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Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have played a crucial role in recent advancements in developing lithium‐based battery electrolytes, electrodes, and separators. Although many MOF‐based battery components rely on their well‐defined porosity and controllable functionality, they also boast a myriad of other significant properties relevant to battery applications. In this mini‐review, the distinct advantages of MOFs in battery applications are discussed, including using MOFs to 1) scavenge impurities to increase cycling stability, 2) widen the operation temperature range of conventional electrolytes, 3) widen the operation voltage range of common electrolytes, and 4) employ as artificial solid‐electrolyte interphases to prevent lithium dendrite growth. Furthermore, subsisting challenges of developing these emerging MOF‐based battery technologies are discussed and guidance for shaping the future of this field is given. MOFs possess distinct advantages in scavenging impurities to increase cycling stability, increasing operation temperatures and voltages of common electrolytes, and can be used as artificial solid‐electrolyte interphases to prevent lithium dendrite growth. In this mini‐review, the emerging battery applications of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are outlined, and a perspective of future MOF‐based battery technologies is proposed.

Low‐cost sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs) are promising candidates for grid‐scale energy‐storage systems, and the wide‐temperature operations of SIBs are highly demanded to accommodate extreme weather. Herein, a low‐cost SIB is fabricated with a Na 4 Fe 3 (PO 4 ) 2 P 2 O 7 (NFPP) cathode, a natural graphite (NG) anode, and an ether‐based electrolyte. The prepared NG//NFPP batteries deliver a long lifespan of 1000 cycles, high‐power density of 5938 W/kg, and remarkable rate performance of 10 A/g with a high capacity retention of 60%. Benefiting from the solvent co‐intercalation process of the NG anode and the high Na + diffusion rate of the NFPP cathode, the NG//NFPP battery displays outstanding performance at −40 °C and even can work at an ultralow temperature of −70 °C. Furthermore, the high boiling point of the electrolytes and high thermal stability of the electrode materials also enable the high‐temperature operation of the full battery up to 130 °C. This work will guide the design of the wide‐temperature SIBs.

Highlights Aspartame additive in electrolyte enables the in situ formation of ZnO-based solid electrolyte interphase, enhancing Zn anode corrosion resistance and stability with excellent self-healing capabilities. Zn║Zn symmetric cells with APM-modified electrolyte operate stably for 6,400 h at − 5 °C, 10,330 h at 25 °C, and 2,250 h at 40 °C, with a high DOD of 85.2%. Achieves 99.59% Coulombic efficiency, suppresses dendrite growth, and maintains 150 mAh g −1 capacity after 1,750 cycles in NH 4+ -V 2 O 5 full cells. Metallic Zn anodes suffer from hydrogen evolution and dendritic deposition in aqueous electrolytes, resulting in low Coulombic efficiency and poor cyclic stability for aqueous Zn-ion batteries (AZIBs). Constructing stable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) with strong affinity for Zn and exclusion of water corrosion of Zn metal anodes is a promising strategy to tackle these challenges. In this study, we develop a self-healing ZnO-based SEI film on the Zn electrode surface by employing an aspartame (APM) as a versatile electrolyte additive. The hydrophobic nature and strong Zn affinity of APM can facilitate the dynamic self-healing of ZnO-based SEI film during cyclic Zn plating/stripping process. Benefiting from the superior protection effect of self-healing ZnO-based SEI, the Zn║Cu cells possess an average coulombic efficiency more than 99.59% over 1,000 cycles even at a low current density of 1 mA cm −2  − 1 mAh cm −2 . Furthermore, the Zn║NH 4 + -V 2 O 5 full cells display a large specific capacity of 150 mAh g −1  and high cyclic stability with a capacity retention of 77.8% after 1,750 cycles. In addition, the Zn║Zn cell delivers high temperature adaptability at a wide-temperature range from − 5 to 40 °C even under a high DOD of 85.2%. The enhanced capability and durability originate from the self-healing SEI formation enabled by multifunctional APM additives mediating both corrosion suppression and interfacial stabilization. This work presents an inspired and straightforward approach to promote a dendrite-free and wide-temperature rechargeable AZIBs energy storage system.

Currently, developing supercapacitors with robust cycle stability and suitability for wide-temperature-range operations is still a huge challenge. In the present work, few-layer hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets (h-BNNSs) with a thickness of 2–4 atomic layers were fabricated via vacuum freeze-drying and nitridation. Then, the h-BNNSs/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composite were further prepared using a hydrothermal method. Due to the combination of two two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals-bonded materials, the as-prepared h-BNNSs/rGO electrode exhibited robustness to wide-temperature-range operations from −10 to 50°C. When the electrodes worked in a neutral aqueous electrolyte (1 M Na 2 SO 4 ), they showed a great stable cycling performance with almost 107% reservation of the initial capacitance at 0°C and 111% at 50°C for 5000 charge—discharge cycles.

