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Applied Sciences
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Nanomaterials Boosting Solar Water Splitting
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Nanomaterials Boosting Solar Water Splitting

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 August 2020) | Viewed by 10381

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Ho Won Jang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
Interests: chemical sensors for e-nose and e-tongue; memristors; plasmonics; metal–insulator transition; and ferroelectricity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Development of sustainable energy sources is an imperative issue that must deal with the current and growing demand in terms of world energy consumption. Among the various types of sustainable energy sources, hydrogen is considered to be one of the most promising sources of renewable energy, and it has a high energy density. Hydrogen production via solar energy has been widely studied as an environmentally-friendly and sustainable source of energy. Considering the thermodynamic potential, a single-component semiconductor that possesses a higher band gap than 1.23 V can simultaneously generate hydrogen and oxygen gas from water. However, overall water splitting through a single-component conventional semiconductor is usually limited by kinetic overpotential. To solve this limiting factor, there is a need for the development of a comprehensive photocatalyst with distinctive features, such as nano-sized structures, surface functionalization, decoration with co-catalyst, etc. Numerous developments in photoelectrochemical cells have also been put into place in order to overcome the inherent weakness of one-component approaches. Photoelectrochemical cells are comprised of a separate cathode and anode, and can be easily implemented in terms of tenability and efficiency. Efficient nano-sized co-catalysts for water splitting also present one of the most important and challenging issues for the implementation of photoelectrochemical hydrogen production. Inherent discovery of an efficient catalytic nanomaterial would also constitute an important and challenging issue for the implementation of photoelectrochemical fuel production. A critical requirement for outstanding catalysts is, not only its ability to boost the kinetics of a chemical reaction, but also provide the necessary durability against electrochemical and photo-induced degradation. Generally, precious metals, such as platinum, exhibit superior performance under these requirements; however, the high cost of precious metals are another challenging barrier for their widespread commercial use. To address this critical and long-standing technical barrier, intense research efforts for developing an efficient, durable, and inexpensive alternative catalytic nanomaterial have been recommended, which comprises low-dimensional transitional metal dichalcogenide, carbon-based platforms, and earth-abundant nanomaterials.

The Special Issue of the journal Applied Sciences, “Nanomaterials Boosting Solar Water Splitting", aims to cover recent advances in the development of various kinds of nanomaterials related to photocatalyst, photoelectrode, and co-catalysts intended for solar-driven water splitting.

Prof. Dr. Ho Won Jang
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. Applied Sciences 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

  • Solar water splitting
  • Photoelectrochemical Cell
  • Photocatalyst
  • Catalyst
  • Hydrogen production
  • Photoelectrode
  • Solar-driven Fuel Production

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

9 pages, 2496 KiB  
Article
Experimental Investigation on Evaluation of Thermal Performance of Solar Heating System Using Al2O3 Nanofluid
by Youngho Lee, Hyomin Jeong, Ji-Tae Park, Antonio Delgado and Sedong Kim
Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(16), 5521; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10165521 - 10 Aug 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1849
Abstract
Over the years, solar collecting systems have gained interest in renewable energy. This study investigated improving the efficiency of the working fluid in thermal solar systems by using nanofluids with three concentrations of alumina, 0.1, 0.3, and 0.5 wt%. The UV-vis absorbance, electronic [...] Read more.
Over the years, solar collecting systems have gained interest in renewable energy. This study investigated improving the efficiency of the working fluid in thermal solar systems by using nanofluids with three concentrations of alumina, 0.1, 0.3, and 0.5 wt%. The UV-vis absorbance, electronic conductivity, and thermal transfer properties of the nanofluids were analyzed, and the thermal changes with exposure to solar radiation in an experimental collector system were measured by pyranometer. The electronic conductivity, thermal conductivity, and UV-vis absorbance increased with the alumina concentration. Moreover, the temperatures of the nanofluids increased more under solar irradiation than that of distilled water. This implies that the alumina nanofluids absorb solar energy more efficiently than water. The findings of this study suggest that the use of both alumina nanofluids and nanoparticles will improve the efficiency of thermal solar power systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanomaterials Boosting Solar Water Splitting)
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11 pages, 1884 KiB  
Article
Photoelectrochemical Reduction of CO2 to Syngas by Reduced Ag Catalysts on Si Photocathodes
by Changyeon Kim, Seokhoon Choi, Min-Ju Choi, Sol A Lee, Sang Hyun Ahn, Soo Young Kim and Ho Won Jang
Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(10), 3487; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10103487 - 18 May 2020
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3709
Abstract
The photoelectrochemical reduction of CO2 to syngas that is used for many practical applications has been emerging as a promising technique to relieve the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere. Si has been considered to be one of the most promising [...] Read more.
The photoelectrochemical reduction of CO2 to syngas that is used for many practical applications has been emerging as a promising technique to relieve the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere. Si has been considered to be one of the most promising materials for photoelectrodes, but the integration of electrocatalysts is essential for the photoelectrochemical reduction of CO2 using Si. We report an enhancement of catalytic activity for CO2 reduction reaction by Ag catalysts of tuned morphology, active sites, and electronic structure through reducing anodic treatment. Our proposed photocathode structure, a SiO2 patterned p-Si photocathode with these reduced Ag catalysts, that was fabricated using electron-beam deposition and electrodeposition methods, provides a low onset-potential of −0.16 V vs. the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), a large saturated photocurrent density of −9 mA/cm2 at −1.23 V vs. RHE, and faradaic efficiency for CO of 47% at −0.6 V vs. RHE. This photocathode can produce syngas in the ratio from 1:1 to 1:3, which is an appropriate proportion for practical application. This work presents a new approach for designing photocathodes with a balanced catalytic activity and light absorption to improve the photoelectrochemical application for not only CO2 reduction reaction, but also water splitting or N2 reduction reaction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanomaterials Boosting Solar Water Splitting)
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10 pages, 2493 KiB  
Article
Ni3Se4@MoSe2 Composites for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction
by Wenwu Guo, Quyet Van Le, Ha Huu Do, Amirhossein Hasani, Mahider Tekalgne, Sa-Rang Bae, Tae Hyung Lee, Ho Won Jang, Sang Hyun Ahn and Soo Young Kim
Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(23), 5035; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9235035 - 22 Nov 2019
Cited by 34 | Viewed by 4469
Abstract
Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have been considered as one of the most promising electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Many studies have demonstrated the feasibility of significant HER performance improvement of TMDs by constructing composite materials with Ni-based compounds. In this work, [...] Read more.
Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have been considered as one of the most promising electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Many studies have demonstrated the feasibility of significant HER performance improvement of TMDs by constructing composite materials with Ni-based compounds. In this work, we prepared Ni3Se4@MoSe2 composites as electrocatalysts for the HER by growing in situ MoSe2 on the surface of Ni3Se4 nanosheets. Electrochemical measurements revealed that Ni3Se4@MoSe2 nanohybrids are highly active and durable during the HER process, which exhibits a low onset overpotential (145 mV) and Tafel slope (65 mV/dec), resulting in enhanced HER performance compared to pristine MoSe2 nanosheets. The enhanced HER catalytic activity is ascribed to the high surface area of Ni3Se4 nanosheets, which can both efficiently prevent the agglomeration issue of MoSe2 nanosheets and create more catalytic edge sites, hence accelerate electron transfer between MoSe2 and the working electrode in the HER. This approach provides an effective pathway for catalytic enhancement of MoSe2 electrocatalysts and can be applied for other TMD electrocatalysts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanomaterials Boosting Solar Water Splitting)
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