Vertically aligned two-dimensional materials-based thick electrodes for scalable energy storage systems

Together with the blooming of portable smart devices and electric vehicles in the last decade, electrochemical energy storage (EES) devices capable of high-energy and high-power storage are urgently needed. Two-dimensional (2D) materials, benefiting from the short solid-state diffusion distance, are well recognized to possess excellent electrochemical performance. However, liquid diffusion, the rate-determining process in thick electrodes, is notably slow in 2D materials-based electrodes stemming from their stacking during electrode processing, which considerably limits their applications for high energy storage. To fully exploit intrinsic advantages of 2D materials for scalable energy storage devices, this review summarizes several important strategies, ranging from assembly to template methods, to fabricate vertically aligned 2D materials-based electrodes. We further discuss the advantages and challenges of these methods in terms of key features of thick electrodes and illustrate the design principles for high-energy/power devices.