Macroscopic-Scale Three-Dimensional Carbon Nanofiber Architectures for Electrochemical Energy Storage Devices

The development of high-performance electrochemical energy storage devices is critical for addressing energy crises and environmental pollution. Hence, the design and preparation of next-generation electrode materials have been gaining increasing attention. Recent progress has demonstrated that three-dimensional (3D) carbon nanomaterials are extremely promising candidates for the electrodes of electrochemical energy storage devices due to their unique structural advantages of interlinked architecture. Herein, recent advances in the scalable fabrication of 3D carbon nanofiber (CNF)-based materials and their applications for electrochemical energy storage devices are summarized. Some representational 3D CNF architectures, such as CNF gels, 3D CNF films, 3D CNF arrays, and their nanocomposites, are highlighted with regard to various applications, including supercapacitors, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), lithium-sulfur (Li-S), lithium-selenium (Li-Se), and metal-O-2 batteries, as well as other new battery systems. Finally, contemporary challenges in the scalable fabrication of 3D CNF architectures are outlined and a brief outlook to future studies is given. This review illustrates significant opportunities for the macroscopic fabrication of 3D CNF architectures, and therefore inspires new discoveries to promote the practical applications of 3D CNF architectures in electrochemical energy storage fields.