Energies最新文献

{"title":"Tuning Solid-State Reaction Pathways Using Molecular Sulfur Precursors to Synthesize FeS Anodes of Li-Ion Batteries for Boosted Electrochemical Performance","authors":"Xiaoyang Zhang, Mingxia Xu, Jialiang Tian, Shiting Cao, Botao Cao, Yongmei Bai, Xiaojie Hu, C.X. Yang, Jiliang Zhang, Chuang Dong","doi":"10.3390/en18174623","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/en18174623","url":null,"abstract":"The solid-state reactions between Fe2O3 and molecular sulfur sources could produce FeS nanoparticles efficiently, while the functions of these molecules have been ignored except for the role as sulfur sources. In this work, thioacetamide and thiourea were employed as sulfur sources for the solid-state reactions with Fe2O3 to explore their effects on the microstructure and electrochemical performance of the produced FeS. Despite the slight difference in one functional group for two molecules (−CH3 against −NH2), thiourea leads to a more complex reaction pathway with FeS2 as the intermediate phase, while no such an intermediate phase is observed in the reaction with thioacetamide. The former yields FeS of 2D nanoflakes as the final products, compared with the aggregated nanoparticles in reactions with thiourea. As a result, the nanoflakes exhibit a higher discharge capacity with enhanced stability (388.9 mAh∙g−1 vs. 374.7 mAh∙g−1 above 1 V). According to the reaction pathways, the formation of FeS nanoflakes and superior electrochemical performance were addressed, paving a route for the solid-state reactions with molecules to develop high-performance sulfide electrode materials.","PeriodicalId":11557,"journal":{"name":"Energies","volume":"18 17","pages":"4623-4623"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/17/4623/pdf?version=1756557653","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147331030","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Influence of the Porous Transport Layer Surface Structure on Overpotentials in PEM Water Electrolysis","authors":"Shufeng Yang, Bin Hou, Zhiqiang Xie, Gaoqiang Yang","doi":"10.3390/en18164396","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/en18164396","url":null,"abstract":"The engineering of porous transport layer (PTL)–catalyst layer (CL) interfacial architecture plays a critical role in optimizing the performance of proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers (PEMWEs). Particularly, at the PTL-CL interface, our results reveal that anode catalyst loadings affect the modulation of the PTL surface structure on the overpotentials of PEMWEs. Under high anode catalyst loadings, the magnitude of overpotentials is predominantly governed by the electronic conductivity and mass transport resistance within the CL, where the modifying effects of PTL-CL interfacial contact characteristics become negligible. However, when the catalyst loading is reduced, the PTL-CL interfacial contact characteristics become critical for electron conduction, mass transport, and kinetic reaction. Under low catalyst loadings, the etched PTL demonstrates a maximum reduction of 59 mV compared to the pristine PTL at 4 A/cm2, with the former exhibiting a 10 mΩ·cm2 reduction. Meanwhile, the etched PTL integrated with a cell demonstrates superior performance in both mass transport and kinetic overpotentials compared to a pristine PTL. This clearly indicates that the surface structure of the PTL plays an increasingly significant role in regulating the overpotentials of PEMWEs as the catalyst loadings decrease.","PeriodicalId":11557,"journal":{"name":"Energies","volume":"18 16","pages":"4396-4396"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/16/4396/pdf?version=1755517443","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147914834","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mechanistic Study of CO2-Based Oil Flooding in Microfluidics and Machine Learning Parametric Analysis","authors":"C. P. Shen, Lianjie Hou, Ze Zhou, Yanxing Wang, Omar Alfarisi, С Е Чернышов, Junrong Liu, Shuyang Liu, Jianchun Xu, Xiaopu Wang","doi":"10.3390/en18164385","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/en18164385","url":null,"abstract":"CO2-enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) has gained prominence as an effective oil displacement method with low carbon emissions, yet its microscopic mechanisms remain incompletely understood. This study introduces a novel high-pressure microfluidic visualization system capable of operating at 0.1–10 MPa without confining pressure and featuring stratified porous media with a 63 μm minimum throat size to provide unprecedented insights into CO2 and CO2-foam EOR processes at the microscale. Through quantitative image analysis and advanced machine learning modeling, we reveal that increasing the CO2 injection pressure nonlinearly reduces residual oil saturation, achieving near-complete miscibility at 6 MPa with only 2% residual oil—a finding that challenges conventional thresholds for miscibility in heterogeneous systems. Our work uniquely demonstrates that CO2-foam flooding not only mobilizes capillary-trapped oil films but also dynamically alters interfacial tension and the pore-scale fluid distribution, a phenomenon previously underexplored. Support Vector Regression (R2 = 0.71) further uncovers a nonlinear