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Sustainable Materials for Renewable Energy Applications

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2023) | Viewed by 2674

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
1 ALMASCIENCE, Campus da Caparica, FCT-Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Almada, 2829-516, Portugal
2 CENIMAT|i3N, FCT-Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Almada, 2829-516, Portugal
Interests: conjugated polymers; multifunctional hybrid nanomaterials; energy harvesters; sensors; wearables and paper-based electronics; cellulose-based smart applications

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable materials as a source for renewable energy applications can bring about a huge advancement in sustainable development, which is the utmost priority and a matter of deep concern for current civilizations. Although there have been rapid developments observed in the sector of renewable energy sources and related applications in the past few decades, there is still a lot more to do to generate a greener world for the future generations to come. Instead of just organizing debates and political agendas, this is really high time for innovating ideas to create new technologies and advanced materials in order to further explore sustainability and develop a circular economy, while at the same time fighting against climate change and environmental issues related to energy resources and applications. Sustainable materials, e.g., biomass and wastes, and biocompatible organic/inorganic/polymeric/hybrid systems, are among many others which are being heavily researched and utilized for renewable energy applications. Innovative systems, both for energy storage and harvesting from sustainable materials, could help us in saving and simultaneously managing enormous energy demands and power quality issues in a transversal way, while their technical developments could still face some challenges regarding transmission, distribution, production, and efficiency. Given the above, there is enough scope and promise to grow green economies and future markets by using sustainable materials for renewable energy applications such as solar cells, fuel cells, bio/green batteries, supercapacitors, different types of energy harvesters, and so on.

In the present context, this Special Issue welcomes papers that contribute to a better understanding of “Sustainable Materials for Renewable Energy Applications”. We expect theoretical and empirical contributions as well as general reviews. Multi/interdisciplinary approaches will be particularly appreciated. The goal is to bring together different viewpoints from different disciplines of the global research community, in order to present and network the latest innovations and developments related to the above topic and also open up the market and future opportunities of this field with sustainable materials.

Covered topics include (but are not limited to):

  • Sustainable materials for renewable energy applications;
  • Sustainable materials marketing strategies;
  • Renewable energy adaptation to technology and sustainability;
  • Energy storage and harvesting;
  • Energy conversion to efficiency;
  • Technological innovations related to energy storage and conversion;
  • Techno-socio-economic aspects of sustainable materials towards energy applications;
  • Energy modelling and life cycle assessment of new sustainable materials;
  • Sustainable materials for sustainable developments and the circular economy.

Dr. Sumita Goswami
Guest Editor

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. Sustainability 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 2400 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

  • sustainable materials
  • renewable energy
  • energy storage
  • energy harvesting
  • energy use efficiency
  • energy conversion
  • sustainable developments
  • circular economy

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

22 pages, 3172 KiB  
Article
Floating TiO2-Cork Nano-Photocatalysts for Water Purification Using Sunlight
by Maria Leonor Matias, Maria Morais, Ana Pimentel, Francisco X. Vasconcelos, Ana S. Reis Machado, Joana Rodrigues, Elvira Fortunato, Rodrigo Martins and Daniela Nunes
Sustainability 2022, 14(15), 9645; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14159645 - 05 Aug 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1830
Abstract
In the present study, titanium dioxide (TiO2) nano-photocatalysts were synthesized through microwave irradiation. In a typical microwave synthesis, TiO2 nanomaterials were simultaneously produced in powder form and also directly covering cork substrates. The TiO2 nanopowder was analyzed by X-ray [...] Read more.
In the present study, titanium dioxide (TiO2) nano-photocatalysts were synthesized through microwave irradiation. In a typical microwave synthesis, TiO2 nanomaterials were simultaneously produced in powder form and also directly covering cork substrates. The TiO2 nanopowder was analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), revealing that the solvothermal microwave synthesis resulted only in the TiO2 anatase phase. From Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), cork’s organic species, along with bands of TiO2, were detected. UV–VIS absorption spectrum revealed an absorption extension to the visible region, since a brown powdered TiO2 product was obtained. Very fine nanoparticles were observed displaying a nearly spherical shape that agglomerates in larger particles. These larger particles fully covered the surface of the honeycomb cork cells, originating TiO2 functionalized cork platforms. The TiO2 functionalized substrates were further tested as floating photocatalysts and their photocatalytic activity was assessed from rhodamine B degradation under solar simulating light and natural sunlight. Reusability tests were also performed under natural sunlight. The strategy applied in this research work allowed the production of green and low-cost cork platforms based on TiO2 photoactive materials with the ability to purify polluted water under natural sunlight. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Materials for Renewable Energy Applications)
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