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Design, Synthesis and Applications of Advanced Materials towards “Low-Carbon” Goals

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2023) | Viewed by 11660

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha, China
Interests: battery; mineral materials; electrodes; high-rate; prussia white; coal-based materials

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Guest Editor
School of Resource Environment and Safety Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan, China
Interests: solid waste recycling; crystal control; rare earth extraction; solvent extraction; flotation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
College of Food and Drug, Luoyang Normal University, Luoyang, China
Interests: multifunctional nanomaterials; multifunctional carbon nanomaterials; multifunctional silica nanomaterials
School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410017, China
Interests: flotation of oxide minerals; mineral crystal chemistry; flotation reagent molecular design; mineral/reagent/water interfacial science
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Triggered by serious CO2 pollution, a series of active investigations have been carried out on reaching the “Low-Carbon” goals. Of course, by only limiting the emissions of CO2, the ambitious goals have hardly been realized. Recently, there have been many promising proposals, mainly consisting of reducing the application of fossil fuels with the development of clean energy, improving the processing efficiency whilst decreasing energy consumption and so on. Therefore, the combination of short materials processing and optimized advanced materials is highly desirable to achieve the “Low-Carbon” goals. 

This Special Issue will focus on the design, synthesis and application of advanced materials towards the “Low-Carbon” goal in mineral processing and advanced energy materials. We welcome all contributions that report on experimental and/or theoretical studies aiming for a greater understanding and the improvement of advanced materials with considerable “Low-Carbon” advantages. Potential topics include but are not limited to: 

  • Shorting Mineral Process: about magnetic/electric/gravitational/floatation separations for improving the utilization of new-type minerals for reducing the production of CO2;
  • Designing Flotations Agents: capturing/precipitating/dispersing agents with relative theoretical calculations for reducing energy consumption with CO2 emissions;
  • High-Treating Solid Waste: red mud, coal ash, waste residues for the neutralization of CO2;
  • Advanced Energy-Storage Materials: electrodes, electrolytes and separators for metal-ions battery (LIBs, SIBs, KIBs and capacitors) for the utilization of clear energy;
  • Recycling High-Value Elements: the cycling of waste batteries (about metal elements and graphite) for the protection of the ecological environment.

Prof. Dr. Peng Ge
Dr. Qingjun Guan
Dr. Yueheng Qi
Prof. Dr. Li Wang
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • theoretical calculation
  • flotation reagents
  • short processing
  • mineral engineering
  • energy materials

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 17418 KiB  
Article
Elucidating the Role of Surface Ce4+ and Oxygen Vacancies of CeO2 in the Direct Synthesis of Dimethyl Carbonate from CO2 and Methanol
by Guoqiang Zhang, Yuan Zhou, Yanlin Yang, Tiantian Kong, Ya Song, Song Zhang and Huayan Zheng
Molecules 2023, 28(9), 3785; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28093785 - 28 Apr 2023
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 2362
Abstract
Cerium dioxide (CeO2) was pretreated with reduction and reoxidation under different conditions in order to elucidate the role of surface Ce4+ and oxygen vacancies in the catalytic activity for direct synthesis of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) from CO2 and methanol. [...] Read more.
Cerium dioxide (CeO2) was pretreated with reduction and reoxidation under different conditions in order to elucidate the role of surface Ce4+ and oxygen vacancies in the catalytic activity for direct synthesis of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) from CO2 and methanol. The corresponding catalysts were comprehensively characterized using N2 physisorption, XRD, TEM, XPS, TPD, and CO2-FTIR. The results indicated that reduction treatment promotes the conversion of Ce4+ to Ce3+ and improves the concentration of surface oxygen vacancies, while reoxidation treatment facilitates the conversion of Ce3+ to Ce4+ and decreases the concentration of surface oxygen vacancies. The catalytic activity was linear with the number of moderate acidic/basic sites. The surface Ce4+ rather than oxygen vacancies, as Lewis acid sites, promoted the adsorption of CO2 and the formation of active bidentate carbonates. The number of moderate basic sites and the catalytic activity were positively correlated with the surface concentration of Ce4+ but negatively correlated with the surface concentration of oxygen vacancies. The surface Ce4+ and lattice oxygen were active Lewis acid and base sites respectively for CeO2 catalyst, while surface oxygen vacancy and lattice oxygen were active Lewis acid and base sites, respectively, for metal-doped CeO2 catalysts. This may result from the different natures of oxygen vacancies in CeO2 and metal-doped CeO2 catalysts. Full article
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15 pages, 4243 KiB  
Article
Designing Hollow Carbon Sphere with Hierarchal Porous for Na-S Systems with Ultra-Long Cycling Stabilities
by Gongke Wang, Yumeng Chen, Shaohui Yuan and Peng Ge
Molecules 2022, 27(18), 5880; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27185880 - 10 Sep 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1957
Abstract
Captured by the low-cost and high theoretical specific capacity, Na-S systems have garnered much attention. However, their intermediate products (dissolved polysulfide) are always out of control. Considering the excellent space confinements and conductivity, they have been regarded as promising candidates. Herein, the hollow [...] Read more.
Captured by the low-cost and high theoretical specific capacity, Na-S systems have garnered much attention. However, their intermediate products (dissolved polysulfide) are always out of control. Considering the excellent space confinements and conductivity, they have been regarded as promising candidates. Herein, the hollow spheres with suitable thickness shell (~20 nm) are designed as hosting materials, accompanied by in-depth complexing. Benefitting from the abundant micro-pores (mainly about conical-type and slits-type pores < 1.0 nm), the active S4 molecules are successfully filled in the pores through vacuum tube sealing technology, effectively avoiding the process from solid S8 to liquid Na2S6. As cathode for Na-S systems, their capacity could remain at 920 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C after 100 cycles. Even at 10.0 C, the capacity still remained at about 310 mAh g−1 after 7000 cycles. Supported by the detailed kinetic behaviors, the improvement of ions diffusion behaviors is noted, bringing about the effective thorough redox reactions. Moreover, the enhanced surface-controlling behaviors further induces the evolution of rate properties. Therefore, their stable phase changing is further confirmed through in situ resistances. Thus, the work is anticipated to offer significant design for hosting carbon materials and complexing manners. Full article
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Review

