Multishelled Transition Metal-Based Microspheres: Synthesis and Applications for Batteries and Supercapacitors

Abstract

With the rapid growth of material innovations, multishelled hollow nanostructures are of tremendous interest due to their unique structural features and attractive physicochemical properties. Continued effort has been made in the geometric manipulation, composition complexity, and construction diversity of this material, expanding its applications. Energy storage technology has benefited from the large surface area, short transport path, and excellent buffering ability of the nanostructures. In this work, the general synthesis of multishelled hollow structures, especially with architecture versatility, is summarized. A wealth of attractive properties is also discussed for a wide area of potential applications based on energy storage systems, including Li-ion/Na-ion batteries, supercapacitors, and Li-S batteries. Finally, the emerging challenges and outlook for multishelled hollow structures are mentioned.

Keywords: batteries; energy storage; hollow spheres; supercapacitors; transition metal oxides.