Conveners
ENERGY: PARALLEL
- Gian-Marco Rignanese (UCLouvain)
ENERGY: PARALLEL
- Gian-Marco Rignanese (UCLouvain)
ENERGY: PARALLEL
- There are no conveners in this block
ENERGY: PARALLEL
- There are no conveners in this block
ENERGY: PARALLEL
- There are no conveners in this block
ENERGY: PARALLEL
- There are no conveners in this block
ENERGY: PARALLEL
- There are no conveners in this block
ENERGY: PARALLEL
- There are no conveners in this block
The provision of clean sustainable energy is among the most urgent challenges to society and the global economy and poses fundamental, exciting scientific questions. Materials performance lies at the heart of the development and optimization of green energy technologies, and major breakthroughs require advances in new materials and underpinning science. Achieving the required performance gains...
Transition metal oxides are often employed as photoanodes for water oxidation, but many aspects of the reaction are unclear. To shed light on the properties of the interface under operation conditions, we have employed density functional theory and Poisson-Boltzmann models. Contrary to expectations, the space charge layer is extremely thin, about one nanometer, in some experiments with high...
Composite nanostructures can be efficiently applied for Sunlight conversion and, more in general, for energy harvesting and generation of solar fuels. In most of the applied systems, like photodetectors, excitonic solar cells, and (photo)-electrochemical cells to produce solar fuels, nanomaterials can play a critical role in boosting photoconversion efficiency by ameliorating the processes of...
Reduced dependence on fossil fuels in the energy, transportation, and chemical sectors will rely on the widespread adoption of a range of electrochemical technologies. One such technology, water electrolysis for the generation of hydrogen, has the potential to decarbonize energy storage and chemical production. We have developed a new catalyst for water oxidation; the catalyst is comprised of...
Alkaline treatment of rice husks yielded graphene, which was then used as a dopant to graphite, which was then used to create graphene composite electrodes for use in supercapacitors. Scanning Electron Microscopy, Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy, Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), and Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) were used to characterise the electrode composite material. According...
Anthropogenic COโ emissions are a primary driver of climate change, necessitating a shift to renewable energy sources to mitigate environmental damage. Hybrid photoelectrodes present a sustainable solution for converting COโ into liquid fuels, compatible with existing energy infrastructure for storage and distribution. These hybrid photoelectrodes, which combine molecular catalysts with...
Keywords: Water splitting, Covalent Organic Frameworks, electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, Conjugated reticular oligomers
Theme: Materials for Energy
Abstract
Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs) provide a flexible platform for advancing water splitting technologies. To address slow kinetics and limited active sites in electrocatalysis, stable Metal-Salen COFEDA was synthesized to improve...
An investigation into transition metals single atom catalyst for Hydrogen production via Ammonia decomposition - A DFT study
NOMCEBO P. MOTSA 1*, DANIEL A. ODUMA 1, CECIL N.M. OUMA 2, ENI OKO 3, MICHAEL O. DARAMOLA 1
1.Sustainable Energy and Environment Research Group (SEERG), Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology,...
This study explores the structural and photoelectrochromic enhancements in tungsten oxide (WO3) films achieved by doping with 5wt% platinum on carbon (Pt/C) for advanced photoelectrochromic devices. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed that Pt/C doping leads to a reduction in the crystallite size of WO3 from 26.5nm for undoped WO3 to 14.3nm for Pt/C doped WO3, as evidenced by reduction in...
Protons play an integral role in numerous electrochemical and chemical conversion reactions, such as CO2 reduction and water splitting. Redox active transition metal oxides can incorporate protons, either via adsorption onto their surface or by insertion into the bulk structure. Understanding the proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) and proton insertion-coupled electron transfer (PICET)...
Excess carbon dioxide (CO2) emission is one of the major causes for global warming, resulting in catastrophic weather disasters around the globe. The electrochemical reduction of CO2 over transition-metal catalysts is one of the sustainable routes for producing high-value hydrocarbons and energy-dense chemical fuels. Among many single-component catalysts, Cu is the only material known to...
