Ion-confined transport supercapacitors: The encounter with energy electronics

Abstract

Based on the “ion-confined transport” strategy, supercapacitor-diodes and switchable supercapacitors as new ion-type devices have emerged with promising applications in fields such as smart grids, energy storage chips, ionic logic circuits, and neuromorphic computing. In this review, we first clarify the mechanisms of “ion-confined transport” strategies including pore confinement, interfacial confinement and field-effect confinement, and then comprehensively summarize the development of supercapacitor-diodes and switchable supercapacitors. Subsequently, building upon the physical principles of ion-confined transport in supercapacitors, the inevitable emergence of two new types of ion-type devices, supercapacitor-memristors and supercapacitor-chips, are predicted. Finally, open issues for novel supercapacitors with ion-confined transport properties are proposed, as well as their potential applications in multifunctional energy storage, next-generation information technology, and especially integrated energy electronics.