Functional mesoporous materials for energy applications: solar cells, fuel cells, and batteries

Abstract

This feature article presents recent progress made in the synthesis of functional ordered mesoporous materials and their application as high performance electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) and quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSCs), fuel cells, and Li-ion batteries. Ordered mesoporous materials have been mainly synthesized using two representative synthetic methods: the soft template and hard template methods. To overcome the limitations of these two methods, a new method called CASH was suggested. The CASH method combines the advantages of the soft and hard template methods by employing a diblock copolymer, PI-b-PEO, which contains a hydrophilic block and an sp(2)-hybridized-carbon-containing hydrophobic block as a structure-directing agent. After discussing general techniques used in the synthesis of mesoporous materials, this article presents recent applications of mesoporous materials as electrodes in DSCs and QDSCs, fuel cells, and Li-ion batteries. The role of material properties and mesostructures in device performance is discussed in each case. The developed soft and hard template methods, along with the CASH method, allow control of the pore size, wall composition, and pore structure, providing insight into material design and optimization for better electrode performances in these types of energy conversion devices. This paper concludes with an outlook on future research directions to enable breakthroughs and overcome current limitations in this field.

Mesoporous MoS2 as a Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Exhibiting Pseudocapacitive Li and Na‐Ion Charge Storage

“…The fi lms are then converted into MoS 2 using thermal sulfurization. Block copolymer templating is a well-established method to synthesize a variety of ordered mesoporous oxides with uniform, well-defi ned pore sizes, [51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58] in both thin fi lm [ 59,60 ] and powder formats. [61][62][63] This preliminary step of creating MoO 2 enables precise control of the nanoscale architecture, however, block copolymer templating cannot be used to directly form sulfi des.…”

Watching mesoporous metal films grow during templated electrodeposition with in situ SAXS

“…Their high internal surface area and ordered nature have led to their use in catalysis, 1,2 drug delivery, 3 sensors, 4,5 batteries 6 and solar cells. [7][8][9] Ordered nanostructured films periodic in two or three dimensions are commonly produced by electrodeposition within a block copolymer, 10 mesoporous silica 11,12 or lyotropic liquid crystalline template. 13 The structures produced are highly regular, and their orientation, symmetry and lattice parameter, on the nanometre length scale, are typically investigated using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS).…”

Mesoporous materials for energy conversion and storage devices

“…These features are particularly advantageous for applications in energy conversion and storage [5][6][7][8][9][10] . In principle, high surface areas should provide a large number of reaction or interaction sites for surface or interface-related processes such as adsorption, separation, catalysis and energy storage; however, a high surface area does not necessarily translate to an improved performance in applications.…”