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Advanced Materials for Promising Renewable and Sustainable Energy Sources

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A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "D1: Advanced Energy Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 March 2023) | Viewed by 6839

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Akansha Mehta

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Guest Editor

Department of Glass processing, Alexander Dubček University of Trenčín Študentská 2, 911 50 Trenčín, Slovakia
Interests: advanced nanomaterials; material characterization; synthesis nanomaterials

Dr. Rayees Ahmad Rather

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Guest Editor

Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Special Functional Materials, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
Interests: heterogeneous catalysis; photocatalysis; photoelectrochemistry; artificial photosynthesis; water splitting; CO2/N2 reduction

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The modern era, with immediate global communication and the growth prospects of developing nations, poses energy challenges greater than ever seen before. Access to energy is crucial to the wealth, lifestyle, and self-image of every country. Driven by the fast depletion of fossil fuel resources and excessive carbon dioxide emission-induced global warming, research for clean and sustainable energy has seen explosive growth. Advanced materials for renewable and sustainable energy surveys the significant developments in the science and engineering of state-of-the-art materials for future energy.

The key motive of this Special Issue is collecting knowledge regarding the development of materials that open new horizons for future energy. This issue invites review articles and original research papers that provide a broad overview of materials for photocatalysis, photovoltaics, solar energy conversion, piezoelectrics, thermoelectrics, fuel cells, supercapacitors, rechargeable batteries, and hydrogen production and storage.

Dr. Akansha Mehta
Dr. Rayees Ahmad Rather
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. Energies 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

clean energy
nanomaterials
energy storage
high efficiency
recycled materials

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 3985 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Grinding Methodology and Particle Size on Coal and Wood Co-Combustion via Injection Flame Opening Angle

by Stanislav Yankovsky, Albina Misyukova, Alisher Berikbolov, Marina Vagner and Natalya Yankovskaya

Energies 2023, 16(11), 4469; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16114469 - 1 Jun 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1012

Abstract

Today, more than 61% of the world’s electricity is generated by burning fossil fuels. The search for reducing the negative impact of such thermal power plants on the environment does not stop for a minute, one of the solutions to this problem is the partial replacement of coal with biomass. This method has proven itself most effective over the past five years. Co-pulverized combustion of coal and biomass has not found wide practical application, since the processes of grinding, mixing and subsequent spraying of such mixed fuels have not been fully studied. This study compares the influence of the method of grinding, mixing coal and biomass on the processes of spraying mixtures with a change in the pressure of the atomizing air. The results of the research showed that the joint grinding of coal and biomass contributes to the achievement of the minimum size of coal and wood and, as a result, leads to an increase in the opening angle of the torch, which will significantly improve the efficiency of flame combustion in the furnace space at the station. The most effective spray pressure of the mixed fuels was established, which was 3 bar. An analysis of the results obtained during the course of the research allows us to conclude that the mixing of coal and sawmill waste, followed by joint grinding in a ball mill, contributes to the effective grinding of biomass and coal particles to a finely dispersed state, which subsequently leads to a significant increase in the opening angle of the torch at any concentration of the mixture composition fuels. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials for Promising Renewable and Sustainable Energy Sources)

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11 pages, 5053 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of Perovskite Solar Cell Degradation over Time Using NIR Spectroscopy—A Novel Approach

by Marek Gąsiorowski, Shyantan Dasgupta, Leszek Bychto, Taimoor Ahmad, Piotr Szymak, Konrad Wojciechowski and Aleksy Patryn

Energies 2022, 15(15), 5397; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15155397 - 26 Jul 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1576

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a dynamic development of photovoltaic materials based on perovskite structures. Solar cells based on perovskite materials are characterised by a relatively high price/performance ratio. Achieving stability at elevated temperatures has remained one of the greatest challenges in the perovskite solar cell research community. However, significant progress in this field has been made by utilising different compositional engineering routes for the fabrication of perovskite semiconductors such as triple cation-based perovskite structures. In this work, a new approach for the rapid analysis of the changes occurring in time in perovskite structures was developed. We implemented a quick and inexpensive method of estimating the ageing of perovskite structures based on an express diagnosis of light reflection in the near-infrared region. The possibility of using optical reflectance in the NIR range (900–1700 nm) to observe the ageing of perovskite structures over time was investigated, and changes in optical reflectance spectra of original perovskite solar cell structures during one month after PSC production were monitored. The ratio of characteristic pikes in the reflection spectra was determined, and statistical analysis by the two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2D-COS) method was performed. This method allowed correctly detecting critical points in thermal ageing over time. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials for Promising Renewable and Sustainable Energy Sources)

