Energy storage: The future enabled by nanomaterials

Abstract

Lithium-ion batteries, which power portable electronics, electric vehicles, and stationary storage, have been recognized with the 2019 Nobel Prize in chemistry. The development of nanomaterials and their related processing into electrodes and devices can improve the performance and/or development of the existing energy storage systems. We provide a perspective on recent progress in the application of nanomaterials in energy storage devices, such as supercapacitors and batteries. The versatility of nanomaterials can lead to power sources for portable, flexible, foldable, and distributable electronics; electric transportation; and grid-scale storage, as well as integration in living environments and biomedical systems. To overcome limitations of nanomaterials related to high reactivity and chemical instability caused by their high surface area, nanoparticles with different functionalities should be combined in smart architectures on nano- and microscales. The integration of nanomaterials into functional architectures and devices requires the development of advanced manufacturing approaches. We discuss successful strategies and outline a roadmap for the exploitation of nanomaterials for enabling future energy storage applications, such as powering distributed sensor networks and flexible and wearable electronics.

High‐Sulfur‐Content Graphene‐Based Composite through Ethanol Evaporation for High‐Energy Lithium‐Sulfur Battery

“…The sulfur-FLGs agglomerates have size of approximately 20 mm, in agreement with the value of the startingm aterial, as shown in the SEM images of Figure 4. Additionally,t he FLG matrix adopted in the electrode is not limited to lab-scale production.Moreover,the use of ethanol reflects the environmental compatibilityo ft he synthesis, confirmingt he suitability of this approach for scalingu p. To this end, future investigation should be devotedt of urther increasingt he energyd ensity and stabilityo ft he final device by tuning the electrode properties in terms of sulfur mass loading [27,38,75,76] and active material morphology, and optimizing the cell configurationt hrough innovative approaches such as the use of carbon interlayer separators, [36,77] exploitingt he polysulfide retentione ffect of transition metal oxide on the carbonaceouss urface, [78][79][80][81] and electrolyte optimization using polysulfide mixtures. [82]…”

“…[24,25] The most common solution to overcome the lowe lectrical conductivity and the spreado ft he lithium polysulfide through the cell is the use of ac arbonaceous matrix that can increase the electronic conductivity through the electrode, acting, at the same time, as ar eactionh ost. [26,27] Many sulfur-carbon composites have been proposed to solve these issues, through the use of carbonn anotubes, [28] mesocarbon microbeads (MCMB carbon), [29] amorphous carbon, [30] graphite, [31] graphene oxide, [32] or reduced graphene oxide, [33] enhancingt he performance and applicability of the lithium-sulfur battery in terms of stability,c ycle life, and energy density. [34,35] However, most of the preparation pathways of the cathode active materials are complex and involve expensive procedures, hindering the scalability of these material solutionsb eyond lab-scale prototypes.…”

Emerging 2D Materials Produced via Electrochemistry

“…Exfoliated graphene (EG) represents a new generation of gra phene, which provides a popular choice for energyrelated application. [107] However, the restacking of graphene sheets, particularly in the form of powders, severely decreases the sur face area. Therefore, the functionalization and blending of EG with other active materials such as polyaniline (PANI), poly(3,4 ethylendioxythiophene)poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS), metal oxides, metal wires, suggests a rational option to avoid this problem.…”

Ultrathin two-dimensional conjugated metal–organic framework single-crystalline nanosheets enabled by surfactant-assisted synthesis

“…12 For instance, a nickel-hexaiminobenzene (Ni-HIB) 2D c-MOF was reported to be utilized as a cathode material in Li-ion batteries and displayed a high specic capacity of 155 mA h g À1 and a stable cycling performance up to 300 cycles, which are comparable to those of other commercially used cathode materials in Li-ion batteries (e.g., transitionmetal compound cathodes possess a capacity of <200 mA h g À1 ). 9,13 However, the currently developed 2D c-MOFs are generally synthesized in a bulk powder form by the solvothermal method. Accordingly, a large number of active sites are buried and inaccessible for charge carriers in these powder samples, leading to sluggish ion diffusion and low utilization of active sites.…”