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Novel Materials for Sustainable Energy Conversion and Storage
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Novel Materials for Sustainable Energy Conversion and Storage

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2020) | Viewed by 35496

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Jung Kyu Kim

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Chemical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Suwon, Republic of Korea
Interests: heterojunctions with tailored nanostructures; nanocarbons; conductive polymers; photoelectrochemical cells; solar fuels; electrocatalysis; electrochemistry; polymer optoelectronics; organic-inorganic hybrid solar cells; perovskite solar cells
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainability is highly desired for humanbeings due to the urgently changing global climate and numerous environmental issues. In past decades, the-state-of-the-art researches have been extensively conducted to achieve sustainable energy conversion and storage.  However, the remained challenges in the commercialization of enegy conversion and stroage devices are to develop novel materials and advanced manufacturing process. Further, the engineering of nanostructures and device-archtectures is of great importance for the energy conversion and storage flatforms. This special issue “Novel Materals for Sustainable Energy Conversion and Storage” aims the-state-of-the-art resarch reports of novel nanometerials and engineering of device archtectures with advanced manufacturing process for divergent energy conversion and storage applications with high sustainability involing solar energy systems, electrochemical cells, artificial photosynthesis, CO2 conversion to over C2 production or secondary (rechargeable) batteries. The scope of interests includes but is not limited to the following topics:

  • Organic, inorganic or hybrid solar cells (i.e. organic (or polymer) solar cells, dye (or QD) sensitized solar cells, thin-film solar cells, perovskite solar cells)
  • Solar fuel productions (i.e. artificial photosynthesis, photocatalysts, photoelectrochemical cells)
  • Electrocatalysts for electrochemical water splitting, CO2 reduction or ammonia (NH3) synthesis
  • Cleaning technologies for removal of VOC or other pollutants
  • Anode, cathode and seperator materials for secondary batteries
  • Nano-sciences and technologies for energy conversion and storage deives
  • Manufacturing process for energy conversion and storage deives
  • Engineering of device archtecture and structure design for efficient energy conversion and storage

Particularly, this special issue calls for papers on advanced materials and device architectures promoting efficient energy conversion and high capability of energy storage.

Prof. Dr. Jung Kyu Kim
Guest Editor

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. Materials 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

  • novel materials
  • device architecture
  • energy storage battery
  • electrocatalysis
  • solar cells
  • photoelectrochemical cells
  • solar fuels

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Published Papers (8 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research, Review

3 pages, 172 KiB  
Editorial
Novel Materials for Sustainable Energy Conversion and Storage
by Jung Kyu Kim
Materials 2020, 13(11), 2475; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13112475 - 29 May 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2410
Abstract
Sustainability is highly desired for human beings due to a rapidly changing global climate and numerous environmental issues. In past decades, state-of-the-art studies have been extensively conducted to achieve sustainable energy conversion and storage. However, the remaining challenges in the commercialization of energy [...] Read more.
Sustainability is highly desired for human beings due to a rapidly changing global climate and numerous environmental issues. In past decades, state-of-the-art studies have been extensively conducted to achieve sustainable energy conversion and storage. However, the remaining challenges in the commercialization of energy conversion and storage devices are to develop novel materials and advanced manufacturing processes. Furthermore, the engineering of nanostructures and device-architectures is of great importance for the energy conversion and storage flat forms. This Special Issue “Novel Materials for Sustainable Energy Conversion and Storage” aims the state-of-the-art research reports of novel nanomaterials and the engineering of device architectures for divergent energy conversion and storage applications with high sustainability involving solar energy systems, electrochemical cells, artificial photosynthesis or secondary (rechargeable) batteries, as highlighted in this editorial. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Materials for Sustainable Energy Conversion and Storage)

