Nanoporous Graphitic Carbon Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 February 2020) | Viewed by 23148

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Guest Editor
International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (WPI-MANA), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-1 Namiki, Ibaraki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan
Interests: fullerene nanoarchitectonics; nanoporous carbons; energy storage; sensing
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Guest Editor
Department of Applied Chemistry, Tokyo University of Science, 1-3 Kagurazaka Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8601, Japan
Interests: energy storage; photocatalysis; nanoporous carbon materials; self-healing gels

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nanoporous graphitic carbon materials have received considerable attention due to their potential applications in a wide range of areas, including energy storage (supercapacitors and batteries), catalysis, sensing, separation, adsorption, drug delivery, etc. The hierarchical micro- and mesopore architecture of nanoporous carbon materials offers an extremely high surface area, large pore volumes and easy chemical or physical functionalization. Recently, nanoporous carbon materials have been extensively studied for their targeted applications, such as energy storage and energy conversion, because of their low cost, high chemical and mechanical stabilities, high conductivities, as well as high surface areas and extensive pore structures. Generally, the hard-templating approach is employed for the preparation of nanoporous carbon materials followed by thermal treatment for the development of the graphitic structure. Inorganic mesoporous silica and zeolites have also been utilized as templates and there are further recent reports of alternative approaches demonstrating direct self-assembly of amphiphilic molecules as a soft-template for carbon precursors. Furthermore, physical/or chemical activation of lignocellulosic materials give high surface area nanoporous carbon materials. Surface textural properties and the structure of the nanoporous carbon materials depends on synthetic conditions. Therefore, fabrication of nanoporous materials is important for the targeted applications. This Special Issue of Nanomaterials: “Nanoporous Graphitic Carbon Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion” aims to collate original research papers, reviews and communications focusing on advancements of state-of-art nanoporous functional carbon materials in applications, including energy storage (supercapacitors and batteries) and energy conversion (photocatalysis).

Prof. Dr. Lok Kumar Shrestha
Dr. Rekha Goswami Shrestha
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • nanoporous/mesoporous
  • graphitic carbon
  • activated carbon
  • functional material
  • energy storage
  • supercapacitor
  • battery
  • photocatalysis

