About this Research Topic
With the exhaustion of traditional resources and increasing environmental problems, new clean energy and energy storage systems are required for our society. The application of portable electronics and electric vehicles has stimulated the development of energy storage devices such as lithium/sodium ion and metal-air batteries, supercapacitors, etc. Although a great deal of effort has been taken in recent years to improve the electrochemical properties of electrode materials, it is still not easy to fulfill the increasing requirements of their practical applications. In order to increase energy and power density, it is vital to further explore and develop electrode materials. Such advanced functional materials with special structures and properties are expected to meet the future challenges of energy storage.
Currently, electrode materials for rechargeable batteries still suffer from serious issues, including low electronic and ion conductivity, poor energy density, unstable structure stability, critical side reactions, etc. In order to attain efficiency in energy storage devices, these existing issues must first be tackled. Many strategies have been adopted to prepare advanced functional materials as electrode materials with high rate and cycle performance, including designing hierarchical structures, surface modification of electrode materials, controlling phase and structural transformation, element doping, etc. Moreover, the underlying electrochemical reaction mechanisms and chemical synthesis mechanisms can be understood through analysis and testing techniques, theoretical calculations, and experimental results. This Research Topic aims to collect recent developments in advanced functional materials applied to rechargeable batteries, and to provide researchers with insightful ideas for the design and preparation of advanced functional materials with excellent energy storage performance.
We welcome researchers to submit both Original Research and Review articles related to advanced electrode materials used in energy storage devices, and to the disclosure of important scientific problems and mechanisms in materials chemistry. Themes for individual contributions may include, but are not limited to:
• Specific design and optimization of configuration for electrode materials for alkali metal ion batteries
• Novel chemical preparing methods of electrode materials for alkali metal ion batteries
• Modification of the surface structure of electrode materials for alkali metal ion batteries
Keywords: electrode materials, alkali metal ion batteries, surface structure, optimization, energy storage
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