Thermoelectric devices provide a solid-state route to capturing heat energy or creating cooling. GeTe and MnTe are thermoelectric materials with different crystal structures, providing an opportunity to explore the Ge1-xMnxTe alloy space. This work studies the phase space of GeTe and MnTe alloys in order understand the impact of site substitution on electron and phonon transport. We...
Heterogeneous photocatalysis is an emerging process allowing the generation of solar fuels from water and CO2. However, the photocatalytic activity is currently very low. In plasmonic photocatalysis, the semiconducting photocatalyst is decorated with a plasmonic nanoparticle, resulting in a significant increase in photocatalytic activity. However, most plasmonic photocatalysts are based on Au...
The importance of sustainable development and its factors, along with their implications for Africa and global progress, is critical. The presentation broadly examines solar energy and hydrogen molecule as an energy vector for mobility, with specific cases considered. It explores the conversion of solar energy via photo-catalysis and photovoltaic on 2D materials. Additionally, the application...
Water electrolysis is a key technology for meeting global energy demands by sustainably producing green hydrogen and oxygen fuel. While significant progress has been made to develop catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER), the performance of electrochemical cells remains limited by the lack of dual-selectivity, corrosion-restant catalytic...
Lead (Pb) toxicity and instability of Pb halide perovskite solar cells continues to hinder the commercial success of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). In response to this challenge, the scientific community has increasingly turned its attention to lead-free alternatives, such as antimony-based perovskites, which exhibit notable stability. However, despite their potential to resolve the toxicity...
As the demand for renewable energy integration and portable electronic devices grows, high-performance energy storage devices are becoming increasingly important. Lithium-ion batteries are often the preferred choice due to their impressive energy density. Passive components, like current collectors, conductive additives, binders, and separators, comprise around 25 w% of a lithium-ion battery,...
Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are a promising emerging technology on the cusp of commercialisation. With record power conversion efficiencies >26%, they are excellent candidates for low-cost and low-embodied energy photovoltaics. Their emergence as a promising technology is timely as we are on the brink of significant climate change and face the limits of current linear economic models....
Organic solar cells (OSCs) are one of the most promising photovoltaics (PV) for renewable energy conversion. OSCs can be produced using a solution process method at lower temperatures. Therefore, their production is much less energy-intensive than conventional silicon PVs. They exhibit other advantages due to their absorption tunability, lightweight, flexibility, and less toxic elements,...
Starting from basic concepts, I will discuss the implications and limitations arising from the nature of a light beam in the context of energy capture. I will discuss the fundamental limitations in capturing energy from light, but also how we might overcome them. I will discuss up-conversion, down-conversion, photon multiplication and tandems and the potential that these systems may have in...
This study explores the potential of copper-doped nickel oxide (Cu:NiO) as a hole transport layer (HTL) in flexible photovoltaic (PV) devices using a combined first-principles and finite element analysis approach. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that Cu doping introduces additional states in the valence band of NiO, leading to enhanced charge transport. Notably, Cu:NiO...
Transition metal carbides, oxy-carbides, nitrides, and carbonitrides (MXenes) constitute an ever-growing class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties, including high conductivity and surface area as well as versatile and tunable surface chemistry. Such a wide-ranging array of properties primes MXenes for various electrochemical applications and, hence, provides them with the...
Abstract
Quantum dots (QDs) are a subject of great interest in the domains of materials science, spectroscopy, sensors, biological imaging, diagnostics, and photovoltaics. SnO2 electron transport layers (ETLs)-based on nanoparticle (NP) dispersions have shown great potential and interest for perovskite photovoltaics. However, harish processing conditions and sophisticated synthesis...
Core-shell semiconductor quantum dots (SQD) were synthesized via the microwave irradiation method from Cadmium and Zinc sulphides (CdxS/Zn1-xS). The SQDs were incorporated into the electron transport layer of thin film polymer solar cells (TFPSCs) to assist in the light trapping and charge collection processes. The up and down conversion of radiation in SQD is expected to boost absorption...
FABIAN I. EZEMA1,2
1Nano Research Group, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
2Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Power and Energy
Development (ACE-SPED), University of Nigeria,
Nsukka, Enugu, Nigeria
The world faces tremendous difficulties as the globe's population and energy consumption continue to rise. Fossil fuels and other raw resources,...
