Effects of nanostructure on clean energy: big solutions gained from small features

Abstract

The increasing energy consumption and environmental concerns have driven the development of costeffective, high-efficiency clean energy. Advanced functional nanomaterials and relevant nanotechnologies are playing a crucial role and showing promise in resolving some energy issues. In this view, we focus on recent advances of functional nanomaterials in clean energy applications, including solar energy conversion, water splitting, photodegradation, electrochemical energy conversion and storage, and thermoelectric conversion, which have attracted considerable interests in the regime of clean energy. Abstract The increasing energy consumption and environmental concerns have driven the development of costeffective, high-efficiency clean energy. Advanced functional nanomaterials and relevant nanotechnologies are playing a crucial role and showing promise in resolving some energy issues. In this view, we focus on recent advances of functional nanomaterials in clean energy applications, including solar energy conversion, water splitting, photodegradation, electrochemical energy conversion and storage, and thermoelectric conversion, which have attracted considerable interests in the regime of clean energy.

A review of nanocarbons in energy electrocatalysis: Multifunctional substrates and highly active sites

“…, lithium-air battery [13] , and zinc-air battery [14] ) can utilize the inexhaustible oxygen from air as the reactant in breathing cathodes like that in fuel cells, and therefore leading to much higher theoretical energy densities than current commercialized batteries. Tremendous efforts have been made to improve the performances of these energy storage and conversion technologies [15,16] , in which electrochemistry plays the critical role with a series of electrocatalysis, including the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) [17][18][19] at the cathode of metal-air batteries or fuel cells ( Fig. 1 ), oxygen evolution reaction (OER) [20,21] and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) [22] at the anode and cathode of water electrolyzers ( Fig.…”

Approaching the minimum lattice thermal conductivity of p-type SnTe thermoelectric materials by Sb and Mg alloying

“…So, as a burgeoning type of energy materials, thermoelectric (TE) materials have attracted increasing attention, because they can convert waste heat to electricity directly with many advantages such as miniature, light weight, no moving parts, long life, etc. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. The conversion efficiency of TE devices is restricted by the Carnot efficiency and the dimensionless figure of merit zT, zT = a 2 rT/(j e + j L ), where a, r, j e , j L and T represent the Seebeck coefficient, the electrical conductivity, the electronic thermal conductivity, the lattice thermal conductivity, and the absolute temperature, respectively [9][10][11][12][13][14].…”

Materials for energy conversion

“…Advances in material science and engineering are critical to the development of economically viable technologies to address some of the grand socio-economic challenges of the twenty first century. Materials are at the core of emerging clean energy conversion and storage technologies [1] that can be used to capitalize on available renewable energy resources. These technologies range from solar cells and batteries, to storage of heat and hydrogen.…”