About this Research Topic

Background

Building efficient energy storage devices is vital for the versatile, clean, and efficient use of renewable energy. Among various energy storage systems, hydrogen storage and electrochemical energy storage attract increasing attention due to their great potential for large-scale applications. Hierarchical materials play an important role in tailoring the practical performance of various energy storage systems because of their unique integration of materials with different sizes, phases, and pores. The combination of various types of nanomaterials and structural features with different length scales induces the fabrication of materials that outperform the properties of their constitutive components.

In order to maximize the energy storage capacity of various energy storage materials, considerable effort has been made to design hierarchical structures. The purpose of this Research Topic is to showcase the latest development of functional materials with hierarchical structures to solve the key issues in the storage of renewable energy, including hydrogen storage and electrochemical energy storage. Moreover, although the knowledge behind the adoption of hierarchical materials to improve energy storage performance has been documented to some extent, more needs to be done to achieve a better understanding of the advanced chemistry induced via designing unique hierarchical structures. Therefore, novel scientific insights into the design of hierarchical structures towards high energy storage performance are also needed.

Original research and review papers involving the design of hierarchical structures to achieve advanced energy storage performance are welcomed with a focus on:
• Design and preparation of functional materials with unique hierarchical structure
• Exploration of hierarchical structures towards enhanced hydrogen storage performance
• Exploration of hierarchical structures towards enhanced electrochemical energy storage performance
• New chemistries behind the application of hierarchical structures for advanced energy storage performance

Keywords: Energy storage, hydrogen storage, electrochemistry, hierarchical structure, nanostructure

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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