Gels for Energy Generation, Conversion and Storage Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Gels have been widely studied and applied in bio-related fields and are also highly desirable in energy generation, conversion, and storage devices. The term 'gel' refers to a cross-linked network that can have properties ranging from soft and weak to hard and robust. They also have excellent electronic, optoelectronic, and electrochemical properties. In the energy field, numerous advantages are offered by gel materials. Several hybrid materials can be developed using gel materials since they have an interconnected gel network that supports other active materials (e.g., metal oxide, metal sulfide, etc.) and allow a second network to be introduced.

This Special Issue is focused on the synthesis and characterization of diverse gel-based materials for energy generation (solar cell, fuel cell), energy conversion (ammonia production, CO₂ capture, etc.), and energy storage (supercapacitors, batteries) applications. It will be our pleasure to receive advanced studies and reviews on the development and applications of gel materials as well as their precursors in the field of energy including, but not limited to, the following topics:

(1) Hybrid polymer gel can replace the TiO₂ active layer in the photoelectrode of DSSCs. In addition, polymer gel electrolyte (PGE), formed by entrapping liquid electrolyte into polymer networks, is the best choice in DSSCs.

(2) Hybrid polymer gels are popular as a fuel cell membrane material. Hybrid polymer hydrogels are advantageous in terms of electrocatalysis of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and oxygen evolution reaction (OER), etc.

(3) Hybrid polymer gels are useful as electrolyte, electrode, and binder for all types of batteries such as Li⁺, Na⁺, vanadium, hybrid ion, Li–O₂, and Li salt batteries, as well as for flexible supercapacitors. Moreover, metal–alkoxide-based chelate gel and organic polymeric gel precursors are commonly used for synthesizing diverse advanced cathode and anode materials for batteries in the sol–gel method.

(4) Gel materials for hydrogen, ethanol, ammonia (NH₃), H₂O₂ production, CO₂ capture, and NOx removal.

Dr. Mobinul Islam
Dr. Madagonda M Vadiyar
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. Gels is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2100 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.

• polymer gel electrolyte
• polymer gel electrode
• polymer gel binder
• polymer gel membrane
• photoelectrode
• hybrid polymer hydrogels
• gel precursor
• sol–gel method
• gel electrocatalyst
• CO₂ capture
• ammonia production
• NOx removal
• supercapacitor