Chemical Bonding Engineering: Insights into Physicochemical Performance Optimization for Energy-Storage/Conversion

Abstract

Chemical bonding is fundamental in determining the physicochemical properties of the materials. Establishing correlations between chemical bonding and these properties may help identify potential materials with unique advantages or guide the composition design for improving the performance of functional materials. However, there is a lack of literature addressing this issue. This Account examines how chemical bonding engineering affects the performance optimization of four widely used or investigated functional materials that are applied in energy-storage/conversion fields, including thermoelectrics, piezoelectrics, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), and catalysts. The key issues of these materials and correlations between chemical bonding and properties are briefly summarized.