Nanomaterials are expected to play important roles in the realization of our future society, expected to contribute to the realization of a sustainable society through ensuring smart materials to enable sustainability of water, air, and materials; and energy materials and devices to enable renewable energy production and energy saving. These have enormous industrial/commercial ramifications.

Our society needs to mitigate or ideally reverse global climate change caused by anthropogenetic CO₂ emissions resulting from our fossil-fuel-fed society. Electrification, which encourages and enables a circular society is an important part of the solution. It leads to urgent needs for new nanotechnologies and nanomaterials for improved solar cells, batteries, electrolyzers, and the fuel cell components that are needed to support a hydrogen economy. As a prime example, Li-ion batteries, for which the Nobel Prize was awarded in 2019, are the most popular rechargeable batteries today and have become the main power source not only for everyday needs such as portable electronic devices but also for larger-scale applications that will become indispensable society in the very near future.

Although enormous effort has been devoted to improving the electrochemical performance of a large number of Li-based materials, today’s rechargeable batteries have energy densities that remain below theoretical values, and still have far-from-optimal longevity and safety. None of the current rechargeable batteries can meet all the challenging requirements for our energy-storage needs, so the race is on to develop next-generation Li-based systems that encapsulate the desired characteristics of high energy density, low cost, and improved safety. Success in this arena would have tremendous impact on a wide range of technologies ranging from EVs (land and marine), to drones, airplanes, robots, and grid-scale energy storage.

The use of nanotechnology─which has progressed tremendously and continues to establish new ground─is vital to address the significant challenges that next-generation batteries present. These materials challenges remain whether the batteries operate on the basis of typical intercalation chemistry or conversion chemistry. Some of these challenges -as will be covered in this presentation - lie in the development of (a) nanomaterials that can withstand significant volume changes and bond rearrangements during conversion redox reactions, (b) nanocoatings that form protective layers on either the positive or negative electrode to stabilize the electrode–electrolyte interface at either high or low voltage, and (c) nanotechnologies to engineer solid–solid interfaces in all-solid-state batteries. Nanotechnology enables materials scientists to bring novel functions to all battery components that cannot be achieved by conventional approaches. This topic will be the central focus of this presentation.