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16 pages, 2397 KiB  
Review
Isolating Fe-O2 Intermediates in Dioxygen Activation by Iron Porphyrin Complexes
by Xiaoyan Lu, Shuang Wang and Jian-Hua Qin
Molecules 2022, 27(15), 4690; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27154690 - 22 Jul 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3025
Abstract
Dioxygen (O2) is an environmentally benign and abundant oxidant whose utilization is of great interest in the design of bioinspired synthetic catalytic oxidation systems to reduce energy consumption. However, it is unfortunate that utilization of O2 is a significant challenge [...] Read more.
Dioxygen (O2) is an environmentally benign and abundant oxidant whose utilization is of great interest in the design of bioinspired synthetic catalytic oxidation systems to reduce energy consumption. However, it is unfortunate that utilization of O2 is a significant challenge because of the thermodynamic stability of O2 in its triplet ground state. Nevertheless, nature is able to overcome the spin state barrier using enzymes, which contain transition metals with unpaired d-electrons facilitating the activation of O2 by metal coordination. This inspires bioinorganic chemists to synthesize biomimetic small-molecule iron porphyrin complexes to carry out the O2 activation, wherein Fe-O2 species have been implicated as the key reactive intermediates. In recent years, a number of Fe-O2 intermediates have been synthesized by activating O2 at iron centers supported on porphyrin ligands. In this review, we focus on a few examples of these advances with emphasis in each case on the particular design of iron porphyrin complexes and particular reaction environments to stabilize and isolate metal-O2 intermediates in dioxygen activation, which will provide clues to elucidate structures of reactive intermediates and mechanistic insights in biological processes. Full article
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16 pages, 33811 KiB  
Review
A Review on Regenerating Materials from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries
by Rui Xu, Wei Xu, Jinggang Wang, Fengmei Liu, Wei Sun and Yue Yang
Molecules 2022, 27(7), 2285; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27072285 - 31 Mar 2022
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3741
Abstract
Recycling spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have attracted increasing attention for their great significance in environmental protection and cyclic resources utilization. Numerous studies focus on developing technologies for the treatment of spent LIBs. Among them, the regeneration of functional materials from spent LIBs has [...] Read more.
Recycling spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have attracted increasing attention for their great significance in environmental protection and cyclic resources utilization. Numerous studies focus on developing technologies for the treatment of spent LIBs. Among them, the regeneration of functional materials from spent LIBs has received great attention due to its short process route and high value-added product. This paper briefly summarizes the current status of spent LIBs recycling and details the existing processes and technologies for preparing various materials from spent LIBs. In addition, the benefits of material preparation from spent LIBs, compared with metals recovery only, are analyzed from both environmental and economic aspects. Lastly, the existing challenges and suggestions for the regeneration process are proposed. Full article
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