The growing demand for energy in modern society has driven the development of alternative energy sources and storage technologies. Our research group has a focus on perovskite solar cells (PSCs), as well supercapacitors. In this review, we will discuss our ongoing research on the development of materials and processes for improving PSCs and supercapacitors, specifically, the incorporation of...
In this study, various electron transport layers (ETLs), including Lithium doped titanium dioxide (Li-ใTiOใ_2), Aluminium doped zinc oxide (Al-ZnO), ใTiOใ_2, ZnO and tungsten disulfide (ใWSใ_2) were simulated using the Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator (SCAPS) to optimize the performance of a Copper (Cu)-based perovskite solar cells.WSโ exhibited the best initial performance among the ETLs with...
Perovskites have recently emerged as revolutionary materials in the optoelectronic industry owing to their outstanding electronic and optical properties. They have proven to be promising substitutes for silicon in the solar industry, with the potential of achieving higher efficiency and offering better cost-effectiveness. However, the development of perovskite-based photovoltaic (PV) cells has...
Due to their complexity, next-generation materials necessitate rigorous and precise structural characterization. Utilizing vibrational spectroscopy techniques, commonly employed in experimental laboratories, one can capture materials' features as spectroscopic fingerprints. However, complex spectra frequently require theoretical support to unambiguously decipher and assign the detected...
LYNET ALLAN1, JULIUS M. MWABORA1,*, WINFRED M. MULWA2, EDWIN MAPASHA3 AND ROBINSON J. MUSEMBI1
1University of Nairobi, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, P. O. Box 30197-00100, Nairobi, Kenya.
2 Egerton University, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, P.O Box 536-20115, Egerton, Kenya
3 University of Pretoria, Department of Physics, Private bag X20 Hatfield...
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are a promising renewable energy technology due to their low cost and ease of fabrication. The photo-anode plays a crucial role in the electron collection and transfer processes within the DSSC, and its performance is largely determined by its composition, band gap, and morphology. This study explores the potential of CuO/TiO2 nano-composites as photo-anodes...
Batteries with high energy densities (energy stored per mass or volume) are required to electrify transportation and the grid. However, current Li-ion batteries are plagued by the presence of critical minerals such as Co, Ni that are geographically limited and increase costs. In addition, the presence of volatile and flammable electrolyte solvents has led to a poor safety profile and...
Addressing the critical challenges posed by climate change hinges on our ability to identify champion materials that can be used to construct sustainable and environmentally friendly devices. With this aim in mind, my research leverages leading-edge computational techniques and a multidisciplinary approach to understand the intricate behaviors exhibited by complex polycrystalline materials...
Abstract:
The rapid expansion of electric vehicle markets has intensified the need for cutting-edge battery materials, particularly solid-state electrolytes (SSEs), to drive the development of lithium metal batteries. Lithium SSEs offer the potential to enhance energy storage technology by improving specific energy, safety, and cost-efficiency. Despite this potential, achieving...
Understanding material degradation remains a key challenge in developing a sustainable circular economy for lithium-ion batteries, a critical component of modern energy storage systems. This study investigates the degradation mechanisms of lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries used in hybrid vehicles, aiming to inform strategies for extending their useful life.
Using advanced materials...
With the development of the Internet of Things (IoT), flexible and wearable devices have been extensively applied in the smart home, medical, and entertainment fields. The flexible wearable electronic devices have the unique advantages of flexibility, lightweight, and comfortability, which has triggered their applications in flexible sensors, artificial electronic skin and other wearable...
Rechargeable metal-sulfur batteries in which sulfur is used as the cathode and a metal such as lithium, sodium, magnesium, or aluminum is used as the anode can store up to โ10 times more energy than state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Unfortunately, when solid sulfur is used as the cathode in metal-sulfur batteries, it rapidly degrades during charging and discharging through an...
Lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) are widely used for energy storage in different sectors, from portable electronic devices to electric vehicles and intermittent renewable energy (wind, solar) plants. LiBs use insertion cathode materials that can release and accommodate Li+ within their structure changes. The electronic conductivity of the insertion cathode materials is one of the fundamental...
