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Molecules
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Advanced Materials for Sustainable Energy and Chemical Processes
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Advanced Materials for Sustainable Energy and Chemical Processes

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Electrochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2022) | Viewed by 6560

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Mohd Shahbudin Masdar

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical & Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering & Built Environment, UKM Bangi, Selangor 43600, Malaysia
Interests: fuel cell technology; hydrogen technology; biomass and bioenergy; process system engineering; gas purification
Dr. Nurul Akidah Baharuddin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Fuel Cell Institute, UKM Bangi, Selangor 43600, Malaysia
Interests: fuel cell technology; hydrogen energy; mechanical and materials engineering

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The appearance of nanotechnology has created opportunities for the development of new strategies for advanced materials today. Nanotechnology is a prospective solution for meeting the demand for highly efficient materials development in various industrial technologies. Hence, inventions, innovation, and technological change are the key strategies for overcoming the aforesaid challenge in materials, and this nanotechnology represents the most promising solution.

The main focus of this Special Issue of Molecules on “Advanced Material for Sustainable Energy and Chemical Processes” is to present comprehensive works on new developments in nanostructured materials that will profoundly influence real advancements for sustainable energy and chemical industry.  Potential topics include but are not limited to nanostructured material in various technologies, such as fuel cells, electrolysis, photovoltaic cell, gas separation and storage, and other low carbon technologies and chemical processes.

Therefore, we kindly invite and welcome all authors to submit manuscripts in the form of original research articles, reviews, and short communications.

Dr. Mohd Shahbudin Masdar
Dr. Nurul Akidah Baharuddin
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. Molecules 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 2700 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

  • low carbon technology
  • renewable energy
  • fuel cells
  • solar energy
  • electrolysis
  • nanotechnology
  • sustainable processes