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16 pages, 6124 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Plastic Waste Precursor-Derived Fluorescent Carbon and Construction of Ternary FCs@CuO@TiO₂ Hybrid Photocatalyst for Hydrogen Production and Sensing Application

by Akansha Mehta, Rayees Ahmad Rather, Blaz Belec, Sandra Gardonio, Ming Fang and Matjaz Valant

Energies 2022, 15(5), 1734; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15051734 - 25 Feb 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1981

Abstract

A sustainable nexus between renewable energy production and plastic abatement is imperative for overall sustainable development. In this regard, this study aims to develop a cheaper and environmentally friendly nexus between plastic waste management, wastewater treatment, and renewable hydrogen production. Fluorescent carbon (FCs) were synthesized from commonly used LDPE (low-density polyethylene) by a facile hydrothermal approach. Optical absorption study revealed an absorption edge around 300 nm and two emission bands at 430 and 470 nm. The morphological analysis showed two different patterns of FCs, a thin sheet with 2D morphology and elongated particles. The sheet-shaped particles are 0.5 μm in size, while as for elongated structures, the size varies from 0.5 to 1 μm. The as-synthesized FCs were used for the detection of metal ions (reference as Cu²⁺ ions) in water. The fluorescence intensity of FCs versus Cu²⁺ ions depicts its upright analytical ability with a limit of detection (LOD) reaching 86.5 nM, which is considerably lesser than earlier reported fluorescence probes derived from waste. After the sensing of Cu²⁺, the as-obtained FCs@Cu²⁺ was mixed with TiO₂ to form a ternary FCs@CuO@TiO₂ composite. This ternary composite was utilized for photocatalytic hydrogen production from water under 1.5 AM solar light irradiation. The H₂ evolution rate was found to be ~1800 μmolg⁻¹, which is many folds compared to the bare FCs. Moreover, the optimized FCs@CuO@TiO₂ ternary composite showed a photocurrent density of ~2.40 mA/cm² at 1 V vs. Ag/AgCl, in 1 M Na₂SO₄ solution under the illumination of simulated solar light. The achieved photocurrent density corresponds to the solar-to-hydrogen (STH) efficiency of ~0.95%. The efficiency is due to the fluorescence nature of FCs and the synergistic effect of CuO embedded in TiO₂, which enhances the optical absorption of the composite by reaching the bandgap of 2.44 eV, apparently reducing the recombination rate, which was confirmed by optoelectronic, structural, and spectroscopic characterizations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials for Promising Renewable and Sustainable Energy Sources)

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Review

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13 pages, 3697 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperReview

Local Charge Carrier Dynamics for Photocatalytic Materials Using Pattern-Illumination Time-Resolved Phase Microscopy

by Kenji Katayama, Kei Kawaguchi, Yuta Egawa and Zhenhua Pan

Energies 2022, 15(24), 9578; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15249578 - 16 Dec 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1444

Abstract

We showed two demonstrations of the local charge carrier dynamics measurements of photocatalytic materials using our recently developed time-resolved phase-contrast microscopic technique combined with the clustering analyses. In this microscopic time-resolved technique, we observed the charge carrier dynamics via the refractive index change instead of the luminescence or absorption change, where we could often observe non-radiative charge carrier processes such as charge carrier trapping and non-radiative relaxation. By the clustering analyses of all the pixel-by-pixel responses, we could extract various different charge carrier dynamics because photocatalytic materials have inhomogeneity on surfaces and the charge carrier behavior depends on the local structure and species. Even for typical photocatalytic materials, titanium oxide and hematite, we could recognize various charge carrier dynamics, which cannot be differentiated by the general fitting procedure for the averaged time response. We could categorize the surface-trapped charge carriers (holes and electrons) and bulk carriers in the nanosecond to millisecond order, which indicates that this analytical procedure will play an important role in understanding the charge carrier dynamics for various photocatalytic materials. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials for Promising Renewable and Sustainable Energy Sources)

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