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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Currently, the critical topic of sustainable energy and environment has attracted unprecedented attention, on which key functional materials have burdened. The target of a sustainable energy and environment future therefore gives a top priority to develop key functional materials for key underpinning technological solutions of sustainable energy-related technologies, including but not limited to water splitting, rechargeable batteries, N₂/CO₂ fixation, supercapacitors and etc.

This Special Issue focuses on current developments and frontier fundamental research of key functional materials in sustainable energy-related technologies. The special issue is open to contributors in all cross fields of materials science and sustainable energy. We invite submissions of novel and original research article, reviews, minireviews, focus article, feature article, perspectives that might contribute to scientific insight in the above themes.

Prof. Dr. John Wang
Dr. Zongkui Kou
Prof. Dr. Francis Verpoort
Guest Editors

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. Energies 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 2600 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

functional materials
sustainable energy
water splitting
Li/Na/K ion batteries
Zn/Mg/Al ion batteries
electrolyte
N₂/CO₂ reduction
electrocatalysis and electrocatalysts
environmental electrocatalysis
CO₂ capture
printable materials and devices

Published Papers (1 paper)

Research

15 pages, 2460 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Process and Energy Intensification of Glycerol Carbonate Production from Glycerol and Dimethyl Carbonate in the Presence of Eggshell-Derived CaO Heterogeneous Catalyst

by Wanichaya Praikaew, Worapon Kiatkittipong, Farid Aiouache, Vesna Najdanovic-Visak, Kanokwan Ngaosuwan, Doonyapong Wongsawaeng, Jun Wei Lim, Su Shiung Lam, Kunlanan Kiatkittipong, Navadol Laosiripojana, Sunya Boonyasuwat and Suttichai Assabumrungrat

Energies 2021, 14(14), 4249; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14144249 - 14 Jul 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2162

Abstract

The process and energy intensifications for the synthesis of glycerol carbonate (GC) from glycerol and dimethyl carbonate (DMC) using an eggshell-derived CaO heterogeneous catalyst were investigated. The transesterification reaction between glycerol and DMC was typically limited by mass transfer because of the immiscible nature of the reactants. By varying the stirring speed, it was observed that the mass transfer limitation could be neglected at 800 rpm. The presence of the CaO solid catalyst made the mass transport-limited reaction process more prominent. Mass transfer intensification using a simple kitchen countertop blender as an alternative to overcome the external mass transfer limitation of a typical magnetic stirrer was demonstrated. A lower amount of the catalyst and a shorter reaction time were required to achieve 93% glycerol conversion or 91% GC yield, and the turnover frequency (TOF) increased almost 5 times from 1.5 to 7.2 min⁻¹ when using a conventional magnetic stirrer and countertop blender, respectively. In addition, using a simple kitchen countertop blender with 7200 rpm, the reaction temperature of 60 °C could be reached within approximately 3 min without the need of a heating unit. This was the result of the self-frictional heat generated by the high-shear blender. This was considered to be heat transfer intensification, as heat was generated locally (in situ), offering a higher homogeneity distribution. Meanwhile, the trend toward energy intensification was promising as the yield efficiency increased from 0.064 to 2.391 g/kJ. A comparison among other process intensification techniques, e.g., microwave reactor, ultrasonic reactor, and reactive distillation was also rationalized. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Key Functional Materials for Sustainable Energy-Related Applications)

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