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EditorialNext-Generation Energy Storage Materials Explored by AdvancedScanning Techniques

Huaiyu Shao ,1 Hai-Wen Li ,2 Ya-Jun Cheng,3,4 Huaijun Lin ,5 and Liqing He 6

1Institute of Applied Physics and Materials Engineering (IAPME), University of Macau, Macau2Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan3Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, China4University of Oxford, Oxford, UK5Jinan University, Guangzhou, China6Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China

Correspondence should be addressed to Huaiyu Shao; [email protected] and Huaijun Lin; [email protected]

Received 8 August 2018; Accepted 8 August 2018; Published 3 December 2018

Copyright © 2018 Huaiyu Shao et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Energy storage, which is capturing and storing energyproduced at one time and/or at a certain place for use at alater time and/or other locations, is one of the most criticalissues for human society to realize sustainability. Develop-ment of next-generation energy storage materials is one ofthe hottest research topics in the materials science field. Inrecent decades, advanced scanning techniques includingSEM, TEM, AFM, STMs, and Raman spectroscopy have beenabundantly employed in observing morphologies, charac-terizing microstructures, and identifying specific physicaland chemical properties in order to design innovativematerials with controllable structures, understand the for-mation mechanisms, clarify the catalytic mechanisms,and elucidate the effect of designed parameters on energystorage properties [1]. The aim of this special issue is topublish high-quality research papers as well as provide acomprehensive review addressing the latest and state-of-the-art topics from active researchers in the field of energystorage materials. This special issue contains 10 researchpapers and 1 review paper representing some of the latestresearch in energy storage materials explored by advancedscanning techniques.

Hydrogen storage materials are one of the mainresearch topics in this special issue. Mg-based materialshave attracted great attention because of the interest inhigh-capacity hydrogen storage applications in the pastdecades [2, 3]. J. Li et al. reviewed the advanced SEM

and TEM techniques applied in Mg-based hydrogen storageresearch. The reviewed literature implies that the applica-tions of advanced SEM and TEM play significantly importantroles in the research and development of next-generationhydrogen storage materials. H. He et al. reported the struc-tural and hydrogenation kinetic properties of a Zr0.8Ti0.2Coalloy prepared by ball milling. High-resolution- (HR-) TEMstudies revealed that a large number of disordered micro-structures including amorphous regions and defects existedafter ball milling, and these played an important role inimproving the hydrogenation performances. B. Li et al. syn-thesized FCC-structure TiVMn-based and TiCrMn-basednanoalloys with a mean particle size of around a few to tensof μm and with an average crystallite size of just 10 to13 nm. The microstructures of the alloys were carefully stud-ied by SEM and XRD, while hydrogen storage propertieswere studied by high-pressure DSC under a H2 atmosphere.It showed that the absorption reaction was much stronger,and it started at a much lower temperature (210°C) in theTiVMn nanoalloy than that in the TiCrMn one.

Studies on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) [4]and sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) [5] have become one of themost widely investigated research directions all over theworld, and they are also the main topics included in thisspecial issue. LIBs currently have governed the worldwiderechargeable battery markets due to their outstanding energyand power capability. In recent days, research interest in SIBs

HindawiScanningVolume 2018, Article ID 3280283, 3 pageshttps://doi.org/10.1155/2018/3280283

http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9286-7071http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7223-1754http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4505-9562http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6059-4459https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/3280283

has been resurrected, driven by new applications withrequirements different from those in portable electronicsand the need to address the concern of low Li abundance inthe Earth’s crust. SnO2 has been considered as an outstand-ing alternative to graphite as an anode for LIBs [6]. P. Yuet al. synthesized SnO2 nanoparticles by a novel route ofthe sol-gel method assisted with biomimetic assemblyusing L-leucine as a biotemplate. The results demonstratedthat the growth of SnO2 nanoparticles could be regulatedby L-leucine at a high calcination temperature. D. Cui et al.reported that the LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2/graphite LIBs showedbetter cycle lives at a 2.0C discharge rate than that at a 1.5Cdischarge rate, which was due to the reason that the negativeelectrodes contributed more than the positive electrodes. Q.Sun et al. reported a novel open-framework Cu-Ge-basedchalcogenide, [Cu8Ge6Se19](C5H12N)6 (CGSe), as an anodematerial for SIBs. As a result, the CGSe anode exhibitedgood electrochemical performances such as high reversiblecapacity (463.3mAhg−1), excellent rate performance, andconsiderable cycling stability. X. Zhang et al. synthesizedflexible freestanding carbon nanofiber-embedded TiO2nanoparticles (CNF-TiO2) and then applied it directly asthe anode in SIBs without a binder or current collector. Theanode exhibited a high reversible capacity of 614mAhg−1

(0.27mAh cm−2) after almost 400 cycles and an excellentcapacity retention ability of ~100%.

