Smart electrodes for energy storage devices

能源危机和气候变化是21世纪最大的两个挑战。太阳能和风能技术等可再生能源可能是解决这些社会和环境问题的最终解决方案。此外，为了缓解电网上的能源供需缺口，我们需要可持续的储能设备。前景看好的存储设备是电池和电容器。的确，电容器经历了一系列的发展阶段，如今，超级电容器处于能源研究的前沿。超级电容器被认为在能量和功率方面弥合了传统电容器和电池之间的差距。它们可以存储比传统电容器更多的能量，并以比电池更高的功率输出提供能量。超级电容器具有出色的功率重量比，适用于短时间内释放的高功率要求。近年来，由于电动汽车和需要快速充电的备用电源等现代应用，对超级电容器的需求不断增长。决定储能设备性能的关键因素是电极材料的性能。理想的电极应包括(I)允许快速电子/空穴转移的高导电性，以及(Ii)提供许多活性中心的高比表面积。2D材料具有所有这些必要的参数，这使得它们成为高性能储能设备的下一代电极材料。到目前为止，石墨烯、金属氧化物、二卤化物和过渡金属碳化物/氮化物(MXenes)因其在储能应用中的潜在作用而被研究。这些基于材料的器件有限的循环寿命和较差的倍率能力仍然阻碍了它们的实际应用。这一瓶颈可以通过巧妙地选择元素组合和碳偶联来克服，这将提高倍率能力和延长循环稳定性。在本项目中，我们的目标是开发一类基于金属硫系化合物及其碳偶联纳米结构的新型电极材料。这一合作项目有望为下一代储能设备生产经济、可持续、高性能的金属硫化物电极材料。该项目与开发可持续能源储存材料和设备的主题相一致，并具有巨大的潜力，将对能源储存设备、绿色能源技术、先进材料和可持续能源材料产生影响。

Energy crises and climate changes are the two topmost challenges in this 21st century. Renewable energy resources like solar and wind technology could be the ultimate solution to address these societal and environmental problems. In addition, to ease the gap between the energy supply and demand on the grid, we need sustainable energy storage devices. Promising storage devices are batteries and capacitors. Indeed, capacitors have undergone a series of development stages and nowadays, supercapacitors are at the frontline of energy research. Supercapacitors are considered as bridging the gap between conventional capacitors and batteries in terms of energy and power. They can store more energy than conventional capacitors and supply it at higher power outputs than batteries. Supercapacitors offer an excellent power-to-weight ratio which makes them suitable for high power requirements released in a short period. Over recent years, there has been a growing demand for supercapacitors due to modern applications like electric vehicles and power back-ups that require fast charge release.The key determinants of an energy storage device's performance are the properties of the electrode materials. The ideal electrode would consist of (i) high conductivity to allow fast electron/hole transfer, and (ii) a high surface area to give many active sites. 2D materials have all these necessary parameters, which makes them next-generation electrode materials for high-performing energy storage devices. So far, graphene, metal oxides, dichalcogenides, and transition metal carbides/nitrides (MXenes), have been investigated for their potential roles in energy storage applications. The limited cycle life and inferior rate capabilities of these materials-based devices still hinder their practical applications. This bottleneck can be overcome by the smart choice of elemental combination along with carbon coupling that will improve rate capability and prolonged cycling stability.In this project, we are aiming to develop a new class of electrode materials based on metal chalcogenide compounds and their carbon coupling nanostructures. This collaborative project is expected to produce economical, sustainable, high-performance metal chalcogenide electrode materials for next-generation energy storage devices. The project is aligned with the theme of developing materials and devices for sustainable energy storage and has enormous potential to impact energy storage devices, green energy technology, advanced materials, and sustainable energy materials.