This thematic issue highlights novel developments and trends in the field of carbon-based nanomaterials for energy-related applications. Carbon nanomaterials (including its porous congeners and hybrid materials) have been recognized as one of the most promising elements in this field due to their diversity in structure, morphology and composition. Moreover, it comprises the base chemical element for a variety of composite and hybrid materials with unique properties.
Key topics of this special issue include synthesis and fabrication methods, progress on nanoscale structural and chemical characterization, insights from simulation approaches, as well as energy-related topics in which carbon-based materials have emerged to play a prominent role in future developments of the field. Last but not least, this thematic issue also covers strategies and ideas for future developments in the field of carbon-based nanomaterials.
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Figure 1: The schematic of graphitic CDC production via immobilization of transition-metal graphitization cat...
Figure 2: (a) TEM analysis of partially chlorinated carbide (CDC-shell) showing transparent CDC covering the ...
Figure 3: (a) XRD pattern and (b) the crystallite dimension for the in-plane (La) and cross section of multi-...
Figure 4: (a) Temperature-programmed oxidation profile of final CDC; (b) the calculated fraction of Area II r...
Figure 5: TEM images of CDC-Ni0 (a) and CDC-Ni60 (b,c).
Figure 6: (a) N2-sorption isotherm of final CDC material (closed and open symbols show the adsorption and des...
Figure 7: Examples of peak deconvolutions of XRD diffractograms at (a) C(002) and (b) C(100/101).
Figure 1: FESEM images of (a) TGP, (b) TGP-CSnPc, (c) TGP-CSnPc-550Air, (d) magnified view of (c), and (e) TG...
Figure 2: Raman spectra of (a) TGP, (b) TGP-CSnPc, (c) TGP-CSnPc-550Air, (d) TGP-CSnPc-650Air, and (e) TGP-55...
Figure 3: XPS spectra of (a) Sn 3d and (b) O 1s in TGP, TGP-CSnPc-550Air, and TGP-550Air.
Figure 4: Cyclic voltammograms in Ar-saturated 2 M H2SO4 at 25 °C for TGP, TGP-550Air, and TGP-CSnPc-TAir (T ...
Figure 5: Cyclic voltammograms in 1 M VOSO4 + 2 M H2SO4 at 25 °C for (a,b) VO2+/VO2+, (c) V2+/3+ redox reacti...
Figure 6: Charge–discharge curves and cycling performance for flow cells using three layers of TGP and TGP-CS...
Figure 1: N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms (a) and pore size distributions (b) of the activated carbons.
Figure 2: Linear sweep voltammetry recorded in an O2-saturated 0.1 mol L−1 KOH electrolyte at 1600 rpm (a) an...
Figure 3: Relationship between BET surface area and the limiting current density of the activated samples.
Figure 4: Deconvolution of the XPS N 1s spectra for N-AGBM (a) N-AGC (b), N-CGBM (c) and N-CGC (d).
Figure 5: TPD profiles of CO2 for activated samples (a) and carbonized samples (b) and CO profiles of activat...
Figure 6: N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms at −196 °C for activated carbons (a) and carbonized carbons (b).
Figure 7: Linear sweep voltammetry recorded in an O2-saturated 0.1 mol L−1 KOH electrolyte at 1600 rpm for ac...
Figure 8: Relationship between BET surface area and limiting current density of undoped and doped samples.
Figure 1: Schematic illustration of the synthesis route using the soft-templating approach to obtain porous c...
Figure 2: High-resolution images of carbonized carbon felt (left: a,d), N-doped carbon felt (middle: b,e) and...
Figure 3: SEM image of the co-doped composite electrode and corresponding colored mappings of carbon, nitroge...
Figure 4: Nitrogen sorption isotherms of the synthesized composite electrode with nitrogen doping (upper line...
Figure 5: High-resolution XPS spectra including the fitting of the carbonized carbon felt (a,b) and the co-do...
Figure 6: Comparison between the cyclic voltammetry curves of the N-doped (purple) and co-doped (blue, green)...
Figure 7: Nyquist plots showing the EIS data for the carbonized felts (orange, red) as well as for the compos...
