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A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "D: Energy Storage and Application".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (26 June 2023) | Viewed by 10148

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Prof. Dr. Zhiming Liu

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Guest Editor

College of Electromechanical Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
Interests: application of carbon-based nanomaterials and technologies in battery storage and conversion technologies, such as lithium/sodium/potassium/zinc ion batteries, lithium–sulfur batteries, metal–air batteries, hybrid supercapacitors, flexible energy storage devices, electrocatalysis (hydrogen energy) direction, etc.

Prof. Dr. Yan He

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College of Electromechanical Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
Interests: preparation and applications of functional carbon nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes

Dr. Peng Wang

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College of Electromechanical Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
Interests: electrochemical energy storage materials and devices (metal air battery, lithium sulfur battery, alkali metal ion battery), electrocatalysis, etc.

Dr. Xiaojun Wang

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Guest Editor

College of Electromechanical Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
Interests: advanced energy storage materials and devices, such as sodium-ion batteries, zinc-ion batteries, and hybrid supercapacitors

Prof. Dr. Huifang Li

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Guest Editor

College of Electromechanical Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
Interests: optical materials; photochemical properties; molecular dynamics simulation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With the development of human society and economy, non-renewable resources such as coal, oil, and natural gas are running out, which together with the environmental degradation and ecological damage brought by the combustion of fossil fuels have caused serious problems to sustainable development. Therefore, developing clean and renewable energy becomes particularly important. People have made considerable efforts to alleviate their dependence on fossil fuels through the transformation and utilization of renewable energy sources such as solar energy, hydrogen energy, wind energy, and tidal energy. Furthermore, in order to meet different energy storage requirements, researchers have designed and commercialized various new kinds of advanced energy storage devices, such as lithium-ion batteries, metal–air batteries, zinc-ion batteries, and supercapacitors to replace traditional lead–acid batteries and nickel–metal hydride batteries. Their applications have expanded to diverse fields such as consumer electronics, transportation, and national security. Meanwhile, a range of clean-energy conversion technologies such as solar cells, fuel cells, and electrocatalysis have also boomed in recent years. In brief, when it comes to the above-mentioned energy storage and conversion technologies, the main obstacle is finding appropriate electrode materials, which are capable of providing high energy efficiency, superior kinetics performance, long cycling stability, and so on. However, traditional electrode materials generally show inferior properties due to their intrinsic low conductivity, sluggish kinetics, and large volume changes upon cycling, which greatly hinder their practical application. To address these issues, the most effective strategy is to design and tune the morphology and structure at nanoscale. By virtue of the modification and functionalization of nanomaterials, not only does active material utilization efficiency and reaction kinetics of electrodes increase, but the structural instabilities and surface inactivation can also be mitigated, which greatly improves the overall performance of energy storage and conversion devices.

Prof. Dr. Zhiming Liu
Prof. Dr. Yan He
Dr. Peng Wang
Dr. Xiaojun Wang
Prof. Dr. Huifang Li
Guest Editors

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Keywords

nanomaterials
nanostructures
batteries
supercapacitors
solar cell
catalysis

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 4671 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental Study on the Effects of Applied Electric Field on Liquid Infiltration into Hydrophobic Zeolite

by Yafei Zhang, Jiahua Zhang, Rui Luo and Yihua Dou

Energies 2023, 16(13), 5065; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16135065 - 30 Jun 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 952

Abstract

A nanofluidic energy absorption system (NEAS) is composed of nanoporous material and functional liquid with high energy absorption density. Applying an electric field to adjust the energy absorption characteristics of a nanofluidic system will open broader prospects for its application. In the current work, ZSM-5 zeolite was adopted as the nanoporous material and water, a 25% KCl solution, and a saturated KCl solution were adopted as functional liquids to configure NEASs. Pressure-induced infiltration experiments were carried out to study the infiltration and defiltration characteristics of the NEASs under the action of an applied electric field. The results show that the introduction of an applied electric field can weaken the hydrogen bonds between molecules, thus reducing the equivalent surface tension and contact angle, changing the infiltrability of liquid molecules into the nanopores, and reducing the infiltration pressure of the system. In an electrolyte solution/zeolite system, the anions and cations move close to the two plate electrodes under the action of an external electric field, and the fluid properties in the central zone of the pressure chamber are close to the water/zeolite system. For both an ultra-low conductivity liquid and an electrolyte solution/zeolite system, applying an electric field can effectively improve the relative outflow rate of liquid, thus improving the reusability of the system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanomaterials for Advanced Energy Storage and Conversion)

