The Development of Functional Mesocrystals for Energy Harvesting, Storage, and Conversion

Abstract

Higher-ordered semiconductors have attracted extensive research interest as an adopted engineering for active solar energy harvesting, storage, and conversion. It is well-known that the effective separation and anisotropic migration of photogenerated charges are the basic driven force required for superior efficiency. However, the morphology and stoichiometric variation of these semiconductors play essential roles in their physicochemical properties of bulk and surface, especially for efficient interparticle or interfacial charge transfer. To this point, the strategy of controlling the topotactic transformation toward superstructures with optimized functionality is preferable for a wide range of optoelectronic and catalytic engineering applications. In this Minireview, we provide an overview of the crystal orientation, synthetic engineering, functional applications, and spatial and temporal charge dynamics in TiO mesocrystals and others. The viewpoint of in-depth understanding of the structure-related kinetics would offer an opportunity for design of versatile mesocrystal semiconductors sought-after for potential applications.

The formation of (NiFe)S2 pyrite mesocrystals as efficient pre-catalysts for water oxidation

“…Accordingly, some artificial mesocrystals have been designed, like TiO 2 , 6 , 7 Co 3 O 4 , 8 ZnO, 9 polyoxometalate (POM), 10 etc. Due to their intricate structures, they are not only promising in mechanical applications, 11 but also efficient in applications 12 like lithium storage and photocatalysis.…”

Electrospun N‐Doped Hierarchical Porous Carbon Nanofiber with Improved Degree of Graphitization for High‐Performance Lithium Ion Capacitor

“…[6] The LIB-type electrode with large specific capacity guarantees ah igh energy density,w hile the EDLC-type electrode with rapid charge storage provides ah igh power density.M oreover, an organic electrolyte-based LIC has aw ider working potentialw indow than an aqueous system, [7] which is of critical significance for improving both the energy and powerd ensities, since both are proportional to the square of the operating voltage. [12] Therefore, the further development of high-energyL ICs has been severelyh indered by the insufficient cathode capacity. However, the specific capacitieso fc apacitive electrodes are much lower (usuallyl ess than 50 mA hg À1 for AC), [10b, 11] which will compro-mise the high specific capacity of battery-type electrodes and trade-off the energy density of LICs.…”

“…However, the specific capacitieso fc apacitive electrodes are much lower (usuallyl ess than 50 mA hg À1 for AC), [10b, 11] which will compro-mise the high specific capacity of battery-type electrodes and trade-off the energy density of LICs. [12] Therefore, the further development of high-energyL ICs has been severelyh indered by the insufficient cathode capacity.…”

Oxygen‐Deficient Dumbbell‐Shaped Anatase TiO2−x Mesocrystals with Nearly 100 % Exposed {101} Facets: Synthesis, Growth Mechanism, and Photocatalytic Performance

“…The elongation of the diffraction spots also suggests the existence of dislocations and lattice mismatchesa mong the nanoparticle subunits in the denselyp acked dumbbell. [59][60][61] It is worth noting that the as-formed nanoparticle subunits actually adopt ab ipyramid-like morphology, as demonstrated by the detailed TEM and HRTEM characterizations. Figure 1e shows aT EM image of the end of aD TMC particle, which illustrates that numerousb ipyramid-like nanoparticles abut against each other to form densely packed superstructures.T he angle of 43.48 between thet ip facets of the nanoparticle subunits corresponds to the acutea ngle between {101} facets.…”