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Nanomaterials for Energy Storage and Conversion
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Nanomaterials for Energy Storage and Conversion

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2024 | Viewed by 5975

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Tao Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Materials Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 211106, China
Interests: PEM fuel cell; Li-air battery; photoelectrocatalysis; water decomposition; CO2 reduction
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Xianguang Meng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Materials Science and Engineering, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan 066008, China
Interests: photocatalysis; thermocatalysis; photoelectrocatalysis; ORR; CO2 reduction

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Since entering the 21st century, the traditional energy represented by the industrial revolution has been consumed by fossil fuels for more than a century. This is comparatively a very small period of time for human civilization, but it has greatly changed the Earth's environment in a negative way. Therefore, the new energy storage and conversion technology have become the inevitable choice for the pursuit of sustainable development in the 21st century. Environmentally friendly energy storage and conversion technologies require scientists to design new functional materials, of which nanomaterials are one of the most likely candidates. The design and preparation of nanomaterials and their application in the conversion of light/electricity/heat/chemical energy have become the focus of scholars around the world. This Special Issue welcomes contributions from scholars on recent advances in nanomaterials for energy storage and conversion.

Dr. Tao Wang
Prof. Dr. Xianguang Meng
Guest Editors

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. Molecules 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 2700 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

  • photocatalysis
  • electricatalysis
  • thermocatalysis
  • photovoltaics applications
  • Li/Na/K ion battery
  • fuel cell
  • metal-air battery