Research

Jump to: Editorial, Review

19 pages, 5738 KiB  
Article
Thiophene- and Carbazole-Substituted N-Methyl-Fulleropyrrolidine Acceptors in PffBT4T-2OD Based Solar Cells
by Hugo Gaspar, Flávio Figueira, Karol Strutyński, Manuel Melle-Franco, Dzmitry Ivanou, João P. C. Tomé, Carlos M. Pereira, Luiz Pereira, Adélio Mendes, Júlio C. Viana and Gabriel Bernardo
Materials 2020, 13(6), 1267; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13061267 - 11 Mar 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2798
Abstract
The impact of fullerene side chain functionalization with thiophene and carbazole groups on the device properties of bulk-heterojunction polymer:fullerene solar cells is discussed through a systematic investigation of material blends consisting of the conjugated polymer poly[(5,6-difluoro-2,1,3-benzothiadiazol-4,7-diyl)-alt-(3,3‴-di(2-octyldodecyl)-2,2′;5′,2″;5″,2‴-quaterthiophen-5,5‴-diyl)] (PffBT4T-2OD) as donor and C60 or [...] Read more.
The impact of fullerene side chain functionalization with thiophene and carbazole groups on the device properties of bulk-heterojunction polymer:fullerene solar cells is discussed through a systematic investigation of material blends consisting of the conjugated polymer poly[(5,6-difluoro-2,1,3-benzothiadiazol-4,7-diyl)-alt-(3,3‴-di(2-octyldodecyl)-2,2′;5′,2″;5″,2‴-quaterthiophen-5,5‴-diyl)] (PffBT4T-2OD) as donor and C60 or C70 fulleropyrrolidines as acceptors. The photovoltaic performance clearly depended on the molecular structure of the fulleropyrrolidine substituents although no direct correlation with the surface morphology of the photoactive layer, as determined by atomic force microscopy, could be established. Although some fulleropyrrolidines possess favorable lowest unoccupied molecular orbital levels, when compared to the standard PC71BM, they originated OPV cells with inferior efficiencies than PC71BM-based reference cells. Fulleropyrrolidines based on C60 produced, in general, better devices than those based on C70, and we attribute this observation to the detrimental effect of the structural and energetic disorder that is present in the regioisomer mixtures of C70-based fullerenes, but absent in the C60-based fullerenes. These results provide new additional knowledge on the effect of the fullerene functionalization on the efficiency of organic solar cells. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Materials for Sustainable Energy Conversion and Storage)
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10 pages, 2312 KiB  
Communication
Electrospun Carbon Nanofibers with Embedded Co-Ceria Nanoparticles for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution and Overall Water Splitting
by Seongwon Woo, Jooyoung Lee, Dong Sub Lee, Jung Kyu Kim and Byungkwon Lim
Materials 2020, 13(4), 856; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13040856 - 13 Feb 2020
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 3994
Abstract
In this study, simple electrospinning combined with pyrolysis were used to fabricate transition-metal-based-nanoparticle-incorporated carbon nanofiber (CNF) electrocatalysts for a high-efficiency hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and overall water splitting. Co-CeO2 nanoparticle-incorporated carbon nanofibers (Co-CeO2@CNF) exhibit an outstanding electrocatalytic HER performance with [...] Read more.
In this study, simple electrospinning combined with pyrolysis were used to fabricate transition-metal-based-nanoparticle-incorporated carbon nanofiber (CNF) electrocatalysts for a high-efficiency hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and overall water splitting. Co-CeO2 nanoparticle-incorporated carbon nanofibers (Co-CeO2@CNF) exhibit an outstanding electrocatalytic HER performance with an overpotential and Tafel slope of 92 mV and 54 mV/dec, respectively. For the counterpart, electrolysis, we incorporate the widely used Ni2Fe catalyst with a high oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity into the carbon nanofiber (Ni2Fe@CNF). To evaluate their electrochemical properties for the overall water splitting, Co-CeO2@CNF and Ni2Fe@CNF were used as the HER and OER electrocatalysts in an alkaline electrolyzer. With the paired Co-CeO2@CNF and Ni2Fe@CNF electrodes, an overall water splitting current density of 10 mA/cm2 was achieved by applying 1.587 V across the electrodes with a remarkably lower overpotential of 257 mV compared to that of an electrolyzer comprised of Pt/C and IrO2 electrodes (400 mV). Owing to the conformal incorporation of nanoparticles into the CNF, the electrocatalysts exhibit significant long-term durability over 70 h of overall water splitting. This study provides rational designs of catalysts with high electrochemical catalytic activity and durability to achieve overall water splitting. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Materials for Sustainable Energy Conversion and Storage)
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11 pages, 4117 KiB  
Article
In-situ Deposition of Graphene Oxide Catalyst for Efficient Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Using Atmospheric Plasma
