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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Catalytic Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 June 2024 | Viewed by 6112

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Prof. Dr. Keng Xu

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Guest Editor

School of Physics, Communication and Electronics, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China
Interests: gas sensing; semiconductor; heterojunctions; metal oxides

Dr. Hongxing Jia

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Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA
Interests: 2D conductive materials; organic synthesis; energy storage; water splitting

Dr. Shun Lu

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Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, China
Interests: electrochemical sensors; fluorescent sensors; bio-imaging; electrical engineering
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Two-dimensional materials create extensive attention due to their novel electronic properties, large surface area, charging capacity, optical, biocompatible, unique physical and chemical properties. Graphene, MXene, and other two-dimensional (2D) materials represent one of the most popular research areas in energy research and environmental catalysis. Many of these properties are an excellent requirement for an application of electrodes for energy storage and conversion. The applications of 2D materials are not just confined to Opto and nano-electronics but also have strong potential in gas, biosensing technologies, and other environmental applications. Additionally, a large surface of 2D materials provides large storage capacity as compared to the bulk materials. The heterostructures based on 2D materials pay significant attention towards optoelectronics, nanoelectronics, and environmental sensing applications. It is my pleasure to invite all the main researchers in the field of 2D materials to submit contributions that will help to identify the main trends for the future of revolutionary technologies in the field of energy conversion and environmental catalysis, which will be published in the Topical Collection. Full papers, communications, and reviews are all welcome. I look forward to receiving your work.

Prof. Dr. Keng Xu
Dr. Hongxing Jia
Dr. Shun Lu
Guest Editors

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Keywords

2D materials
sensor
supercapacitor
energy conversion

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 5757 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Surface-Modified In₂O₃ for High-Throughput Screening of Volatile Gas Sensors in Diesel and Gasoline

by Deqi Zhang, Shenghui Guo, Jiyun Gao, Li Yang, Ye Zhu, Yanjia Ma and Ming Hou

Materials 2023, 16(4), 1517; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16041517 - 11 Feb 2023

Viewed by 818

Abstract

In this paper, with the help of the method of composite materials science, parallel synthesis and high-throughput screening were used to prepare gas sensors with different molar ratios of rare earths and precious metals modified In₂O₃, which could be used to monitor and warn the early leakage of gasoline and diesel. Through high-throughput screening, it is found that the effect of rare earth metal modification on gas sensitivity improvement is better than other metals, especially 0.5 mol% Gd modified In₂O₃ (Gd_0.5In) gas sensor has a high response to 100 ppm gasoline (R_a/R_g = 6.1) and diesel (R_a/R_g = 5) volatiles at 250 °C. Compared with the existing literature, the sensor has low detection concentration and suitable stability. This is mainly due to the alteration of surface chemisorption oxygen caused by the catalysis and modification of rare earth itself. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Materials for Electrocatalysis and Environmental Catalysis)

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12 pages, 4633 KiB

Open AccessArticle

In Situ Synthesis of Hierarchical Flower-like Sn/SnO₂ Heterogeneous Structure for Ethanol GAS Detection

by Ye Zhu, Li Yang, Shenghui Guo, Ming Hou and Yanjia Ma

Materials 2023, 16(2), 792; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16020792 - 13 Jan 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1309

Abstract

In this study, morphogenetic-based Sn/SnO₂ graded-structure composites were created by synthesizing two-dimensional SnO sheets using a hydrothermal technique, self-assembling into flower-like structures with an average petal width of roughly 3 um. The morphology and structure of the as-synthesized samples were characterized by utilizing SEM, XRD, XPS, etc. The gas-sensing characteristics of gas sensors based on the flower-like Sn/SnO₂ were thoroughly researched. The sensor displayed exceptional selectivity, a rapid response time of 4 s, and an ultrahigh response at 250 °C (Ra/Rg = 17.46). The excellent and enhanced ethanol-gas-sensing properties were mainly owing to the three-dimensional structure and the rise in the Schottky barrier caused by the in situ production of tin particles. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Materials for Electrocatalysis and Environmental Catalysis)

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15 pages, 3944 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Characterization of Ionic Transport in Li₂O-(Mn:Fe)₂O₃-P₂O₅ Glasses for Li Batteries

by Young-Hoon Rim, Chang-Gyu Baek and Yong-Suk Yang

Materials 2022, 15(22), 8176; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15228176 - 17 Nov 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1035

Abstract

We present a systematic study of the lithium-ion transport upon the mixed manganese-iron oxide phosphate glasses 3Li₂O-xMn₂O₃-(2-x)Fe₂O₃-3P₂O₅(LM_xF_2−xPO;

0 \leq x \leq 2.0

) [...] Read more.

