Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are currently the most suitable energy storage device for powering electric vehicles (EVs) owing to their attractive properties including high energy efficiency, lack of memory effect, long cycle life, high energy density and high power density. These advantages allow them to be smaller and lighter than other conventional rechargeable batteries such as lead–acid batteries, nickel–cadmium batteries (Ni–Cd) and nickel–metal hydride batteries (Ni–MH). Modern EVs, however, still suffer from performance barriers (range, charging rate, lifetime, etc.) and technological barriers (high cost, safety, reliability, etc.), limiting their widespread adoption. Given these facts, this review sets the extensive market penetration of LIB-powered EVs as an ultimate objective and then discusses recent advances and challenges of electric automobiles, mainly focusing on critical element resources, present and future EV markets, and the cost and performance of LIBs. Finally, novel battery chemistries and technologies including high-energy electrode materials and all-solid-state batteries are also evaluated for their potential capabilities in next-generation long-range EVs.

As modern society develops, the need for clean energy becomes increasingly important on a global scale. Because of this, the exploration of novel materials for energy storage and utilization is urgently needed to achieve low-carbon economy and sustainable development. Among these novel materials, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), a class of porous materials, have gained increasing attention for utilization in energy storage and conversion systems because of ultra-high surface areas, controllable structures, large pore volumes and tunable porosities. In addition to pristine MOFs, MOF derivatives such as porous carbons and nanostructured metal oxides can also exhibit promising performances in energy storage and conversion applications. In this review, the latest progress and breakthrough in the application of MOF and MOF-derived materials for energy storage and conversion devices are summarized, including Li-based batteries (Li-ion, Li–S and Li–O₂ batteries), Na-ion batteries, supercapacitors, solar cells and fuel cells.

Water electrolysis is a promising approach for large-scale and sustainable hydrogen production; however, its kinetics is slow and requires precious metal electrocatalysts to efficiently operate. Therefore, great efforts are being undertaken to design and prepare low-cost and highly efficient electrocatalysts to boost the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). This is because traditional transition-metal electrocatalysts and corresponding hybrids with nonmetal atoms rely mainly on the interaction of metal–H bonds for the HER, which inevitably suffers from corrosion in extreme acidic and alkaline solutions. And as a result of all this effort, novel nanostructured electrocatalysts, such as carbon-encapsulated precious metals and non-precious metals including single metals or their alloys, transition-metal carbides, phosphides, oxides, sulfides, and selenides have all been recently reported to exhibit good catalytic activities and stabilities for hydrogen evolution. Here, the catalytic activity is thought to originate from the electron penetration effect of the inner metals to the surface carbon, which can alter the Gibbs free energy of hydrogen adsorption on the surface of materials. In this review, recent progresses of carbon-encapsulated materials for the HER are summarized, with a focus on the unique effects of carbon shells. In addition, perspectives on the future development of carbon-coated electrocatalysts for the HER are provided.

Layered transition metal oxides such as LiNi _xMn _yCo_1−x−yO₂ and LiNi _xCo _yAl_1−x−yO₂ (NCA) (referred to as ternary cathode material, TCM) are widely recognized to be promising candidates for lithium batteries (LBs) due to superior reversible capacities, high operating voltages and low production costs. However, despite recent progress toward practical application, commercial TCM-based lithium ion batteries (LIBs) suffer from severe issues such as the use of flammable and hazardous electrolytes, with one high profile example being the ignition of NCA-based LIBs used in Tesla Model S vehicles after accidents, which jeopardizes the future development of TCM-based LBs. Here, the need for TCM and flammable liquid electrolytes in TCM-based LBs is a major obstacle that needs to be overcome, in which conflicting requirements for energy density and safety in practical application need to be resolved. To address this, polymer electrolytes have been demonstrated to be a promising solution and thus far, many polymer electrolytes have been developed for high-performance TCM-based LBs. However, comprehensive performances, especially long-term cycling capabilities, are still insufficient to meet market demands for electric vehicles, and moreover, comprehensive reviews into polymer electrolytes for TCM-based LBs are rare. Therefore, this review will comprehensively summarize the ideal requirements, intrinsic advantages and research progress of polymer electrolytes for TCM-based LBs. In addition, perspectives and challenges of polymer electrolytes for advanced TCM-based LBs are provided to guide the development of TCM-based power batteries.

Silicon (Si) is a representative anode material for next-generation lithium-ion batteries due to properties such as a high theoretical capacity, suitable working voltage, and high natural abundance. However, due to inherently large volume expansions (~ 400%) during insertion/deinsertion processes as well as poor electrical conductivity and unstable solid electrolyte interfaces (SEI) films, Si-based anodes possess serious stability problems, greatly hindering practical application. To resolve these issues, the modification of Si anodes with carbon (C) is a promising method which has been demonstrated to enhance electrical conductivity and material plasticity. In this review, recent researches into Si/C anodes are grouped into categories based on the structural dimension of Si materials, including nanoparticles, nanowires and nanotubes, nanosheets, and porous Si-based materials, and the structural and electrochemical performance of various Si/C composites based on carbon materials with varying structures will be discussed. In addition, the progress and limitations of the design of existing Si/C composite anodes are summarized, and future research perspectives in this field are presented.