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Electrocatalysis towards Sustainable Future
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Electrocatalysis towards Sustainable Future

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2022) | Viewed by 6830

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Shahid Zaman

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Physics, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), Trois-Rivières G8Z 4M3, Canada
Interests: electrocatalysis; carbon based materials; metal organic frameworks; fuel cells
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Aimal Khan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Wuhan Textile University, Wuhan, China
Interests: heterogeneous catalysis for environmental applications; nanomaterial synthesis; characterization of catalyst; catalytic oxidation; oxidation-reduction; environmental pollutant control; water and soil remediation; biochar; wastewater treatment; advanced oxidation processes

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Electrocatalysis is crucial in addressing global energy and environmental concerns. Electrocatalysis is used in cutting-edge renewable energy conversion and storage technologies, such as batteries, fuel cells, and supercapacitors. As a result, the introduction of new concepts, materials, methods, and applications has propelled its successful development; as proof, scientific publications have more than doubled in recent years. Major efforts have been committed to material research in order to increase electrocatalytic performance; yet, the practical applications, which are the ultimate goal of electrocatalysis in terms of its scientific impact, are not yet well established in most energy technologies. The idea of Electrocatalysis for a Sustainable Future envisions the opportunity to showcase current achievements in the practical implementation of electrocatalytic materials and methods for energy and environmental upgradation.

This Special Issue will cover the following and related topics: i) synthesis and applications of electrocatalysts with definable composition/structure; ii) heterogeneous electrocatalysis in batteries, fuel cells, and supercapacitors; iii) analysis of degradation and mitigation strategies for improved durability; and iv) scaleup synthesis towards commercial applications.

Dr. Shahid Zaman
Dr. Aimal Khan
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

  • electrocatalysis
  • heterogenous catalyst
  • structure activity relationship
  • batteries
  • fuel cells
  • supercapacitors
  • electrolyzers

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 2756 KiB  
Article
In Situ Nitrogen Functionalization of 2D-Ti3C2Tx-MXenes for High-Performance Zn-Ion Supercapacitor
by Abdul Mateen, Mohd Zahid Ansari, Qasim Abbas, Ahmed Muneeb, Ahmad Hussain, Elsayed tag Eldin, Fatimah Mohammed Alzahrani, Norah Salem Alsaiari, Shafaqat Ali and Muhammad Sufyan Javed
Molecules 2022, 27(21), 7446; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27217446 - 2 Nov 2022
Cited by 32 | Viewed by 2952
Abstract
Zinc (Zn) ion supercapacitors (ZISCs) have attracted considerable attention as a viable energy storage technology because they are cost-effective, safe, and environmentally friendly. However, cathode materials with suitable properties are rare and need to be explored. In this regard, metal carbides (MXenes) are [...] Read more.
Zinc (Zn) ion supercapacitors (ZISCs) have attracted considerable attention as a viable energy storage technology because they are cost-effective, safe, and environmentally friendly. However, cathode materials with suitable properties are rare and need to be explored. In this regard, metal carbides (MXenes) are a good choice for capacitive energy storage, but they exhibit low capacitance. The energy storage performance of MXenes can be bossed using functionalization with heteroatom doping, e.g., nitrogen (N), to simultaneously modify ZISCs’ fundamental characteristics and electrochemical properties. Herein, we present an in-situ N-functionalization of Ti3C2Tx-MXene via a hydrothermal reaction with urea (denoted as N-Ti3C2Tx-MXene). N-functionalization into Ti3C2Tx-MXene raised Ti3C2Tx-MXene’s interlayer spacing and boosted the Zn-ion storage in 1 M ZnSO4 electrolyte. The N-Ti3C2Tx-MXene electrode delivered an excellent specific capacitance of 582.96 F/g at 1 A/g and retained an outstanding cycle stability of 94.62% after 5000 cycles at 10 A/g, which is 1.8 times higher than pristine Ti3C2Tx-MXene at identical conditions. Moreover, the N-Ti3C2Tx-MXene//Zn device demonstrated a maximum capacitance of 153.55 F/g at 1 A/g, retained 92% of its initial value after 5000 cycles, and its Coulombic efficiency was ~100%. This strategy considerably reduced Ti3C2Tx-MXene nanosheet restacking and aggregation and enhanced electrochemical performance. Further, this research elucidated N-Ti3C2Tx-MXene’s charge–storage process and offered a fresh approach to the rational design of novel electrode materials for ZISCs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electrocatalysis towards Sustainable Future)
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14 pages, 8066 KiB  
Article
Sol-Gel Synthesized High Entropy Metal Oxides as High-Performance Catalysts for Electrochemical Water Oxidation
by Muhammad Asim, Akbar Hussain, Safia Khan, Javeria Arshad, Tehmeena Maryum Butt, Amina Hana, Mehwish Munawar, Farhat Saira, Malika Rani, Arshad Mahmood and Naveed Kausar Janjua
Molecules 2022, 27(18), 5951; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27185951 - 13 Sep 2022
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3250
Abstract
Hexanary high-entropy oxides (HEOs) were synthesized through the mechanochemical sol-gel method for electrocatalytic water oxidation reaction (WOR). As-synthesized catalysts were subjected to characterization, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR) analysis, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). All the oxide systems exhibited sharp [...] Read more.
Hexanary high-entropy oxides (HEOs) were synthesized through the mechanochemical sol-gel method for electrocatalytic water oxidation reaction (WOR). As-synthesized catalysts were subjected to characterization, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR) analysis, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). All the oxide systems exhibited sharp diffraction peaks in XRD patterns indicating the defined crystal structure. Strong absorption between 400–700 cm−1 in FTIR indicated the formation of metal-oxide bonds in all HEO systems. WOR was investigated via cyclic voltammetry using HEOs as electrode platforms, 1M KOH as the basic medium, and 1M methanol (CH3OH) as the facilitator. Voltammetric profiles for both equiatomic (EHEOs) and non-equiatomic (NEHEOs) were investigated, and NEHEOs exhibited the maximum current output for WOR. Moreover, methanol addition improved the current profiles, thus leading to the electrode utility in direct methanol fuel cells as a sequential increase in methanol concentration from 1M to 2M enhanced the OER current density from 61.4 to 94.3 mA cm−2 using NEHEO. The NEHEOs comprising a greater percentage of Al, ([Al0.35(Mg, Fe, Cu, Ni, Co)0.65]3O4) displayed high WOR catalytic performance with the maximum diffusion coefficient, D° (10.90 cm2 s−1) and heterogeneous rate constant, k° (7.98 cm s−1) values. These primary findings from the EC processes for WOR provide the foundation for their applications in high-energy devices. Conclusively, HEOs are proven as novel and efficient catalytic platforms for electrochemical water oxidation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electrocatalysis towards Sustainable Future)
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