeolite can graft with N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and PVDF-HFP chains, resulting in decreased crystallinity of polymer and providing rapid Li⁺ transmission channels. When used in a full cell, the solid Li|Li-X-3%|LiFePO₄ cell displays excellent cycling stability and rate performance at room temperature and 60 °C. Furthermore, pouch cells with the Li-X-3% electrolyte exhibit brilliant safety under extreme conditions, such as folding and cutting. Thus, this proposed zeolite-PVDF-HFP CPE represents a promising potential in the application of making a safer, higher performing, and flexible solid-state lithium battery.

To understand the interface characteristics between the precipitate β₂′ and the Mg matrix, and thus guide the development of new Mg-Zn alloys, we investigated the atomic interface structure, work of adhesion (W_ad), and interfacial energy (γ) of Mg(0001)/β₂’(MgZn₂)(0001) interface, as well as the effect of segregation behavior of the introduced transition metal atoms (3d, 4d and 5d) on interfacial bonding strength. The calculated works of adhesion and interfacial energies dementated that the Zn2-terminated MT+HCP configuration is the most stable structure for all considered models. Take the Zn2- MT+HCP interface as the research object, estimated segregated energies (E_seg) reveal that added transition metal atoms prefer to segregate at Mg-Ⅰ and Mg-Ⅱ sites. The predicted W_ad and charge density difference results reveal that the segregation of alloying additives employed may all strengthen Mg(0001)/MgZn₂(0001) interface, with the enhancement effect of Os, Re, Tc, W, and Ru at the Mg-Ⅱ site being the most pronounced.