Topic: Bridging Material Design to Device Realities: Advancing Electrochemical Energy Storage

Background and Rationale

Electrochemical energy storage is recognized as a crucial interdisciplinary field integrating principles of materials science, electrochemistry, and device engineering. A core challenge lies in bridging nanoscale material design with practical manufacturing requirements, while ensuring high-performance electrochemical properties. Recent investigations have demonstrated that structural features such as morphology, composition, and interface quality play a decisive role in ion transport, charge transfer, and long-term cycling stability. Consequently, significant research interest has been directed toward nanomaterials and hybrid architectures that synergistically combine electronic conductivity, ionic accessibility, and mechanical robustness through controlled atomic-to-mesoscale integration. These integrated material systems establish new paradigms for electrochemical performance metrics, while providing fundamental insights into structure-property relationships across multiple length scales, ultimately accelerating the development of next-generation energy storage technologies.

This Special Issue aims to highlight progress at the intersection of nanomaterials development, electrochemical mechanisms, advanced characterization, and data-guided design. We welcome interdisciplinary studies that deepen understanding of structure–property relationships and explore how materials design can be better aligned with device-level demands in electrochemical energy storage systems.

Scope and Topics

This Special Issue invites original research, reviews, and perspectives in the broad domain of electrochemical energy storage, with a focus on nanoscale material systems and structure–function correlations. Topics include, but are not limited to:

Nanomaterials and Material Design

· Nanostructured electrodes and heterostructures

· Interface engineering and surface chemistry

· Defect control, doping, and phase modulation

· Composite and hybrid material systems

Electrochemical Storage Systems

· Lithium-, sodium-, potassium-, and multivalent-ion batteries

· Solid-state and gel-polymer electrolyte systems

· Supercapacitors and hybrid capacitive storage

· Emerging aqueous or flexible energy storage devices

Advanced Characterization and Mechanistic Understanding

· In-situ and operando electrochemical characterization

· Microscopy and spectroscopy of dynamic interfaces

· Reaction kinetics and interfacial charge dynamics

· Correlative studies linking structure to performance

Theoretical and Data-Driven Approaches

· First-principles calculations and multiscale modeling

· Machine learning for materials discovery and property prediction

· High-throughput screening of electrode/electrolyte candidates

· AI-assisted design of architectures and operating conditions

Scalability, Integration, and Long-Term Performance

· Electrochemical stability and degradation mechanisms

· Scalable fabrication and device-level engineering

· Real-world testing environments and performance benchmarks

· Sustainability and material criticality considerations

Significance and Impact

This Special Issue explores the critical interrelationships among nanostructure design, electrochemical mechanisms, and device performance to promote cross-scale understanding through integrative research. By encouraging collaboration between theoretical modeling, synthetic strategies, advanced diagnostics, and device-level engineering, it aims to establish more coherent frameworks for electrochemical energy storage systems. We believe these efforts will play a pivotal role in advancing scalable energy technologies with meaningful impact on future electrochemical applications.

Structure engineering, electrochemical science, advanced characterization, data-driven materials design, artificial intelligence