Innovative Materials for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Systems

A special issue of Nanoenergy Advances (ISSN 2673-706X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 348

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Laboratório Nacional de Energia e Geologia, Amadora, Portugal
Interests: materials for energy; fuel cells; water electrolysis; CO2 reduction
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Guest Editor
IFIMUP, Department of Physics and Astronomy of the Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal
Interests: energy harvesting; nanotechnology applicable to building envelopes; high reflective and cool materials
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Guest Editor Assistant
Center for Automation and Technology (TEMA), Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
Interests: Co-B@Ni/RGO nanocomposite; graphene nanotubes; electronic structure calculations
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The journal Nanoenergy Advances (MDPI) is pleased to announce a Special Issue on “Innovative Materials for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Systems.” This issue aims to showcase the latest breakthroughs and cutting-edge research in the design, synthesis, and application of advanced materials that drive progress toward a cleaner and more sustainable energy future.

We invite authors to contribute original research papers and comprehensive reviews covering, but not limited to, the following topics:

  • Nanomaterials;
  • Batteries and fuel cells;
  • Catalysis and carbon-based materials;
  • Photovoltaics and biofuels;
  • Polymer-based hydrogen storage;
  • Hydrogen production via various methods;
  • Crystalline and porous materials for hydrogen storage.

This Special Issue will also feature selected high-quality articles presented at the following international conferences:

We warmly invite researchers and experts from academia and industry to submit their latest findings and contribute to this exciting Special Issue that advances the frontiers of renewable and sustainable energy materials.

Dr. Carmen M. Rangel
Dr. Joao Ventura
Guest Editors

Dr. Elby Titus
Guest Editor Assistant

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. Nanoenergy Advances is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly 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 1200 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

  • nanomaterials
  • batteries
  • fuel cells
  • catalysis and carbon-based materials
  • photovoltaics and biofuels
  • hydrogen storage
  • hydrogen production
  • crystalline and porous materials

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

19 pages, 2498 KB  
Article
Nano-Enhanced Binary Eutectic PCM with SiC for Solar HDH Desalination Systems
by Rahul Agrawal, Kashif Mushtaq, Daniel López Pedrajas, Iqra Irfan and Breogán Pato-Doldán
Nanoenergy Adv. 2026, 6(1), 4; https://doi.org/10.3390/nanoenergyadv6010004 - 9 Jan 2026
Abstract
Freshwater scarcity is increasing day by day and has already reached a threatening level, especially in remotely populated areas. One of the technological solutions to this rising concern could be the use of the solar-based humidification–dehumidification (SHDH) method for water desalination. This technology [...] Read more.
Freshwater scarcity is increasing day by day and has already reached a threatening level, especially in remotely populated areas. One of the technological solutions to this rising concern could be the use of the solar-based humidification–dehumidification (SHDH) method for water desalination. This technology is a promising solution but has challenges such as solar intermittency. This challenge can be solved by integrating SHDH with the phase change material as a solar energy storage medium. Therefore, a novel nano-enhanced binary eutectic phase change material (NEPCM) was developed in this project. PCM consisting of 70 wt.% stearic acid (ST) and 30 wt.% suberic acid (SBU) with a varying concentration of silicon carbide (SiC) nanoparticles (NPs) (0.1 to 3 wt.%) was synthesized specifically considering the need of SHDH application. The systematic thermophysical characterization was conducted to investigate their energy storage capacity, thermal durability, and performance consistency over repeated cycles. DSC analysis revealed that the addition of SiC NPs preserved the thermal stability of the NEPCM, while the phase transition temperature remained nearly unchanged with a variation of less than 0.74%. The value of latent heat is inversely related to the nanoparticle concentration, i.e., from 142.75 kJ/kg for the base PCM to 131.24 kJ/kg at 3 wt.% loading. This corresponds to reductions in latent heat ranging between 0.98% and 8.06%. The FTIR measurement confirms that no chemical reactions or no new functional groups were formed. All original functional groups of ST and SBU remained intact, showing that incorporating the SiC NP to the PCM lead to physical interactions (e.g., hydrogen bonding or surface adsorption). The TGA analysis showed that the SiC NPs in the NEPCM act as supporting material, and its nano-doping enhanced the final degradation temperature and thermal stability. There was negligible change in thermal conductivity for nanoparticle loadings of 0.1% and 0.4%; however, it increased progressively by 5.2%, 10.8%, 23.12%, and 25.8% at nanoparticle loadings of 0.7%, 1%, 2%, and 3%, respectively, at 25 °C. Thermal reliability was analyzed through a DSC thermal cycling test which confirmed the suitability of the material for the desired applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Materials for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Systems)
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