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Nanomaterials
Special Issues
Advanced Nanogenerators for Energy and Electrochemical Applications
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Advanced Nanogenerators for Energy and Electrochemical Applications

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy and Catalysis".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 1832

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Kai Han

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
Interests: self-powered electrochemistry; self-powered sensors and systems; energy generation and storage; triboelectric nanogenerators
Prof. Dr. Yaokun Pang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Composites and Engineering, College of Materials and Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China
Interests: micro-nano energy-harvesting devices; wearable electronics; smart biomass textiles/fibers

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With the world’s demand for diversified clean energy, emerging nanogenerators provide new solutions by converting distributed power sources into electricity for various applications. Their output characteristics and advantages make them excellent tools for selfpowered electrochemical applications in a sustainable manner. However, practical applications are still limited by performance, durability, overall energy conversion efficiency, the degree of system integration, and so on. To overcome existing difficulties and upgrade application scenarios, more powerful and innovative nanogenerators need to be developed. This Special Issue, “Advanced Nanogenerators for Energy and Electrochemical Applications”, aims to explore advanced nanogenerators with high performance in energy-harvesting and electrochemical applications, especially in synthesis, degradation, sensing, and corrosion protection. We welcome original research work and reviews that contribute to the performance improvement of nanogenerators, enhancing or extending electrochemical applications to a wide variety of self-powered methods.

Dr. Kai Han
Prof. Dr. Yaokun Pang
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 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. Nanomaterials 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 2400 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

  • nanogenerators
  • energy harvesting
  • energy conversion and storage
  • electrochemical reactions
  • catalysis
  • sensors
  • nanomaterials

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 3362 KB  
Article
Biomass-Derived Laser-Induced Graphene/Chitosan Composite Films for Sustainable Triboelectric Nanogenerators
by Chong Chen, Zhenyuan Chui and Yaokun Pang
Nanomaterials 2026, 16(9), 550; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano16090550 (registering DOI) - 30 Apr 2026
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Abstract
As a green energy technology, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) convert mechanical energy into electricity and have gained significant attention in response to growing global environmental concerns. However, the widespread use of petroleum-based polymers as triboelectric materials in high-performance TENGs raises concerns over plastic pollution. [...] Read more.
As a green energy technology, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) convert mechanical energy into electricity and have gained significant attention in response to growing global environmental concerns. However, the widespread use of petroleum-based polymers as triboelectric materials in high-performance TENGs raises concerns over plastic pollution. In this work, we report a high-performance biodegradable TENG utilizing chitosan/laser-induced graphene (LIG) composite films as triboelectric layers. Modified chitosan substrates were first converted into LIGs via a convenient one-step CO2 laser engraving, subsequently incorporated into chitosan matrices to form homogeneous composite films. A TENG device was designed by pairing the LIG/chitosan composite film with the fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) film, and copper electrodes. The introduction of LIG effectively strengthens charge storage and dielectric properties of the chitosan matrix, thereby significantly boosting the triboelectric output performance. Experimental results demonstrate that the as-assembled TENG with an LIG concentration of 1 wt.% achieves a peak open-circuit voltage of 196 V and short-circuit current of 2.1 μA, with a maximum power density of 295 mW/m2. It can drive LED lights and small low-power electronic devices. Furthermore, the designed TENG device exhibits good biodegradability, flexibility, and stability, serving as a self-powered sensor for monitoring human joint movements. This work provides a simple and scalable strategy for integrating laser-induced graphene with biomass-based polymers, offering new insights into the design of high-performance, biobased triboelectric materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Nanogenerators for Energy and Electrochemical Applications)
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26 pages, 3293 KB  
Article
Tuning the Optoelectronic and Photovoltaic Properties of Natural Chlorophyll Dye Molecules via Solvent Interaction: A Computational Insight
by Mohammed A. Al-Seady, Hussein Hakim Abed, Hayder M. Abduljalil and Mousumi Upadhyay Kahaly
Nanomaterials 2026, 16(6), 365; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano16060365 - 17 Mar 2026
Viewed by 453
Abstract
The chlorophyll molecule is considered a low-cost material, easy to synthesize, and easily extracted from plant leaves. It exhibits high chemical stability, structural flexibility, and high absorbance ability at the visible range of electromagnetic radiation. In this work, the geometrical, electronic, and optical [...] Read more.
The chlorophyll molecule is considered a low-cost material, easy to synthesize, and easily extracted from plant leaves. It exhibits high chemical stability, structural flexibility, and high absorbance ability at the visible range of electromagnetic radiation. In this work, the geometrical, electronic, and optical properties of pure, dissolved, and doped chlorophyll (C1) natural organic dye were computed by density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT). The solvents considered include water (H2O), acetone (C2H6O), dichloromethane (CH2Cl2), chloroform (CH3Cl), and dimethyl-sulfoxide (DMSO) (C2H6OS). The solar photovoltaic parameters, such as light-harvesting efficiency (LHE), oscillation strength (f), free energy of electron injection (ΔGInj.) and regeneration (ΔGReg.), open-circuit voltaic (VOC), and efficiency (η), were also investigated. The evaluated energy gap slightly shifted from 1.920 eV to 1.980 eV based on the solvent polarity, while the UV-Visible absorption spectrum red-shifted from 422.3 nm to 439.8 nm, improving the overall efficiency up to 21.5% in DMSO solvent. The (LHE) and (ΔGInj.) properties regarding Cl molecules improved up to 69.1% and −1.384 eV when dissolved in chloroform and DMSO solvents, respectively. Doping C1 molecule via metal transition atoms such as zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni) and copper (Cu) further modified the optical and photovoltaic performance. Doped C1 molecule via Cu atom shows the best photonic results, including the highest open-circuit voltage (Voc) and conversion efficiency (Ƞ), while the Ni-doped C1 dye displays the longest lifetime, 1.699 µs, and the highest electronic coupling constant, 1.975 eV; thus, it has the superior photovoltaic performance. These results demonstrate that both solvents and transition metal atom modification significantly improve C1 performance, making metal-doped C1 a promising low-cost and eco-friendly sensitizer for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Nanogenerators for Energy and Electrochemical Applications)
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