Fe3O4 is widely investigated as an anode for ambient sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs), but its electrochemical properties in the wide operation‐temperature range have rarely been studied. Herein, the Fe3O4 nanoparticles, which are well encapsulated by carbon nanolayers, are uniformly dispersed on the graphene basal plane (named Fe3O4/C@G) to be used as the anode for SIBs. The existence of graphene can reduce the size of Fe3O4/C nanoparticles from 150 to 80 nm and greatly boost charge transport capability of electrode, resulting in an obvious size decrease of superparamagnetic Fe nanoparticles generated from the conversion reaction from 5 to 2 nm. Importantly, the ultra‐small superparamagnetic Fe nanoparticles (≈2 nm) can induce a strong spin‐polarized surface capacitance effect at operating temperatures ranging from −40 to 60 °C, thus achieving highly efficient Na‐ion transport and storage in a wide operation‐temperature range. Consequently, the Fe3O4/C@G anode shows high capacity, excellent fast‐charging capability, and cycling stability ranging from −40 to 60 °C in half/full cells. This work demonstrates the viability of Fe3O4 as anode for wide operation‐temperature SIBs and reveals that spin‐polarized surface capacitance effects can promote Na‐ion storage over a wide operation temperature range. Fe3O4 is widely investigated as an anode for ambient SIBs, but its sodium storage performance in wide operation‐temperature range has rarely been studied. This work reveals that Fe nanoparticles generated from Fe3O4 in conversion reaction induce strong spin‐polarized surface capacitance effect to boost sodium storage over a wide operating temperature of −40–60 °C.

Highlights The unique layered structure and excellent photoelectric properties of MoS 2 facilitate the abundant generation and rapid transfer of photo-excited carriers, which accelerate the CO 2 reduction and Li 2 CO 3 decomposition upon illumination. MoS 2 -based photo-energized Li–CO 2 battery displays ultra-low charge voltage of 3.27 V, high energy efficiency of 90.2%, superior cycling stability after 120 cycles and high rate capability. The low-temperature Li–CO 2 battery achieves an ultra-low charge voltage of 3.4 V at –30 °C with a round-trip efficiency of 86.6%. Li–CO 2 batteries are considered promising energy storage systems in extreme environments such as Mars; however, severe performance degradation will occur at a subzero temperature owning to the sluggish reaction kinetics. Herein, a photo-energized strategy adopting sustainable solar energy in wide working temperature range Li–CO 2 battery was achieved with a binder-free MoS 2 /carbon nanotube (CNT) photo-electrode as cathode. The unique layered structure and excellent photoelectric properties of MoS 2 facilitate the abundant generation and rapid transfer of photo-excited carriers, which accelerate the CO 2 reduction and Li 2 CO 3 decomposition upon illumination. The illuminated battery at room temperature exhibited high discharge voltage of 2.95 V and mitigated charge voltage of 3.27 V, attaining superior energy efficiency of 90.2% and excellent cycling stability of over 120 cycles. Even at an extremely low temperature of − 30 °C, the battery with same electrolyte can still deliver a small polarization of 0.45 V by the photoelectric and photothermal synergistic mechanism of MoS 2 /CNT cathode. This work demonstrates the promising potential of the photo-energized wide working temperature range Li–CO 2 battery in addressing the obstacle of charge overpotential and energy efficiency.

Fullerene derivatives are highly attractive materials in solar cells, organic thermoelectrics, and other devices. However, the intrinsic low electron mobility and electrical conductivity restrict their potential device performance, such as perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Herein, we successfully enhanced the electric properties and morphology of phenyl‐C61‐butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) by n‐doping it with a benzimidazoline derivative, 9‐(1,3‐dimethyl‐2,3‐dihydro‐1H‐benzoimidazol‐2‐yl)‐julolidine (JLBI‐H) via a solution process. We found the n‐doping can not only improve the conductivity and optimize the band alignment but also enable the PCBM to have a constantly strong charge extraction ability in a wide temperature from 173 to 373 K, which guarantees a stable photovoltaic performance of the corresponding PSCs under a wide range of operating temperatures. With the JLBI‐H‐doped PCBM, we improved the efficiency from 17.9% to 19.8%, along with enhanced stability of the nonencapsulated devices following the aging protocol of ISOS‐D‐1. Herein, we successfully enhance the electric properties and morphology of phenyl‐C61‐butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) by n‐doping it with a benzimidazoline derivative (9‐(1,3‐dimethyl‐2,3‐dihydro‐1H‐benzoimidazol‐2‐yl)‐julolidine [JLBI‐H]). The JLBI‐H‐doping enables the PCBM to have a constantly strong charge extraction ability in a wide temperature from 173 to 373 K, which guarantees a stable photovoltaic performance of the corresponding perovskite solar cells in a wide range of operating conditions.

In order to obtain large room-temperature electrocaloric effect (ECE) and wide operation temperature range simultaneously in lead-free ceramics, we proposed designing a relaxor ferroelectric with a Tm (the temperature at which the maximum dielectric permittivity is achieved) near-room temperature and glass addition. Based on this strategy, we designed and fabricated lead-free 0.76NaNbO3–0.24BaTiO3 (NN-24BT) ceramics with 1wt.% BaO–B2O3–SiO2 glass addition, which showed distinct relaxor ferroelectric characteristics with strongly diffused phase transition and a Tm near-room temperature. Based on a direct measurement method, a large ΔT (adiabatic temperature change) of 1.3 K was obtained at room temperature under a high field of 11.0 kV mm−1. Additionally, large ECE can be maintained (>0.6 K@6.1 kV mm−1) over a broad temperature range from 23 °C to 69 °C. Moreover, the ECE displayed excellent cyclic stability with a variation in ΔT below ±7% within 100 test cycles. The comprehensive ECE performance is significantly better than other lead-free ceramics. Our work provides a general and effective approach to designing lead-free, high-performance ECE ceramics, and the approach possesses the potential to be utilized to improve the ECE performance of other lead-free ferroelectric ceramic systems.