The intrinsic green-emitting Sr2Sb2O7 phosphors with an orthorhombic structure were synthesized. Meanwhile, the doping of Bi3+ ions greatly enhanced the luminescent properties of Sr2Sb2O7 material by increasing the particle size and supplying the 3P1 → 1S0 emission. The strong green-emitting Sr2Sb2O7:Bi3+ phosphors with excellent moisture resistance and structural stability can be used for some practical applications. The packaged light-emitting diode (LED) devices based on the Sr2Sb2O7:Bi3+ phosphors with and without commercial phosphors were fabricated. Practically, the white LED device exhibited a warm white emission with the color rendering index and correlated color temperature values of 85.36 and 4185 K, respectively. Besides, the Sr2Sb2O7:Bi3+ security inks with good water resistance were presented. Finally, the prepared materials have also been successfully applied to latent fingerprint detections and flexible films. Therefore, these strong green-emitting materials are suitable for various optical applications.

Luminescent materials have been widely utilized for anti-counterfeiting applications due to their good feasibility for tunable optical properties. Herein, an anti-counterfeiting strategy based on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) flexible light-emitting films is reported. At first, tetravalent manganese (Mn4+)-activated Ba2LaTaO6 phosphors were synthesized by a high-temperature solid-state reaction. The optimal doping concentration of Mn4+ was estimated to be about 0.3 mol% while the quantum yield and color purity were found to be as high as 30.74% and 96.67%, respectively. Afterward, the thermal stability was analyzed based on the temperature-dependent photoluminescence emission spectra and decay curves. Eventually, the optimal sample-convert PDMS flexible films with the ease of operation and good reusability were fabricated and their security level was further boosted by the cooperation of multi-colored and special characters. It is believed that this work can offer valuable information for the construction of a high-level security anti-counterfeiting strategy.

Engineering novel nano/microarchitectures has attracted great attention because they can provide conductive, morphological, and remarkable electrochemical properties in energy storage and energy conversion fields. Herein, the Co2Mo3O8/Co3O4 (CMO/CO) micro-flower-like architectures were prepared via a simple one-step hydrothermal technique. The CMO/CO-based electrode samples were investigated at different reaction temperatures of 120, 150, and 180 °C. The prepared CMO/CO-150 material revealed a large specific surface area (108.57 m2 g−1). The excellent specific capacity value of 301 mAh g−1 (2142 F g−1) at 1 A g−1 of current density was obtained by the optimized CMO/CO-150 sample. Moreover, after successfully performing 5000 cycles at 20 mA cm−2, the CMO/CO electrode represented a capacity retention of 92% with 99% coulombic efficiency. Additionally, the designed pouch-like asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) with the optimized CMO/CO-150 material and activated carbon material delivered high energy and power density values of 34.38 Wh kg−1 and 2987.07 W kg−1, respectively. For testing practical applications, the fabricated ASC device was also employed to power portable electronic devices. Consequently, the achieved outstanding electrochemical results suggest that CMO/CO electrodes are favorable material for energy storage applications.

Recently, various electroactive materials composed of binary transition metal oxides (TMOs), and conducting polymers have been extensively studied, with the materials demonstrating great potential in high-performing battery-type electrodes. Furthermore, the development of heterogeneous nanocomposites is a versatile approach because of their well-defined surface morphology and the significant synergistic effect of the various species. In this study, NiCo2O4 (NCO) combined with polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and polyaniline (PANI) hybrid nanocomposites of NCO/PVP/PANI are newly developed using a facile hydrothermal method. The NCO in combination with PVP and PANI species provides the interconnected hierarchical characteristics by offering large electroactive sites that facilitate the charge transfer. The NCO/PVP/PANI1.5 nanocomposites had a high areal capacity of 698.44 µAh cm−2 at a current density of 4 mA cm–2 and a remarkable capacitance retention of 86 % over 4,000 galvanostatic charge/discharge (GCD) cycles owing to its excellent synergistic effect of the rich faradaic redox reaction kinetics of metallic species, and highly conductive materials. Moreover, the proposed NCO/PVP/PANI1.5 battery-type positive electrode was successfully assembled with an activated carbon negative electrode, resulting a hybrid device with a high energy density of 27.60 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 874.9 W kg−1 and excellent cycling stability. This research holds the significant promise for advanced heterogeneous materials in energy storage systems by describing the newly developed nanocomposites.

The low Coulombic efficiency and limited cycle life of zinc (Zn) metal anode resulting from the severe side reactions and dendrite growth are the major bottlenecks restricting the commercial applications of rechargeable aqueous Zn metal batteries (ZMBs). Considering that the crystal orientation of the electrode surface determines the growth direction of the newly deposited metal, however, limited by the crystal heterogeneity of commercial Zn foil, it can easily lead to inhomogeneous deposition morphology. Therefore, Zn electrode with more exposed (002) plane is considered as an effective strategy for planar and dendrite-free Zn deposition. In this review, we first provide the advantages of the preferred Zn (002) plane for achieving flat Zn deposition and elucidate the effect of electrode surface crystal orientation on Zn metal deposition behavior by correlating crystallography and deposition morphology. Then, we summarize the recent progress in the design and optimization strategies for directional deposition of Zn metal along the (002) orientation. Finally, the challenges, potential solutions, and perspectives for further exploration of planar and dendrite-free Zn deposition are proposed, which are expected to spur more insightful works toward advanced aqueous ZMBs.