relationship between the surfactant concentration and residual oil saturation, offering a data-driven framework for parameter optimization. These results advance our fundamental understanding by bridging microscale dynamics with field-applicable insights, while the integration of machine learning with microfluidics represents a methodological leap for EOR research.","PeriodicalId":11557,"journal":{"name":"Energies","volume":"18 16","pages":"4385-4385"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/16/4385/pdf?version=1755508808","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147333812","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Kinetics Study on CO2 Adsorption of Li4SiO4 Sorbents Prepared from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries","authors":"Xinmei Wang, Junqiang Han, Jianing Ni, Changlei Qin","doi":"10.3390/en18164237","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/en18164237","url":null,"abstract":"With the advancement of global carbon reduction efforts and the rapid development of battery industries, the scale of spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has increased dramatically. Extracting lithium from spent LIBs to synthesize Li4SiO4 sorbents not only addresses the challenge of battery recycling but also reduces the production cost of CO2 sorbents, making it a research hotspot. However, the CO2 adsorption behavior of these sorbents under the effect of impurities may differ from the traditional Li4SiO4, and there is a lack of systematic research on the adsorption kinetics. To address this issue, two Li4SiO4 sorbents are prepared from spent ternary LIBs, and their adsorption kinetics are comprehensively investigated using classical kinetic models. Results show that the reaction order of LSO and Na-LSO is 0.41 and 1.63, respectively, with activation energies of 72.93 kJ/mol and 99.23 kJ/mol in the initial kinetic-controlled stage, and 323.15 kJ/mol and 176.79 kJ/mol in the following diffusion-controlled stage. In the cyclic processes, loss-in-capacity is observed on LSO due to the simultaneous decrease in rate constants in both the kinetic and diffusion-controlled stages, while Na-LSO could almost maintain its capacity by having a much bigger rate constant during the kinetic-controlled stage. This study reveals the adsorption kinetics of Li4SiO4 prepared from spent LIBs and could provide theoretical support for the targeted design of efficient and low-cost CO2 sorbents.","PeriodicalId":11557,"journal":{"name":"Energies","volume":"18 16","pages":"4237-4237"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147903042","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Light-Driven Enhancement of Oxygen Evolution for Clean Energy Conversion: Co3O4-TiO2/CNTs P-N Heterojunction Catalysts Enabling Efficient Carrier Separation and Reduced Overpotential","authors":"Weicheng Zhang, Taotao Zeng, Yu Yi, Yuling Liu, Hao He, Ping Li, Zeyan Zhou","doi":"10.3390/en18154185","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/en18154185","url":null,"abstract":"In the renewable energy conversion system, water electrolysis technology is widely regarded as the core means to achieve clean hydrogen production. However, the anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) has become a key bottleneck limiting the overall water splitting efficiency due to its slow kinetic process and high overpotential. This study proposes a novel Co3O4-TiO2/CNTs p-n heterojunction catalyst, which was synthesized by hydrothermal method and significantly improved OER activity by combining heterojunction interface regulation and light field enhancement mechanism. Under illumination conditions, the catalyst achieved an overpotential of 390 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2, which is superior to the performance of the dark state (410 mV) and single component Co3O4-TiO2 catalysts. The material characterization results indicate that the p-n heterojunction structure effectively promotes the separation and migration of photogenerated carriers and enhances the visible light absorption capability. This work expands the design ideas of energy catalytic materials by constructing a collaborative electric light dual field regulation system, providing a new strategy for developing efficient and low-energy water splitting electrocatalysts, which is expected to play an important role in the future clean energy production and storage field.","PeriodicalId":11557,"journal":{"name":"Energies","volume":"18 15","pages":"4185-4185"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/15/4185/pdf?version=1754550401","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147333860","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Investigation on Imbibition Recovery Characteristics in Jimusar Shale Oil and White Mineral Oil by NMR","authors":"Dunqing Liu, Chao Jia, Keji Chen","doi":"10.3390/en18154111","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/en18154111","url":null,"abstract":"Recovering oil by fracturing fluid imbibition has demonstrated significant potential for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in tight oil reservoirs. White mineral oil (WMO), kerosene, or saturated alkanes with matched apparent viscosity have been widely used as “crude oil” to investigate