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Application of Biomass Materials in the Fields of Electrochemistry and Thermochemistry

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2025 | Viewed by 2299

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
College of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
Interests: biomass conversion; hydrothermal technology; energy materials

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

At present, the energy system of the world is undergoing a technological change taking it toward a complementary multi-energy synergy between hydrogen and electricity, which is bringing with it great progress in terms of the electrification of energy and power equipment, the rise of the hydrogen economy, and new technologies utilizing renewable energy. In this regard, electrochemical and thermochemical equipment plays an increasingly important role in the energy conversion system. As a kind of green carbon source with vast stocks, biomass has many advantages, such as environmental friendliness, a wide range of sources, and excellent performance, and is widely used in the preparation of new materials in the fields of electrochemistry and thermochemistry, showing huge application potential.

Through biological and chemical methods, biomass can be prepared into porous/active carbon, carbon cloth, carbon paper, carbon felt, etc., and biomass-derived materials are widely used in lithium-ion batteries, lead–acid batteries, supercapacitors, and proton exchange membrane fuel cells, including electrode materials, gas diffusion layers, current collectors, etc. Biomass-based materials can also be used as catalysts and can provide catalyst support for electrochemical and thermochemical processes.

The application of biomass materials in electrochemical and thermochemical processes faces some challenges: how can the performance of biomass-based materials (including porosity, electrical conductivity, specific surface area, heteroatom doping, pore structure, functional groups, hydrophobicity, molecular structure, mechanical strength, chemical stability, and catalytic activity) be matched with the performance requirements of electrochemical and thermochemical equipment; the preparation and performance optimization of biomass-based materials; the large-scale application of biomass-based materials in electrochemical and thermochemical engineering, etc.

Furthermore, beyong the abovementioned, there are also many other bioamss material technologies and applications, and the field is rapidly advancing into new areas of discovery.

I hearby invite you to submit manuscripts to this Special Issue—full papers, communications, and reviews are all welcome.

Dr. Jingwei Chen
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • biomass catalyst support
  • gas diffusion layer
  • bioamss-derived electrode
  • biomass catalyst
  • separator
  • current collector
  • carbon-assisted water electrolysis

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

30 pages, 21079 KiB  
Article
Investigating the Effects of the Physicochemical Properties of Cellulose-Derived Biocarbon on Direct Carbon Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Performance
by Bartosz Adamczyk, Magdalena Dudek, Anita Zych, Marcin Gajek, Maciej Sitarz, Magdalena Ziąbka, Piotr Dudek, Przemysław Grzywacz, Małgorzata Witkowska, Joanna Kowalska, Krzysztof Mech and Krystian Sokołowski
Materials 2024, 17(14), 3503; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17143503 - 15 Jul 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 960
Abstract
This paper presents a study of the characteristic effects of the physicochemical properties of microcrystalline cellulose and a series of biocarbon samples produced from this raw material through thermal conversion at temperatures ranging from 200 °C to 850 °C. Structural studies revealed that [...] Read more.
This paper presents a study of the characteristic effects of the physicochemical properties of microcrystalline cellulose and a series of biocarbon samples produced from this raw material through thermal conversion at temperatures ranging from 200 °C to 850 °C. Structural studies revealed that the biocarbon samples produced from cellulose had a relatively low degree of graphitization of the carbon and an isometric shape of the carbon particles. Based on thermal investigations using the differential thermal analysis/differential scanning calorimeter method, obtaining fully formed biocarbon samples from cellulose feedstock was possible at about 400 °C. The highest direct carbon solid oxide fuel cell (DC-SOFC) performance was found for biochar samples obtained via thermal treatment at 400–600 °C. The pyrolytic gases from cellulose decomposition had a considerable impact on the achieved current density and power density of the DC-SOFCs supplied by pure cellulose samples or biochars derived from cellulose feedstock at a lower temperature range of 200–400 °C. For the DC-SOFCs supplied by biochars synthesised at higher temperatures of 600–850 °C, the “shuttle delivery mechanism” had a substantial effect. The impact of the carbon oxide concentration in the anode or carbon bed was important for the performance of the DC-SOFCs. Carbon oxide oxidised at the anode to form carbon dioxide, which interacted with the carbon bed to form more carbon oxide. The application of biochar obtained from cellulose alone without an additional catalyst led to moderate electrochemical power output from the DC-SOFCs. The results show that catalysts for the reverse Boudouard reactions occurring in a biocarbon bed are critical to ensuring high performance and stable operation under electrical load, which is crucial for DC-SOFC development. Full article
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13 pages, 2343 KiB  
Article
Thermodynamic Model for Hydrogen Production from Rice Straw Supercritical Water Gasification
by Zhigang Liu, Zhiyong Peng, Lei Yi, Le Wang, Jingwei Chen, Bin Chen and Liejin Guo
Materials 2024, 17(12), 3038; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17123038 - 20 Jun 2024
Viewed by 897
Abstract
Supercritical water gasification (SCWG) technology is highly promising for its ability to cleanly and efficiently convert biomass to hydrogen. This paper developed a model for the gasification of rice straw in supercritical water (SCW) to predict the direction and limit of the reaction [...] Read more.
Supercritical water gasification (SCWG) technology is highly promising for its ability to cleanly and efficiently convert biomass to hydrogen. This paper developed a model for the gasification of rice straw in supercritical water (SCW) to predict the direction and limit of the reaction based on the Gibbs free energy minimization principle. The equilibrium distribution of rice straw gasification products was analyzed under a wide range of parameters including temperatures of 400–1200 °C, pressures of 20–50 MPa, and rice straw concentrations of 5–40 wt%. Coke may not be produced due to the excellent properties of supercritical water under thermodynamic constraints. Higher temperatures, lower pressures, and biomass concentrations facilitated the movement of the chemical equilibrium towards hydrogen production. The hydrogen yield was 47.17 mol/kg at a temperature of 650 °C, a pressure of 25 MPa, and a rice straw concentration of 5 wt%. Meanwhile, there is an absorptive process in the rice straw SCWG process for high-calorific value hydrogen production. Energy self-sufficiency of the SCWG process can be maintained by adding small amounts of oxygen (ER < 0.2). This work would be of great value in guiding rice straw SCWG experiments. Full article
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