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Nanomaterials
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Design and Development of Hybrid Nanostructures for Energy Storage Application
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Design and Development of Hybrid Nanostructures for Energy Storage Application

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanocomposite Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 18989

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Yuezhong Meng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
Interests: biodegradable plastics; chemically utilization of carbon dioxide; catalysis; energy storage and conversion
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Extensive research has been conducted on nanomaterials for energy storage over the past few decades. Alongside the development of new energy, various advanced hybrid nanostructures with excellent performances have been explored and adopted in lithium batteries, fuel cells, solar cells, supercapacitors, piezoelectric materials, etc., leading to significant improvement in device performance and physicochemical properties. Recent advances in nanomaterials for energy devices have integrated multifunctional ordered nanostructures and introduced new technologies to study the mechanisms underlying their enhancing performances. Such progress and materials will aid the development of energy storage.

We are seeking original research and review articles that will stimulate the continuing efforts to design and develop ingenious hybrid nanomaterials for highly efficient devices, as well as broadening our understanding of the mechanisms of energy storage processes. This Special Issue aims to cover a wide range of subjects, from hybrid nanomaterial synthesis to the design and characterization of energy devices and technologies with nanomaterial integration.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Design and preparation of novel hybrid nanostructures for improved energy harvesting and conversion efficiencies;
  • Nanomaterials or nanocomposites development, synthesis, and fabrication for secondary batteries including Li-ion, Li-S, Li-air, Na-ion, K-ion, Al-air, Zn-air, and Mg-air batteries;
  • Hybrid nanostructures used in fuel cells, solar cells, supercapacitors, and piezoelectric materials;
  • Novel nanotextured/nanostructured materials for efficient energy devices;
  • Nanomaterial-based technologies for energy storage and conversion.

Prof. Dr. Yuezhong Meng
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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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. Nanomaterials 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 2900 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

  • nanomaterials design
  • hybrid nanomaterials and nanostructures
  • energy conversion
  • nanomaterials synthesis and characterizations
  • nanotechnology for energy devices
  • electrochemistry

