Modern Nanocomposites and Hybrids as Electrode Materials Used in Energy Carriers

Abstract

Over the past decades, the application of new hybrid materials in energy storage systems has seen significant development. The efforts have been made to improve electrochemical performance, cyclic stability, and cell life. To achieve this, attempts have been made to modify existing electrode materials. This was achieved by using nano-scale materials. A reduction of size enabled an obtainment of changes of conductivity, efficient energy storage and/or conversion (better kinetics), emergence of superparamagnetism, and the enhancement of optical properties, resulting in better electrochemical performance. The design of hybrid heterostructures enabled taking full advantage of each component, synergistic effect, and interaction between components, resulting in better cycle stability and conductivity. Nowadays, nanocomposite has ended up one of the foremost prevalent materials with potential applications in batteries, flexible cells, fuel cells, photovoltaic cells, and photocatalysis. The main goal of this review is to highlight a new progress of different hybrid materials, nanocomposites (also polymeric) used in lithium-ion (LIBs) and sodium-ion (NIBs) cells, solar cells, supercapacitors, and fuel cells and their electrochemical performance.

Investigation of Morphology of Aluminum Co-Doped Scandium Stabilized Zirconia (ScAlSZ) Thin Films

“…The phase structure influences many properties of a nanocomposite material [10,11,[30][31][32][33] and it is crucial to comprehend the influence of various growth variables such as substrate temperature, deposition rate, contents of depositing particles, etc. It may lead to a better development of the desired structures of composites and help explain the mechanism causing the formation of a particular phase structure.…”

A Facile Fabrication of Ordered Mesoporous Carbons Derived from Phenolic Resin and Mesophase Pitch via a Self-Assembly Method

“…The maximum SC of OMC-meso-10 electrode was about 241 F/g at an applied current density of 1 A/g, which was more than 2 times higher than those of the MC-10 (~104 F/g) and OMC-20 (~115 F/g). The higher SC value of OMC-meso-10 was due to the high micropore volume ratio (~42.42%) and the presence of a highly ordered mesoporous structure with a high surface area, which enhances the accumulation of electrolytes at the electrode interface in large quantities and also promotes efficient ionic transfers between the electrode and electrolyte [ 9 , 11 ]. These electrochemical studies clearly demonstrated that the prepared mesoporous carbon materials were highly useful for real energy-storage applications.…”

“…The high cost and complex synthesis of OMCs significantly have brought restrictions on application. In contrast, the soft-template method, in which amphiphilic surfactant compounds such as block copolymers are used as soft templates based on the principle of liquid-crystal templating, can produce OMC in a more flexible manner [ 11 , 12 , 13 ]. Recently, mesophase pitches have been applied as carbon sources to prepare mesoporous carbon (MC) materials.…”

Intrinsically Conducting Polymer Composites as Active Masses in Supercapacitors

“…Every combination of an active mass designed for use in a supercapacitor electrode with a second component when preparing an electrode may be called a “composite” or a “blend”, with the latter term used only very infrequently in this field (e.g., [ 1 ]); the term “hybrid” (material), suggesting specific interactions between the two constituents, should only be used in cases of verified interaction effects only (for an introduction and overview, see [ 2 ]). The approach suggested in [ 3 ] to use the adjective hybrid in materials with both organic and inorganic constituents with and without interactions appears not to be very helpful. Presumably, a hybrid is better used for materials for which interactions between constituents result in further capabilities of the material beyond simple addition.…”