3D Hierarchical Carbon-Rich Micro-/Nanomaterials for Energy Storage and Catalysis

Zhixiao Xu; Wenjing Deng; Xiaolei Wang

doi:10.1007/s41918-021-00094-7

Electrochemical Energy Reviews ›› 2021, Vol. 4 ›› Issue (2) : 269 -335. DOI: 10.1007/s41918-021-00094-7

Review Article

3D Hierarchical Carbon-Rich Micro-/Nanomaterials for Energy Storage and Catalysis

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¹Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, T6G 1H9, Edmonton, AB, Canada

^c xiaolei.wang@ualberta.ca

Zhixiao Xu

is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Alberta under the supervision of Dr. Xiaolei Wang. He received his B.S. from Beijing University of Chemical Technology (2013) and M.Sc. from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (2016). His current research mainly involves the design of new energy materials and development of novel battery technologies beyond lithium-ion batteries.

Wenjing Deng

is pursuing her Ph.D. at the University of Alberta under the supervision of Dr. Xiaolei Wang. She obtained her B.S. (2017) and M.Sc. (2019) from Beijing University of Chemical Technology and Case Western Reserve University through a 3 + 2 undergraduate-graduate joint program. She is now working on the development of high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries.

Dr. Xiaolei Wang

is a tenure-track assistant professor at the University of Alberta (UofA) and runs his Nano For Advanced Clean Energy (NanoFACE) laboratory in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering. Before joining UofA, he worked as tenure-track assistant professor at Concordia University from 2017 to 2019, and postdoctoral fellow researcher at the University of Waterloo from 2014 to 2017. Dr. Wang received his Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA, 2013), M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering at Tianjin University (TJU, 2007), and B.Sc. in Polymer Chemical Engineering at Dalian University of Technology (DUT, 2004). His research mainly focuses on the rational design, development and application of novel nanostructured materials for energy-related technologies including lithium-ion batteries, sodium-ion batteries, lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries, metal-air batteries, supercapacitors, and electrocatalytic systems.

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Abstract

Abstract

Increasing concerns over climate change and energy shortage have driven the development of clean energy devices such as batteries, supercapacitors, fuel cells and solar water splitting in the past decades. And among potential device materials, 3D hierarchical carbon-rich micro-/nanomaterials (3D HCMNs) have come under intense scrutiny because they can prevent the stacking and bundling of low-dimensional building blocks to not only shorten diffusion distances for matter and charge to achieve high-energy-high-power storage but also greatly expose active sites to achieve highly active, durable and efficient catalysis. Based on this, this review will summarize the synthetic strategies and formation mechanisms of 3D HCMNs, including 3D nanocarbons, polymers, COFs/MOFs, templated carbons and derived carbon-based hybrids with a focus on 3D superstructures such as urchins, flowers, hierarchical tubular structures as well as nanoarrays including nanotube, nanofiber and nanosheet arrays. This review will also discuss the application of 3D HCMNs in energy storage and catalysis systems, including batteries, supercapacitors, electrocatalysis and photo(electro)catalysis. Overall, this review will provide a comprehensive overview of the recent progress of 3D HCMNs in terms of preparation strategies, formation mechanisms, structural diversities and electrochemical applications to provide a guideline for the rational design and structure–function exploration of 3D hierarchical nanomaterials from different sources beyond carbon-based species.

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Zhixiao Xu, Wenjing Deng, Xiaolei Wang. 3D Hierarchical Carbon-Rich Micro-/Nanomaterials for Energy Storage and Catalysis. Electrochemical Energy Reviews, 2021, 4(2): 269-335 DOI:10.1007/s41918-021-00094-7