An emerging concept to reduce kinetic limitations in host materials is the direct tuning of lattice parameters, such as the interlayer spacing of layered and two-dimensional materials, thereby modifying the nanoconfinement geometry within the host. Such tuning can be achieved via different functionalization approaches, including the insertion of pillars/spacer molecules into the host material structure. It has been hypothesized that the resulting increased interlayer spacing in a layered intercalation host electrode can increase the ionic diffusion due to a reduced activation energy barrier for ion hopping between interstitial vacancy sites, thereby allowing increased intercalation rates.