by Khurshed Alam, Yelyn Sim, Ji-Hun Yu, Janani Gnanaprakasam, Hyeonuk Choi, Yujin Chae, Uk Sim and Hoonsung Cho
Materials 2020, 13(1), 12; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13010012 - 18 Dec 2019
Cited by 34 | Viewed by 5027
Abstract
The vacuum deposition method requires high energy and temperature. Hydrophobic reduced graphene oxide (rGO) can be obtained by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition under atmospheric pressure, which shows the hydrophobic surface property. Further, to compare the effect of hydrophobic and the hydrophilic nature of [...] Read more.
The vacuum deposition method requires high energy and temperature. Hydrophobic reduced graphene oxide (rGO) can be obtained by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition under atmospheric pressure, which shows the hydrophobic surface property. Further, to compare the effect of hydrophobic and the hydrophilic nature of catalysts in the photoelectrochemical cell (PEC), the prepared rGO was additionally treated with plasma that attaches oxygen functional groups effectively to obtain hydrophilic graphene oxide (GO). The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalytic activity of the hydrophobic rGO and hydrophilic GO deposited on the p-type Si wafer was analyzed. Herein, we have proposed a facile way to directly deposit the surface property engineered GO. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Materials for Sustainable Energy Conversion and Storage)
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12 pages, 2726 KiB  
Article
Reduced Graphene Oxides Decorated NiSe Nanoparticles as High Performance Electrodes for Na/Li Storage
by Yan Liu and Xianshui Wang
Materials 2019, 12(22), 3709; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12223709 - 10 Nov 2019
Cited by 32 | Viewed by 3427
Abstract
A facile, one-pot hydrothermal method was used to synthesize Nickel selenide (NiSe) nanoparticles decorated with reduced graphene oxide nanosheets (rGO), denoted as NiSe/rGO. The NiSe/rGO exhibits good electrochemical performance when tested as anodes for Na-ion batteries (SIBs) and Li-ion batteries (LIBs). An initial [...] Read more.
A facile, one-pot hydrothermal method was used to synthesize Nickel selenide (NiSe) nanoparticles decorated with reduced graphene oxide nanosheets (rGO), denoted as NiSe/rGO. The NiSe/rGO exhibits good electrochemical performance when tested as anodes for Na-ion batteries (SIBs) and Li-ion batteries (LIBs). An initial reversible capacity of 423 mA h g−1 is achieved for SIBs with excellent cyclability (378 mA h g−1 for 50th cycle at 0.05 A g−1). As anode for LIBs, it delivers a remarkable reversible specific capacity of 1125 mA h g−1 at 0.05 A g−1. The enhanced electrochemical performance of NiSe/rGO nanocomposites can be ascribed to the synergic effects between NiSe nanoparticles and rGO, which provide high conductivity and large specific surface area, indicating NiSe/rGO as very promising Na/Li storage materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Materials for Sustainable Energy Conversion and Storage)
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12 pages, 1973 KiB  
Article
Current Characteristics Estimation of Si PV Modules Based on Artificial Neural Network Modeling
by Xiaobo Xu, Xiaocheng Zhang, Zhaowu Huang, Shaoyou Xie, Wenping Gu, Xiaoyan Wang, Lin Zhang and Zan Zhang
Materials 2019, 12(18), 3037; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12183037 - 19 Sep 2019
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2446
Abstract
In the photovoltaic (PV) field, the outdoor evaluation of a PV system is quite complex, due to the variations of temperature and irradiance. In fact, the diagnosis of the PV modules is extremely required in order to maintain the optimum performance. In this [...] Read more.
In the photovoltaic (PV) field, the outdoor evaluation of a PV system is quite complex, due to the variations of temperature and irradiance. In fact, the diagnosis of the PV modules is extremely required in order to maintain the optimum performance. In this paper, an artificial neural network (ANN) is proposed to build and train the model, and evaluate the PV module performance by mean bias error, mean square error and the regression analysis. We take temperature, irradiance and a specific voltage for input, and a specific current value for output, repeat several times in order to obtain an I-V curve. The main feature lies to the data-driven black-box method, with the ignorance of any analytical equations and hence the conventional five parameters (serial resistance, shunt resistance, non-ideal factor, reverse saturation current, and photon current). The ANN is able to predict the I-V curves of the Si PV module at arbitrary irradiance and temperature. Finally, the proposed algorithm has proved to be valid in terms of comparison with the testing dataset. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Materials for Sustainable Energy Conversion and Storage)
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Review

