Sono-Cavitation and Nebulization-Based Synthesis of Conjugated Microporous Polymers for Energy Storage Applications

Abstract

Conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) are promising energy storage materials owing to their rigid and cross-linked microporous structures. However, the fabrication of nano- and microstructured CMP films for practical applications is currently limited by processing challenges. Herein, we report that combined sono-cavitation and nebulization synthesis (SNS) is an effective method for the synthesis of CMP films from a monomer precursor solution. Using the SNS, the scalable fabrication of microporous and redox-active CMP films can be achieved via the oxidative C–C coupling polymerization of the monomer precursor. Intriguingly, the ultrasonic frequency used during SNS strongly affects the synthesis of the CMP films, resulting in an approximately 30% improvement in reaction yields and ca. 1.3–1.7-times enhanced surface areas (336–542 m2/g) at a high ultrasonic frequency of 180 kHz compared to those at 120 kHz. Furthermore, we prepare highly conductive, three-dimensional porous electrodes [CMP/carbon nanotube (CNT)] by a layer-by-layer sequential deposition of CMP films and CNTs via SNS. Finally, an asymmetric supercapacitor comprising the CMP/CNT cathode and carbon anode shows a high specific capacitance of 477 F/g at 1 A/g with a wide working potential window (0–1.4 V) and robust cycling stability, exhibiting 94.4% retention after 10,000 cycles.

Ultrastable Conjugated Microporous Polymers Containing Benzobisthiadiazole and Pyrene Building Blocks for Energy Storage Applications

“…These coupling methods allow CMPs to highly possess CMPs to differentiate from other conventional polymers, with rapid ion/diffusion kinetics that originates from their individual porous properties [ 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 ]. Therefore, CMPs displayed high capacity and long-term cycling stability when they were applied as material electrodes in electrochemical energy storage applications [ 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 ]. Hence, they are considered as one of the ideal candidates for catalysis, gas storage, and electrochemical energy storage [ 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 ].…”

Enhancing Built-in Electric Field via Molecular Dipole Control in Conjugated Microporous Polymers for Boosting Charge Separation

“…Solar-to-chemical energy conversion via photoredox catalysis is regarded as a potentially attractive strategy to alleviate energy crisis and environmental issues. Many semiconductor nanoparticulates have been extensively reported to be available for photocatalytic conversion. − Among them, conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) exhibited great potential in photocatalysis because their versatile geometric and electronic structures can be finely tailored and tuned via the rational molecular engineering strategy. − Along this line, considerable advances have been achieved to tailor semiconducting properties of CMPs via the topological design of functional building blocks. − Unfortunately, most photogenerated electron–hole pairs recombine with each other without participating in surface reactions, which is because the weak driving force in CMPs results in a rather low separation and transfer ability of photogenerated carriers. Apart from this, most of the CMP photocatalysts exhibit high exciton binding energies due to their low dielectric constant values, which significantly hinders the dissociation of photogenerated exciton to electron–hole pairs in the photocatalytic process, resulting in a far from satisfactory photocatalytic activity of most of the reported CMPs.…”

Cost-Effective Screening of Antimicrobial Performance of Multiple Metal–Organic Frameworks via a Droplet-Based Batch Synthesis Platform

“…Microfluidic synthesis technology has been widely used for preparing various materials in the fields of materials science and commercial fields. , Especially, the microscale droplet-based synthesis platform fundamentally solves the problem of high reagent waste and environmental pollution in the process of synthesis and further screening compared with a traditional large-scale synthesis system. , However, the droplet-based synthesis systems also face some problems, especially the rapid micromixing of various reagents. Once the synthesis system is reduced to the microscale, the viscous forces can increasingly manage fluid properties rather than inertial forces, which make it more difficult to rapidly mix multiple reactants. , Ultrasound has been dedicated to breaking slow passive diffusion to realize controllable and rapid micromixing in the lab-on-chip and further successfully realize the synthesis of multiple nanomaterials. − …”