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Natural Polymers Application in Fuel Cell Technology

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "D2: Electrochem: Batteries, Fuel Cells, Capacitors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2023) | Viewed by 2813

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fuel cells are electrochemical, environmentally friendly appliances operating in clean, simple, and efficient conditions, which aim to convert chemical energy into electricity. With the technological surge in the field of information science, electronic miniaturization, and the continuing need for mobility, there have been growing demands for portable energy sources, such as fuel cells. Great achievements are reported on this matter, especially in terms of highly selective proton conductivity, extraordinary mechanical and chemical resistance, lower costs, and environmentally friendly characteristics.

Therefore, we believe that a Special Issue of the most recent research papers dealing with natural polymers as a key material for fuel cell applications can benefit the scientific community.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Proton exchange membranes;
  • Cellulose-based membranes for fuel cell;
  • Proton conductivity;
  • Biobased membranes;
  • Supramolecular architectures for ionic conductivity;
  • Nanocellulose.

Dr. Sergiu Coseri
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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.

Keywords

  • cellulose
  • fuel cell
  • proton-exchange
  • nanocellulose
  • bio-based

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 6254 KiB  
Article
ProDOT-Based Polymers: From Energy Storage to Smart Window Applications
by Adriana-Petronela Chiriac, Catalin-Paul Constantin and Mariana-Dana Damaceanu
Energies 2023, 16(10), 3999; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16103999 - 09 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1457
Abstract
Nowadays, electroactive materials based on conjugated polymers for energy storage and electrochromic window applications attract large interest due to their low cost, accessible synthetic procedures, and interesting electrochemical properties. Herein, we report on the performance of two propylenedioxythiophene (ProDOT)-based polymers having varying length [...] Read more.
Nowadays, electroactive materials based on conjugated polymers for energy storage and electrochromic window applications attract large interest due to their low cost, accessible synthetic procedures, and interesting electrochemical properties. Herein, we report on the performance of two propylenedioxythiophene (ProDOT)-based polymers having varying length and functionality side chains, which were explored to assess their potential for these applications. The polymers were obtained by oxidative chemical polymerization and processed from organic solvents into thin coatings with different molecular assemblies. Preliminary studies on their chemical structure and optical and electrochemical characteristics were performed to evidence how these are influenced by the side chain substituent nature. When tested as electrode material in the three-electrode cell configuration, the synthesized ProDOT-based polymers provided the highest specific areal capacitance of 1.059 mF/cm2 at a scan rate of 10 mV/s and 0.538 mF/cm2 at 0.01 mA/cm2 in cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge–discharge measurements, respectively. One of the polymers showed electrochromic response, with ultrafast color change from deep purple to highly transmissive green/blue. A coloration efficiency of 123 cm2/C and a maximum CE decay of 9.9% after 100 cycles was achieved for this material, which is also able to efficiently store electrical charge, thus demonstrating potential for use in energy storage smart window applications where the energy level can be estimated by simple visual observation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Polymers Application in Fuel Cell Technology)
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22 pages, 4427 KiB  
Article
Optimization of Nanocomposite Films Based on Polyimide–MWCNTs towards Energy Storage Applications
by Adriana Petronela Chiriac, Mariana-Dana Damaceanu, Mihai Asandulesa, Daniela Rusu and Irina Butnaru
Energies 2023, 16(9), 3739; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16093739 - 27 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 998
Abstract
In order to obtain polyimide-based composite materials for energy storage applications, four synthetic methods towards a polyimide matrix with 2 wt.% pristine or acid-functionalized MWCNTs have been developed. The polyimide is derived from a nitrile aromatic diamine and a fluorene-containing dianhydride which allowed [...] Read more.
In order to obtain polyimide-based composite materials for energy storage applications, four synthetic methods towards a polyimide matrix with 2 wt.% pristine or acid-functionalized MWCNTs have been developed. The polyimide is derived from a nitrile aromatic diamine and a fluorene-containing dianhydride which allowed the formation of flexible free-standing nanocomposite films. The films were thoroughly characterized by means of structural identification, morphology, mechanical, thermal and dielectric behavior, as well as the charge storage performance. The obtained data indicated higher homogeneity of the composites loaded with acid-functionalized MWCNTs that enabled significantly increased dielectric properties compared to the matrix. To assess the electrical charge storage capability, cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge–discharge measurements were employed in a three-electrode cell configuration. Due to the higher conductivity of pristine MWCNTs compared to acid-functionalized ones, increased capability to store charges was achieved by the nanocomposites containing these fillers, despite their lower homogeneity. An attempt to increase the carbonaceous material content was made by applying a thin carbon layer onto the nanocomposite film surface, which led to higher capacitance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Polymers Application in Fuel Cell Technology)
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