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10 pages, 2908 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Facile Synthesis of Sea-Urchin-like VN as High-Performance Anode for Lithium-Ion Batteries

by Zhaowei Hu, Weifeng Huang, Huifang Li, Yizhou Zhang, Peng Wang, Xiaojun Wang and Zhiming Liu

Energies 2023, 16(12), 4816; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16124816 - 20 Jun 2023

Viewed by 818

Abstract

Lithium-ion batteries are still the main theme of the contemporary market. Commercial graphite has struggled to meet the demand of high energy density for various electronic products due to its low theoretical capacity. Therefore, exploring for a new anode with high capacity is important. Vanadium nitride has attracted widespread attention due to its high theoretical specific capacity and good chemical/thermal stability. However, vanadium nitride is accompanied by huge volume expansion and nanoparticle agglomeration during the electrochemical reaction, which limits its application. Herein, sea-urchin-like vanadium nitride (SUK-VN) was successfully prepared with a simple hydrothermal method combined with an annealing strategy to boost the actual capacity of the vanadium nitride. The special sea-urchin-like morphology effectively suppresses the agglomeration of vanadium nitride nanoparticles and exposes more reactive sites, which facilitates the electrochemical performance of electrode materials. In the half-cells, sea-urchin-like vanadium nitride exhibits a specific capacity of 361.5 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.1 A g⁻¹ after 60 cycles, and even still achieves a specific capacity of 164.5 with a Coulomb efficiency of approximately 99.9% at 1 A g⁻¹ after 500 cycles. Such a strategy provides the potential to enhance the electrochemical properties of vanadium nitride anodes in terms of solving the nanoparticle agglomeration. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanomaterials for Advanced Energy Storage and Conversion)

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12 pages, 3518 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Pt-Fe-Co Ternary Metal Single Atom Catalyst for toward High Efficiency Alkaline Oxygen Reduction Reaction

by Ruimin Zhang, Ke Wang, Peng Wang, Yan He and Zhiming Liu

Energies 2023, 16(9), 3684; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16093684 - 25 Apr 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1217

Abstract

Single-atom catalysts (SACs) within carbon matrix became one of the most promising alternatives to noble metal-based catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Although SACs have significant benefits in reducing the total catalyst cost, it also has the disadvantages of weak interaction between atoms and poor stability. Hence, there is still much room for improvement for the catalyst activity. In response, we designed a Fe-Co-Pt ternary metal single atom catalyst anchored on covalent organic framework (COF)-derived N-doped carbon nanospheres (Pt, Fe, Co/N-C). Due to effective charge transfer between Pt single atom and neighboring Fe-Co components, an intense electron interaction can be established within the Pt, Fe, Co/N-C catalyst. This is beneficial for enhancing charge transfer efficiency, modulating d electronic structure of Pt center and weakening oxygen intermediate adsorption, thus distinctly accelerating ORR catalytic kinetics. As expected, the half-wave potential of Pt, Fe, Co/N-C was 0.845 V, much higher than those of commercial 20 wt% Pt/C (0.835 V), Pt/N-C (0.79 V) and Fe, Co/N-C (0.81 V) counterparts. Moreover, the Pt, Fe, Co/N-C catalyst demonstrated much-improved cycling stability and methanol tolerance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanomaterials for Advanced Energy Storage and Conversion)

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11 pages, 4018 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Nitrogen-Doped Porous Carbon Nanosheets Based on a Schiff Base Reaction for High-Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries Anode

by Mai Li, Zhi Cheng, Jingrui Sun, Yu Tian, Jiawei He, Yutian Chen, Yang Bai and Zhiming Liu

Energies 2023, 16(4), 1733; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16041733 - 09 Feb 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1145

Abstract

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have already gained significant attention because they have satisfactory energy density and no memory effect, making them one of the most widely used energy storage systems. In commercial LIBs, graphite is widely used as an anode material due to its excellent electrical conductivity and structural stability; however, as they are limited by their restricted theoretical capacity, there is an urgent need for the development of novel anode materials for LIBs. For this purpose, we designed a nitrogen-doped two-dimensional layered porous carbon material (2D-PNC) based on a covalent organic framework (COF) generated by a Schiff base reaction as a precursor. The characterization analysis results show that 2D-PNC is made of stacked two-dimensional ultra-thin carbon sheets with a porous structure. This unique structure is beneficial for electrolyte impregnation and lithium-ion storage, resulting in excellent electrochemical performance of 2D-PNC, which shows a high specific capacity of 573 mAh g⁻¹ after 380 cycles at 0.5 A g⁻¹. The results show that 2D-PNC provides the possibility of a practical application of high-performance lithium-ion batteries. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanomaterials for Advanced Energy Storage and Conversion)

