Nanofabrication strategies for advanced electrode materials

Abstract

Advanced energy storage devices, i.e., Li-ion battery, supercapacitor, need high electroactive metal oxide materials with stable structure during charging/ discharging cycling [1][2][3]. However, metal oxide electrode materials often suffer from low conductivity, and slow ion diffusion rate during electrochemical redox reaction. In recent years, lots of efforts are done to design nanostructured materials to enhance their function. When downsizing to nanosize, the electroactive areas of materials are increased and ion/electron diffusion length is shortened, and therefore specific capacitance of active materials is significantly enhanced [4][5][6]. For example, 3D holey-graphene/niobia composite architectures have been designed to show ultrahigh-rate energy storage performance [7]. The highly interconnected graphene network in the 3D architecture shows excellent electron transport properties, while its hierarchical porous structure enables rapid ion transport. Although the nanostructured materials have shown extraordinary promise for electrochemical energy storage, most of the existing synthesis techniques require multistep and laborious procedures [8,9]. The dual pressure of energy needs and environmental requirements in society demand the rapid screening of exceptional performance materials to shorten R&D of advanced energy storage devices. As shown in Figure 1a, R&D of electrode materials mainly includes structure & component design, materials synthesis and performance evaluation. During these processes, materials synthesis often need longer time and complex equipments, which increase the finding time of new electrode materials. The development of easy and fast nanofabrication strategy can accelerate finding rate of new electrode materials in laboratory (Figure 1b). Furthermore, with creative design idea, the material synthesis process can be replaced or fused into one structure-performance process (Figure 1c), which not only accelerate the finding rate of new electrode materials, but also decrease the cost of searching new electrode materials. Abstract: The development of advanced electrode materials for high-performance energy storage devices becomes more and more important for growing demand of portable electronics and electrical vehicles. To speed up this process, rapid screening of exceptional materials among various morphologies, structures and sizes of materials is urgently needed. Benefitting from the advance of nanotechnology, tremendous efforts have been devoted to the development of various nanofabrication strategies for advanced electrode materials. This review focuses on the analysis of novel nanofabrication strategies and progress in the field of fast screening advanced electrode materials. The basic design principles for chemical reaction, crystallization, electrochemical reaction to control the composition and nanostructure of final electrodes are reviewed. Novel fast nanofabrication strategies, such as burning, electrochemical exfoliation, and their basic principles are also summarized. More im...

Nanotechnology in Advanced 2D and 3D Nanostructured Transition Metal Oxide Based Flexible Supercapacitors: A Review

“…[4,5] Recent advanced nanofabrication approaches have made a significant improvement in the formation of unique and novel nanostructured materials to be used for high-performance electrochemical energy storage devices. [6,7] The electrochemical capacitor, also known as a supercapacitor (SC), has received attention compared with other chemical energy storage devices because of its high power density, extended lifespan, and fast charging and discharging. [8,9] However, their applicability for energy storage devices is inadequate due to their poor energy density compared to batteries and fuel cells.…”

“…Nanomaterials have potential impact in energy storage applications because of their high surface‐to‐volume ratios, desired transport capabilities, and altered physical and chemical properties [4,5] . Recent advanced nanofabrication approaches have made a significant improvement in the formation of unique and novel nanostructured materials to be used for high‐performance electrochemical energy storage devices [6,7] . The electrochemical capacitor, also known as a supercapacitor (SC), has received attention compared with other chemical energy storage devices because of its high power density, extended lifespan, and fast charging and discharging [8,9] .…”