Carbon-Based Electrode Materials for Batteries and Supercapacitors

Dear Colleagues,

Contributions from renewable and sustainable sources of energy, such as wind, solar and tidal, to the overall energy mix are increasing due to the increased cost resulting from the depletion of fossil fuel-based resources and deteriorations in the global geopolitical situation. However, these green sources of energy are intermittent in nature; therefore, appropriate energy storage systems are obligatory to address their intermittency. A range of energy storage systems are being deployed; however, electrochemical energy storage systems such as rechargeable batteries and supercapacitors are considered the most promising devices due to their outstanding performance characteristics. 

Supercapacitors are considered high-power-density devices with excellent cyclability and extraordinary efficiencies. In carbon-based supercapacitors, which are also known as electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs), charge is stored on the electrode/electrolyte interface through physical adsorption. This physical charge storage results in fast power delivery and can be used to distinguish these devices from rechargeable batteries. Rechargeable batteries are considered high-energy-density devices, where charge is stored within the bulk of the active material through a chemical reaction, which results in inferior power densities compared with supercapacitors. Therefore, hybrid systems were designed using both rechargeable batteries and supercapacitors; these devices can complement each other’s performance to fulfil the wider energy and power requirements and improve overall functioning.

Electrodes are one of the key components of a supercapacitor or a battery system, and can have a significant impact on their performance. Carbon-based active materials are predominantly used as electrodes in these devices, i.e., graphite and activated carbon for batteries and supercapacitors, respectively. The physical characteristics and chemical composition of these carbon-based electrode active materials can impact the performance of these electrochemical energy storage devices.  

Researchers are now invited to submit their manuscript to the Special Issue entitled ‘‘Carbon-Based Electrode Materials for Batteries and Supercapacitors’’. This will help the research community to understand recent advances in the synthesis of carbon-based electrode materials and their applications as an active material in batteries and supercapacitors.  

Topics of interest include but not limited to:

• The synthesis of carbon nanomaterials (activated carbon, synthetics carbon, graphene, carbon nanotubes, and graphite).
• The physical, chemical, and electrochemical characterisation of nano-carbons.
• Carbon as an active material for supercapacitor applications. 
• Carbon-based electrodes for rechargeable batteries.

Dr. Qaisar Abbas
Dr. Mojtaba Mirzaeian
Guest Editors

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. Batteries is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2700 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.

• electrochemical energy storage
• rechargeable batteries
• supercapacitors
• carbon-based electrodes
• electrolytes
• energy densities