{"title":"Boosting Ambient Hydrogen Storage in Graphene via Structural and Functional Designs: A Review","authors":"Shun Wang, Chaojie Liu, Yongyang Zhu","doi":"10.1002/aesr.202400362","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aesr.202400362","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Graphene with a large specific surface area, excellent mechanical flexibility, and chemical adjustability is a promising medium for reversible hydrogen storage. The hydrogen adsorption capacity predicted for graphene under ideal conditions of low temperature and high pressure reaches 6.6 wt%, but the practical capacity at ambient conditions is far away from the theoretical value, mainly blamed on the weak Van der Waals interaction between hydrogen and graphene. In this case, strategies including structural engineering and functional modification have been widely adopted to create more adsorption active sites for hydrogen molecules and enhance their binding strength. Herein, the sustainable progress for enhancing the ambient hydrogen storage ability of graphene from both structural and functional perspectives is reviewed, with their synergy especially focused. Moreover, each strategy is further classified and discussed based on the difference of specific action mechanisms, with representative works introduced, aiming to presenting a clear and comprehensive development venation to the reader. Lastly, future research directions for developing advanced graphene-based hydrogen storage systems are proposed.</p>","PeriodicalId":29794,"journal":{"name":"Advanced Energy and Sustainability Research","volume":"6 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aesr.202400362","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144256579","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Madeline Finale, Jonathan Logan, Arnob Saha, Matthew Durfee, Nicole Penners, John D. McCoy, Youngmin Lee, Sanchari Chowdhury
{"title":"Demonstration of Complete Recycling Processes of Reversible Epoxies Using Solar Energy Conversion","authors":"Madeline Finale, Jonathan Logan, Arnob Saha, Matthew Durfee, Nicole Penners, John D. McCoy, Youngmin Lee, Sanchari Chowdhury","doi":"10.1002/aesr.202400352","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aesr.202400352","url":null,"abstract":"<p>\u0000Reversible epoxies using the Diels–Alder chemistry enables recycling processes through depolymerizing the polymer at higher temperature and then repolymerizing upon cooling. Compared to conventional bulk heating, photothermal heating can save time and resource and, consequently, reduce costs to reach an elevated temperature for recycling processes of the reversible epoxies. In previous studies, self-healing of cracks and reattachments of two broken pieces have been presented using a laser; however, recycling of a sample as a whole is not feasible by using such a point light source. Herein, complete recycling processes are demonstrated utilizing an area light source, i.e., sunlight. Reversible epoxies are incorporated with carbon black and refractory plasmonic titanium nitride nanoparticles (NPs). Under concentrated (10 times) sunlight, they can generate sufficient heat (≈140 °C) to completely liquefy, reprocess, and reshape the samples multiple times. Recycling processes are validated by evaluation of mechanical properties for each cycle. Using an integrated experimental and theoretical approach, photothermal performance is investigated in terms of the dispersion and loading of photothermal NPs in the matrix, as well as the sample thickness. In this study, an insight is provided into the design of polymer/photothermal nanomaterial composites which can be sustainably recycled using abundant solar energy.</p>","PeriodicalId":29794,"journal":{"name":"Advanced Energy and Sustainability Research","volume":"6 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aesr.202400352","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143909552","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Artur Bekisch, Karl Skadell, Johannes Ast, Matthias Schulz, Roland Weidl, Silke Christiansen, Michael Stelter
{"title":"Alternative Gas Diffusion Electrode Designs: Influence of Porosity Gradients on the Electrochemical Activity","authors":"Artur Bekisch, Karl Skadell, Johannes Ast, Matthias Schulz, Roland Weidl, Silke Christiansen, Michael Stelter","doi":"10.1002/aesr.202400202","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aesr.202400202","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In this study, it is revealed that carbon-free gas diffusion electrodes (CF-GDEs) with macropore sizes outperform the a carbon-based GDE (GDE<sub>ref</sub>). These CF-GDEs exhibit notably reduced overpotentials and increased electrochemical stability. By combining three distinct macropore-sized substrates, coated with MnO<sub><i>x</i></sub> and hydrophobized with polytetrafluorethylen, a range of CF-GDEs with distinct porosity gradients is designed. In the results, the pivotal role of substrate layers and their hydrophilic/hydrophobic attributes in steering the formation of the electrolyte thin film are unveiled. Specifically, one CF-GDE shows a reduction by one-third of the η<sub>OER</sub> (0.24 V) compared to GDE<sub>ref</sub> at 10 mA cm<sup>−2</sup>. Noteworthy, this CF-GDE also displays excellent long-term stability without degradation, which is a common issue with carbon-based GDEs due to carbon corrosion. Impressively, the stability measurement conditions the active catalyst sites of the CF-GDE and leads to the formation of NiO<sub><i>x</i></sub>, Ni<sub>6</sub>MnO<sub>8</sub>, and NiMn layered double hydroxides. This results in a doubling of the current densities.