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Soft and Nanostructured Materials for Energy Conversion and Sensing: Volume II

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 May 2023) | Viewed by 3994

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Special Issue “Soft and Nanostructured Materials for Energy Conversion: Volume II” will address advances in both experimental and theoretical aspects of the synthesis, processing, fabrication, characterization, and properties of soft and nanostructured nanomaterials for possible application in energy conversion.

Soft materials are a particular category of flexible bulk matter that shows rich dynamics and self-assembly behavior. Many examples of soft materials can be found in polymers, liquid crystals, gels, self-assemblies, membranes, thin films, composites, biomaterials etc.

In the last several decades, several novel methods to synthesize nanostructured materials for energy application such as nanoparticles, quantum dots, nanotubes, nanofilm, and nanowires have been developed following the capability of nanostructuring to introduce in the matter novel functionalities due to the unique combination of the structure and the mode of bonding (i.e., superplasticity of carbon nanotubes, energy harvesting of nanowires). The connections between soft materials and nanostructuring result in amazing possibilities for scientific research and future applications of these materials.

Some examples can be found in carbon nanotubes and 2D soft nanomaterials, including graphene, 2D polymers, covalent organic frameworks, and 2D supramolecular organic nanostructures, with an easy structural control and flexibility that are particularly advantageous for energy storage and conversion. Another successful example can be found in polymer composites with nanowires or nanotube architectures and graphene for application in flexible electronics and batteries.

This Special Issue collects papers from research groups with diverse backgrounds in soft materials and nanomaterials to discuss all aspects of such research. Both original research and comprehensive review papers are solicited on all types of soft nanomaterials with possible or experimental applications in energy conversion.

Prof. Dr. Patrizia Bocchetta
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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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. Materials 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 2600 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

  • nanomaterials
  • carbon nanotubes
  • graphene
  • batteries
  • electrocatalysis
  • soft materials
  • polymers
  • composites
  • soft energy conversion

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 2859 KiB  
Article
Self-Assembly of Polymer-Modified FePt Magnetic Nanoparticles and Block Copolymers
by Frank Hartmann, Martin Bitsch, Bart-Jan Niebuur, Marcus Koch, Tobias Kraus, Christian Dietz, Robert W. Stark, Christopher R. Everett, Peter Müller-Buschbaum, Oliver Janka and Markus Gallei
Materials 2023, 16(16), 5503; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma16165503 - 08 Aug 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1032
Abstract
The fabrication of nanocomposites containing magnetic nanoparticles is gaining interest as a model for application in small electronic devices. The self-assembly of block copolymers (BCPs) makes these materials ideal for use as a soft matrix to support the structural ordering of the nanoparticles. [...] Read more.
The fabrication of nanocomposites containing magnetic nanoparticles is gaining interest as a model for application in small electronic devices. The self-assembly of block copolymers (BCPs) makes these materials ideal for use as a soft matrix to support the structural ordering of the nanoparticles. In this work, a high-molecular-weight polystyrene-b-poly(methyl methacrylate) block copolymer (PS-b-PMMA) was synthesized through anionic polymerization. The influence of the addition of different ratios of PMMA-coated FePt nanoparticles (NPs) on the self-assembled morphology was investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The self-assembly of the NPs inside the PMMA phase at low particle concentrations was analyzed statistically, and the negative effect of higher particle ratios on the lamellar BCP morphology became visible. The placement of the NPs inside the PMMA phase was also compared to theoretical descriptions. The magnetic addressability of the FePt nanoparticles inside the nanocomposite films was finally analyzed using bimodal magnetic force microscopy and proved the magnetic nature of the nanoparticles inside the microphase-separated BCP films. Full article
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11 pages, 2051 KiB  
Article
Ultrafast Studies of ZrTe3 by Transient Absorption Spectrometer
by Shakeel Ahmed, Wang Rui, Faizah Altaf, Jahanzeb Khan, Patrizia Bocchetta and Han Zhang
Materials 2022, 15(15), 5420; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15155420 - 05 Aug 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1707
Abstract
Two-dimensional (2D) tri-TMDCs carrier dynamics provide a platform for studying excitons through Ultrafast Pump-Probe Transient Absorption Spectroscopy. Here we studied the ZrTe3 nanosheets (NTs) exciton dynamics by transient absorption (TA) spectrometer. We observed different carrier dynamics in the ZrTe3 NTs sample [...] Read more.
Two-dimensional (2D) tri-TMDCs carrier dynamics provide a platform for studying excitons through Ultrafast Pump-Probe Transient Absorption Spectroscopy. Here we studied the ZrTe3 nanosheets (NTs) exciton dynamics by transient absorption (TA) spectrometer. We observed different carrier dynamics in the ZrTe3 NTs sample at different pump powers and with many wavelengths in the transient absorption spectrometer. The shorter life decay constant is associated with electron-phonon relaxation. Similarly, the longer-life decay constant represents the long live process that is associated with charge separation. The interactions between carrier-phonons at nanoscale materials can be changed by phonons quantum confinements. The hot carrier lifetime determined the strength of carrier phonon interactions. The value of fast decay in the conduction band is due to carrier relaxation or the carrier gets trapped due to surface states or localized defects. The value of slow decay is due to the recombination of surface state and localized defects processes. The lifetime declines for long wavelengths as size decreases. Whereas, during short wavelength-independent decay, carrier characteristics have been observed. TA spectroscopy is employed to investigate insight information of the carrier’s dynamical processes such as carrier lifetime, cooling dynamics, carrier diffusion, and carrier excitations. The absorption enhanced along excitons density with the increase of pump power, which caused a greater number of carriers in the excited state than in the ground state. The TA signals consist of trap carriers and (electron-hole) constituents, which can be increased by TA changes that rely on photoexcitation and carrier properties. Full article
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9 pages, 2869 KiB  
Article
Binder-Free Porous 3D-ZnO Hexagonal-Cubes for Electrochemical Energy Storage Applications
by Qasim Abbas, Lianghua Wen, Muhammad Sufyan Javed, Awais Ahmad, Muhammad Shahzad Nazir, Mohammed A. Assiri, Muhammad Imran and Patrizia Bocchetta
Materials 2022, 15(6), 2250; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15062250 - 18 Mar 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1435
Abstract
Considerable efforts are underway to rationally design and synthesize novel electrode materials for high-performance supercapacitors (SCs). However, the creation of suitable materials with high capacitance remains a big challenge for energy storage devices. Herein, unique three-dimensional (3D) ZnO hexagonal cubes on carbon cloth [...] Read more.
Considerable efforts are underway to rationally design and synthesize novel electrode materials for high-performance supercapacitors (SCs). However, the creation of suitable materials with high capacitance remains a big challenge for energy storage devices. Herein, unique three-dimensional (3D) ZnO hexagonal cubes on carbon cloth (ZnO@CC) were synthesized by invoking a facile and economical hydrothermal method. The mesoporous ZnO@CC electrode, by virtue of its high surface area, offers rich electroactive sites for the fast diffusion of electrolyte ions, resulting in the enhancement of the SC’s performance. The ZnO@CC electrode demonstrated a high specific capacitance of 352.5 and 250 F g−1 at 2 and 20 A g−1, respectively. The ZnO@CC electrode revealed a decent stability of 84% over 5000 cycles at 20 A g−1 and an outstanding rate-capability of 71% at a 10-fold high current density with respect to 2 A g−1. Thus, the ZnO@CC electrode demonstrated improved electrochemical performance, signifying that ZnO as is promising candidate for SCs applications. Full article
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