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 2670 KiB  
Article
A Novel High Temperature Fuel Cell Proton Exchange Membrane with Nanoscale Phase Separation Structure Based on Crosslinked Polybenzimidazole with Poly(vinylbenzyl chloride)
by Erli Qu, Min Xiao, Dongmei Han, Sheng Huang, Zhiheng Huang, Wei Liu, Shuanjin Wang and Yuezhong Meng
Nanomaterials 2023, 13(2), 266; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13020266 - 7 Jan 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2348
Abstract
A semi-aromatic polybenzimidazole (DPBI) is synthesized via polycondensation of decanedioic acid (DCDA) and 3,3-diaminobenzidine (DAB) in a mixed phosphorus pentoxide/methanesulfonic acid (PPMA) solvent. Ascribing to in-situ macromolecular crosslinker of ploly((vinylbenzyl chloride) (PVBC), a robust crosslinked DPBI membrane (DPBI-xPVBC, x refers to [...] Read more.
A semi-aromatic polybenzimidazole (DPBI) is synthesized via polycondensation of decanedioic acid (DCDA) and 3,3-diaminobenzidine (DAB) in a mixed phosphorus pentoxide/methanesulfonic acid (PPMA) solvent. Ascribing to in-situ macromolecular crosslinker of ploly((vinylbenzyl chloride) (PVBC), a robust crosslinked DPBI membrane (DPBI-xPVBC, x refers to the weight percentage of PVBC in the membrane) can be obtained. Comprehensive properties of the DPBI and DPBI-xPVBC membranes are investigated, including chemical structure, antioxidant stability, mechanical strength, PA uptake and electrochemical performances. Compared with pristine DPBI membrane, the PA doped DPBI-xPVBC membranes exhibit excellent antioxidative stability, high proton conductivity and enhanced mechanical strength. The PA doped DPBI-10PVBC membrane shows a proton conductivity of 49 mS cm−1 at 160 °C without humidification. Particularly, it reveals an enhanced H2/O2 single cell performance with the maximum peak power density of 405 mW cm−2, which is 29% higher than that of pristine DPBI membrane (314 mW cm−2). In addition, the cell is very stable in 50 h, indicating the in-situ crosslinked DPBI with a macromolecular crosslinker of PVBC is an efficient way to improve the overall performance of HT-PEMs for high performance HT-PEMFCs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design and Development of Hybrid Nanostructures for Energy Storage Application)
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13 pages, 4277 KiB  
Article
Mussel-Inspired Surface Modification of α-Zirconium Phosphate Nanosheets for Anchoring Efficient and Reusable Ultrasmall Au Nanocatalysts
by Limiao Lin, Yi Wen, Lixi Li, Ying Tan, Peng Yang, Yaoheng Liang, Yisheng Xu, Huawen Hu and Yonghang Xu
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(19), 3339; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12193339 - 25 Sep 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1876
Abstract
The shortage of powerful functionalities on scalable α-zirconium phosphate (ZrP) materials blocks the facile preparation of highly dispersed and immobilized metal nanocatalysts. We herein present a mild and facile mussel-inspired strategy based on polydopamine (PDA) for the surface modification of ZrP, and hence, [...] Read more.
The shortage of powerful functionalities on scalable α-zirconium phosphate (ZrP) materials blocks the facile preparation of highly dispersed and immobilized metal nanocatalysts. We herein present a mild and facile mussel-inspired strategy based on polydopamine (PDA) for the surface modification of ZrP, and hence, the generation of powerful functionalities at a high density for the straightforward reduction of chloroauric acid to Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) and the immobilization of AuNPs. The resulting ternary ZrP@PDA/Au exhibited ultra-small AuNPs with a particle size of around 6.5 nm, as estimated based on TEM images. Consequently, the ZrP@PDA/Au catalyst showed significant activity in the catalytic conversion of 4-nitrophenol (4NP) to 4-aminophenol (4AP), a critical transformation reaction in turning the hazard into valuable intermediates for drug synthesis. The PDA was demonstrated to play a critical role in the fabrication of the highly efficient ZrP@PDA/Au catalyst, far outperforming the ZrP/Au counterpart. The turnover frequency (TOF) achieved by the ZrP@PDA/Au reached as high as 38.10 min−1, much higher than some reported noble metal-based catalysts. In addition, the ZrP@PDA/Au showed high stability and reusability, of which the catalytic efficiency was not significantly degraded after prolonged storage in solution. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design and Development of Hybrid Nanostructures for Energy Storage Application)
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14 pages, 11822 KiB  
Article
Direct Z-Scheme Heterojunction Catalysts Constructed by Graphitic-C3N4 and Photosensitive Metal-Organic Cages for Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution
by Chuying Lv, Su Qin, Yang Lei, Xinao Li, Jianfeng Huang and Junmin Liu
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(5), 890; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12050890 - 7 Mar 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3120
Abstract
The demand for improving the activity, durability, and recyclability of metal-organic cages (MOCs) that work as photocatalytic molecular devices in a homogeneous system has promoted research to combine them with other solid materials. An M2L4 type photosensitive metal-organic cage MOC-Q2 [...] Read more.
The demand for improving the activity, durability, and recyclability of metal-organic cages (MOCs) that work as photocatalytic molecular devices in a homogeneous system has promoted research to combine them with other solid materials. An M2L4 type photosensitive metal-organic cage MOC-Q2 with light-harvesting ligands and catalytic Pd2+ centers has been synthesized and further heterogenized with graphitic carbon nitride to prepare a robust direct Z-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst for visible-light-driven hydrogen generation. The optimized g-C3N4/MOC-Q2 (0.7 wt%) sample exhibits a high H2 evolution activity of 6423 μmol g−1 h−1 in 5 h, and a total turnover number of 39,695 after 10 h, significantly superior to the bare MOC-Q2 used in the homogeneous solution and the comparison sample Pd/g-C3N4/L-4. The enhanced performances of g-C3N4/MOC-Q2 can be ascribed to its direct Z-scheme heterostructure, which effectively improves the charge separation and transfer efficiency. This work presents a rational approach of designing a binary photocatalytic system through combing micromolecular MOCs with heterogeneous semiconductors for water splitting. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design and Development of Hybrid Nanostructures for Energy Storage Application)
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17 pages, 3380 KiB  
Article
Polybenzimidazole Confined in Semi-Interpenetrating Networks of Crosslinked Poly (Arylene Ether Ketone) for High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane
by Erli Qu, Junqiao Jiang, Min Xiao, Dongmei Han, Sheng Huang, Zhiheng Huang, Shuanjin Wang and Yuezhong Meng
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(5), 773; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12050773 - 25 Feb 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2287
Abstract
As a traditional high-temperature proton exchange membrane (HT-PEM), phosphoric acid (PA)-doped polybenzimidazole (PBI) is often subject to severe mechanical strength deterioration owing to the “plasticizing effect” of a large amount of PA. In order to address this issue, we fabricated the HT-PEMs with [...] Read more.
As a traditional high-temperature proton exchange membrane (HT-PEM), phosphoric acid (PA)-doped polybenzimidazole (PBI) is often subject to severe mechanical strength deterioration owing to the “plasticizing effect” of a large amount of PA. In order to address this issue, we fabricated the HT-PEMs with a crosslinked network of poly (arylene ether ketone) to confine polybenzimidazole in semi-interpenetration network using self-synthesized amino-terminated PBI (PBI-4NH2) as a crosslinker. Compared with the pristine linear poly [2,2′-(p-oxdiphenylene)-5,5′-benzimidazole] (OPBI) membrane, the designed HT-PEMs (semi-IPN/xPBI), in the semi-IPN means that the membranes with a semi-interpenetration structure and x represent the combined weight percentage of PBI-4NH2 and OPBI. In addition, they also demonstrate an enhanced anti-oxidative stability and superior mechanical properties without the sacrifice of conductivity. The semi-IPN/70PBI exhibits a higher proton conductivity than OPBI at temperatures ranging from 80 to 180 °C. The HT-PEMFC with semi-IPN/70PBI exhibits excellent H2/O2 single cell performance with a power density of 660 mW cm−2 at 160 °C with flow rates of 250 and 500 mL min−1 for dry H2 and O2 at a backpressure of 0.03 MPa, which is 18% higher than that of OPBI (561 mW cm−2) under the same test conditions. The results indicate that the introduction of PBI containing crosslinked networks is a promising approach to improve the comprehensive performance of HT-PEMs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design and Development of Hybrid Nanostructures for Energy Storage Application)
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Review

