Energy Storage Performance Enhancement by Surface Engineering of Electrode Materials

Surface engineering of electrode materials to yield favorable electrochemical performance is a hot spot of current research in the energy storage area. Here, this Report highlights recent progress in rational surface engineering strategies in association with their effects on the electrochemical properties. The electrochemical performance enhancement due to both intrinsic nano-structuring and hybridization with surface functional species is elaborated. The focus here is lithium and sodium ion batteries, but the discussed surface engineering strategies may also apply to electrodes of other emergent devices such as metal-sulfur and metal-oxygen batteries.