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 3026 KiB  
Article
Porous α-Fe2O3 Hollow Rods/Reduced Graphene Oxide Composites Templated by MoO3 Nanobelts for High-Performance Supercapacitor Applications
by Gangqiang Zhou, Guo Liang, Wei Xiao, Liangliang Tian, Yanhua Zhang, Rong Hu and Yi Wang
Molecules 2024, 29(6), 1262; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29061262 - 12 Mar 2024
Viewed by 540
Abstract
Porous α-Fe2O3 hollow rods/reduced graphene oxide (α-Fe2O3 HR/RGO) composites with unique morphological characteristics and a high surface area are prepared through a template strategy, which was systematically studied and found to have outstanding supercapacitive properties. When served [...] Read more.
Porous α-Fe2O3 hollow rods/reduced graphene oxide (α-Fe2O3 HR/RGO) composites with unique morphological characteristics and a high surface area are prepared through a template strategy, which was systematically studied and found to have outstanding supercapacitive properties. When served as active material in a three-electrode setup, the optimized α-Fe2O3 HR/RGO-30, comprised 76.5 wt% α-Fe2O3 and 23.2 wt% RGO, was able to offer the largest specific capacitance of 426.3 F g−1, an excellent rate capability as well as satisfactory cycle life with capacitance retention of 87.7% and Coulombic efficiency of 98.9% after continuously charging/discharging at 10 A g−1 for beyond 10,000 cycles. Such electrochemical behaviors of the α-Fe2O3 HR/RGO-30 electrode can rival or even surpass those of many Fe2O3-based electrodes documented in the previous literature. Later, a symmetric supercapacitor cell of α-Fe2O3 HR/RGO-30//α-Fe2O3 HR/RGO-30 was fabricated. The assembled device offers the maximum energy density of 18.7 Wh kg−1, and also exhibits commendable rate capability, and features stable cycling durability (with capacitance retention of 83.2% together with a Coulombic efficiency of 99.3% after 10,000-cycle charge/discharge at 5 A g−1). These notable electrochemical performances enable the α-Fe2O3 HR/RGO-30 composite to be a high-potential material for advanced energy storage systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanomaterials for Energy Storage and Conversion)
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11 pages, 344 KiB  
Article
Band Gap and Polarization Tuning of Ion-Doped XNbO3 (X = Li, K, Na, Ag) for Photovoltaic and Energy Storage Applications
by Iliana N. Apostolova, Angel T. Apostolov and Julia M. Wesselinowa
Molecules 2024, 29(5), 1011; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29051011 - 26 Feb 2024
Viewed by 504
Abstract
Using a microscopic model and Green’s function theory, we have calculated the band gap energy and the polarization of LiNbO3, KNbO3, AgNbO3, and NaNbO3. The effects by substitution of different ions at A or/and B [...] Read more.
Using a microscopic model and Green’s function theory, we have calculated the band gap energy and the polarization of LiNbO3, KNbO3, AgNbO3, and NaNbO3. The effects by substitution of different ions at A or/and B sites for doping concentration x = 0–0.1 are studied. The observed different tuning of these properties is discussed for the possibility of photovoltaic and energy storage applications of these compounds. They should have a large polarization and narrow band gap. It is shown that the band gap of all substances decreases or increases with increasing Fe or Zn dopant at the Nb site, respectively. But the substitution, for example, of Ba at the A site, leads to different behaviors of these materials. The polarization increases by Ba doping at the A site and decreases by Fe doping at the Nb site. For example, by Ba/Fe, Ba/Ni co-doping (Ba at the A site and Fe, Ni at the B site) we observe both an enhanced polarization and reduced band gap. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanomaterials for Energy Storage and Conversion)
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15 pages, 5800 KiB  
Article
Preparation of Surface Dispersed WO3/BiVO4 Heterojunction Arrays and Their Photoelectrochemical Performance for Water Splitting
by Xiaoli Fan, Qinying Chen, Fei Zhu, Tao Wang, Bin Gao, Li Song and Jianping He
Molecules 2024, 29(2), 372; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29020372 - 11 Jan 2024
Viewed by 789
Abstract
In this work, a surface dispersed heterojunction of BiVO4-nanoparticle@WO3-nanoflake was successfully prepared by hydrothermal combined with solvothermal method. We optimized the morphology of the WO3 nanoflakes and BiVO4 nanoparticles by controlling the synthesis conditions to get the [...] Read more.
In this work, a surface dispersed heterojunction of BiVO4-nanoparticle@WO3-nanoflake was successfully prepared by hydrothermal combined with solvothermal method. We optimized the morphology of the WO3 nanoflakes and BiVO4 nanoparticles by controlling the synthesis conditions to get the uniform BiVO4 loaded on the surface of WO3 arrays. The phase composition and morphology evolution with different reaction precursors were investigated in detail. When used as photoanodes, the WO3/BiVO4 composite exhibits superior activity with photocurrent at 3.53 mA cm−2 for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation, which is twice that of pure WO3 photoanode. The superior surface dispersion structure of the BiVO4-nanoparticle@WO3-nanoflake heterojunction ensures a large effective heterojunction area and relieves the interfacial hole accumulation at the same time, which contributes to the improved photocurrents together with the stability of the WO3/BiVO4 photoanodes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanomaterials for Energy Storage and Conversion)
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18 pages, 5739 KiB  
Article
Sodium Storage Properties of Carbonaceous Flowers
by Xiaolei Sun and Feng Luo
Molecules 2023, 28(12), 4753; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28124753 - 14 Jun 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 951
Abstract
As a promising energy storage system, sodium-ion batteries face challenges related to the stability and high-rate capability of their electrode materials, especially carbon, which is the most studied anode. Previous studies have demonstrated that three-dimensional architectures composed of porous carbon materials with high [...] Read more.
As a promising energy storage system, sodium-ion batteries face challenges related to the stability and high-rate capability of their electrode materials, especially carbon, which is the most studied anode. Previous studies have demonstrated that three-dimensional architectures composed of porous carbon materials with high electrical conductivity have the potential to enhance the storage performance of sodium-ion batteries. Here, high-level N/O heteroatoms-doped carbonaceous flowers with hierarchical pore architecture are synthesized through the direct pyrolysis of homemade bipyridine-coordinated polymers. The carbonaceous flowers could provide effective transport pathways for electrons/ions, thus allowing for extraordinary storage properties in sodium-ion batteries. As a consequence, sodium-ion battery anodes made of carbonaceous flowers exhibit outstanding electrochemical features, such as high reversible capacity (329 mAh g−1 at 30 mA g−1), superior rate capability (94 mAh g−1 at 5000 mA g−1), and ultralong cycle lifetimes (capacity retention rate of 89.4% after 1300 cycles at 200 mA g−1). To better investigate the sodium insertion/extraction-related electrochemical processes, the cycled anodes are experimentally analyzed with scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The feasibility of the carbonaceous flowers as anode materials was further investigated using a commercial Na3V2(PO4)3 cathode for sodium-ion full batteries. All these findings indicate that carbonaceous flowers may possess great potential as advanced materials for next-generation energy storage applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanomaterials for Energy Storage and Conversion)
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13 pages, 4281 KiB  
Article
Magnetic CoFe2O4 and NiFe2O4 Induced Self-Assembled Graphene Nanoribbon Framework with Excellent Properties for Li-Ion Battery
by Xiyu Zhao, Chunyang He, Qiujv Bai, Xiangwen Miao, Cheng Cao and Tianli Wu
Molecules 2023, 28(10), 4069; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28104069 - 12 May 2023
Viewed by 1146
Abstract
A magnetically induced self-assembled graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) method is reported to synthesize MFe2O4/GNRs (M = Co,Ni). It is found that MFe2O4 compounds not only locate on the surface of GNRs but anchor on the interlayers of [...] Read more.
A magnetically induced self-assembled graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) method is reported to synthesize MFe2O4/GNRs (M = Co,Ni). It is found that MFe2O4 compounds not only locate on the surface of GNRs but anchor on the interlayers of GNRs in the diameter of less than 5 nm as well. The in situ growth of MFe2O4 and magnetic aggregation at the joints of GNRs act as crosslinking agents to solder GNRs to build a nest structure. Additionally, combining GNRs with MFe2O4 helps to improve the magnetism of the MFe2O4. As an anode material for Li+ ion batteries, MFe2O4/GNRs can provide high reversible capacity and cyclic stability (1432 mAh g−1 for CoFe2O4/GNRs and 1058 mAh g−1 for NiFe2O4 at 0.1 A g−1 over 80 cycles). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanomaterials for Energy Storage and Conversion)
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Review

