A high NIR-reflective black pigment is developed by Mn doping of Fe2O3. The pigment powders are prepared by spray pyrolysis, and the effect of the Mn concentration on the blackness and optical properties is investigated. Mn doping into the crystal lattice of -Fe2O3 is found to effectively change the powder color from red to black, lowering the NIR reflectance compared to that of pure Fe2O3. The pigment doped with 10% Mn, i.e., Fe1.8Mn0.2O3, exhibits a black color with an optical bandgap of 1.3 eV and a Chroma value of 1.14. The NIR reflectance of the prepared Fe1.8Mn0.2O3 black pigment is 2.2 times higher than that of commercially available carbon black, and this material is proven to effectively work as a cool pigment in a temperature rise experiment under near-infrared illumination.

Layered LiNi0.83Co0.11Mn0.06O2 cathode materials single- and dual-doped by the rare-earth elements Ce and Nd are successfully fabricated by using a coprecipitation-assisted solid-phase method. For comparison purposes, nondoping pristine LiNi0.83Co0.11Mn0.06O2 cathode material is also prepared using the same method. The crystal structure, morphology, and electrochemical performances are characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) mapping, and electrochemical techniques. The XRD data demonstrates that all prepared samples maintain a typical α-NaFeO2-layered structure with the R-3m space group, and that the doped samples with Ce and/or Nd have lower cation mixing than that of pristine samples without doping. The results of SEM and EDS show that doped elements are uniformly distributed in all samples. The electrochemical performances of all doped samples are better than those of pristine samples without doping. In addition, the Ce/Nd dualdoped cathode material shows the best cycling performance and the least capacity loss. At a 10 C-rate, the electrodes of Ce/Nd dual-doped cathode material exhibit good capacity retention of 72.7, 58.5, and 45.2% after 100, 200, and 300 cycles, respectively, compared to those of pristine samples without doping (24.4, 11.1, and 8.0%).