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Organic Materials for Energy: From Synthesis to Application

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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 October 2022) | Viewed by 3602

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Antonio Cardone

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Guest Editor

Institute of Chemistry of OrganoMetallic Compounds, National Research Council, Bari, Italy
Interests: organic chemistry; organic synthetic methods; organic functional materials; organic thin films; chemico-structural and chemico-physical characterization of organic materials; hygrid organic-inorganic materials; organic semiconductor materials for electronics and photonics (i.e. organic functional materials for photovoltaics, organic functional materials for oleds, organic functional materials for transistors, organic semiconductor materials for sensing); organic semiconductor materials for biomedical applications
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues

Efficient and sustainable energy productions and applications are mandatory in our near future. Energy coming from non-renewable resources, such as oil, natural gas and coal have detrimental effects on public health and the environment no longer sustainable. Energy from renewable sources is now a necessity as well as a challenge for an “ever greener and eco-friendly” society. Energy conversion, energy storage, smart applications play a key role in this view and their development is tightly related to the availability of suitable technologies and materials. Organic materials for energy are a class of materials of great potentiality since they allow fabrication of lightweight, flexible and cheap devices, suitable for simple solution processing methods and large area production. Their chemico-physical properties can be easily tuned by synthesis and proper functionalization of the molecular structure, in order to optimize the performance in device. In the face of continuous advancement some critical issue have to be overcome in order to unfold their potential and gain real applications. Key issues in the development of organic-based devices for energy are material design, structure and properties, interfaces, solid state aggregation and morphology of the active layer, charge transport, device architecture and long-term stability. Understanding the structure-properties correlation is fundamental to tailor organic materials with right properties. The aim of this Special Issue is to address current challenges associated with all these issues, from synthesis and characterization to device fabrication and theoretical study, looking at the advancement of scientific knowledge as the key tool to improving device performance towards useful and appealing technological applications.

I would like to cordially invite you to share your outstanding achievements and submit a paper to this Special Issue.

Dr. Antonio Cardone
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

organic materials
organic photovoltaics
photocatalysis
photochromism
electrochromism
thermochromism
structure–properties correlation
solid-state aggregation
solid-state morphology
charge transport

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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9 pages, 1687 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Morphology Determines an Efficient Coherent Electron Transport for Push–Pull Organic Semiconductors Based on Triphenylamine and Dicyanovinyl Groups

by Alexander Romero, Jaime Velasco-Medina and Alejandro Ortiz

Materials 2023, 16(6), 2442; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma16062442 - 18 Mar 2023

Viewed by 1297

Abstract

The morphology of the active layer in organic solar cells is fundamental for achieving high power conversion efficiency. However, the morphological characteristics for optimal performance are still being investigated. An atomistic computational approach is required to determine the relationship between active layer morphology and performance. Since the organic solar cell has multiple phases and interfaces, the computational modeling of charge generation and transport is challenging. We then used a set of push–pull semiconductors to illustrate how the electronic transmission spectrum, derived from the Landauer–Büttiker formalism, can be used to investigate the efficiency of coherent charge transport across anisotropic organic solids. The electronic transmission spectrum was calculated from the electronic band structure obtained using the density-functional-based tight-binding method. We found that coherent charge transport was more efficient along the direction parallel with the interface between the electron-acceptor and electron-donor moieties for a herringbone morphology. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Organic Materials for Energy: From Synthesis to Application)

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12 pages, 1525 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Study on the Effect of Graphene in Enhancing the Electrochemical Properties of SnO₂-Fe₂O₃ Anode Materials

by Guanglin Zhu, Bo Gao, Ying Zhang, Zeyuan Shi, Zongbin Li and Ganfeng Tu

Materials 2022, 15(22), 7947; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15227947 - 10 Nov 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 920

Abstract

To enhance the conductivity and volume expansion during the charging and discharging of transition metal oxide anode materials, rGO-SnO₂-Fe₂O₃ composite materials with different contents of rGO were prepared by the in situ hydrothermal synthesis method. The SEM morphology revealed a sphere-like fluffy structure, particles of the 0.4%rGO-10%SnO₂-Fe₂O₃ composite were smaller and more compact with a specific surface area of 223.19 m²/g, the first discharge capacity of 1423.75 mAh/g, and the specific capacity could be maintained at 687.60 mAh/g even after 100 cycles. It exhibited a good ratio performance and electrochemical reversibility, smaller charge transfer resistance, and contact resistance, which aided in lithium-ion transport. Its superior electrochemical performance was due to the addition of graphene, which made the spherical particle size distribution more uniform, effectively lowering the volume expansion during the process of charging and discharging and improving the electrochemical cycle stability of the anode materials. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Organic Materials for Energy: From Synthesis to Application)

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Review

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28 pages, 4662 KiB

Open AccessReview

Functional Organic Materials for Photovoltaics: The Synthesis as a Tool for Managing Properties for Solid State Applications

by Antonio Cardone and Agostina Lina Capodilupo

Materials 2022, 15(18), 6333; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15186333 - 13 Sep 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1527

Abstract

The continuous increase in the global energy demand deeply impacts the environment. Consequently, the research is moving towards more sustainable forms of energy production, storage and saving. Suitable technologies and materials are fundamental to win the challenge towards a greener and more eco-friendly society. Organic π-conjugated materials, including small molecules, oligomers and polymers are a wide and versatile class of functional materials with great potentiality, as they can be used as active matrixes in the fabrication of lightweight, flexible, cheap and large area devices. Their chemical and physical properties, both at a molecular level and mainly in the solid state, are a result of many factors, strictly related to the conjugated structure and functional groups on the backbone, which control the intermolecular forces driving solid state aggregations. The synthesis, through the molecular design, the choice of conjugated backbone and functionalization, represents the first and most powerful tool for finely tuning the chemico-physical properties of organic materials tailored for specific applications. In the present review, we report an overview of our works focused on synthetic methodologies, characterization, structure-properties correlation studies and applications of organic materials designed for energy-involving solid-state applications, organic photovoltaics in particular. The impact of functionalization on electro-optical properties and performance in device are discussed, also in relation to the specific applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Organic Materials for Energy: From Synthesis to Application)

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