The growing global energy crisis, shortage of fossil fuel reserves, as well as concerns about the increasing greenhouse gas level in the atmosphere due to fossil fuel combustion, have urged the exploration of alternative and sustainable energy resources. However, the nature of intermittence and unequal distribution of most carbon-neutral and renewable energy resources (such as solar and wind) requires efficient energy capture, conversion, and storage. Efficient conversion and storage of green and renewable energy resources into chemical bonds has been considered as a promising approach. In order to solve this problem, it promotes extensive interest to convert green and renewable energy resources through water splitting to H2 as well as biomass upgrading to value-added fuels and chemicals, and store electricity obtained from solar and wind in rechargeable batteries and supercapacitors.
Our proposed Research Topic aims at solving challenges that exist in current energy conversion and storage. Moreover, we would also like to introduce progress and advances achieved so far for such research fields. For example, the slow kinetics of water splitting, especially the oxidative half reaction of O2 evolution (OER), inhibits the wide deployment of water splitting electrolysis. To accelerate the reaction rates for practical applications, low-cost and efficient catalysts are needed. Solar-driven or electrocatalytic biomass transformations have also been demonstrated as promising carbon-neutral processes, which are still in their early stage. Therefore, revealing the catalytic processes and designing suitable catalysts play important roles in achieving a complete and selective conversion into the desired valuable products via biomass upgrading. In addition, photo/electrocatalytic coupling the hydrogen production and biomass valorization to form a new electrolyzer represent an appealing approach to produce value-added products at both electrodes which will maximize the output of energy investment, beneficial to clean energy development. Meanwhile, the rapid development of portable electronics and electric vehicles over the past decade has led to the growing need for energy storage systems with higher energy density. Besides widely investigated Li-batteries, supercapacitors are popular alternative devices for large-scale energy storage. The macrocyclic compounds, like cucurbiturils, may call for a new family as potential candidates for supercapacitors owing to their various host-gest interactions.
We accept Original Research, Review articles, and Mini-Reviews related to designs of electrocatalysts, photocatalysts, battery materials, and supercapacitors. New strategies for energy conversion and storage are encouraged as well, such as decoupled water splitting and integrated HER with biomass upgrading.
This Research Topic includes, but are not limited to:
1.Development of homo- or hetero-catalysts for photo/electrocatalytic water splitting, CO2 reduction, N2 reduction, biomass valorization, synthesis of small organic molecules, etc.
2. Design of novel batteries and supercapacitors for energy storage.
3. New strategies for energy conversion and storage.
4. Cutting-edge characterization techniques for energy materials.
5. Computational simulations and predictions of mechanism or pathway of reaction.
The growing global energy crisis, shortage of fossil fuel reserves, as well as concerns about the increasing greenhouse gas level in the atmosphere due to fossil fuel combustion, have urged the exploration of alternative and sustainable energy resources. However, the nature of intermittence and unequal distribution of most carbon-neutral and renewable energy resources (such as solar and wind) requires efficient energy capture, conversion, and storage. Efficient conversion and storage of green and renewable energy resources into chemical bonds has been considered as a promising approach. In order to solve this problem, it promotes extensive interest to convert green and renewable energy resources through water splitting to H2 as well as biomass upgrading to value-added fuels and chemicals, and store electricity obtained from solar and wind in rechargeable batteries and supercapacitors.
Our proposed Research Topic aims at solving challenges that exist in current energy conversion and storage. Moreover, we would also like to introduce progress and advances achieved so far for such research fields. For example, the slow kinetics of water splitting, especially the oxidative half reaction of O2 evolution (OER), inhibits the wide deployment of water splitting electrolysis. To accelerate the reaction rates for practical applications, low-cost and efficient catalysts are needed. Solar-driven or electrocatalytic biomass transformations have also been demonstrated as promising carbon-neutral processes, which are still in their early stage. Therefore, revealing the catalytic processes and designing suitable catalysts play important roles in achieving a complete and selective conversion into the desired valuable products via biomass upgrading. In addition, photo/electrocatalytic coupling the hydrogen production and biomass valorization to form a new electrolyzer represent an appealing approach to produce value-added products at both electrodes which will maximize the output of energy investment, beneficial to clean energy development. Meanwhile, the rapid development of portable electronics and electric vehicles over the past decade has led to the growing need for energy storage systems with higher energy density. Besides widely investigated Li-batteries, supercapacitors are popular alternative devices for large-scale energy storage. The macrocyclic compounds, like cucurbiturils, may call for a new family as potential candidates for supercapacitors owing to their various host-gest interactions.
We accept Original Research, Review articles, and Mini-Reviews related to designs of electrocatalysts, photocatalysts, battery materials, and supercapacitors. New strategies for energy conversion and storage are encouraged as well, such as decoupled water splitting and integrated HER with biomass upgrading.
This Research Topic includes, but are not limited to:
1.Development of homo- or hetero-catalysts for photo/electrocatalytic water splitting, CO2 reduction, N2 reduction, biomass valorization, synthesis of small organic molecules, etc.
2. Design of novel batteries and supercapacitors for energy storage.
3. New strategies for energy conversion and storage.
4. Cutting-edge characterization techniques for energy materials.
5. Computational simulations and predictions of mechanism or pathway of reaction.
