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Gels
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Preparation and Characteristics of Aerogel-Based Materials (2nd Edition)
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Preparation and Characteristics of Aerogel-Based Materials (2nd Edition)

A special issue of Gels (ISSN 2310-2861). This special issue belongs to the section "Gel Analysis and Characterization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2025 | Viewed by 636

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Sheng Cui

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China
Interests: aerogel; thermal insulation; photocatalyst; electrocatalyst; sensor
Dr. Xiaodong Wu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China
Interests: thermal insulation; photocatalysis; electrocatalysis; aerogels; density functional theory
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Aerogels are porous materials consisting of nanoparticles or polymer chains with low density, high specific surface area, and high porosity, which are derived by replacing the pore liquids by air via supercritical drying, freezing drying, ambient pressure drying, and 3D printing. Aerogel materials can be classified as single-component aerogels and composite aerogels, among which the single-component aerogels can be composed of oxide-based aerogels, carbide-based aerogels, nitride-based aerogels, graphene-based aerogels, quantum dots-based aerogels, polymer-based organic aerogels, biomass-based organic and carbon aerogels, etc. The composite aerogels are composed of several kinds of single-component aerogels, as well as the reinforcement by fibers, whiskers, nanotubes, etc. Benefitting from their inherent structural merits, aerogels have been widely used in the fields of aerospace, petrochemical engineering, environmental remediation, building energy saving, energy storage and conversion, etc. In addition, during the past few years, the carbon-based and metal-based aerogels have been considered as one of the most promising candidates in the fields of photocatalysts and electrocatalysts due to their excellent electric conductivity, high porosity, exposed reactive sites, and abundant reactant tunnels for the intermediates during the catalysis process. 

This Special Issue will provide an international forum for researchers around the world to discuss the most recent studies regarding the preparation, characterization, and applications of different kinds of aerogels. Through this Special Issue, the present state and future will be discussed by a wide range of authors.

Prof. Dr. Sheng Cui
Dr. Xiaodong Wu
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. 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

  • aerogels
  • electrocatalysis
  • photocatalysis
  • thermal insulation
  • density functional theory

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 4398 KiB  
Article
Construction of PdCu Alloy Decorated on the N-Doped Carbon Aerogel as a Highly Active Electrocatalyst for Enhanced Oxygen Reduction Reaction
by Yangxin Bai, Wenke Hao, Aleeza Altaf, Jiaxin Lu, Liu Liu, Chuanyong Zhu, Xindi Gu, Xiaodong Wu, Xiaodong Shen, Sheng Cui and Xiangbao Chen
Gels 2025, 11(3), 166; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels11030166 - 26 Feb 2025
Viewed by 471
Abstract
Fuel cells/zinc–air cells represent a transformative technology for clean energy conversion, offering substantial environmental benefits and exceptional theoretical efficiency. However, the high cost and limited durability of platinum-based catalysts for the sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at the cathode severely restrict their scalability [...] Read more.
Fuel cells/zinc–air cells represent a transformative technology for clean energy conversion, offering substantial environmental benefits and exceptional theoretical efficiency. However, the high cost and limited durability of platinum-based catalysts for the sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at the cathode severely restrict their scalability and practical application. To address these critical challenges, this study explores a groundbreaking approach to developing ORR catalysts with enhanced performance and reduced costs. We present a novel Pd3Cu alloy, innovatively modified with N-doped carbon aerogels, synthesized via a simple self-assembly and freeze-drying method. The three-dimensional carbon aerogel-based porous structures provide diffusion channels for oxygen molecules, excellent electrical conductivity, and abundant ORR reaction sites. The Pd3Cu@2NC-20% aerogel exhibits a remarkable enhancement in ORR activity, achieving a half-wave potential of 0.925 V, a limiting current density of 6.12 mA/cm2, and excellent long-term stability. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that electrons tend to transfer from the Pd atoms to the neighboring *O, leading to an increase in the negative charge around the *O. This, in turn, weakens the interaction between the catalyst surface and the *O and optimizes the elementary steps of the ORR process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Preparation and Characteristics of Aerogel-Based Materials (2nd Edition))
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