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33 pages, 10992 KiB  
Review
Biomass-Derived Flexible Carbon Architectures as Self-Supporting Electrodes for Energy Storage
by Dehong Yang, Peng Xu, Chaofan Tian, Sen Li, Tao Xing, Zhi Li, Xuebin Wang and Pengcheng Dai
Molecules 2023, 28(17), 6377; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28176377 - 31 Aug 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1499
Abstract
With the swift advancement of the wearable electronic devices industry, the energy storage components of these devices must possess the capability to maintain stable mechanical and chemical properties after undergoing multiple bending or tensile deformations. This circumstance has expedited research efforts toward novel [...] Read more.
With the swift advancement of the wearable electronic devices industry, the energy storage components of these devices must possess the capability to maintain stable mechanical and chemical properties after undergoing multiple bending or tensile deformations. This circumstance has expedited research efforts toward novel electrode materials for flexible energy storage devices. Nonetheless, among the numerous materials investigated to date, the incorporation of metal current collectors or insulative adhesives remains requisite, which entails additional costs, unnecessary weight, and high contact resistance. At present, biomass-derived flexible architectures stand out as a promising choice in electrochemical energy device applications. Flexible self-supporting properties impart a heightened mechanical performance, obviating the need for additional binders and lowering the contact resistance. Renewable, earth-abundant biomass endows these materials with cost-effectiveness, diversity, and modulable chemical properties. To fully exploit the application potential in biomass-derived flexible carbon architectures, understanding the latest advancements and the comprehensive foundation behind their synthesis assumes significance. This review delves into the comprehensive analysis of biomass feedstocks and methods employed in the synthesis of flexible self-supporting carbon electrodes. Subsequently, the advancements in their application in energy storage devices are elucidated. Finally, an outlook on the potential of flexible carbon architectures and the challenges they face is provided. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanomaterials for Energy Storage and Conversion)
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