Sustainable Clean Energy and Novel Technologies for Specific Catalytic Materials: Metal-Organic Framework and Carbon Materials

A special issue of Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344). This special issue belongs to the section "Catalysis for Sustainable Energy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2023) | Viewed by 6209

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of BioNano Technology, Gachon University, Seongnam 13120, Republic of Korea
Interests: electrocatalysis; electrocatalytic water splitting; electrochemical sensor; nanomaterials synthesis for environmental remediation works; pollution removal; heterogeneous photo-catalysis

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Guest Editor
CSIR-Central Electrochemical Research Institute, Tamil Nadu, India
Interests: metal-organic framework; porous carbon; electrochemistry; functional carbon materials; catalysis
Department of BioNano Technology, Gachon University, Gyeonggi-do 13120, Korea
Interests: nanomaterials; water splitting; metal-organic framework
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The oxygen evolution reaction (OER), hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and oxygen reduction (ORR) process are all examples of renewable energy conversion mechanisms. However, these processes need more energy to initiate and have slow kinetics, severely restricting their uses. Noble metal-based compounds, such as Ru, Rh, and Ir, have long been the most promising catalysts for removing such impediments. Typically, benchmark catalysts for total water splitting are RuO2 and IrO2. On the other hand, Pt-based materials are more feasible for the HER but perform poorly in the OER. Because of their high cost and low tolerance, these valuable electrocatalysts have been suggested as being limited for practical use and commercialization. This huge demand motivates scientists to create a novel bifunctional catalyst that is appropriate, cheap, has long stability, is economically viable, and has better performance. Various materials such as porous carbon (PC), metal oxides (MO), and metal–organic frameworks (MOF) have been a major area for energy storage, clean energy, catalysis, capacitor, etc. Moreover, a material portion is employed to manage the inconvenience in catalysis and environmentally clean energy applications for its functioning with other materials. Therefore, the emphasis of the study is on the design of functional porous carbon-based materials for catalysis/clean energy applications.

The following potential research topics are expected for this Special Issue:

1) Innovative technologies for synthesizing metal–organic framework and porous carbon.

2) Novel catalytic method for producing clean energy, such as hydrogen and oxygen, via an electrochemical process.

3) Clean energy manufacturing to switching hazardous chemicals with a low-cost electrocatalyst.

4) Compressive analysis and mechanism of advanced materials toward sustainable clean energy.

In this Special Issue, research articles, short reviews, and communications cover the Innovative technologies for synthesizing of metal–organic framework, metal oxide, and porous carbon materials for electrochemical and photoelectrochemical water-splitting reactions.

Dr. Sivalingam Gopi
Dr. Kathiresan Murugavel
Dr. Kyusik Yun
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • metal-organic framework
  • metal oxide
  • porous carbon
  • electrochemical water splitting
  • photoelectrochemical water splitting