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9 pages, 2839 KiB

Open AccessArticle

One-Step Construction of Co₂P Nanoparticles Encapsulated into N-Doped Porous Carbon Sheets for Efficient Oxygen Evolution Reaction

by Ke Wang, Ruimin Zhang, Yun Guo, Yunjie Liu, Yu Tian, Xiaojun Wang, Peng Wang and Zhiming Liu

Energies 2023, 16(1), 478; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16010478 - 01 Jan 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1448

Abstract

It is critical and challenging to develop high performance transition metal phosphides (TMPs) electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) to address fossil energy shortages. Herein, we report the synthesis of Co₂P embedded in N-doped porous carbon (Co₂P@N-C) via a facile one-step strategy. The obtained catalyst exhibits a lower overpotential of 352 mV for OER at a current density of 10 mA cm⁻² and a small Tafel slope of 84.6 mV dec⁻¹, with long-time reliable stability. The excellent electrocatalytic performance of Co₂P@N-C can be mainly owed to the synergistic effect between the Co₂P and highly conductive N-C substrate, which not only affords rich exposed active sites but also promotes faster charge transfer, thus significantly promoting OER process. This work presents a promising and industrially applicable synthetic strategy for the rational design of high performance nonnoble metal electrocatalysts with enhanced OER performance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanomaterials for Advanced Energy Storage and Conversion)

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12 pages, 1998 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Cobalt Nanocluster-Doped Carbon Micro-Spheres with Multilevel Porous Structure for High-Performance Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

by Wenming Song, Changmeng Xu, Mai Li, Zhi Cheng, Yunjie Liu, Peng Wang and Zhiming Liu

Energies 2023, 16(1), 247; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16010247 - 26 Dec 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1374

Abstract

Lithium-Sulfur batteries (Li-S batteries) have gained great interest in next-generation energy storage systems due to their high energy density and low-cost sulfur cathodes. There is, however, a serious obstacle in the commercial application of Li-S batteries due to the poor kinetics of the redox process at the sulfur cathode and the “shuttle effect” caused by lithium polysulfide (LiPSs). Herein, we report the synthesis of a sulfur cathode host material that can drastically inhibit the “shuttle effect” and catalyze the conversion of LiPSs by a simple electrostatic spray technique, namely, cobalt (Co) nanoclusters doped with N-containing porous carbon spheres (Co/N-PCSs). The results show that Co/N-PCSs has catalytic activity for the transformation of liquid LiPSs to solid Li₂S and alleviates the notorious “shuttle effect.” This new sulfur cathode exhibits stable running for 300 cycles accompanied by a capacity of 650 mAh g⁻¹ at a current density of 1 C, a capacity fading rate of 0.051% per cycle, and a Coulombic efficiency maintained at close to 100%. The results demonstrate that Co/N-PCSs offers the possibility of practical applications for high-performance Li-S batteries. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanomaterials for Advanced Energy Storage and Conversion)

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Review

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18 pages, 6558 KiB

Open AccessReview

Recent Progresses on Vanadium Sulfide Cathodes for Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries

by Enze Hu, Huifang Li, Yizhou Zhang, Xiaojun Wang and Zhiming Liu

Energies 2023, 16(2), 917; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16020917 - 13 Jan 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2510

Abstract

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries are considered one of the promising large-scale energy storage devices of the future because of their high energy density, simple preparation process, efficient and safe discharge process, abundant zinc reserves, and low cost. However, the development of cathode materials with high capacity and stable structure has become one of the key elements to further development of aqueous zinc-ion batteries. Vanadium-based compounds, as one of the cathode materials for aqueous zinc-ion batteries, have various structures and high reversible capacities. Among them, vanadium-based sulfides have higher academic ability, better electrochemical activity, lower ion diffusion potential barrier, and a faster ion diffusion rate. As a result, vanadium-based sulfides have received extensive attention and research. In this review, we summarize the recent progress of vanadium-based sulfides applied in aqueous zinc-ion batteries, highlighting their effective strategies for designing optimized electrochemical performance and the underlying electrochemical mechanisms. Finally, an overview is provided of current vanadium-based sulfides and their prospects, and other perspectives on vanadium-based sulfide cathode materials for aqueous zinc-ion batteries are also discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanomaterials for Advanced Energy Storage and Conversion)

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