Nanomaterials for stretchable energy storage and conversion devices

With the continuous progress of the energy use and demand, functionalized energy storage and conversion devices (ESCDs) are urgently needed. In the meantime, stretchable ESCDs are attracting intensive attention due to their great potential for specific applications, such as wearable electronics, an electronic skin, implant electronics, and other collapsible gadgets. Design and synthesis of nanomaterials are at the core in the development of highly stretchable supercapacitors, batteries, and solar cells for such applications. This chapter first provides a brief summary of research development on the stretchable ESCDs in the past decade through various strategies of device design and manufacturing approach. After that, the focuses are on the advanced engineering of nanomaterials as active materials to achieve the stretchability of these ESCDs while maintaining a stable and functional performance. Finally, some of the challenges and the important directions in the areas of design and synthesis of nanomaterial facing the stretchable ESCDs are discussed concisely.