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 5732 KiB  
Article
High Surface Area Nanoporous Graphitic Carbon Materials Derived from Lapsi Seed with Enhanced Supercapacitance
by Lok Kumar Shrestha, Rekha Goswami Shrestha, Subrata Maji, Bhadra P. Pokharel, Rinita Rajbhandari, Ram Lal Shrestha, Raja Ram Pradhananga, Jonathan P. Hill and Katsuhiko Ariga
Nanomaterials 2020, 10(4), 728; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10040728 - 11 Apr 2020
Cited by 33 | Viewed by 3623
Abstract
Nanoporous activated carbon materials derived from agro-wastes could be suitable low-cost electrode materials for high-rate performance electrochemical supercapacitors. Here we report high surface area nanoporous carbon materials derived from Lapsi seed agro-waste prepared by zinc chloride (ZnCl2) activation at 700 °C. [...] Read more.
Nanoporous activated carbon materials derived from agro-wastes could be suitable low-cost electrode materials for high-rate performance electrochemical supercapacitors. Here we report high surface area nanoporous carbon materials derived from Lapsi seed agro-waste prepared by zinc chloride (ZnCl2) activation at 700 °C. Powder X-ray diffraction (pXRD) and Raman scattering confirmed the amorphous structure of the resulting carboniferous materials, which also incorporate oxygen-containing functional groups as confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM) analyses revealed the granular, nanoporous structures of the materials. High-resolution TEM (HR-TEM) confirmed a graphitic carbon structure containing interconnected mesopores. Surface areas and pore volumes of the materials were found, respectively, in the ranges from 931 to 2272 m2 g−1 and 0.998 to 2.845 cm3 g−1, and are thus superior to commercially available activated carbons. High surface areas, large pore volumes and interconnected mesopore structures of these Lapsi seed-derived nanoporous carbon materials lead to their excellent electrochemical supercapacitance performance in aqueous electrolyte (1 M H2SO4) with a maximum specific capacitance of 284 F g−1 at a current density of 1 A g−1. Furthermore, the electrodes showed high-rate capability sustaining 67.7% capacity retention even at high current density of 20 A g−1 with excellent cycle stability achieving 99% capacitance retention even after 10,000 charge–discharge cycles demonstrating the potential of Lapsi seed derived nanoporous carbons as suitable electrode materials in high-performance supercapacitor devices. Full article
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14 pages, 4365 KiB  
Article
Tellurium-Doped, Mesoporous Carbon Nanomaterials as Transparent Metal-Free Counter Electrodes for High-Performance Bifacial Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
by Chang Ki Kim, Jung-Min Ji, Haoran Zhou, Chunyuan Lu and Hwan Kyu Kim
Nanomaterials 2020, 10(1), 29; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10010029 - 20 Dec 2019
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3155
Abstract
Tellurium-doped, mesoporous carbon nanomaterials with a relatively high doping level were prepared by a simple stabilization and carbonization method in the presence of a tellurium metalloid. A transparent counter electrode (CE) was prepared using tellurium-doped, mesoporous carbon (TeMC) materials, and was directly applied [...] Read more.
Tellurium-doped, mesoporous carbon nanomaterials with a relatively high doping level were prepared by a simple stabilization and carbonization method in the presence of a tellurium metalloid. A transparent counter electrode (CE) was prepared using tellurium-doped, mesoporous carbon (TeMC) materials, and was directly applied to bifacial, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). To improve the performance of the bifacial DSSC device, CEs should have outstanding electrocatalytic activity, electrical conductivity, and electrochemical stability, as well as high transparency. In this study, to make transparent electrodes with outstanding electrocatalytic activity and electrical conductivity, various TeMC materials with different carbonization temperatures were prepared by simple pyrolysis of the polyacrylonitrile-block-poly (n-butyl acrylate) (PAN-b-PBA) block copolymer in the presence of the tellurium metalloid. The electrocatalytic activity of the prepared TeMC materials were evaluated through a dummy cell test, and the material with the best catalytic ability was selected and optimized for application in bifacial DSSC devices by controlling the film thickness of the CE. As a result, the bifacial DSSC devices with the TeMC CE exhibited high power conversion efficiencies (PCE), i.e., 9.43% and 8.06% under front and rear side irradiation, respectively, which are the highest values reported for bifacial DSSCs to date. Based on these results, newly-developed transparent, carbon-based electrodes may lead to more stable and effective bifacial DSSC development without sacrificing the photovoltaic performance of the DSSC device. Full article
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10 pages, 2360 KiB  
Article
Substantial LIB Anode Performance of Graphitic Carbon Nanoflakes Derived from Biomass Green-Tea Waste
by Sankar Sekar, Youngmin Lee, Deuk Young Kim and Sejoon Lee
Nanomaterials 2019, 9(6), 871; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano9060871 - 7 Jun 2019
Cited by 39 | Viewed by 6124
Abstract
Biomass-derived carbonaceous constituents constitute fascinating green technology for electrochemical energy-storage devices. In light of this, interconnected mesoporous graphitic carbon nanoflakes were synthesized by utilizing waste green-tea powders through the sequential steps of air-assisted carbonization, followed by potassium hydroxide activation and water treatment. Green-tea [...] Read more.
Biomass-derived carbonaceous constituents constitute fascinating green technology for electrochemical energy-storage devices. In light of this, interconnected mesoporous graphitic carbon nanoflakes were synthesized by utilizing waste green-tea powders through the sequential steps of air-assisted carbonization, followed by potassium hydroxide activation and water treatment. Green-tea waste-derived graphitic carbon displays an interconnected network of aggregated mesoporous nanoflakes. When using the mesoporous graphitic carbon nanoflakes as an anode material for the lithium-ion battery, an initial capacity of ~706 mAh/g and a reversible discharge capacity of ~400 mAh/g are achieved. Furthermore, the device sustains a large coulombic efficiency up to 96% during 100 operation cycles under the applied current density of 0.1 A/g. These findings depict that the bio-generated mesoporous graphitic carbon nanoflakes could be effectively utilized as a high-quality anode material in lithium-ion battery devices. Full article
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14 pages, 23116 KiB  
Article
Hierarchical Porous Carbon Derived from Sichuan Pepper for High-Performance Symmetric Supercapacitor with Decent Rate Capability and Cycling Stability
by Hengshuo Zhang, Wei Xiao, Wenjie Zhou, Shanyong Chen and Yanhua Zhang
Nanomaterials 2019, 9(4), 553; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano9040553 - 4 Apr 2019
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 3962
Abstract
Hierarchical micro-mesoporous carbon (denoted as HPC-2 in this study) was synthesized by pre-carbonization of biomass Sichuan pepper followed by KOH activation. It possessed well-developed porosity with the specific surface area of 1823.1 m2 g−1 and pore volume of 0.906 cm3 [...] Read more.
Hierarchical micro-mesoporous carbon (denoted as HPC-2 in this study) was synthesized by pre-carbonization of biomass Sichuan pepper followed by KOH activation. It possessed well-developed porosity with the specific surface area of 1823.1 m2 g−1 and pore volume of 0.906 cm3 g−1, and exhibited impressive supercapacitive behaviors. For example, the largest specific capacitance of HPC-2 was tested to be ca. 171 F g−1 in a three-electrode setup with outstanding rate capability and stable electrochemical property, whose capacitance retention was near 100% after cycling at rather a high current density of 40 A g−1 for up to 10,000 cycles. Furthermore, a two-electrode symmetric supercapacitor cell of HPC-2//HPC-2 was constructed, which delivered the maximum specific capacitance and energy density of ca. 30 F g−1 and 4.2 Wh kg−1, respectively, had prominent rate performance and cycling stability with negligible capacitance decay after repetitive charge/discharge at a high current density of 10 A g−1 for over 10,000 cycles. Such electrochemical properties of HPC-2 in both three- and two-electrode systems are superior or comparable to those of a great number of porous biomass carbon reported previously, hence making it a promising candidate for the development of high-performance energy storage devices. Full article
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Review

