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Polymers
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Next-Generation Polymer-Assisted Electrocatalysts for Renewable Energy Catalysis
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Next-Generation Polymer-Assisted Electrocatalysts for Renewable Energy Catalysis

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 77

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Mrunal Bhosale

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, 280 Daehak-ro, Gyeongsan 712-749, Republic of Korea
Interests: design and interfacial engineering of polymer-assisted nanostructured electrocatalysts; 2D materials coupled with transition-metals; electrochemical water splitting (HER/OER) in alkaline media; hybrid systems bridging environmental remediation with energy storage
Dr. Pritam J. Morankar

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 712-749, Republic of Korea
Interests: supercapacitors; thin-film solar cells; copper; chalcopyrite; electrochromism
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The growing demand for sustainable and clean energy technologies has brought electrochemical water splitting to the forefront of global energy research. In this context, polymers have emerged as crucial components in the design of advanced electrocatalytic systems due to their unique structural versatility, tunable electronic properties, stability in harsh environments, and ability to integrate with nanostructured materials. Polymers have demonstrated promising roles in enhancing electrocatalytic activity, stability, and charge transfer kinetics in both hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER).

This proposed Special Issue aims to highlight the recent developments, challenges, and future directions of polymer-based materials in the field of electrochemical water splitting. We welcome high-quality original research articles, comprehensive reviews, and communications that explore the synthesis, characterization, and practical applications of polymer-supported or polymer-derived electrocatalysts.

Dr. Mrunal Bhosale
Dr. Pritam J. Morankar
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. Polymers 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

  • polymer-assisted electrocatalysis
  • hydrogen evolution reaction
  • oxygen evolution reaction
  • green energy

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 6729 KB  
Article
Electropolymerized PAA as a Functional Matrix for CeO2-NiO Hybrid Electrocatalysts for Efficient Water Oxidation
by Mrunal Bhosale, Pritam J. Morankar, Yeonsu Lee, Hajin Seo and Chan-Wook Jeon
Polymers 2025, 17(19), 2631; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17192631 - 28 Sep 2025
Abstract
Electrochemical water splitting has emerged as a pivotal strategy for advancing sustainable and renewable energy technologies. However, its practical deployment is often hampered by sluggish reaction kinetics, large overpotentials, and the high cost of efficient electrocatalysts. To overcome these critical challenges, a novel [...] Read more.
Electrochemical water splitting has emerged as a pivotal strategy for advancing sustainable and renewable energy technologies. However, its practical deployment is often hampered by sluggish reaction kinetics, large overpotentials, and the high cost of efficient electrocatalysts. To overcome these critical challenges, a novel bifunctional electrocatalyst based on electropolymerized CeO2-NiO with polyacrylic acid (Ce-Ni-PAA) has been rationally engineered for overall water splitting. The strategic incorporation of conductive polymer framework enables effective modulation of the local electronic structure, enhances charge transport pathways, and maximizes the density of electrochemically accessible active sites, thereby substantially boosting catalytic performance. When evaluated in a 1 M KOH alkaline medium, the optimized Ce-Ni-PAA0.5/NF hybrid demonstrates remarkable catalytic activity with 366.5 mV overpotential at 50 mA cm−2, coupled with lower Tafel slope of 93.5 mV dec−1. Additionally, the Ce-Ni-PAA0.5/NF electrocatalyst exhibits exceptional ECSA of 1092.3 cm2, which confirms the presence of a significantly larger number of electrochemically active sites. The electrocatalyst retains its performance even after 5000 continuous cycles of operation. The superior performance is attributed to the synergistic effects arising from the enriched composition, efficient electron transport channels, and abundant catalytic centers. Collectively, this study not only highlights the significance of rational structural and compositional design but also offers valuable insights toward the development of next-generation, cost-effective bifunctional electrocatalysts with strong potential for scalable water splitting and clean energy applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Next-Generation Polymer-Assisted Electrocatalysts for Renewable Energy Catalysis)
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