Scheme 1: Idealized ionothermal synthesis of CTF1–5 from 1,4-dicyanobenzene (p-DCB, I), 4,4′-dicyanobiphenyl ...
Figure 1: Low-pressure CO2 isotherms for CTF1 (red), CTF2 (black), CTF3 (grey), CTF4 (blue) and CTF5 (green) ...
Figure 2: A) DDH of EB with CTF3 (filled grey spheres), CTF4 (filled blue spheres), and CTF5 (filled green sp...
Figure 1: HRTEM micrographs of: a) CNTs; b) N-CNTs; c) S-CNTs, and d) N-CNTsHT. (Scale bar = 10 nm).
Figure 2: Evolution of the ID/IG ratio (from Raman spectroscopy) and the percent of surface heteroatoms (from...
Figure 3: TEM micrographs of: a) Pt3Co/N-CNT; b) Pt3Co/N-CNTHT; c) Pt3Co/S-CNT; d) Pt3Ni/N-CNT; e) Pt3Ni/N-CNT...
Figure 4: CVs from an RRDE experiment for the catalysts in 0.5 M H2SO4 at 5 mV·s−1 under N2 at 25 °C for a) t...
Figure 5: Percentage of H2O2 formation during O2 reduction of the a) Pt3Co and b) Pt3Ni catalysts.
Figure 6: HRTEM images of a) Co/N-CNT and c) Ni/N-CNTHT; and STEM-HAADF images of b) Co/N-CNT and d) Ni/N-CNT...
Figure 7: HRTEM images of a) Pt3Co/N-CNT and c) Pt3Ni/N-CNTHT, and STEM-HAADF images of b) Pt3Co/N-CNT and d)...
Figure 8: WAXS analysis – red: experimental PDF from a) Pt3Co/N-CNT and b) Pt3Ni/N-CNTHT, green: simulation f...
Figure 9: a) HRTEM images of Pt3Co/N-CNT and b) STEM-HAADF image of Pt3Co/N-CNT after washing with EDTA.
Figure 10: Polarization of Pt3Co/CB (red); Pt3Co/N-CNT (dark blue); Pt3Co/N-CNTHT (light blue) and Pt3Ni/N-CNT...
Figure 11: Polarization of Pt3Co/CB (red), unwashed Pt3Co/N-CNT (dark blue) and unwashed Pt3Ni/N-CNTHT (green)...
Figure 12: SEM micrographs of MEA sections prepared with Pt3Co/CB at 0.3 mgPt·cm−2 and Pt3Co/CNT-N at 0.25 mgPt...
Figure 13: Polarization curves performed on MEAs integrating: a) Pt3Co/CB; and b) Pt3Co/N-CNT. Dark blue: afte...
Figure 1: Comparison of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images of prepared carbons. (a) Unmodified Nan...
Figure 2: (a) Dependence of the carbon yield on the treatment time. (b) XRD profiles of the prepared carbons....
Figure 3: (a) Treatment time dependence of the amount of oxygen-containing surface groups detected by the TPD...
Figure 4: Dependence of the oxygen adsorption properties at −80 °C. (a) O2 adsorption uptake measured using a...
Figure 5: (a) Cyclic voltammograms of the samples for the redox reaction ferricyanide/ferrocyanide (potential...
Figure 6: (a) Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) voltammogram in 0.5 mol/L H2SO4 solution. (b) Dependence of spe...
Figure 1: Scheme of the preparation of hierarchically nanostructured electrodes: a) electrochemical depositio...
Figure 2: (a) SEM image and (b) particle size distribution of Fe nanoparticles electrochemically deposited on...
Figure 3: SEM images of CNTs deposited onto GC by CVD at 750 °C using cyclohexane and a gas flow rate of 1.7 ...
Figure 4: SEM images of (a) Fe nanoparticles electrodeposited onto primary CNTs and GC (8 s of deposition tim...
Figure 5: Raman spectra of CNT/GC and CNT/CNT/GC electrodes. The spectra are normalized with respect to the i...
Figure 6: SEM (a) und BSE (b) image of Pt nanoparticles deposited from an aqueous 0.005 M Pt(NO3)2 and 0.1 M ...