We present a systematic study of the lithium-ion transport upon the mixed manganese-iron oxide phosphate glasses 3Li₂O-xMn₂O₃-(2-x)Fe₂O₃-3P₂O₅(LM_xF_2−xPO;

0 \leq x \leq 2.0

) proposed for the use in a cathode for lithium secondary batteries. The glasses have been fabricated using a solid reaction process. The electrical characteristics of the glass samples have been characterized by electrical impedance in the frequency range from 100 Hz to 30 MHz and temperature from 30 °C to 240 °C. Differential thermal analysis and X-ray diffraction were used to determine the thermal and structural properties. It has been observed that the dc conductivity decreases, but the activation energies of dc and ac and the glass-forming ability increase with the increasing Mn₂O₃ content in LM_xF_2−xPO glasses. The process of the ionic conduction and the relaxation in LM_xF_2−xPO glasses are determined by using power–law, Cole–Cole, and modulus methods. The Li⁺ ions migrate via the conduction pathway of the non-bridging oxygen formed by the depolymerization of the mixed iron–manganese–phosphate network structure. The mixed iron–manganese content in the LM_xF_2−xPO glasses constructs the sites with different depths of the potential well, leading to low ionic conductivity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Materials for Electrocatalysis and Environmental Catalysis)

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16 pages, 2055 KiB

Open AccessArticle

D-π-A-Type Pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine-Based Hole-Transporting Materials for Perovskite Solar Cells: Effect of the Functionalization Position

by Fatiha Bouihi, Bruno Schmaltz, Fabrice Mathevet, David Kreher, Jérôme Faure-Vincent, Ceren Yildirim, Ahmed Elhakmaoui, Johann Bouclé, Mohamed Akssira, François Tran-Van and Mohamed Abarbri

Materials 2022, 15(22), 7992; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15227992 - 11 Nov 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2228

Abstract

Donor–acceptor (D–A) small molecules are regarded as promising hole-transporting materials for perovskite solar cells (PSCs) due to their tunable optoelectronic properties. This paper reports the design, synthesis and characterization of three novel isomeric D-π-A small molecules PY1, PY2 and PY3. The chemical structures of the molecules consist of a pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine acceptor core functionalized with one 3,6-bis(4,4′-dimethoxydiphenylamino)carbazole (3,6-CzDMPA) donor moiety via a phenyl π-spacer at the 3, 5 and 7 positions, respectively. The isolated compounds possess suitable energy levels, sufficient thermal stability (T_d > 400 °C), molecular glass behavior with T_g values in the range of 127–136 °C slightly higher than that of the reference material Spiro-OMeTAD (126 °C) and acceptable hydrophobicity. Undoped PY1 demonstrates the highest hole mobility (3 × 10⁻⁶ cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹) compared to PY2 and PY3 (1.3 × 10⁻⁶ cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹). The whole isomers were incorporated as doped HTMs in planar n-i-p PSCs based on double cation perovskite FA_0.85Cs_0.15Pb(I_0.85Br_0.15)₃. The non-optimized device fabricated using PY1 exhibited a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 12.41%, similar to that obtained using the reference, Spiro-OMeTAD, which demonstrated a maximum PCE of 12.58% under the same conditions. The PY2 and PY3 materials demonstrated slightly lower performance in device configuration, with relatively moderate PCEs of 10.21% and 10.82%, respectively, and slight hysteresis behavior (−0.01 and 0.02). The preliminary stability testing of PSCs is also described. The PY1-based device exhibited better stability than the device using Spiro-OMeTAD, which could be related to its slightly superior hydrophobic character preventing water diffusion into the perovskite layer. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Materials for Electrocatalysis and Environmental Catalysis)

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