Batteries are key elements in the energy transition and the digitalization of society. As energy demand grows for portable devices, mobility, and stationary applications, the need for increasingly diverse technologies—each designed to meet specific needs such as energy density, stability, flexibility, environmental sustainability, and integration into the final application while keeping high safety standards. The design of devices able to meet all these criteria represent a challenge, claiming for the development of new strategies, materials, and combination of materials.
With the publication “The wide range of battery systems: From micro- to structural batteries, from biodegradable to high performance batteries” (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmatsci.2025.101506) within the journal Progress in Materials Science (Impact Factor 33.6, 2023 Journal Impact Factor, Journal Citation Reports (Clarivate Analytics, 2024)) the main state of the art advancements and findings are discussed. Chiara Ferrara, Piercarlo Mustarelli, Riccardo Ruffo from the Department of Materials Science are among the authors of the study, presenting a wide overview on the state of the art with respect to the materials, geometries, performance of the main batteries’ technologies and offers a critical analysis of the current challenges together with a roadmap for future developments.