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Advanced Materials for Energy Harvesting, Storage and Conversion

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2024 | Viewed by 4404

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Simingnan Road No. 422, Xiamen 361005, China
Interests: transmission electron microscopy and spectroscopy; dielectric ceramics; multiferroic materials; electrocatalysts; batteries; X-ray diffraction

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Guest Editor
School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China
Interests: piezo-/(anti-)ferroelectric materials; piezoelectric single crystals and ceramics; relaxor ferroelectricity; functional materials and devices
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With the ever-increasing energy consumption, energy crisis would sweep across the globe and seriously hinder the economy development if necessary steps were not taken. For this reason, intensive attention has been paid to make efficient use of various energy sources such as wind, geothermal, biomass, hydropower, and to produce clean and renewable energies such as hydrogen via chemical fuels via photocatalytic water splitting, solar cells, etc. For the natural energy sources, most of them are intermittent and thus are difficult to be harnessed and stored for usage. Therefore, materials that can realize such energy harvesting, storage and conversion are the key components for modern electric/electronic systems/devices applications. Nowadays, these functional materials suffer from several common drawbacks, e.g., low efficiency, low reliability, and high cost, which hinder the potentially practical application in devices. In this context, we launch this special issue, aiming to pole the efforts together to push advancement in this direction. Specifically, the collection includes articles, letters, reviews, progress and perspectives about the fabrication process, the high performance, the fundamental mechanisms, the novel structural and engineering strategies, the relationship between structures and macroscopic properties of advanced materials used for energy harvesting, storage and conversion. The state-of-the-art energy materials include dielectric materials for energy storage, ferroelectrics, piezoelectrics, thermoelectrics, photocatalysis, photovoltaics, fuel cells, batteries and supercapacitors. Other energy-related functional materials are also welcome.

Dr. Xian-Kui Wei
Dr. Zenghui Liu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 2195 KiB  
Article
Mn-Rich NMC Cathode for Lithium-Ion Batteries at High-Voltage Operation
by Arjun Kumar Thapa, Brandon W. Lavery, Ram K. Hona, Nawraj Sapkota, Milinda Kalutara Koralalage, Ayodeji Adeniran, Babajide Patrick Ajayi, Muhammad Akram Zain, Hui Wang, Thad Druffel, Jacek B. Jasinski, Gamini U. Sumanasekera, Mahendra K. Sunkara and Masaki Yoshio
Energies 2022, 15(22), 8357; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15228357 - 09 Nov 2022
Viewed by 2692
Abstract
Development in high-rate electrode materials capable of storing vast amounts of charge in a short duration to decrease charging time and increase power in lithium-ion batteries is an important challenge to address. Here, we introduce a synthesis strategy with a series of composition-controlled [...] Read more.
Development in high-rate electrode materials capable of storing vast amounts of charge in a short duration to decrease charging time and increase power in lithium-ion batteries is an important challenge to address. Here, we introduce a synthesis strategy with a series of composition-controlled NMC cathodes, including LiNi0.2Mn0.6Co0.2O2(NMC262), LiNi0.3Mn0.5Co0.2O2(NMC352), and LiNi0.4Mn0.4Co0.2O2(NMC442). A very high-rate performance was achieved for Mn-rich LiNi0.2Mn0.6Co0.2O2 (NMC262). It has a very high initial discharge capacity of 285 mAh g−1 when charged to 4.7 V at a current of 20 mA g−1 and retains the capacity of 201 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles. It also exhibits an excellent rate capability of 138, and 114 mAh g−1 even at rates of 10 and 15 C (1 C = 240 mA g−1). The high discharge capacities and excellent rate capabilities of Mn-rich LiNi0.2Mn0.6Co0.2O2 cathodes could be ascribed to their structural stability, controlled particle size, high surface area, and suppressed phase transformation from layered to spinel phases, due to low cation mixing and the higher oxidation state of manganese. The cathodic and anodic diffusion coefficient of the NMC262 electrode was determined to be around 4.76 × 10−10 cm2 s−1 and 2.1 × 10−10 cm2 s−1, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials for Energy Harvesting, Storage and Conversion)
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11 pages, 4231 KiB  
Article
Structural Evolution and Enhanced Piezoelectric Activity in Novel Lead-Free BaTiO3-Ca(Sn1/2Zr1/2)O3 Solid Solutions
by Ke Zhang, Pan Gao, Chang Liu, Xin Chen, Xinye Huang, Yongping Pu and Zenghui Liu
Energies 2022, 15(20), 7795; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15207795 - 21 Oct 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1147
Abstract
In this study, a series of solid solutions of (1−x)BaTiO3-xCa(Sn1/2Zr1/2)O3 (abbreviated as (1−x)BT-xCSZ, x = 0.00–0.15) ceramics have been prepared by the conventional solid-state reaction method to search [...] Read more.
In this study, a series of solid solutions of (1−x)BaTiO3-xCa(Sn1/2Zr1/2)O3 (abbreviated as (1−x)BT-xCSZ, x = 0.00–0.15) ceramics have been prepared by the conventional solid-state reaction method to search for high performance lead-free piezoelectric materials. The structural evolution, microstructure, and piezoelectric properties are investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicate that the phase symmetry strongly depends on the CSZ content. A tetragonal phase is well-maintained in the compositions of 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.03, and coexistence of tetragonal and cubic phases is obtained in the range of x = 0.06–0.09, beyond which a pure cubic phase becomes stable. More importantly, a significantly enhanced piezoelectric coefficient of d33 = 388 ± 9 pC/N is attained in the composition of x = 0.06 in the MPB region, where a tetragonal ferroelectric phase and an ergodic relaxor phase with average cubic symmetry coexist. Based on the analysis of crystal structure and dielectric properties, a temperature-composition phase diagram consisting of four phase regions is established. This study indicates that the lead-free BT-CSZ binary system has great potential for use in electromechanical transducer applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials for Energy Harvesting, Storage and Conversion)
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