Inorganic Porous Films for Renewable Energy Storage

Environmental issues and the depletion of unsustainable resources have triggered great research efforts on the development of renewable energy technologies. Electrochemical energy storage devices, including Li-ion batteries, supercapacitors, and some emerging rechargeable battery technologies beyond Li-ion systems, provide a way to use energy in a clean and sustainable manner. Inorganic porous films are the essential component for renewable energy storage technology owing to their unique merits compared with powder materials: (i) high surface area and three-dimensional open channels facilitate mass/ion transport; (ii) additive-free features enable facile fabrication; (iii) porous structure can well relax the mechanical strain caused by the volume change; (iv) the porous structure can be integrated with portable electronic systems. Here, the synthesis methods and particular structural features of inorganic porous films are examined, and their applications in electrochemical energy storage devices are reviewed. The current limitations and future perspectives in novel inorganic porous films for advanced energy storage technologies are also discussed.