Jump to: Editorial, Research

23 pages, 5567 KiB  
Review
Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting Reaction System Based on Metal-Organic Halide Perovskites
by Dohun Kim, Dong-Kyu Lee, Seong Min Kim, Woosung Park and Uk Sim
Materials 2020, 13(1), 210; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13010210 - 3 Jan 2020
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 7433
Abstract
In the development of hydrogen-based technology, a key challenge is the sustainable production of hydrogen in terms of energy consumption and environmental aspects. However, existing methods mainly rely on fossil fuels due to their cost efficiency, and as such, it is difficult to [...] Read more.
In the development of hydrogen-based technology, a key challenge is the sustainable production of hydrogen in terms of energy consumption and environmental aspects. However, existing methods mainly rely on fossil fuels due to their cost efficiency, and as such, it is difficult to be completely independent of carbon-based technology. Electrochemical hydrogen production is essential, since it has shown the successful generation of hydrogen gas of high purity. Similarly, the photoelectrochemical (PEC) method is also appealing, as this method exhibits highly active and stable water splitting with the help of solar energy. In this article, we review recent developments in PEC water splitting, particularly those using metal-organic halide perovskite materials. We discuss the exceptional optical and electrical characteristics which often dictate PEC performance. We further extend our discussion to the material limit of perovskite under a hydrogen production environment, i.e., that PEC reactions often degrade the contact between the electrode and the electrolyte. Finally, we introduce recent improvements in the stability of a perovskite-based PEC device. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Materials for Sustainable Energy Conversion and Storage)
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23 pages, 6043 KiB  
Review
Low Dimensional Carbon-Based Catalysts for Efficient Photocatalytic and Photo/Electrochemical Water Splitting Reactions
by Yoongu Lim, Dong-Kyu Lee, Seong Min Kim, Woosung Park, Sung Yong Cho and Uk Sim
Materials 2020, 13(1), 114; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13010114 - 25 Dec 2019
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 5800
Abstract
A universal increase in energy consumption and the dependency on fossil fuels have resulted in increasing severity of global warming, thus necessitating the search of new and environment-friendly energy sources. Hydrogen is as one of the energy sources that can resolve the abovementioned [...] Read more.
A universal increase in energy consumption and the dependency on fossil fuels have resulted in increasing severity of global warming, thus necessitating the search of new and environment-friendly energy sources. Hydrogen is as one of the energy sources that can resolve the abovementioned problems. Water splitting promotes ecofriendly hydrogen production without the formation of any greenhouse gas. The most common process for hydrogen production is electrolysis, wherein water molecules are separated into hydrogen and oxygen through electrochemical reactions. Solar-energy-induced chemical reactions, including photocatalysis and photoelectrochemistry, have gained considerable attention because of the simplicity of their procedures and use of solar radiation as the energy source. To improve performance of water splitting reactions, the use of catalysts has been widely investigated. For example, the novel-metal catalysts possessing extremely high catalytic properties for various reactions have been considered. However, due to the rarity and high costs of the novel-metal materials, the catalysts were considered unsuitable for universal use. Although other transition-metal-based materials have also been investigated, carbon-based materials, which are obtained from one of the most common elements on Earth, have potential as low-cost, nontoxic, high-performance catalysts for both photo and electrochemical reactions. Because abundancy, simplicity of synthesis routes, and excellent performance are the important factors for catalysts, easy optimization and many variations are possible in carbon-materials, making them more attractive. In particular, low-dimensional carbon materials, such as graphene and graphitic carbon nitride, exhibit excellent performance because of their unique electrical, mechanical, and catalytic properties. In this mini-review, we will discuss the performance of low-dimensional carbon-based materials for water splitting reactions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Materials for Sustainable Energy Conversion and Storage)
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