Supercapacitors have drawn great attention due totheir high power, energy density and long lifecycle [7].J. Cui et al. designed and fabricated Ag-ion-modified tita-nium nanotube (Ag/TiO2-NT) arrays as the electrode mate-rial of supercapacitors for electrochemical energy storage.The modified electrode showed a high capacitance of9324.6mF·cm−3 (86.9mF·g, 1.2mF·cm−2), energy density of82.8μWh·cm−3 (0.8μWh·g, 0.0103μWh·cm−2), and powerdensity of 161.0mW·cm−3 (150.4μW·g, 2.00μW·cm−2) atthe current density of 0.05mA.

Exploring earth-abundant and cost-effective catalystswith high activity and stability for hydrogen evolution reac-tion (HER) is of great importance to practical applicationsof alkaline water electrolysis [8]. X. Li et al. reported on A-site Ba2+-deficiency doping as an effective strategy to enhancethe electrochemical activity of BaCo0.4Fe0.4Zr0.1Y0.1O3−δ forHER, which was related to the formation of oxygen vacanciesaround active Co/Fe ions.

The heterojunction system has been proven to be one ofthe best architectures for photocatalysts [9]. L. Han et al.reported the facile synthesis of indium sulfide/flexible elec-trospun carbon nanofiber (In2S3/CNF) for enhanced photo-catalytic efficiency. The prepared In2S3/CNF photocatalystsexhibited greatly enhanced photocatalytic activity comparedto pure In2S3. In addition, the formation mechanism of theone-dimensional heterojunction In2S3/CNF photocatalystwas discussed.

Congo red 1-naphthalenesulfonic acid is the criticalsource of contamination of wastewater [10]. P. Yu et al.reported a composite of pyrolytic Triarrhena biochar loadingwith TiO2 nanoparticles synthesized by a sol-gel method.When used as an absorbent to remove Congo red froman aqueous solution, it was found that the as-prepared

composite performed better absorption capacity than asingle biochar or TiO2.

In summary, the contributed papers in this specialissue cover several general aspects of energy storage mate-rials, which are explored by scanning techniques, includingSEM, TEM, AFM, STMs, and Raman spectroscopy. Theadvancement of scanning technologies requires deeplyunderstanding the microstructures of energy materials andelucidating the mechanisms of material properties withvarious structures. It may then bring possible breakthroughsin the development of next-generation energy storage mate-rials. We tried our best to present the latest cutting-edgeapplications of scanning techniques in this field and hopethat our endeavor may shed light on future research onenergy storage technologies.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interestregarding the publication of this article.

Acknowledgments

We appreciate all the authors for submitting their originalwork to this special issue, and we also thank all the reviewersfor their important suggestions and comments to improvethe quality of the accepted submissions.

Huaiyu ShaoHai-Wen Li

Ya-Jun ChengHuaijun Lin

Liqing He

References

[1] H.-J. Lin, J.-J. Tang, Q. Yu et al., “Symbiotic CeH2.73/CeO2catalyst: a novel hydrogen pump,” Nano Energy, vol. 9,pp. 80–87, 2014.

[2] H. Shao, L. He, H. Lin, and H.-W. Li, “Progress and trends inmagnesium-based materials for energy-storage research: areview,” Energy Technology, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 445–458, 2018.

[3] H. Shao, G. Xin, J. Zheng, X. Li, and E. Akiba, “Nanotechnol-ogy in Mg-based materials for hydrogen storage,” NanoEnergy, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 590–601, 2012.

[4] J. W. Choi and D. Aurbach, “Promise and reality of post-lithium-ion batteries with high energy densities,” NatureReviews Materials, vol. 1, no. 4, article 16013, 2016.

[5] M. D. Slater, D. Kim, E. Lee, and C. S. Johnson, “Sodium-ionbatteries,” Advanced Functional Materials, vol. 23, no. 8,pp. 947–958, 2013.

[6] R. Hu, D. Chen, G. Waller et al., “Dramatically enhancedreversibility of Li2O in SnO2-based electrodes: the effect ofnanostructure on high initial reversible capacity,” EnergyEnvironmental Science, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 595–603, 2016.

[7] G. Wang, L. Zhang, and J. Zhang, “A review of electrodematerials for electrochemical supercapacitors,” ChemicalSociety Reviews, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 797–828, 2012.

[8] Y. Shi and B. Zhang, “Recent advances in transition metalphosphide nanomaterials: synthesis and applications in

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hydrogen evolution reaction,” Chemical Society Reviews,vol. 45, no. 6, pp. 1529–1541, 2016.

[9] H. Wang, L. Zhang, Z. Chen et al., “Semiconductor hetero-junction photocatalysts: design, construction, and photocat-alytic performances,” Chemical Society Reviews, vol. 43,no. 15, pp. 5234–5244, 2014.

[10] M. T. Yagub, T. K. Sen, S. Afroze, and H. M. Ang, “Dye and itsremoval from aqueous solution by adsorption: a review,”Advances in Colloid and Interface Science, vol. 209, pp. 172–184, 2014.

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