Triclinic boron nanosheets high-efficient electrocatalysts for water splitting

The utility of contact lenses is increasing globally, with their use extending to therapeutic, cosmetic, and drug delivery purposes for ocular infections. However, due to improper hygiene, poor handling techniques, and extended wear, about 63% of contact lens wearers worldwide have been affected by ocular microbial infections. This has led to increased microbial resistance to ocular drugs, prompting the development of nano-based contact lens care solutions. 2D boron nanosheets have gained significant attention due to their structural similarity to graphene. The present study focuses on synthesizing boron nanosheets from the precursor MgB2 by bio-exfoliation of MgB2, utilizing plant parts of Pisonia grandis, Plantago ovata, Annona reticulata, Cyanodon dactylon, where the Mg atoms are selectively chelated and boron layers are exfoliated to form boron nanosheets. The synthesized boron nanosheets are characterized and analyzed for its anti-bacterial activity against Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumonia of which boron nanosheet possess selective zone of inhibition against B. cereus. The toxicity of boron nanosheets has been analyzed using Artemia salina, where boron nanosheets are less toxic. Boron nanosheets with good antibacterial properties and less toxicity have been further analyzed for their potential use as contact lens care solutions where various parameters, including Light transmittance, Wettability, Surface roughness, Antibacterial activity, and other physicochemical properties were analyzed. The results indicate that boron nanosheets could be effectively used as contact lens care solutions for bacterial infections. This study serves as a platform for further exploration of 2D boron nanosheets in ocular drug delivery systems.

Two-dimensional (2D) boron has been predicted to exhibit various structural polymorphs and interesting physics, including superconductivity, ideal strength, negative Possion's ratio, and a higher thermal conductivity than graphene, etc. However, the difficulty in experimental synthesis of 2D boron has further reduced its exploration and applications. In this work we have used a crystal structure search method and first-principles calculations. We have proposed a scheme of ``synthesize under high pressure and peel off at ambient conditions'' to first predict a bulk phase of $\mathrm{K}{\mathrm{B}}_{4}$, and then peel off free standing 2D boron from it. Based on electron-phonon coupling calculations, we estimated that 2D boron is an intrinsic superconductor with ${T}_{c}=17.9\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$. In addition we found a strong anisotropy of the electron-phonon coupling strength in 2D boron, thus the superconductivity in 2D boron possesses a quasi-1D feature. Our proposed scheme for the synthesis of free standing 2D boron will stimulate further studies of superconductivity in low dimensional materials, both theoretically and experimentally.

Catalytic reduction of carbon dioxide over two-dimensional boron monolayer

Transfer-free synthesis of large-area 2D boron films on non-wetting liquid gallium substrate

Remote Alaskan communities pay economic and environmental penalties for electricity, because they must import diesel as their primary fuel for electric power production, paying heavy transportation costs and potentially causing environmental damage with empty drums, leakage, and spills. For these reasons, remote villages offer a viable niche market where sustainable energy systems based on renewable resources and advanced energy storage technologies can compete favorably on purely economic grounds, while providing environmental benefits. These villages can also serve as a robust proving ground for systematic analysis, study, improvement, and optimization of sustainable energy systems with advanced technologies. This paper presents an analytical optimization of a remote power system for a hypothetical Alaskan village. The analysis considers the potential of generating renewable energy (e.g., wind and solar), along with the possibility of using energy storage to take full advantage of the intermittent renewable sources available to these villages. Storage in the form of either compressed hydrogen or zinc pellets can then provide electricity from hydrogen or zinc-air fuel cells when renewable sources are unavailable.The analytical results show a great potential to reduce fossil fuel consumption and costs basing renewable energy combined with advanced energy storage devices. The best solution for our hypothetical village appears to be a hybrid energy system, which can reduce consumption of diesel fuel by over 50% with annualized cost savings by over 30% by adding wind turbines to the existing diesel generators. When energy storage devices are added, diesel fuel consumption and costs can be reduced substantially more. With optimized energy storage, use of the diesel generatorss can be reduced to almost zero, with the existing equipment only maintained for added reliability. However about one quarter of the original diesel consumption is still used for heating purposes. (We use the term diesel to encompass the fuel, often called heating or fuel oil, of similar or identical properties.)

Biopolymer-based hydrogel electrolytes for advanced energy storage/conversion devices: Properties, applications, and perspectives

2D and 3D graphene-based hybrid composites are the most promising materials for a broad range of high-efficiency energy storage and conversion devices.

Energy density and power density are the two most crucial metrics in advanced electrochemical energy storage (EES) devices. The design of pseudocapacitor materials with good structure and reasonable composition can ensure that the power density can be greatly increased under the condition of little or no reduction in energy density. However, how to reasonably design excellent pseudocapacitor materials is still a huge challenge. Herein, layered double hydroxides containing Ni and Co elements on carbon materials derived from distillers’ grains by hydrothermal synthesis (NiCo‐LDH/JKPC‐2) are grown. The fabricated NiCo‐LDH/JKPC‐2 has exhibited a sea urchin‐like nanostructure that primarily consists of mesoporous and possesses a high specific surface area (303 m2 g−1), which facilitates the formation of larger active sites, thereby increasing the rate of charge transport. The specific capacitance of the NiCo‐LDH/JKPC‐2 reaches a maximum value of 1454 F g−1 at 1 A g−1. When it combines with carbon materials originating from distillers’ grains, the assembled asymmetric supercapacitor electrode exhibits a remarkable energy density (40.86 Wh kg−1 at 775 W kg−1) and superior power density (7750.8 W kg−1 at 21.53 Wh kg−1). Thus, the NiCo‐LDH/JKPC‐2 asymmetric supercapacitor electrode can be considered as a potential candidate in advanced energy storage device systems.