imbibition mechanisms in light shale oil or tight oil. However, the representativeness of these simulated oils for low-maturity crude oils with higher viscosity and greater content of resins and asphaltenes requires further research. In this study, imbibition experiments were conducted and T2 and T1–T2 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra were adopted to investigate the oil recovery characteristics among resin–asphaltene-rich Jimusar shale oil and two WMOs. The overall imbibition recovery rates, pore scale recovery characteristics, mobility variations among oils with different occurrence states, as well as key factors influencing imbibition efficiency were analyzed. The results show the following: (1) WMO, kerosene, or alkanes with matched apparent viscosity may not comprehensively replicate the imbibition behavior of resin–asphaltene-rich crude oils. These simplified systems fail to capture the pore-scale occurrence characteristics of resins/asphaltenes, their influence on pore wettability alteration, and may consequently overestimate the intrinsic imbibition displacement efficiency in reservoir formations. (2) Surfactant optimization must holistically address the intrinsic coupling between interfacial tension reduction, wettability modification, and pore-scale crude oil mobilization mechanisms. The alteration of overall wettability exhibits higher priority over interfacial tension in governing displacement dynamics. (3) Imbibition displacement exhibits selective mobilization characteristics for oil phases in pores. Specifically, when the oil phase contains complex hydrocarbon components, lighter fractions in larger pores are preferentially mobilized; when the oil composition is homogeneous, oil in smaller pores is mobilized first.","PeriodicalId":11557,"journal":{"name":"Energies","volume":"18 15","pages":"4111-4111"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147332253","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"ZnCu Metal–Organic Framework Electrocatalysts for Efficient Ammonia Decomposition to Hydrogen","authors":"Mingguang Ouyang, Geng Chen, Weitao Ning, Xiaoyang Wang, Xiaojiang Mu, Lei Miao","doi":"10.3390/en18143871","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/en18143871","url":null,"abstract":"The electrocatalytic decomposition of ammonia represents a promising route for sustainable hydrogen production, yet current systems rely heavily on noble metal catalysts with prohibitive costs and limited durability. A critical challenge lies in developing non-noble electrocatalysts that simultaneously achieve high active site exposure, optimized electronic configurations, and robust structural stability. Addressing these requirements, this study strategically engineered Cu-doped ZIF-8 architectures via in situ growth on nickel foam (NF) substrates through a facile room-temperature hydrothermal synthesis approach. Systematic optimization of the Cu/Zn molar ratio revealed that Cu0.7Zn0.3-ZIF/NF achieved optimal performance, exhibiting a distinctive nanoflower-like architecture that substantially increased accessible active sites. The hybrid catalyst demonstrated superior electrocatalytic performance with a current density of 124 mA cm−2 at 1.6 V vs. RHE and a notably low Tafel slope of 30.94 mV dec−1, outperforming both Zn-ZIF/NF (39.45 mV dec−1) and Cu-ZIF/NF (31.39 mV dec−1). Combined XPS and EDS analyses unveiled a synergistic electronic structure modulation between Zn and Cu, which facilitated charge transfer and enhanced catalytic efficiency. A gas chromatography product analysis identified H2 and N2 as the primary gaseous products, confirming the predominant occurrence of the ammonia oxidation reaction (AOR). This study not only presents a noble metal-free electrocatalyst with exceptional efficiency and durability for ammonia decomposition but also demonstrates the significant potential of MOF-derived materials in sustainable hydrogen production technologies.","PeriodicalId":11557,"journal":{"name":"Energies","volume":"18 14","pages":"3871-3871"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/14/3871/pdf?version=1753091487","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147921645","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Electrical–Thermal Aging Performance of PAH-Modified Interfacial Coating Agent for HVDC Cable Accessory","authors":"Wenbo Zhu, Kaulya Pathiraja, Xuhong Guo, Baojun Hui, Mingli Fu, Linjie Zhao, Yuhuai Wang, Jin Li","doi":"10.3390/en18143767","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/en18143767","url":null,"abstract":"A novel interfacial coating agent was developed by modifying silicone oil with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to enhance the insulation performance of HVDC cable accessories. This study investigates the effects of corona and hot–cold cycle aging on the DC breakdown characteristics of the Cross-Linked Poly Ethylene and Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (XLPE/EPDM) interface. Interfacial breakdown tests, infrared spectroscopy, and a microstructural analysis were employed to investigate aging mechanisms. The results show that PAH-modified silicone oil significantly increases the breakdown voltage, with 2,4-dihydroxybenzophenone (C13H10O3) identified as the optimal additive via quantum chemical