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

9 pages, 3218 KiB  
Article
Synthesis of Transparent ZnO–TiO2 and Its Nanocomposites for Ultraviolet Protection of a Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Film
by Daejeong Yang, Adam Gopal Ramu and Dongjin Choi
Catalysts 2022, 12(12), 1590; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/catal12121590 - 06 Dec 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1588
Abstract
The goal of this research was to investigate the effects of ZnO–TiO2 and its nanocomposites, on the physical, mechanical, and ultraviolet protection of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays is a major cause of the degradation of the quality and [...] Read more.
The goal of this research was to investigate the effects of ZnO–TiO2 and its nanocomposites, on the physical, mechanical, and ultraviolet protection of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays is a major cause of the degradation of the quality and optical properties of materials in addition to skin cancer; therefore, research on UV-blocking materials that are safe and have fewer side effects than currently available products is being actively conducted. In this study, a material with UV-blocking capability was synthesized while ensuring the transparency of ZnO and TiO2. ZnO–TiO2 and its various composites were successfully synthesized via a hydrothermal method followed by ball milling and their properties were systematically analyzed by using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometry, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and water contact angle measurements. Furthermore, a simple dip-coating method was employed to prepare transparent polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films coated with the composites, which were subsequently investigated for UV-blocking properties by exposing them to UV irradiation. The hydroxyl groups of ZnO and TiO2, as representative inorganic sunblock components, were removed by using 3-chloropropyl trimethoxy silane as a coupling agent to improve their wettability in an organic solvent as well as their dispersibility and stability. The addition of a small amount of Tinuvin® allowed the hybrid organic and inorganic components to exhibit transparent UV-blocking characteristics, with a UV transmittance of ≤20% and 90% visible transmittance. These results, thus, serve as a basis for contributing to applications in the field of packaging, health, and hygiene industries. Full article
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14 pages, 3508 KiB  
Article
Zinc Oxide–Graphene Nanocomposite-Based Sensor for the Electrochemical Determination of Cetirizine
by Rakesh R. Sawkar, Mahesh M. Shanbhag, Suresh M. Tuwar, Kunal Mondal and Nagaraj P. Shetti
Catalysts 2022, 12(10), 1166; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/catal12101166 - 03 Oct 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 1933
Abstract
A nanocomposite electrode of graphene (Gr) and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles was fabricated to study the electrochemical oxidation behavior of an anti-inflammatory drug, i.e., cetirizine (CET). The voltametric response of CET for bare CPE, Gr/CPE, ZnO/CPE, and the ZnO-Gr nanocomposite electrode was studied. [...] Read more.
A nanocomposite electrode of graphene (Gr) and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles was fabricated to study the electrochemical oxidation behavior of an anti-inflammatory drug, i.e., cetirizine (CET). The voltametric response of CET for bare CPE, Gr/CPE, ZnO/CPE, and the ZnO-Gr nanocomposite electrode was studied. The modifier materials were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) to comprehend the surface morphology of the utilized modifiers. The influence of pH, scan rate, and accumulation time on the electrooxidation of CET was examined. It was found that the electrochemical oxidation of CET was diffusion-controlled, in which two protons and two electrons participated. The detection limit was found to be 2.8 × 10−8 M in a linearity range of 0.05–4.0 µM. Study of excipients was also performed, and it was found that they had negligible interference with the peak potential of CET. The validation and utility of the fabricated nanocomposite sensor material were examined by analyzing clinical and biological samples. Stability testing of the nanocomposite electrode was conducted to assess the reproducibility, determining that the developed biosensor has good stability and high efficiency in producing reproducible results. Full article
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14 pages, 4872 KiB  
Article
Magnetically Recoverable Biomass-Derived Carbon-Aerogel Supported ZnO (ZnO/MNC) Composites for the Photodegradation of Methylene Blue
by Renathung C. Ngullie, K. Bhuvaneswari, Paramasivam Shanmugam, Supakorn Boonyuen, Siwaporn Meejoo Smith and Munusamy Sathishkumar
Catalysts 2022, 12(9), 1073; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/catal12091073 - 19 Sep 2022
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 1944
Abstract
Hydrothermally assisted magnetic ZnO/Carbon nanocomposites were prepared using the selective biowaste of pomelo orange. Initially, the carbon aerogel (CA) was prepared hydrothermally followed by a freeze-drying method. Furthermore, the iron oxide nanoparticles were deposited onto the surface of carbon using the co-precipitation method [...] Read more.
Hydrothermally assisted magnetic ZnO/Carbon nanocomposites were prepared using the selective biowaste of pomelo orange. Initially, the carbon aerogel (CA) was prepared hydrothermally followed by a freeze-drying method. Furthermore, the iron oxide nanoparticles were deposited onto the surface of carbon using the co-precipitation method and we obtained magnetic carbon nanocomposite, i.e., Fe3O4/C (MNC). Moreover, the ZnO photocatalysts were incorporated onto the surface of MNC composites using a hydrothermal process, and we obtained ZnO/MNC composites. The ZnO/MNC (55%), ZnO/MNC (65%) and ZnO/MNC (75%) composites were prepared by a similar experimental method in order to change the weight ratio of ZnO NPs. Using a similar synthetic procedure, the standard ZnO and Fe3O4 nanoparticles were prepared without the addition of CA. The experimental results were derived from several analytical techniques, such as: X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS-UV). The synthesized carbon, ZnO, Fe3O4, ZnO/MNC (55%), ZnO/MNC (65%) and ZnO/MNC (75%) composites were examined through the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) under visible-light irradiation (VLI). The obtained results revealed that the composites were more active than carbon, ZnO and Fe3O4. In particular, the ZnO/MNC (75%) composites showed more activity than the rest of the composites. Furthermore, the recycling abilities of the prepared ZnO/MNC (75%) composites were examined through the degradation of MB under identical conditions and the activity remained constant up to the fifth cycle. The synthetic procedure and practical applications proposed here can be used in chemical industries, biomedical fields and energy applications. Full article
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