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51 pages, 5554 KiB  
Review
Experimental Exploration of Hybrid Nanofluids as Energy-Efficient Fluids in Solar and Thermal Energy Storage Applications
by Humaira Yasmin, Solomon O. Giwa, Saima Noor and Mohsen Sharifpur
Nanomaterials 2023, 13(2), 278; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13020278 - 9 Jan 2023
Cited by 32 | Viewed by 3383
Abstract
In response to the issues of environment, climate, and human health coupled with the growing demand for energy due to increasing population and technological advancement, the concept of sustainable and renewable energy is presently receiving unprecedented attention. To achieve these feats, energy savings [...] Read more.
In response to the issues of environment, climate, and human health coupled with the growing demand for energy due to increasing population and technological advancement, the concept of sustainable and renewable energy is presently receiving unprecedented attention. To achieve these feats, energy savings and efficiency are crucial in terms of the development of energy-efficient devices and thermal fluids. Limitations associated with the use of conventional thermal fluids led to the discovery of energy-efficient fluids called “nanofluids, which are established to be better than conventional thermal fluids. The current research progress on nanofluids has led to the development of the advanced nanofluids coined “hybrid nanofluids” (HNFs) found to possess superior thermal-optical properties than conventional thermal fluids and nanofluids. This paper experimentally explored the published works on the application of HNFs as thermal transport media in solar energy collectors and thermal energy storage. The performance of hybrid nano-coolants and nano-thermal energy storage materials has been critically reviewed based on the stability, types of hybrid nanoparticles (HNPs) and mixing ratios, types of base fluids, nano-size of HNPs, thermal and optical properties, flow, photothermal property, functionalization of HNPs, magnetic field intensity, and orientation, and φ, subject to solar and thermal energy storage applications. Various HNFs engaged in different applications were observed to save energy and increase efficiency. The HNF-based media performed better than the mono nanofluid counterparts with complementary performance when the mixing ratios were optimized. In line with these applications, further experimental studies coupled with the influence of magnetic and electric fields on their performances were research gaps to be filled in the future. Green HNPs and base fluids are future biomaterials for HNF formulation to provide sustainable, low-cost, and efficient thermal transport and energy storage media. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design and Development of Hybrid Nanostructures for Energy Storage Application)
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29 pages, 6360 KiB  
Review
Recent Progress and Perspective: Na Ion Batteries Used at Low Temperatures
by Peiyuan Li, Naiqi Hu, Jiayao Wang, Shuchan Wang and Wenwen Deng
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(19), 3529; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12193529 - 9 Oct 2022
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 5110
Abstract
With the rapid development of electric power, lithium materials, as a rare metal material, will be used up in 50 years. Sodium, in the same main group as lithium in the periodic table, is abundant in earth’s surface. However, in the study of [...] Read more.
With the rapid development of electric power, lithium materials, as a rare metal material, will be used up in 50 years. Sodium, in the same main group as lithium in the periodic table, is abundant in earth’s surface. However, in the study of sodium-ion batteries, there are still problems with their low-temperature performance. Its influencing factors mainly include three parts: cathode material, anode material, and electrolyte. In the cathode, there are Prussian blue and Prussian blue analogues, layered oxides, and polyanionic-type cathodes in four parts, as this paper discusses. However, in the anode, there is hard carbon, amorphous selenium, metal selenides, and the NaTi2(PO4)3 anode. Then, we divide the electrolyte into four parts: organic electrolytes; ionic liquid electrolytes; aqueous electrolytes; and solid-state electrolytes. Here, we aim to find electrode materials with a high specific capacity of charge and discharge at lower temperatures. Meanwhile, high-electrical-potential cathode materials and low-potential anode materials are also found. Furthermore, their stability in air and performance degradation in full cells and half-cells are analyzed. As for the electrolyte, despite the aspects mentioned above, its electrical conductivity in low temperatures is also reported. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design and Development of Hybrid Nanostructures for Energy Storage Application)
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