calculations (QCCs). Even after aging, the modified interface maintains its superior performance, confirming the long-term reliability of the coating.","PeriodicalId":11557,"journal":{"name":"Energies","volume":"18 14","pages":"3767-3767"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/14/3767/pdf?version=1752670397","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147899189","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Study on the Solidification and Heat Release Characteristics of Flexible Heat Storage Filled with PCM Composite","authors":"Tielei Yan, Gang Wang, Dong Zhang, Chuande Qi, Shuangshuang Zhang, Peiqing Li, Gaosheng Wei","doi":"10.3390/en18143760","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/en18143760","url":null,"abstract":"Phase change materials (PCMs) have significant potential for utilization due to their high energy storage density and excellent safety in energy storage. In this research, a flexible heat storage device using the stable supercooling of sodium acetate trihydrate composite is developed, enabling on-demand heat release through controlled solidification initiation. The solidification and heat release characteristics are investigated in experiments. The results indicate that the heat release characteristics of this heat storage device are closely linked to the crystallization process of the PCM. During the experiment, based on whether external intervention was needed for the solidification process, the PCM manifested two separate solidification modes—specifically, spontaneous self-solidification and triggered-solidification. Meanwhile, the heat release rates, temperature changes, and crystal morphologies were observed in the two solidification modes. Compared with spontaneous self-solidification, triggered-solidification achieved a higher peak surface temperature (53.6 °C vs. 46.2 °C) and reached 45 °C significantly faster (5 min vs. 15 min). Spontaneous self-solidification exhibited slower, uncontrollable heat release with dendritic crystals, while triggered-solidification provided rapid, controllable heat release with dense filamentous crystals. This controllable switching between modes offers key practical advantages, allowing the device to provide either rapid, high-power heat discharge or slower, sustained release as required by the application. According to the crystal solidification theory, the different supercooling degrees are the main reasons for the two solidification modes exhibiting different solidification characteristics. During solidification, the growth rate of SAT crystals exhibits substantial disparities across diverse experiments. In this research, the maximum axial growth rate is 2564 μm/s, and the maximum radial growth rate is 167 μm/s.","PeriodicalId":11557,"journal":{"name":"Energies","volume":"18 14","pages":"3760-3760"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/14/3760/pdf?version=1752656540","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147882546","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Biomass-Derived Catalysts with Dual Functions for Electrochemical Water Splitting","authors":"Wangchuang Zhu, Xinghua Zhang, Qi Zhang, Lungang Chen, Xiuzheng Zhuang, Longlong Ma","doi":"10.3390/en18143592","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/en18143592","url":null,"abstract":"With the continuous consumption of fossil energy and the related environmental problems, clean energy, especially the hydrogen energy-derived water electrolysis, has attracted wide attention. However, as a result of the high energy consumption of water electrolysis and the limitations of single-function catalysts, there is an urgent need for cheap and simple-to-make bifunctional catalysts. In this work, based on the NiFe-LDH that is usually used for OER (Oxygen Evolution Reaction), doping of heteroatoms was carried out and a bifunctional catalyst could be then prepared using biomass as the carbon source. The preparation of catalyst precursors and in situ reduction were performed through the coupling process of hydrothermal and pyrolysis to enhance the electrolytic activity of the catalyst. Results showed that the overpotentials required to reach a current density of 10 mA·cm−2 for the HER and OER processes were 305.2 mV and 310.4 mV, respectively, which are superior to the commercial catalysts. In the subsequent characterization, the structural characteristics of the catalyst support and their structure–activity correlation with active metals were systematically investigated by TEM, XRD, and XPS analysis, providing mechanistic insights into the catalytic behavior. The basic catalytic mechanisms of HER and OER were also obtained: the HER process was due to the formation of a Ni3Fe alloy structure during catalyst preparation, which changed the electronic structure of the catalyst, while the OER process was induced by the formation of a NiOOH intermediate. The research results are expected to provide new ideas and data support for the preparation of bifunctional catalysts.","PeriodicalId":11557,"journal":{"name":"Energies","volume":"18 14","pages":"3592-3592"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/14/3592/pdf?version=1751965559","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147895088","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}