To meet the demand of large-scale energy storage, new materials that are abundant, inexpensive, and more environmentally friendly, and can deliver higher energy and power density will need to be discovered. Efforts are being made towards eliminating or reducing the amount of toxic and / or expensive transition metals (such as Co and Ni) in the electrode materials. The specific objective of this project is to design and develop advanced functional materials with complex nanostructures which are far superior to the transition-metal-based compounds currently used in today’s Li-ion batteries. These materials can be applied to not only traditional lithium-based batteries but also new rechargeable battery systems which are safer and cheaper such as sodium-, zinc-, and other multivalent-based systems. The findings from this project will address a broad range of research challenges, from new materials discovery to energy storage. Our project will uncover the relationships between materials properties, electrode architectures, and electrochemical mechanisms.