</p>","PeriodicalId":29794,"journal":{"name":"Advanced Energy and Sustainability Research","volume":"6 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aesr.202400202","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143770600","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Development of Z-Scheme Photocatalyst Systems Combining Nonmetal Oxide Materials for Water Splitting under Visible Light Irradiation: (CuGa)0.5ZnS2 as a H2-Evolving Photocatalyst and TaON as an O2-Evolving Photocatalyst","authors":"Misa Moriya, Shunya Yoshino, Makoto Kobayashi, Hideki Kato, Yun Hau Ng, Akihide Iwase","doi":"10.1002/aesr.202400371","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aesr.202400371","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Water splitting under visible light irradiation using a Z-scheme system combining nonmetal oxides of TaON and (CuGa)<sub>0.5</sub>ZnS<sub>2</sub> is demonstrated. The key factors lie in coloading with Ir and CoO<sub><i>x</i></sub> cocatalysts on TaON and using reduced graphene oxide (RGO) as a solid-state electron mediator. Ir is loaded by an impregnation method, while CoO<sub><i>x</i></sub> is loaded by either impregnation or photodeposition methods. Loaded Ir boosts the electron migration from TaON to RGO, and loaded CoO<sub><i>x</i></sub> works as an active site for O<sub>2</sub> evolution. Photocatalytic reduction of graphene oxide to RGO accompanied by simultaneous oxidation of Co<sup>2+</sup> ions to CoO<sub><i>x</i></sub> over Ir-loaded TaON is the optimum process for the formation of an RGO-(CoO<sub><i>x</i></sub>/Ir/TaON) composite.</p>","PeriodicalId":29794,"journal":{"name":"Advanced Energy and Sustainability Research","volume":"6 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aesr.202400371","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144589986","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lara Lubian, Ruben Rubio-Presa, Roberto Sanz, Virginia Ruiz, Edgar Ventosa
{"title":"On the Relevance of Static Cells for Fast Scale-Up of New Redox Flow Battery Chemistries","authors":"Lara Lubian, Ruben Rubio-Presa, Roberto Sanz, Virginia Ruiz, Edgar Ventosa","doi":"10.1002/aesr.202400318","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aesr.202400318","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The search for organic electroactive molecules suitable in aqueous organic flow batteries requires great efforts not only from an electrochemical perspective (weeks of testing) but also from an organic synthesis viewpoint. In this work, the relevance of static cells for accelerating the search and helping understand degradation mechanisms is focused on. First an easy-to-make and reliable static cell is validated. A simple but effective approach is proposed to investigate active species in the absence of air, which is based on the use of a cheap lunch box (Ar-box) in contrast to the expensive Ar-filled glove box. The relevance of the proposed strategy is demonstrated by investigating two case studies. The 2,6-dihydroxantraquinone/K<sub>4</sub>Fe(CN)<sub>6</sub> in alkaline is studied with and without Ar-box. The air leakage in the static cell in the Ar-box is neglectable, so an Ar-filled glove box is not needed. Interestingly, the use of Ar-box leads to higher capacity fading (1.3% vs 2.5% day<sup>−1</sup>) since a very small leakage of air prevents the formation of dimers. In neutral pH, the total absence of air using 1,1-bis[3-sulfonatopropyl]-4,4-bipyridinium/K<sub>4</sub>Fe(CN)<sub>6</sub> static cell in the Ar-box leads to an increase in capacity fading (0.2% day<sup>−1</sup>) compared to reported values using Ar-filled glove box.</p>","PeriodicalId":29794,"journal":{"name":"Advanced Energy and Sustainability Research","volume":"6 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aesr.202400318","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143770611","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Comparative Study of Mineral Carbonation Using Seawater for CO2 Utilization: Magnesium-Based System Versus Calcium-Based System with Low Energy Input","authors":"Hsing-Jung Ho, Atsushi Iizuka","doi":"10.1002/aesr.202400388","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aesr.202400388","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Mineral carbonation is promising for CO<sub>2</sub> utilization and sequestration via capturing CO<sub>2</sub> into stable solid