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 4032 KiB  
Article
Archaeal and Bacterial Content in a Two-Stage Anaerobic System for Efficient Energy Production from Agricultural Wastes
by Lyudmila Kabaivanova, Venelin Hubenov, Lyudmila Dimitrova, Ivan Simeonov, Haoping Wang and Penka Petrova
Molecules 2022, 27(5), 1512; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27051512 - 23 Feb 2022
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2106
Abstract
Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a microbially-driven process enabling energy production. Microorganisms are the core of anaerobic digesters and play an important role in the succession of hydrolysis, acidogenesis, acetogenesis, and methanogenesis processes. The diversity of participating microbial communities can provide new information on [...] Read more.
Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a microbially-driven process enabling energy production. Microorganisms are the core of anaerobic digesters and play an important role in the succession of hydrolysis, acidogenesis, acetogenesis, and methanogenesis processes. The diversity of participating microbial communities can provide new information on digester performance for biomass valorization and biofuel production. In this study anaerobic systems were used, operating under mesophilic conditions that realized biodegradation processes of waste wheat straw pretreated with NaOH—a renewable source for hydrogen and methane production. These processes could be managed and optimized for hydrogen and methane separately but combining them in a two-stage system can lead to higher yields and a positive energy balance. The aim of the study was to depict a process of biohydrogen production from lignocellulosic waste followed by a second one leading to the production of biomethane. Archaeal and bacterial consortia in a two-stage system operating with wheat straw were identified for the first time and the role of the most important representatives was elucidated. The mixed cultures were identified by the molecular-biological methods of metagenomics. The results showed that biohydrogen generation is most probably due to the presence of Proteiniphilum saccharofermentans, which was 28.2% to 45.4% of the microbial community in the first and the second bioreactor, respectively. Archaeal representatives belonging to Methanobacterium formicicum (0.71% of the community), Methanosarcina spelaei (0.03%), Methanothrix soehngenii (0.012%), and Methanobacterium beijingense (0.01%) were proven in the methane-generating reactor. The correlation between substrate degradation and biogas accumulation was calculated, together with the profile of fatty acids as intermediates produced during the processes. The hydrogen concentration in the biogas reached 14.43%, and the Methane concentration was 69%. Calculations of the energy yield during the two-stage process showed 1195.89 kWh·t−1 compared to a 361.62 kWh·t−1 cumulative yield of energy carrier for a one-stage process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials for Sustainable Energy and Chemical Processes)
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15 pages, 19955 KiB  
Article
Core Shell Nanostructure: Impregnated Activated Carbon as Adsorbent for Hydrogen Sulfide Adsorption
by Nurul Noramelya Zulkefli, Rajeevelosana Seladorai, Mohd Shahbudin Masdar, Nabilah Mohd Sofian and Wan Nor Roslam Wan Isahak
Molecules 2022, 27(3), 1145; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27031145 - 08 Feb 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2324
Abstract
This study focuses on the synthesis, characterization, and evaluation of the performance of core shell nanostructure adsorbent for hydrogen sulfide (H2S) capture. Commercial coconut shell activated carbon (CAC) and commercial mixed gas of 5000 ppm H2S balanced N2 [...] Read more.
This study focuses on the synthesis, characterization, and evaluation of the performance of core shell nanostructure adsorbent for hydrogen sulfide (H2S) capture. Commercial coconut shell activated carbon (CAC) and commercial mixed gas of 5000 ppm H2S balanced N2 were used. With different preparation techniques, the CAC was modified by core shell impregnation with zinc oxide (ZnO), titanium oxide (TiO2), potassium hydroxide (KOH), and zinc acetate (ZnAC2). The core structure was prepared with CAC impregnated by single chemical and double chemical labelled with ZnAC2-CAC (single chemical), ZnAC2/KOH-CAC, ZnAC2/ZnO-CAC, and ZnAC2/TiO2-CAC. Then, the prepared core was layered either with KOH, TiO2, NH3, or TEOS for the shell. The synthesized adsorbents were characterized in physical and chemical characterization through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analyzers. Operation of the adsorber column takes place at ambient temperature, with absolute pressure at 1.5 bar. The H2S gas was fed into the column at 5.5 L/min and the loaded adsorbents were 150 g. The performance of synthesized adsorbent was analyzed through the adsorbent’s capability in capturing H2S gas. Based on the results, ZnAc2/ZnO/CAC_WOS shows a better adsorption capacity with 1.17 mg H2S/g and a 53% increment compared to raw CAC. However, the degradation of the adsorbents was higher compared to ZnAc2/ZnO/CAC_OS and to ZnAc2/ZnO/CAC_WS ZnAc2/ZnO/CAC_OS. The presence of silica as a shell has potentially increased the adsorbent’s stability in several cycles of adsorption-desorption. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials for Sustainable Energy and Chemical Processes)
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10 pages, 23170 KiB  
Article
Biotic Cathode of Graphite Fibre Brush for Improved Application in Microbial Fuel Cells
by Siti Farah Nadiah Rusli, Siti Mariam Daud, Mimi Hani Abu Bakar, Kee Shyuan Loh and Mohd Shahbudin Masdar
Molecules 2022, 27(3), 1045; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27031045 - 03 Feb 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1363
Abstract
The biocathode in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) system is a promising and a cheap alternative method to improve cathode reaction performance. This study aims to identify the effect of the electrode combination between non-chemical modified stainless steel (SS) and graphite fibre brush [...] Read more.
The biocathode in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) system is a promising and a cheap alternative method to improve cathode reaction performance. This study aims to identify the effect of the electrode combination between non-chemical modified stainless steel (SS) and graphite fibre brush (GFB) for constructing bio-electrodes in an MFC. In this study, the MFC had two chambers, separated by a cation exchange membrane, and underwent a total of four different treatments with different electrode arrangements (anodeǁcathode)—SSǁSS (control), GFBǁSS, GFBǁGFB and SSǁGFB. Both electrodes were heat-treated to improve surface oxidation. On the 20th day of the operation, the GFBǁGFB arrangement generated the highest power density, up to 3.03 W/m3 (177 A/m3), followed by the SSǁGFB (0.0106 W/m3, 0.412 A/m3), the GFBǁSS (0.0283 W/m3, 17.1 A/m3), and the SSǁSS arrangements (0.0069 W/m−3, 1.64 A/m3). The GFBǁGFB had the lowest internal resistance (0.2 kΩ), corresponding to the highest power output. The other electrode arrangements, SSǁGFB, GFBǁSS, and SSǁSS, showed very high internal resistance (82 kΩ, 2.1 kΩ and 18 kΩ, respectively) due to the low proton and electron movement activity in the MFC systems. The results show that GFB materials can be used as anode and cathode in a fully biotic MFC system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials for Sustainable Energy and Chemical Processes)
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