Advanced Polymeric Materials for Electrical Applications

Alternative methods to generate electricity with high efficiency, to produce a minimum of greenhouse gases, and to reduce reliance on fossil fuels need to be sought to sustain a growing society.

Batteries and fuel cells have been proposed as potential candidates for various applications, such as transportation, distributed power, and portable devices. This Special Issue discusses the development of polymer electrolyte membranes and new materials for electrical applications. Polymer electrolytes are promising materials for a wide variety of applications in electrochemical devices such as rechargeable batteries, supercapacitors, fuel cells, electrodes, sensors, and others. It is known that ionic diffusivity in polymeric membranes is closely related to their structural dynamics, controlled by the large-amplitude structural rearrangement of polymer segments, the transition temperature, the rigidity and fragility of polymers. During the last few years, the main line of research in this area has been focused on the design of polymers to overcome the limitations of the materials currently available for this type of application. The majority of studies have been looking for polymers with good mechanical properties, excellent chemical stability, and high conductivity. The strategies followed have been: the design of mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) based on conductive polymers and the incorporation of nanofillers (zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs), the use of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs)), the increase of tortuosity and reduction of crossover, the use of nanofibers to improve the conductivity and mechanical properties, and the incorporation of ionic liquids (ILs) to increase the conductivity without the need to keep the polymer hydrated. Conducting organic polymers (COPs) are polymers that conduct electricity in a range between metallic conductivity and semiconductors. Usually the electrical properties of COPs can be tuned by using modified monomers with interesting applications.

In this Special Issue of Polymers, we wish to bring together works that can be a reference for the industry, for the present and future construction of devices using rechargeable batteries, supercapacitors, electrodes, catalysts, and fuel cells. This Special Issue is for researchers and technologists interested in all aspects of the science, technology, and applications of sources of electrochemical power. It will feature original research papers and reviews on materials science, with applications linked to batteries, supercapacitors, sensors, catalysis, proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) working at moderate and high temperatures, alcohol fuel cells (AFCs), phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFCs), solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), molten-carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs), microbial fuel cells (MFCs), controlled delivery, hydrogen storage and photo-electrochemical cells. Topics considered include the research, development, and applications of materials and novel components for these devices.

We invite scientists working in the area of polymeric materials to contribute to this Special Issue, through work related to: membranes, polymeric material selection, and catalysts design (membranes, anode, cathode, electrolytes, interconnections, sealants). Topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Electrochemical materials and mechanical characterization and properties
• Conducting organic polymers
• Controlled delivery
• Ion-conductors
• Stack configuration and design
• Transport (proton, electron, mass transport)
• Reliability and degradation
• Modelling
• Application of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells, alcohol fuel cells, and microbial fuel cells
• Batteries
• Sensors
• Supercapacitors

• Polymeric Materials for Electrical Applications in Polymers (7 articles)