carbonates. However, the effectiveness and price of the solvents, as well as the energy consumption of CO<sub>2</sub> purification and pressurization of industrial flue gas, are hindering the development of this technology. Therefore, this study integrates two important concepts of seawater utilization and direct use of CO<sub>2</sub> gas without purification and pressurization, investigating the mineral carbonation using seawater as an alternative solvent with low energy input. Carbonation of magnesium- and calcium-based systems is investigated, and the behaviors as well as mechanisms of using seawater and distilled water are compared. The kinetics, conversion progress of compounds, and carbonation behavior are determined. The CO<sub>2</sub> uptake capacities of seawater carbonation are higher in the Mg-based system (1.16 g-CO<sub>2</sub>/g-MgO) than in the Ca-based system (0.68 g-CO<sub>2</sub>/g-CaO); however, most CO<sub>2</sub> in the Mg-based system is captured in the solution phase. Insights into reaction optimization are provided. The potential assessment of mineral carbonation using seawater is provided. This study aims to facilitate the development of CO<sub>2</sub> utilization and provide opportunities for mineral carbonation using seawater, through applying various alkaline wastes containing Ca and Mg from diverse industries.</p>","PeriodicalId":29794,"journal":{"name":"Advanced Energy and Sustainability Research","volume":"6 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aesr.202400388","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144256477","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Low-Cost, High-Efficiency Organic Solar Cells Based on Ecofriendly Processing Solvent","authors":"Yunpeng Qin, Haoran Tu, Nathan Woodward, Mihirsinh Chauhan, Gaurab J. Thapa, Aram Amassian, Justin Neuf, Wei You, Haipeng Yin, Harald Ade","doi":"10.1002/aesr.202400268","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/aesr.202400268","url":null,"abstract":"<p>\u0000Developing organic photovoltaic materials at low-cost and processing with eco-friendly solvents are promising strategies to solve the critical issues of organic photovoltaic. Key hurdles for commercialization are synthetic complexity of the donor and the prevalent casting from hazardous solvents. Herein, by choosing PTQ10 as a low-complexity donor and optimizing PTQ10:BTP-eC9 and PTQ10:Y6 devices cast from chloroform (CF) and o-xylene (XY), we demonstrate excellent performance with the eco-friendly solvent XY relative to the CF standard. We find the XY-processed devices exhibit a PCE of 16.53%, which is higher than the CF-processed OSCs (16.39%) and it is one of the highest values among PTQ10-based binary systems. Furthermore, we investigated the adaptability in fabricating large-area devices via the blade-coating method. By using CF and XY solvents in 1 cm<sup>2</sup> devices, a PCE of 14.94% for XY-solvent and 12.86% for CF-solvent was achieved. We further studied the aggregation kinetics by time-resolved in situ UV-Vis absorbance measurements to understand differences in bulk heterojunction formation. We observe an overall longer time with XY over CF that improves the reproducibility with XY. We successfully transitioned from toxic solvents to eco-friendly alternatives without sacrificing efficiency, combined with a low-cost donor polymer, advancing future practical and commercial applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":29794,"journal":{"name":"Advanced Energy and Sustainability Research","volume":"6 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aesr.202400268","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145237376","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marko Antila, Tansu Galimova, Christian Breyer, Saba Norouzi, Sami Repo, Mikko Pihlatie, Rasmus Pettinen, Sahas Shah
{"title":"Future Energy Technology for Nonroad Mobile Machines","authors":"Marko Antila, Tansu Galimova, Christian Breyer, Saba Norouzi, Sami Repo, Mikko Pihlatie, Rasmus Pettinen, Sahas Shah","doi":"10.1002/aesr.202400257","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aesr.202400257","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Greenhouse gases emissions reduction in the energy and transportation systems is extremely important. Nonroad mobile machines (NRMMs) are a key factor of production in many industrial and transportation systems with high-energy intensity. NRMM cover a wide range of application sectors and operate often in harsh environments. This study presents a literature review for NRMM on agriculture and forestry, mining and earth-moving, construction, and ports. It provides an overview of future energy technology and energy-related business factors for NRMM, considering different geographical areas, various energy sources, energy delivery solutions, and different types of powertrains. The best solutions for the case combinations and projected market environments are derived for several case regions. This study also contains a detailed example of an off-grid mining with