Pseudocapacitors have the potential to achieve high energy and high power density simultaneously, a holy grail for electrochemical energy storage. MXene-based pseudocapacitors have made major progress in the last decade, achieving better energy and power density than carbon supercapacitors using the double-layer charge storage mechanism. However, one obstacle facing pseudocapacitors is their...
While the current rechargeable battery technology is primarily based on Li-ion batteries, relying solely on Li-ion batteries puts considerable strain on the resources used in these batteries, for example, lithium and cobalt resources used in LiCoO2 cathodes. It is, therefore, essential to find alternatives to the Li-ion batteries. Among these alternatives, Mg-ion batteries are very promising,...
The current trend in various energy applications, ranging from batteries to electrolizers, lays in the control of structural, physicochemical and morphological properties of materials and their interfaces. During this presentation, recent scalable strategies for nanostructured materials synthesis, targeting energy and environmental applications will be discussed. Especially, we will focus on...
The intercalation of cations into Ti3C2 Mxenes, a rapidly growing class of two-dimensional (2D) hydrophilic and layered metallic conducive materials, is extremely critical for their ability to store energy and deliver power. Cations, and water, intercalated into MXene interlayers affect the interlayer spacing, the dynamics of confined water, and their electrical conductivity as well as their...
Simulating solidโliquid interfaces under applied voltage is fundamental to understanding the charge capacity and redox activity of electrochemical systems. Current models provide effective approaches for studying electrodes and electrolytes in isolation. Yet predicting the voltage-dependent thermodynamic stability of solidโliquid interfaces and the lifetime of transient surface intermediates...
Cryogenic electron microscopy is seeing increasing use in describing solid-liquid interfaces, specifically the solid-electrolyte interphase in battery systems. We have employed cryogenic focused ion beam milling (FIB) in a plasma-focused ion beam/scanning electron microscope system to prepare sensitive lithium metal specimens, allowing us to assess potential ion beam damage, understand the...
Solid-state electrolytes are crucial for next-generation batteries. Their chemical compatibility with high-capacity anodes such as metallic Li and Na will lead to high energy density and improve battery safety. Complex hydrides such as LiBH4, NaBH4, and Li2B11H12, have recently gained attention as solid-state electrolytes due to their attractive ionic conductivity and good...
ABSTRACT
Over dependence on fossil fuels has triggered environmental and economic concerns, creating an ultimate need to redirect towards renewable energy options. Hence, the study on biodiesel production from algal biomass. Modified open pond culture system was applied in the biomass culture and growth was monitored via pH and turbidity. Study was done in the laboratory of the Department...
The spinel LiMn2O4 is a standing candidate in the value chain as a Li+ intercalation host because of its affordability, thermal stability, and eco-friendliness. Its practicality is greatly hindered by structural instability during operation and inadequate rate capacity (low conductivity of 10โ6 S/cmโ1), amongst other drawbacks. It has been reported that doping spinel LiMn2O4 with cations such...
Hydrogen (H2), while abundant on Earth, is primarily found within compounds like H2O. To harness it for use as fuel, it needs to be separated into pure hydrogen, and various methods can achieve this, including water electrolysis. Hydrogen production's environmental impact and energy efficiency depend on the chosen method, which can involve fossil fuels, biomass, or clean processes like...
Abstract
Carbon dioxide (CO2) valorization via bicarbonate electrolysis (DCE) is a promising and emerging technology geared towards โgreenโ chemical synthesis. The development of active and facile catalyst layers is vital for establishing efficient electrolyzers. Bimetallic (Zn(x)/Cu(100-x)) and bimetallic oxide (ZnOx/CuO(100-x)) catalyst layers with different ratios of the respective...
The widespread adoption of renewable energy demands reliable energy storage solutions, which are currently held back by issues related to performance, cost, and/or ease of use. To tackle these issues, researchers have explored two-dimensional (2D) materials as cost-effective, high-performance electrocatalysts and electrode materials. Among these 2D materials, MXenes, a distinct category of...
Due to its considerable electrochemical properties such as non-toxicity, facile synthesis, multiple oxidation states and good specific capacity/capacitance, vanadium dioxide attracts much attention as electrode material for supercapacitor applications. Nonetheless, the low electrical conductivity and weak cycling stability obstruct its real applications. Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) possesses...
