Block copolymers for supercapacitors, dielectric capacitors and batteries

Block copolymer-based energy storage emerges as an active interdisciplinary research field. This topical review presents a survey of the recent advances in block copolymers for energy storage. In the first section, we introduce the background of electrochemical energy storage and block copolymer thermodynamics. In the second section, we discuss the current understandings of block copolymer chemistry, processing, pore size, and ionic conductivity. In the third section, we summarize the design principles and state-of-the-art applications of block copolymers in three energy storage devices, namely, supercapacitors, dielectric capacitors, and batteries. Lastly, we present our perspectives on future possible breakthroughs and associated challenges that are essential to propel the development of advanced block copolymers for energy storage. We expect the review to encourage innovative studies on integrating block copolymers into energy storage applications.