Nanoscale Strategies to Enhance the Energy Storage Capacity of Polymeric Dielectric Capacitors: Review of Recent Advances

New materials hold the key to fundamental advances in energy conversion and storage, both of which are vital in order to meet the challenge of global warming and the finite nature of fossil fuels. Nanomaterials in particular offer unique properties or combinations of properties as electrodes and electrolytes in a range of energy devices. This review describes some recent developments in the discovery of nanoelectrolytes and nanoelectrodes for lithium batteries, fuel cells and supercapacitors. The advantages and disadvantages of the nanoscale in materials design for such devices are highlighted.

The mixing of polymers and nanoparticles is opening pathways for engineering flexible composites that exhibit advantageous electrical, optical, or mechanical properties. Recent advances reveal routes to exploit both enthalpic and entropic interactions so as to direct the spatial distribution of nanoparticles and thereby control the macroscopic performance of the material. For example, by tailoring the particle coating and size, researchers have created self-healing materials for improved sustainability and self-corralling rods for photovoltaic applications. A challenge for future studies is to create hierarchically structured composites in which each sublayer contributes a distinct function to yield a mechanically integrated, multifunctional material.

Piezoelectricity and pyroelectricity, traditionally encountered in certain single crystals and ceramics, have now also been documented in a number of polymers. Recently, one such polymer-poly(vinylidene fluoride)-and some of its copolymers have been shown to be ferroelectric as well. The extraordinary molecular and supermolecular structural requirements for ferroelectric behavior in polymers are discussed in detail, with particular emphasis on poly(vinylidene fluoride). Piezoelectric, pyroelectric, and ferroelectric properties are also briefly reviewed, as are some promising applications of such polymers.