Figure 7: Cyclic voltammograms of GC, oxidized GC, CNT/GC and CNT/CNT/GC recorded at a scan rate of 100 mV s−1...
Figure 8: Cyclic voltammograms of Pt on GC, CNT/GC and CNT/CNT/GC electrodes recorded at a scan rate of 100 m...
Figure 9: COad stripping voltammograms of Pt-CNT/GC and Pt-CNT/CNT/GC monitored at 20 mV s−1 in CO-purged and...
Figure 10: Cyclic voltammograms of Pt-CNT/GC and Pt-CNT/CNT/GC in N2-saturated 1 M CH3OH and 0.5 M H2SO4 elect...
Figure 1: TEM images of the carbon materials. (a) H-1000, (b) P-1000, (c) HH-700, (d) PH700.
Figure 2: Correlations between P/C atomic ratio and N/C atomic ratio of P-series precursors (open circles) an...
Figure 3: N 1s spectra of (a) H-series and (b) P-series precursors. (c) P 2p spectra of P-series precursors. ...
Figure 4: Correlations between (a) N/C ratios of HH-series carbon materials and those of H-series precursors,...
Figure 5: N 1s spectra of (a) HH- and (b) PH-series carbon materials. (c) P 2p spectra of PH-series carbon ma...
Figure 6: (a) Effect of CPAT temperature on the work function of PH-series carbon materials, (b) relationship...
Figure 7: Results of ORR activity studies. (a) ORR voltammograms of HH- and PH-series carbon materials record...
Figure 8: ORR voltammograms of two different PFA-derived carbon materials.
Figure 9: Correlation of the ORR activity (represented by i0.5) with (a) P2/C, (b) P3/C, and (c) (P2+P3)/C mo...
Figure 10: The result of a single-cell test using PH-700 as the cathode catalyst. Current density (black solid...
Figure 1: Upcycling approach consisting of high-energy ball milling and carbonization of a mixture of PU foam...
Figure 2: (A, C) Nitrogen adsorption/desorption (filled symbols/empty symbols) isotherms (measured at −196 °C...
Figure 3: (A) Water vapor sorption isotherms (adsorption/desorption = filled symbols/empty symbols) measured ...
Figure 4: (A) Cyclic voltammogram measured in 1 M TEABF4 (ACN) with a scan rate of 10 mV·s−1 (solid lines) an...
Figure 1: Raman spectra obtained for pristine as well as N2-plasma-treated sample.
Figure 2: XPS results obtained for pristine and N2-plasma-treated samples. a) Survey scan for the N2-plasma-t...
Figure 3: Schematic representation of N-doping induced by N2 plasma treatment in a graphite lattice.
Figure 4: SEM images of a) pristine and b) N2-plasma-treated samples.
Figure 5: CV curves obtained for the pristine and the N2-plasma-treated sample: a) negative redox reaction, b...
Figure 6: Single-cell measurement results with pristine (green) and N2-plasma-treated samples (red). a) Maxim...
Figure 7: Evolution of efficiency and capacity retention during long-term cycling with a N2-plasma-treated sa...
Figure 1: Schematic synthesis overview of amorphous N-doped carbon spheres (NCSs) and graphitized N-doped car...
Figure 2: SEM images of (a) the carbon spheres with Fe2O3 before acid treatment, (b, c) the different non-gra...
Figure 3: TEM images of (a–d) the NCS catalysts and (e–h) the g-NCS catalysts. The TEM images in (a–d) are re...
Figure 4: X-ray diffraction patterns of the NCS and g-NCS catalyst series.
Figure 5: XPS data. Top: N configuration of the NCS and g-NCS catalysts; below: XPS spectra of N 1s region fo...
Figure 6: Raman spectra of the NCS and g-NCS catalysts (the x-axis represents the Raman shift relative to the...
Figure 7: N2 sorption isotherms of the (a) NCS and (b) g-NCS catalyst series.
Figure 8: ORR measurements (cyclic voltammograms). (a) ORR disc current densities of the NCS catalysts and Pt...
Figure 9: ORR onset potential (potential value at 0.1 mA·cm−2) as a function of the micropore surface area (M...
Figure 10: ORR onset potential (potential value at 0.1 mA·cm−2) as a function of the nitriding temperature of ...