Electrochemical energy storage devices under particular service environments: Achievements, challenges, and perspective

With the increasing exhaustion of the traditional fossil energy and ongoing enhanced awareness of environment protection, research works on electrochemical energy storage (EES) devices have been indispensable. Now, a significant amount of works (design and fabrication of electrode materials, electrolytes, separators, etc.) devoted to improving energy and power density, safety, and service life of EES devices are under way to meet the demand for various applications. However, besides the intrinsic factors, the service environments of EES devices, such as ultra-low or ultra-high temperatures, external magnetic field, external stress, severe radiation, and other factors (electric field, light, etc.) in practical applications, will greatly affect their performance, particularly when applied to aerospace, submarine, polar scientific research, and so on. Yet, research works on EES devices in the extreme environments are limited, and enormous efforts are highly needed to overcome the existing fundamental and technological barriers. Herein, we mainly focus on the EES devices under particular service environments. On the one hand, we present a comprehensive analysis into the inherent effects of external service environments on electrochemical behaviors of EES devices and underlying effect mechanisms. On the other hand, a summary of recent progress in EES devices under particular service environments, including systematic experiments and simulations, is provided along with the well-established strategies/methodologies toward enhanced electrochemical properties under these external environments. Finally, current challenges and future perspectives are proposed. The review is of enormous significance for the development of advanced EES devices especially under particular service environments.