Flexible Electrode for Energy Harvesting and Storage Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Soft and stretchable materials are in focus as candidates for sustainable solutions for energy generation and storage. In these devices, achieving a balance of lightweight, cost-effective, soft, sustainable, robust, and stretchable aspects in elastomer-based devices is challenging and in focus. Recently, such flexible devices have frequently been used for new-generation applications such as wearable electronics, health monitoring, pressure sensing, triboelectric energy generators, or energy storage. Most recently, energy generation through stretchable devices such as flexible solar cells has been in focus. Moreover, energy storage through flexible batteries, supercapacitors, or integrated generation-to-storage combinations has gained much attention from researchers. Finally, the manipulation of challenges such as controlling mechanical stiffness and mechanical stability against failure is in focus to meet the demand of applications. Overall, researchers are exploring new ways to fabricate devices using novel and new-generation materials to achieve high-efficiency sustainable energy generation and storage.  

Keeping the above issues in mind, this Special Issue focuses on obtaining sustainable energy solutions as well as on obtaining improved mechanical, electrical, thermal, or electrochemical properties. Finally, the use of these properties from an energy perspective is explored. The authors with a focus on these aspects are requested to submit reviews, research papers, and communications. Overall, this Special Issue offers scope for soft and stretchable energy solutions and offers industrial-oriented research as summarized in the following points:

• Soft and stretchable sustainable energy-generating materials such as energy generators in rubber composite materials or flexible solar cells;
• Energy storage through stretchable batteries, supercapacitors, or integrated energy generations to storage combinations;
• Energy generated through triboelectric or piezoelectric materials in composite materials;
• Wearable and lightweight electronic materials for e-skin or health monitoring applications;
• Biologically compatible and non-toxic composite materials for biological applications such as tissue engineering or implants.

Dr. Manesh Yewale
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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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.

• energy storage
• triboelectric or piezoelectric materials
• energy-generating materials
• nanostructured materials
• energy materials synthesis and characterization
• supercapacitors
• battery
• energy devices
• thin films