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Nanomaterials
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Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology for Fuel Cells
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Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology for Fuel Cells

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 September 2024 | Viewed by 3304

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Jinlong Zou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Functional Inorganic Material Chemistry, Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Heilongjiang University, Harbin 150080, China
Interests: characterization techniques; carbon-based nanostructures; direct methanol fuel cells; environmental functional materials; oxygen electrocatalysis; microbial fuel cells; nanomaterials; non-noble metals-based electrocatalysts

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Humankind is currently facing enormous energy and environment problems that require urgent adoption of new energy supply technologies that use renewable energy sources efficiently. In this aspect, fuel cells have been considered one of the most promising efficient power generation technologies for a sustainable future. Fuel cells are devices that efficiently transform the chemical energy of hydrogen or other fuels (including chemicals and organic wastewater) into clean electricity. They basically convert the chemical energy residing in a chemical bond to electricity, delivering high power density and good conversion efficiency.

Fuel cells come in different types depending on the electrolytes and the fuels used, and the performance of fuel cells, among others, strongly depends on the types of electrocatalysts and membranes used in the systems. The rational design and fabrication of chemically engineered nanomaterials, including new carbon-based nanocatalysts (such as graphene and its derivatives, carbon nanotubes, biomass-derived carbon, and carbon structured in an orderly manner), new noble/non-noble metal catalysts, ion-exchange membrane materials, electrocatalyst carrier materials, and aqueous electrolyte/ionic liquids are the focus of current fuel cell research.

This Special Issue of Nanomaterials will cover the latest advances in nanomaterials and nanotechnology for fuel cells, not only in terms of syntheses and characterizations of novel materials, but also in terms of reports on functional and intelligent technologies for use in working devices. The main objective is to discover and engineer (bio-)energy storage and conversion processes in fuel cells with high conversion efficiency and power density.

Prof. Dr. Jinlong Zou
Guest Editor

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. 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 2900 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

  • aqueous electrolyte/ionic liquids
  • carbon-based nanocatalysts
  • electrode support material
  • electrode catalysts
  • energy conversion and storage
  • ion-exchange membranes
  • noble/non-noble metals-based catalysts
  • nanoscale bio-based materials

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 5577 KiB  
Article
CoFe Alloy-Coupled Mo2C Wrapped by Nitrogen-Doped Carbon as Highly Active Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction/Evolution Reactions
by Jiahao Xie, Yu Miao, Bin Liu, Siliang Shao, Xu Zhang, Zhiyao Sun, Xiaoqin Xu, Yuan Yao, Chaoyue Hu and Jinlong Zou
Nanomaterials 2023, 13(3), 543; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13030543 - 29 Jan 2023
Viewed by 1638
Abstract
Molybdenum carbide (Mo2C) with a Pt-like d-band electron structure exhibits certain activities for oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR/OER) in alkaline solutions, but it is questioned due to its poor OER stability. Combining Mo2C with transition metals alloy is [...] Read more.
Molybdenum carbide (Mo2C) with a Pt-like d-band electron structure exhibits certain activities for oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR/OER) in alkaline solutions, but it is questioned due to its poor OER stability. Combining Mo2C with transition metals alloy is a feasible way to stabilize its electrochemical activity. Herein, CoFe-Prussian blue analogues are used as a precursor to compound with graphitic carbon nitride and Mo6+ to synthesize FeCo alloy and Mo2C co-encapsulated N-doped carbon (NG-CoFe/Mo2C). The morphology of NG-CoFe/Mo2C (800 °C) shows that CoFe/Mo2C heterojunctions are well wrapped by N-doped graphitic carbon. Carbon coating not only inhibits growth and agglomeration of Mo2C/CoFe, but also enhances corrosion resistance of NG-CoFe/Mo2C. NG-CoFe/Mo2C (800 °C) exhibits an excellent half-wave potential (E1/2 = 0.880 V) for ORR. It also obtains a lower OER overpotential (325 mV) than RuO2 due to the formation of active species (CoOOH/β-FeOOH, as indicated by in-situ X-ray diffraction tests). E1/2 shifts only 6 mV after 5000 ORR cycles, while overpotential for OER increases only 19 mV after 1000 cycles. ORR/OER performances of NG-CoFe/Mo2C (800 °C) are close to or better than those of many recently reported catalysts. It provides an interfacial engineering strategy to enhance the intrinsic activity and stability of carbides modified by transition-metals alloy for oxygen electrocatalysis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology for Fuel Cells)
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10 pages, 2300 KiB  
Article
The Synthesis of Carbon Black-Loaded Pt Concave Nanocubes with High-Index Facets and Their Enhanced Electrocatalytic Properties toward Glucose Oxidation
by Xin Xu, Ze Ma, Zekun Su, Danqing Li, Xufeng Dong, Hao Huang and Min Qi
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(21), 3761; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12213761 - 26 Oct 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1201
Abstract
Catalysts with high catalytic activity and good stability are desirable in the electrocatalytic oxidation of glucose. Herein, Pt concave nanocubes with high-index facets (HIFs) supported by carbon black (Pt CNC/CB) are prepared through a hydrothermal method. The experimental results demonstrate that the peak [...] Read more.
Catalysts with high catalytic activity and good stability are desirable in the electrocatalytic oxidation of glucose. Herein, Pt concave nanocubes with high-index facets (HIFs) supported by carbon black (Pt CNC/CB) are prepared through a hydrothermal method. The experimental results demonstrate that the peak current densities in different potential regions on the Pt CNC/CB anode are 0.22, 0.20, and 0.60 mA cm−2. The catalytic process of the glucose oxidation reaction is investigated in electrolytes with different pH values. Better stability is achieved by Pt CNC/CB than by Pt concave nanocubes (Pt CNCs). Abundant surface defects with low-coordinated atom numbers, such as steps, kinks, and edges, served as active sites in the electrocatalytic oxidation of glucose. With the addition of carbon black, the catalytic activity can be improved by facilitating the full exposure of the active surface defects on the HIFs of the Pt CNCs. Moreover, to address the aggregation of Pt CNCs, caused by the high surface energy of HIFs, the introduction of carbon material is an effective way to preserve the HIFs and thus enhance the stability of the catalyst. Hence, the prepared Pt CNC/CB electrocatalyst has great potential to be applied in the electrooxidation of glucose. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology for Fuel Cells)
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