The nature of the electrode–electrolyte interface has an impact on the performance and durability of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The initial electrolyte’s thermodynamic instability at the anode–electrolyte interface in LIBs results in the formation of a passivation layer, called solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). The initial dense and intact layer allows ${\mathrm{Li}}^{+}$ transport and restricts electron tunneling, thus preventing electrolyte decomposition and ensuring the electrochemical stability of a battery. However, the growth of this layer can reduce the availability of active lithium and electrolyte, and ultimately lead to an irreversible battery capacity fade. Investigating the transport phenomena of lithium ions within SEI is crucial for understanding its formation and growth. Nonetheless, accurately describing all relevant mechanisms is challenging due to its complex and multiscale nature. An overview of current computational efforts to study ${\mathrm{Li}}^{+}$ transport within SEI is given in this article, ranging from electronic/atomistic scale simulations to macroscopic models. The drawbacks and advantages of the proposed numerical approaches are summarized along with the obstacles that need to be overcome to obtain accurate experimental data, identified on the basis of the most recent literature evidence. We highlight collaboration gaps between modeling and experimental approaches, as well as the urgent need for new multiscale models, to gain a better understanding of such a crucial transport phenomenon.

The use of innovative methods for the design of heating, cooling, and heat storage devices has been mainly oriented in the last decade toward the use of nanofluids, metal foams coupled with working fluids, or phase change materials (PCMs). A network of nine Italian universities achieved significant results and innovative ideas on these topics by developing a collaborative project in the last four years, where different approaches and investigation techniques were synergically employed. They evaluated the quantitative extent of the enhancement in the heat transfer and thermal performance of a heat exchanger or thermal energy storage system with the combined use of nanofluids, metal foams, and PCMs. The different facets of this broad research program are surveyed in this article. Special focus is given to the comparison between the mesoscopic to macroscopic modeling of heat transfer in metal foams and nanofluids, as well as to the experimental data collected and processed in the development of the research.