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Nanomaterials
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Advances in Micro/Nanofluidic Power
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Advances in Micro/Nanofluidic Power

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Synthesis, Interfaces and Nanostructures".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 6483

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Li-Hsien Yeh

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 106335, Taiwan
Interests: microfluidics and nanofluidics; ion transport; ionic circuit; blue energy; metal–organic frameworks and covalent–organic frameworks
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Mengyao Gao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 106335, Taiwan
Interests: sustainbale energy storage; advanced materials; Lithium batteries
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The energy crisis and climate change are reshaping the global economy. The growing renewable energy sector has provided us with unprecedented opportunities to solve the problems we are facing. Work on the interface of chemical engineering, advanced materials, and micro/nanofluidics to improve the development of power generation and environmental sustainability has become an attractive method of achieving carbon neutrality targets. Examples of this kind of clean energy include osmotic power, electrokinetic power, thermoelectric power, photoelectric power, vanadium redox flow battery, microbial fuel cells, and power generation from other driving forces with fluidic devices or via ion transportation.

This Special Issue collects research articles, short communications, and critical reviews about scientific and technical information on recent advances in micro/nanofluidic power. The primary areas of interest of this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, (i) advanced materials used in power generation; (ii) micro/nanofluidic power for renewable and green energy development; (iii) power generation systems and modeling; (iv) fundamentals and their underlying mechanisms of energy conversion with micro/nanofluidics; (v) advances in micro/nanofluidic power to broadly explore issues facing environmental development. This Special Issue welcomes both qualitative and quantitative studies, as well as empirical and theoretical contributions.

Prof. Dr. Li-Hsien Yeh
Dr. Mengyao Gao
Guest Editors

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. 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

  • osmotic energy
  • blue energy
  • electrokinetic energy
  • thermoelectric energy
  • flow battery
  • microbial fuel cell