A clean and sustainable energy source is essential to meet the growing global energy demand and mitigate carbon-related environmental issues. Semiconductor-based photocatalysis has garnered significant attention for its potential to address these challenges. In a semiconductor photocatalytic system, photo-induced electron-hole pairs are generated when a photocatalyst is illuminated by light...
Single metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) face limitations such as low specific capacity, poor electrical conductivity, and weak substrate adherence as nickel foam, which hinder their use as supercapacitor electrodes. To address these issues, this study investigates the impact of bimetallic MOFs synthesized via ex-situ nickel inclusion on the charge storage performance of Ni-doped ZIF-67 in a...
This study evaluated the potential for electricity generation from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in Edo State Metropolitan City, leveraging waste-to-energy (WtE) technologies. To achieve this, 100 kg of MSW were collected from ten selected sites in Benin metropolis and divided into eight components. Data for estimating the total volume of MSW were gathered through field studies and the Edo State...
In this work, peanut shell waste-activated carbons and its composites were explored as potential electrode materials for supercapacitor applications. This study reports the enhancement of electrochemical performance of the peanut shell waste-activated carbons (PAC) through (i) a pre-carbonization followed by chemical activation (PAC), (ii) heteroatom-doping with nitrogen (NPAC). Their...
Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have attracted the attention of a number of researchers due to the rapid rise in their efficiency to ~26% in the past decade [1]. However, the high efficiency is based on lead-perovskite solar cells; lead is considered toxic to animals and humans. Alternatives elements have been sort to replace the toxic lead, and tin element is the most promising due to its...
Bimetal nanoparticles have some interesting characteristics not found in single-metal nanoparticles due to the complementary effects of their various component metals. It is essential to precisely replace the metal atom in matrix nanoparticles with one or more foreign atoms in order to comprehend the function of the doped metal element in bimetal nanoparticles. This will open up new avenues...
Nitridation Temperature Effect on Carbon Vanadium
Oxynitrides for a Symmetric Supercapacitor
Ndeye M. Ndiaye1#, Ndeye F. Sylla1, Balla D. Ngom2, Bridget K. Mutuma1, Julien K. Dangbegnon1, Sekhar C. Ray3 and Ncholu Manyala1
1 Laboratoire de Photonique Quantique dโEnergie et de NanoFabrication, Groupe de Physique du Solide et Science des Materiaux, Departement de Physique FST, BP 5005...
Sodium-ion batteries (NaIBs) are widely used in energy storage applications such as portable devices and electric vehicles. The demand for lithium is increasing rapidly year on year, driving up the price and making lithium resources less affordable. Therefore, it is important to find alternative technologies beyond lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) that utilize elements that are abundant on earth....
The principal challenge in organic-inorganic perovskite-based photovoltaics (PVs) arises from significant losses due to trap-assisted nonradiative recombination and charge transfer inhibition at the interface between the perovskite absorber and the charge transport layers. These issues critically undermine the photoconversion efficiency (PCE) and long-term stability of the devices. In this...
A structurally modified cathode material for a lithium ion battery is reported in this study. The high-voltage spinel LiMn1.5Ni0.5O4 (LMNO) is highly regarded as a promising energy storage material for the next generation of lithium batteries due to its ability to achieve high energy densities. However, the inadequate performance of LMNO remains a hurdle impeding the technology's practical...
Worldwide, energy is an essential unit for global development, with almost every important
activity and challenge around the world revolving around its utilisation. The growing energy demand
is fuelled by rising income, urbanisation, and greater access to power. Solar energy is a stable
renewable energy source. Solar panels usually collect dust, which is acute in large solar...
Sodium-ion batteries are gaining recognition as promising alternatives to lithium-ion batteries. Due to its electrochemical performance, hard carbon is currently the preferred anode material for sodium ion batteries. Carbon materials with low dimensions, ordered nanostructures, and large surface areas with potential application as electrode materials maybe produced via hydrothermal...
EURAXESS Africa is one of the nine hubs of the EURAXESS Worldwide initiative, established by the European Union to enhance global research collaboration and funding opportunities. This initiative focuses on fostering scientific collaboration between African researchers and their European counterparts, facilitating knowledge and skill exchange through mobility, research funding, and...