Energy devices are having an increasing technological impact on our society and have become an essential part of our daily lives. Printing technology has been used to manufacture a wide range of energy storage and conversion devices, including solar cells, supercapacitors, lithium-ion batteries, zinc-ion batteries, nanogenerators, etc. High-resolution screen-printing technology is widely used in the fabrication of commercial solar cells. The development of flexible energy devices is a key part of the realization of wearable electronics, and printing technology has unique advantages. In this chapter, the structure and mechanisms of conventional printed energy storage and conversion devices and manufacturing strategy are illustrated.

Nanostructured materials for advanced energy conversion and storage devices

Monte Carlo study of magnetic and thermodynamic properties of a 2D boron clusters in a magnetic field

Azobenzene (azo)-based solar thermal fuels (STFs) have been developed to harvest and store solar energy. However, due to the lipophilicity and low energy density of azo-based STFs, the derived devices demand a large amount of toxic organic solvents for continuous and scalable energy storage. Herein, we report an ionic strategy to prepare water-soluble azo-based STFs (WASTFs) with improved energy storage performance, which can be realized through a facile quaternization reaction using commercial reagents. A family of WASTFs were synthesized, and all of them showed good water solubility, long-term thermal half-life (>30 days), and high energy storage density (a highest energy density of ∼143.6 J g-1 corresponding to an energy storage enthalpy of ∼111.8 kJ mol-1). Compared to the electrically neutral azo-based STFs with similar chemical structures, ΔH and thermal half-life (τ1/2) of the WASTFs are 2.5 times higher and 7.3 times longer, respectively. Cation-π interactions between the quaternized moieties [N+(CHx)4] and benzene moieties of azo were confirmed, which could account for their improvement of the energy storage performance. Macroscale heat release with an average temperature difference of ∼2 °C was achieved for the WASTFs prepared in this work. Generally, a novel family of WASTFs are synthesized and show great applicable prospects in fabricating advanced solar energy storage devices.

Simulation and analysis of a peak regulation gas power plant with advanced energy storage and cryogenic CO2 capture

Nanomaterials provide many desirable properties for electrochemical energy storage devices due to their nanoscale size effect, which could be significantly different from bulk or micron-sized materials. Particularly, confined dimensions play important roles in determining the properties of nanomaterials, such as the kinetics of ion diffusion, the magnitude of strain/stress, and the utilization of active materials. Nanowires, as one of the representative one-dimensional nanomaterials, have great capability for realizing a variety of applications in the fields of energy storage since they could maintain electron transport along the long axis and have a confinement effect across the diameter. In this review, we give a systematic overview of the state-of-the-art research progress on nanowires for electrochemical energy storage, from rational design and synthesis, in situ structural characterizations, to several important applications in energy storage including lithium-ion batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries, sodium-ion batteries, and supercapacitors. The problems and limitations in electrochemical energy storage and the advantages in utilizing nanowires to address the issues and improve the device performance are pointed out. At the end, we also discuss the challenges and demonstrate the prospective for the future development of advanced nanowire-based energy storage devices.

Ion-exchange membranes (IEMs) are at the core of many energy storage and conversion devices, such as fuel cells and redox flow batteries, being responsible for the migration of ionic species, separating the fuel stocks, and providing support to the electrode assemblies. For practical applications they are required to possess not only high ionic conductivity, but also specificity, thermal stability, long lifetime, and electrical insulation. The preparation of polymeric materials with such high-performance properties is still challenging and can lead to high prices, hindering their widespread use in energy conversion technologies. This is even more arduous when considering polymers to be used in anion conducting membranes, due to the need for the extra chemical stability and ability to withstand alkaline conditions at high temperatures for long periods of time [1].Polyketones are known to be high performance thermoplastic polymers with applications ranging from fire-retardants film coatings, packaging, and fibers, resulting from their high thermal and chemical stability. They can be obtained in high yields by copolymerization of inexpensive and readily available feedstocks such as ethylene and carbon monoxide. Our group proved that polyketones with alternating 1,4-dicarbonyl repeating units constitute an ideal starting point to access a wide class of modified polymers by simple Paal-Knorr cyclization, to gain pyrrole-N-bound functional groups stemming from the aliphatic backbone [2].This is a new account on our research on the ion conducting polymeric materials derived from polyketone, obtained by reaction with variously functionalized amines, and their easy conversion to anion exchange materials. The effect of reaction conditions on their thermal properties and chemical stability in alkaline media has been studied, and their conductivity in a wide range of frequencies assessed by broadband electric spectroscopy to shed light on the conduction mechanisms.The proposed conducting polymers combine the thermal stability of the aliphatic polyketone structure with the chemical flexibility given by the groups derived from functionalized amines branching out, proving to be highly tailorable, with possible applications in current energy conversion technologies. Acknowledgements: The authors wish to thank the Research Projects of Relevant National Interest (PRIN 2017) of the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research “Novel Multilayered and Micro-Machined Electrode Nano-Architectures for Electrocatalytic Applications (Fuel Cells and Electrolyzers)” (Prot. 2017YH9MRK) and the SID2020 Project of the Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova “A New frontier in Hybrid Inorganic-Organic Membranes for Energy Conversion and Storage Devices” (Prot. BIRD201244) for funding.