Advanced Low Dimensional Nanocarbon Based Silica Composites

Dear Colleagues,

Protection of the environment by increasing energy efficiency as well as by developing new clean energy sources is one of the most important global challenges of our days. In order to fulfill all requirements for new technologies relevant to energy security, innovative “smart” composite materials with synergetic functions of their components are needed. Low-dimensional nanocarbons are major building blocks for ceramic hybrid materials and nanocomposites. They can be incorporated in matrix materials using a green engineering technology, an issue which is important for a sustainable energy and environment advancement. Nanocarbons refer to nanostructured carbon materials, which include pure carbon materials with at least one dimension in the nanoscale (i.e., <100 nm), such as nanofibers, nanodiamonds, nanohorns, nano-onions, and ordered mesoporous carbon materials as well as fullerenes, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and graphene. For the synthesis of nanocarbon–silica hybrids and composites, a wide variety of chemical reactions and processing techniques such as solid-state reactions, sol–gel synthesis, polymer-derived ceramics route, sintering, and deposition techniques can be applied. Low-dimensional nanocarbon-containing composites have found applications in a large range of domains, from vehicle/aircraft technology, health and safety, energy storage and conversion, air/water pollution control up to airspace applications, etc.

The scope of this Special Issue includes, without being limited to, the following topics:

- Synthesis Methods: gas-phase techniques (e.g., CVD, ALD); liquid-phase methods (sol–gel, solvothermal, etc.); and solid-state procedures (different sintering techniques, polymer-derived ceramics; mechanical alloying, etc.);

- Properties: electronic; optical; magnetic; catalytic, high temperature resistance to crystallization and decomposition; mechanical; charge carriers transport; thermal transport; etc.;

- Micro-/nanostructure;

- Applications: electronic applications; high-temperature structural applications; catalysis; energy conversion and storage, lightning, coatings, etc.

It is our pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript for this Special Issue. Full papers, communications, and reviews that cover all aspects (i.e., synthesis–structure–property relationships, applications and future directions) of nanocarbon–silica composites are all welcome.

You can find the instructions for authors at:

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/materials/instructions#top

The official deadline for submission is 31 December 2020. You may send your manuscript either now or by the deadline. Your submission should not have been previously published, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Thank you very much for your consideration. We will be happy to receive a contribution from you, and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

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.

• Low-dimensional nanocarbon–silica hybrid materials and nanocomposites
• Synthesis strategies for nanocarbon–silica composites
• Metal-catalyst-free synthesis of nanocarbon–silica composite
• Processing techniques
• Characterization methods for nanocarbon–silica composites
• Structural properties of nanocarbon–silica composites
• Functional properties of nanocarbon–silica composites
• Applications of nanocarbon–silica composites