Interfacial Design and Assembly for Flexible Energy Electrodes with Highly Efficient Energy Harvesting, Conversion, and Storage

Yongmin Ko, Seokmin Lee, Cheong Hoon Kwon, Seung Woo Lee, Jinhan Cho

    Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

    28 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Charge transfer between a conductive support and active materials as well as between neighboring active materials is one of the most critical factors in determining the performance of various electrodes in energy harvesting, conversion, and/or storage. Particularly, when preparing energy electrodes using conductive and/or electrochemically active nanoparticles (NPs), the bulky organic materials (i.e., ligand or polymeric binder) covering the NP surface seriously limit the charge transfer within the electrode, thereby restricting the energy storage or conversion efficiency. Furthermore, the flexibility and mechanical stability of the electrode have been considered important evaluation indices for flexible/wearable energy applications. In this regard, considerable research has been directed toward controlling the interfacial structure to enhance the charge transfer efficiency and toward incorporating functional materials into flexible/porous supports. This review describes the central progress in flexible electrodes for energy harvesting, conversion, and storage, along with the challenges in designing high-performance energy electrodes. In particular, layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly is analyzed, which is an ultrathin film fabrication technology that enables fine tuning of the interfacial structure for various electrode materials. It is shown how LbL assembly can be effectively applied to energy electrodes to obtain desired functionalities and improve the charge transfer efficiency of electrodes.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number2002969
    JournalAdvanced Energy Materials
    Volume11
    Issue number27
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2021 Jul 22

    Bibliographical note

    Funding Information:
    This work was supported by a National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea funded by the Ministry of Education (2019R1A4A1027627; 2016M3A7B4910619; 2017R1A6A3A04003192). This work was also supported by the DGIST R&D Programs of the Ministry of Science and ICT of Korea (20‐ET‐08).

    Publisher Copyright:
    © 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH

    Keywords

    • energy conversion
    • energy storage
    • flexible electrodes
    • interfacial assembly
    • interfacial design
    • ligand control

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
    • General Materials Science

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