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Abstract The ever‐increasing demand for clean sustainable energy has driven tremendous worldwide investment in the design and exploration of new active materials for energy conversion and energy‐storage devices. Tailoring the surfaces of and interfaces between different materials is one of the surest and best studied paths to enable high‐energy‐density batteries and high‐efficiency solar cells. Metal‐halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are one of the most promising photovoltaic materials due to their unprecedented development, with their record power conversion efficiency (PCE) rocketing beyond 25% in less than 10 years. Such progress is achieved largely through the control of crystallinity and surface/interface defects. Rechargeable batteries (RBs) reversibly convert electrical and chemical potential energy through redox reactions at the interfaces between the electrodes and electrolyte. The (electro)chemical and optoelectronic compatibility between active components are essential design considerations to optimize power conversion and energy storage performance. A focused discussion and critical analysis on the formation and functions of the interfaces and interphases of the active materials in these devices is provided, and prospective strategies used to overcome current challenges are described. These strategies revolve around manipulating the chemical compositions, defects, stability, and passivation of the various interfaces of RBs and PSCs.
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This content will become publicly available on March 1, 2026
Multi-material additive manufacturing of energy storage and conversion devices: Recent progress and future prospects
The ever-increasing energy demand has highlighted the need for sustainable, low-carbon, and multi-functional energy solutions. Recently, multi-material additive manufacturing (MMAM) has become an emerging processing approach to prototype energy storage and conversion devices by enabling the fabrication of complex systems in a single, streamlined process while offering design freedom to customize end-product properties at precise, user-defined patterns and geometries. Moreover, it provides opportunities to fine-tune interfaces and material compositions at the microscale, opening new avenues for next-generation energy storage and conversion devices. As MMAM is still in its early stages, a comprehensive understanding of the interplay between material chemistry, processing methods, and device design is fundamental to fully realize its potential for developing high-performance energy materials. This review proposes a framework to bridge the gaps between the fundamental principles of processing physics and the practical implementation of various MMAM techniques in fabricating advanced energy storage and conversion devices, highlighting research challenges and future opportunities.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2418915
- PAR ID:
- 10599333
- Publisher / Repository:
- pubs.aip.org
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Applied Physics Reviews
- Volume:
- 12
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 1931-9401
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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