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 7907 KiB  
Article
Design of Amine-Modified Zr–Mg Mixed Oxide Aerogel Nanoarchitectonics with Dual Lewis Acidic and Basic Sites for CO2/Propylene Oxide Cycloaddition Reactions
by Yi-Feng Lin, Yu-Rou Lai, Hsiang-Ling Sung, Tsair-Wang Chung and Kun-Yi Andrew Lin
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(19), 3442; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12193442 - 1 Oct 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1564
Abstract
The utilization of CO2 attracts much research attention because of global warming. The CO2/epoxide cycloaddition reaction is one technique of CO2 utilization. However, homogeneous catalysts with both Lewis acidic and basic and toxic solvents, such as DMF, are needed [...] Read more.
The utilization of CO2 attracts much research attention because of global warming. The CO2/epoxide cycloaddition reaction is one technique of CO2 utilization. However, homogeneous catalysts with both Lewis acidic and basic and toxic solvents, such as DMF, are needed in the CO2/epoxide cycloaddition reaction. As a result, this study focuses on the development of heterogeneous catalysts with both Lewis acidic and basic sites for the CO2 utilization of the CO2/epoxide cycloaddition reactions without the addition of a DMF toxic solvent. For the first time, the Zr–Mg mixed oxide aerogels with Lewis acidic and basic sites are synthesized for the CO2/propylene oxide (PO) cycloaddition reactions. To further increase the basic sites, 3-Aminopropyl trimethoxysilane (APTMS) with -NH2 functional group is successfully grafted on the Zr–Mg mixed oxide aerogels. The results indicate that the highest yield of propylene carbonate (PC) is 93.1% using the as-developed APTMS-modified Zr–Mg mixed oxide aerogels. The as-prepared APTMS-modified Zr–Mg mixed oxide aerogels are great potential in industrial plants for CO2 reduction in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Micro/Nanofluidic Power)
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10 pages, 3601 KiB  
Article
Charge Regulation and pH Effects on Thermo-Osmotic Conversion
by Van-Phung Mai, Wei-Hao Huang and Ruey-Jen Yang
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(16), 2774; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12162774 - 13 Aug 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1891
Abstract
Thermo-osmotic energy conversion using waste heat is one of the approaches to harvesting sustainable energy and reducing associated environmental impacts simultaneously. In principle, ions transport through a charged nanopore membrane under the effect of a thermal gradient, inducing a different voltage between two [...] Read more.
Thermo-osmotic energy conversion using waste heat is one of the approaches to harvesting sustainable energy and reducing associated environmental impacts simultaneously. In principle, ions transport through a charged nanopore membrane under the effect of a thermal gradient, inducing a different voltage between two sides of the membrane. Recent publications mainly reported novel materials for enhancing the thermoelectric voltage in response to temperature difference, the so-called Seebeck coefficient. However, the effect of the surface charge distribution along nanopores on thermo-osmotic conversion has not been discussed yet. In this paper, a numerical simulation based on the Nernst–Planck–Poisson equations, Navier–Stokes equations, and heat transfer equations is carried out to consider the effect of surface charge-regulation density and pH of KCl solutions on the Seebeck coefficient. The results show that the highest ionic Seebeck coefficient of −0.64 mV/K is obtained at 10−4 M KCl solution and pH 9. The pH level and pore structure also reveal a strong effect on the thermo-osmotic performance. Moreover, the pH level at one reservoir is varied from 5 to 9, while the pH of 5 is fixed at the other reservoir to investigate the pH effect on the thermos-osmosis ion transport. The results confirm the feasibility that using the pH can enhance the thermo-osmotic conversion for harvesting osmotic power from low-grade heat energy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Micro/Nanofluidic Power)
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21 pages, 7721 KiB  
Article
Asymmetric Electrokinetic Energy Conversion in Slip Conical Nanopores
by Chih-Chang Chang
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(7), 1100; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12071100 - 27 Mar 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2119
Abstract
Ion current rectification (ICR) phenomena in asymmetric nanofluidic structures, such as conical-shaped nanopores and funnel-shaped nanochannels, have been widely investigated in recent decades. To date, the effect of asymmetric nanofluidic structures on electrokinetic power generation driven by the streaming current/potential has not been [...] Read more.
Ion current rectification (ICR) phenomena in asymmetric nanofluidic structures, such as conical-shaped nanopores and funnel-shaped nanochannels, have been widely investigated in recent decades. To date, the effect of asymmetric nanofluidic structures on electrokinetic power generation driven by the streaming current/potential has not been explored. Accordingly, this study employed a numerical model based on the Poisson equation, Nernst–Planck equation, and Navier–Stokes equation to investigate the electrokinetic energy conversion (EKEC) in a conical nanopore while considering hydrodynamic slippage. The results indicated that the asymmetric characteristics of streaming current (short-circuit current), streaming potential (open-circuit voltage), maximum power generation, maximum conversion efficiency, and flow rate were observed in conical nanopores under the forward pressure bias (tip-to-base direction) and reverse pressure bias (base-to-tip direction) once the nonequilibrium ion concentration polarization (ICP) became considerable. The rectification behaviors in the streaming current, maximum power, and maximum conversion efficiency were all shown to be opposite to those of the well-known ICR in conical nanopores. In other words, the reverse pressure bias revealed a higher EKEC performance than the forward pressure bias. It was concluded that the asymmetric behavior in EKEC is attributed to the asymmetric electrical resistance resulting from asymmetric ion depletion and ion enrichment. Particularly, it was found that the decrease in electrical resistance (i.e., the change in electrical resistance dominated by the ion enrichment) observed in the reverse pressure bias enhanced the maximum power and maximum conversion efficiency. The asymmetric EKEC characteristics became more significant with increasing slip length, surface charge density, cone angle, and pressure bias, especially at lower salt concentrations. The present findings provide useful information for the future development of EKEC in engineered membranes with asymmetric nanopores. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Micro/Nanofluidic Power)
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Review

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28 pages, 4668 KiB  
Review
Bioresource-Functionalized Quantum Dots for Energy Generation and Storage: Recent Advances and Feature Perspective
by Seyyed Mojtaba Mousavi, Seyyed Alireza Hashemi, Masoomeh Yari Kalashgrani, Darwin Kurniawan, Ahmad Gholami and Wei-Hung Chiang
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(21), 3905; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12213905 - 5 Nov 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2178
Abstract
The exponential increase in global energy demand in daily life prompts us to search for a bioresource for energy production and storage. Therefore, in developing countries with large populations, there is a need for alternative energy resources to compensate for the energy deficit [...] Read more.
The exponential increase in global energy demand in daily life prompts us to search for a bioresource for energy production and storage. Therefore, in developing countries with large populations, there is a need for alternative energy resources to compensate for the energy deficit in an environmentally friendly way and to be independent in their energy demands. The objective of this review article is to compile and evaluate the progress in the development of quantum dots (QDs) for energy generation and storage. Therefore, this article discusses the energy scenario by presenting the basic concepts and advances of various solar cells, providing an overview of energy storage systems (supercapacitors and batteries), and highlighting the research progress to date and future opportunities. This exploratory study will examine the systematic and sequential advances in all three generations of solar cells, namely perovskite solar cells, dye-sensitized solar cells, Si cells, and thin-film solar cells. The discussion will focus on the development of novel QDs that are economical, efficient, and stable. In addition, the current status of high-performance devices for each technology will be discussed in detail. Finally, the prospects, opportunities for improvement, and future trends in the development of cost-effective and efficient QDs for solar cells and storage from biological resources will be highlighted. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Micro/Nanofluidic Power)
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