Recent developments in various technologies, such as hybrid electric vehicles and pulsed power systems, have challenged researchers to discover affordable, compact, and super-functioning electric energy storage devices. Among the existing energy storage devices, polymer nanocomposite film capacitors are a preferred choice due to their high power density, fast charge and discharge speed, high operation voltage, and long service lifetime. In the past several years, they have been extensively researched worldwide, with 0D, 1D, and 2D nanofillers being incorporated into various polymer matrixes. However, 1D nanofillers appeared to be the most effective in producing large dipole moments, which leads to a considerably enhanced dielectric permittivity and energy density of the nanocomposite. As such, this Review focuses on recent advances in polymer matrix nanocomposites using various types of 1D nanofillers, i.e., linear, ferroelectric, paraelectric, and relaxor−ferroelectric for energy storage applications. Correspondingly, the latest developments in the nanocomposite dielectrics with highly oriented, surface-coated, and surface-decorated 1D nanofillers are presented. Special attention has been paid to identifying the underlying mechanisms of maximizing dielectric displacement, increasing dielectric breakdown strength, and enhancing the energy density. This Review also presents some suggestions for future research in low-loss, high energy storage devices.

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Synthesis of high molecular weight polymers by acyclic diene metathesis (ADMET) polymerization of α,ω-diene prepared from bio-renewable eugenol and castor oil (undecenoate) has been demonstrated.

The production of primary amines with high efficiency and selectivity employing appropriate catalysts is of central importance yet challenging. Here, we reported Ni nanoparticles supported on γ-Al 2 O 3 as a highly active heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis of primary amines through reductive amination in the presence of ammonia and hydrogen. The resulting Ni/Al 2 O 3 catalyst exhibited outstanding performance for the selective reductive amination of carbonyl compounds (aldehydes and ketones) involving aromatic, branched, and purely aliphatic chemicals converted into their corresponding primary amines with excellent yields (87∼99%) under mild reaction conditions (100 °C and 2 MPa), which was attributed to the synergistic effect of strong metal−support interaction combined with medium acidic sites. In particular, the yield of primary amines for earth-abundant Ni catalysts was superior to that for precious metal catalysts (Ru, Rh, and Pd), suggesting that the Ni/Al 2 O 3 catalyst could be a promising candidate for the industrial production of amines.

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