renewable energy supply. The analysis of the off-grid mining cases clearly reveals the differences between the Nordic conditions and southern conditions. The importance of the wind power as a source for the renewable energy is emphasized in Nordic conditions, but the solar power can augment it during the summer months. Also, the seasonal storage becomes important in the case of Nordic conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":29794,"journal":{"name":"Advanced Energy and Sustainability Research","volume":"6 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aesr.202400257","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143554989","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Understanding and Tuning Fe-Doping on Zn–Fe Layered Double Hydroxide Particle and Photocatalytic Properties","authors":"Shaoqing Qu, Ruiman Ma, Igor Efimov, Eftychios Hadjittofis, Sergio Vernuccio, Kyra Sedransk Campbell","doi":"10.1002/aesr.202400309","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aesr.202400309","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Zn-based layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are promising photocatalytic materials, but their synthesis faces environmental and economic challenges. Oxidative ionothermal synthesis (OIS) offers a green route for zinc oxide synthesis using ionic liquids. To reduce costs, the OIS method uses recovered zinc-containing mixed metal systems, such as electric arc furnace dust, instead of pure metallic Zn. Understanding the interaction of Zn with impure metals during oxidation is essential. This study employs 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([BMIM]Cl) as the solvent and Fe-doped metallic Zn, the most common waste-stream metal, as the starting material. This study applies quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation to monitor product formation, and X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy to characterize composition and morphology. Results show that FeCl<sub>2</sub> doping accelerates the reaction, transforming simonkolleite to Zn–Fe LDH with tunable morphologies. A reaction mechanism for Zn in [BMIM]Cl with FeCl<sub>2</sub> is proposed. Photocatalytic hydrogen production tests reveal a favorable hydrogen evolution rate of 20.9 μmol h<sup>−1</sup> g<sup>−1</sup> with 0.45 M FeCl<sub>2</sub> doping, attributed to improved surface structure and crystallinity of the hydrotalcite.</p>","PeriodicalId":29794,"journal":{"name":"Advanced Energy and Sustainability Research","volume":"6 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aesr.202400309","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143770565","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Siyuan Liu, Dan Xu, Chenyang Cai, Xizhou Cecily Zhang, Loren B. Andreas, Zengbin Wang, Qun Song, Jiaxiu Wang, Catalin R. Picu, Kai Zhang
{"title":"Transition Behavior of Cellulose Nanocrystal Networks Induced by Nanoconfined Water","authors":"Siyuan Liu, Dan Xu, Chenyang Cai, Xizhou Cecily Zhang, Loren B. Andreas, Zengbin Wang, Qun Song, Jiaxiu Wang, Catalin R. Picu, Kai Zhang","doi":"10.1002/aesr.202400319","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aesr.202400319","url":null,"abstract":"<p>\u0000Hydrogen bonding (HB) is essential for the mechanical properties of cellulose-based materials. However, the plastification of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) caused by the transition of HB in the presence of water is still insufficiently understood. In this work, the rigid–soft transition of nanoconfined chains in non-ordered regions of CNC surfaces is quantitively described by comparing their strain behaviors with amorphous cellulose. Moreover, this softening (referred to as the “hydro-glass transition”) with increasing relative humidity (RH) is explored, and a threshold RH value (RH<sub>t</sub>) is identified to characterize the transition. The phenomenon is attributed to the monolayer to multilayer adsorption and eventually capillary condensation of water molecules in wedged mesopores of the CNC films. This triggers a rapid transition of HB from cellulose–cellulose to cellulose–water type in the vicinity of RH<sub>t</sub>. The hydro-glass transition is promoted by higher temperatures, for example, RH<sub>t</sub> at 65 °C decreases to 50%. In addition, the presence of surface groups with lower acid dissociation constant (comparing <span></span>SO<sub>3</sub><sup>−</sup> and <span></span>OH/COO<sup>−</sup> moieties) also accelerates this hydro-glass transition process. Thus, a detailed understanding of the thermodynamic changes in hydrogen-bonded nanoconfined polymer chains in the presence of humidity, with implications for developing nanomaterials with RH-controlled properties, is provided.</p>","PeriodicalId":29794,"journal":{"name":"Advanced Energy and Sustainability Research","volume":"6 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aesr.202400319","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143770595","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}