Soft Gels for Efficient Energy Storage and Conversion
A special issue of Gels (ISSN 2310-2861). This special issue belongs to the section "Gel Chemistry and Physics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2026 | Viewed by 6
Special Issue Editors
Interests: gel polymer electrolyte; lithium/sodium batteries; solid-state electrolyte; lithium metal anode; solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC); metal organic frameworks (MOFs)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Soft gels have emerged as a highly promising class of materials for advancing energy storage and conversion technologies. Their unique structural properties, including high ionic conductivity, tunable porosity, and mechanical flexibility, make them ideal candidates for next-generation electrochemical devices. This Special Issue aims to focus on developing gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs) and conductive hydrogel-based electrodes to overcome key limitations in batteries, supercapacitors, and fuel cells.
In lithium-ion and emerging metal-based batteries, soft gels—often incorporating ionic liquids or functionalized polymers—serve as solid or quasi-solid electrolytes. They enhance safety by reducing flammability and enable stable interfacial contact with electrodes, which improves cycle life and energy density. In supercapacitors, hydrogel-based electrodes with three-dimensional porous networks facilitate rapid ion transport and offer large surface areas, resulting in high capacitance and excellent performance. Additionally, soft gels functionalized with catalytic nanoparticles are being explored for electrochemical energy conversion devices such as fuel cells and water-splitting electrolyzers. However, challenges remain in optimizing long-term stability, wide-temperature performance, and scalability for industrial applications.
Researchers from diverse disciplines are encouraged to participate in this interdisciplinary exploration and to strengthen knowledge exchange to foster a deeper understanding and inspire innovative, broad applications of gel-based materials for energy storage and conversion.
Dr. Tao Wei
Prof. Dr. Daifen Chen
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
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. Gels 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 2100 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
- soft gels
- energy storage and conversion
- gel polymer electrolytes
- batteries
- supercapacitors
- fuel cells
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