Nanofiber-Based Materials for Electrochemical Energy Storage Devices

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Chemical and Molecular Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2021) | Viewed by 5078

Special Issue Editors

Institute of Advanced Technologies for Energy, Messina, Italy
Interests: chemical methods and processes for the storage and transformation of energy; electrochemical sector; fuel cells and electrolyzers based on polymer exchange membrane (PEM); electrochemical storage devices such as vanadium redox flow battery, lead acid battery, and sodium-ion battery
Institute of Advanced Technologies for Energy, Italian National Research Council, 98126 Messina, Italy
Interests: carbon based materials; nanofibers materials; electrospinning technique; sodium ion/air battery; redox flow battery

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, electrochemical storage technologies have played a crucial role due to growing renewable energy sources and their integration into the electricity grid. Research activity is currently focused on the electrochemical parameter optimization of innovative and efficient materials for energy applications in order to improve performance at battery cell and battery system design levels. This means addressing the synthesis and development of cost-effective materials able to improve power density, cyclability, round-trip efficiency, etc. both for more mature electrochemical storage device and for the most promising post-lithium batteries. Technical papers dealing with recent results and advances in the field of nanofibers and composite nanostructured materials for energy applications, in particular for electrochemical energy storage purposes, are warmly invited.

Dr. Alessandra Di Blasi
Dr. Concetta Busacca
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Nanofiber-based materials
  • Electrospinning technique
  • Redox flow battery
  • Lead-acid battery
  • Sodium-ion battery
  • Charge/discharge cycles
  • Cell and stack technology

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 11744 KiB  
Article
High-Performance Lead-Acid Batteries Enabled by Pb and PbO2 Nanostructured Electrodes: Effect of Operating Temperature
by Roberto Luigi Oliveri, Maria Grazia Insinga, Simone Pisana, Bernardo Patella, Giuseppe Aiello and Rosalinda Inguanta
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(14), 6357; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app11146357 - 09 Jul 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2235
Abstract
Lead-acid batteries are now widely used for energy storage, as result of an established and reliable technology. In the last decade, several studies have been carried out to improve the performance of this type of batteries, with the main objective to replace the [...] Read more.
Lead-acid batteries are now widely used for energy storage, as result of an established and reliable technology. In the last decade, several studies have been carried out to improve the performance of this type of batteries, with the main objective to replace the conventional plates with innovative electrodes with improved stability, increased capacity and a larger active surface. Such studies ultimately aim to improve the kinetics of electrochemical conversion reactions at the electrode-solution interface and to guarantee a good electrical continuity during the repeated charge/discharge cycles. To achieve these objectives, our contribution focuses on the employment of nanostructured electrodes. In particular, we have obtained nanostructured electrodes in Pb and PbO2 through electrosynthesis in a template consisting of a nanoporous polycarbonate membrane. These electrodes are characterized by a wider active surface area, which allows for a better use of the active material, and for a consequent increased specific energy compared to traditional batteries. In this research, the performance of lead-acid batteries with nanostructured electrodes was studied at 10 C at temperatures of 25, −20 and 40 °C in order to evaluate the efficiency and the effect of temperature on electrode morphology. The batteries were assembled using both nanostructured electrodes and an AGM-type separator used in commercial batteries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanofiber-Based Materials for Electrochemical Energy Storage Devices)
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15 pages, 2183 KiB  
Article
Effect of Germanium Incorporation on the Electrochemical Performance of Electrospun Fe2O3 Nanofibers-Based Anodes in Sodium-Ion Batteries
by Beatrix Petrovičovà, Chiara Ferrara, Gabriele Brugnetti, Clemens Ritter, Martina Fracchia, Paolo Ghigna, Simone Pollastri, Claudia Triolo, Lorenzo Spadaro, Riccardo Ruffo and Saveria Santangelo
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(4), 1483; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app11041483 - 06 Feb 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2227
Abstract
Fe2O3 and Fe2O3:Ge nanofibers (NFs) were prepared via electrospinning and thoroughly characterized via several techniques in order to investigate the effects produced by germanium incorporation in the nanostructure and crystalline phase of the oxide. The results [...] Read more.
Fe2O3 and Fe2O3:Ge nanofibers (NFs) were prepared via electrospinning and thoroughly characterized via several techniques in order to investigate the effects produced by germanium incorporation in the nanostructure and crystalline phase of the oxide. The results indicate that reference Fe2O3 NFs consist of interconnected hematite grains, whereas in Fe2O3:Ge NFs, constituted by finer and elongated nanostructures developing mainly along their axis, an amorphous component coexists with the dominant α-Fe2O3 and γ-Fe2O3 phases. Ge4+ ions, mostly dispersed as dopant impurities, are accommodated in the tetrahedral sites of the maghemite lattice and probably in the defective hematite surface sites. When tested as anode active material for sodium ion batteries, Fe2O3:Ge NFs show good specific capacity (320 mAh g−1 at 50 mA g−1) and excellent rate capability (still delivering 140 mAh g−1 at 2 A g−1). This behavior derives from the synergistic combination of the nanostructured morphology, the electronic transport properties of the complex material, and the pseudo-capacitive nature of the charge storage mechanism. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanofiber-Based Materials for Electrochemical Energy Storage Devices)
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