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27 pages, 4855 KiB  
Review
Nanoarchitectonics of Nanoporous Carbon Materials in Supercapacitors Applications
by Rekha Goswami Shrestha, Subrata Maji, Lok Kumar Shrestha and Katsuhiko Ariga
Nanomaterials 2020, 10(4), 639; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10040639 - 29 Mar 2020
Cited by 54 | Viewed by 5618
Abstract
High surface area and large pore volume carbon materials having hierarchical nanoporous structure are required in high performance supercapacitors. Such nanoporous carbon materials can be fabricated from organic precursors with high carbon content, such as synthetic biomass or agricultural wastes containing cellulose, hemicellulose, [...] Read more.
High surface area and large pore volume carbon materials having hierarchical nanoporous structure are required in high performance supercapacitors. Such nanoporous carbon materials can be fabricated from organic precursors with high carbon content, such as synthetic biomass or agricultural wastes containing cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Using recently developed unique concept of materials nanoarchitectonics, high performance porous carbons with controllable surface area, pore size distribution, and hierarchy in nanoporous structure can be fabricated. In this review, we will overview the recent trends and advancements on the synthetic methods for the production of hierarchical porous carbons with one- to three-dimensional network structure with superior performance in supercapacitors applications. We highlight the promising scope of accessing nanoporous graphitic carbon materials from: (i) direct conversion of single crystalline self-assembled fullerene nanomaterials and metal organic frameworks, (ii) hard- and soft-templating routes, and (iii) the direct carbonization and/or activation of biomass or agricultural wastes as non-templating routes. We discuss the appealing points of the different synthetic carbon sources and natural precursor raw−materials derived nanoporous carbon materials in supercapacitors applications. Full article
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