Flexible aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) are promising candidates for wearable devices owing to their high safety and low cost. However, their progress is plagued by their sluggish ion-transport kinetics, which leads to inferior rate capability. Herein, a vanadium nitride/carbon fiber (VN/CF) cathode was structurally engineered to incorporate oxygen defects and a vertically aligned, porous, nanosheet architecture to overcome these issues. This structure was realized via the initial growth of vertically aligned V₂O₅ nanosheet templates on gas-spun carbon fibers, followed by high-temperature NH₃ treatment. The oxygen defects accelerate the kinetics of bulk diffusion within VN, while the vertically aligned VN nanosheet array possesses lower charge-transfer resistance, enhancing the kinetics of surface diffusion. These features synergistically improve the overall Zn²⁺ transport, affording high-rate performance. Consequently, the free-standing VN/CF cathode exhibits exceptional rate performance, delivering a capacity of 263.4 mAh g⁻¹ even at a high current density of 10 A g⁻¹. When assembled into flexible AZIBs, the device exhibits a high-rate capability of 249.7 mAh g⁻¹ at 10 A g⁻¹ and stable performance even under various bending deformations, demonstrating significant potential for next-generation wearable devices.

Transition metal sulfides (TMSs) are widely recognized for their potential as anode materials in the development of flexible lithium-ion capacitors (FLICs) owing to their high theoretical capacity. However, their practical application has been significantly limited by rapid capacity decay and sluggish kinetics associated with TMS volume variation. In response to these challenges, we have prepared ZnS/CuS nanoparticles embedded in continuous and multichannel carbon fibers (CFs). This was achieved through a process involving blow-spinning and subsequent sulfidation. Notably, the electrochemical performance of these materials was largely improved, owing to the synergistic effect of bimetallic sulfides. The ZnS/CuS-CF anode material demonstrated a high specific capacity of over 900 mAh g⁻¹ at a current density of 0.2 A g⁻¹. Furthermore, it exhibited superior rate capacity (300 mAh g⁻¹ at 20 A g⁻¹) and excellent cyclic stability, maintaining its performance over 1000 cycles at 10 A g⁻¹. We also prepared lithium-ion capacitors (LICs) using the same method. These LICs exhibited a maximum energy density of 136 Wh kg⁻¹, a high power density of 43.5 kW kg⁻¹, and an impressive cyclic stability over 4000 cycles. In addition, the FLICs, when configured in the form of a pouch cell, demonstrated significant potential for the development of smart, flexible electronic devices.

Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) have been regarded as an intriguing platform for exploring novel physical phenomena and optoelectronic devices due to their excitonic emission characteristics derived from the atomic thin thickness and reduced dielectric screening effect. Notably, monolayer TMDCs with a direct bandgap exhibiting strong photoluminescence (PL) are promising candidates for the light-emitting devices, while the interlayer excitons in heterostructures hold great potential for the photonic chips and optical communication applications. However, the non-ideal photoluminescent intensity and quality due to the ultrathin thickness and high defect density of experimentally obtained monolayer TMDCs limit the further development for the light-emission applications. Here, we summarize the research progress on the PL manipulation of the excitonic emission in TMDCs, where the PL intensity enhancement and emission wavelength regulation are included. The concept and characteristics of excitons are overviewed firstly, followed by the discussion on the evaluation and characterization of excitonic emission. The state-of-the-art progress on the manipulation of the neutral excitons and interlayer excitons PL are then summarized. Finally, the challenges and prospects are proposed.