(431a) Sustainable, Functional Nanocomposites for Energy Applications

Functional nanocomposites are composed with different combinations from a large selection of nanomaterials, such as nanocarbons, metal oxides/chalcogenides, carbides, phosphides, polymers, etc., which possess superior mechanical, thermal and electrical properties, leading to broad applications in smart structures, chemical sensors, energy storage and nano-electronic devices. However, the high cost and difficulty in getting large scale, high quality nanocomposites remain challenges. Zhang Research Group has been dedicated to develop facile, reliable, sustainable manufacturing technologies towards functional nanocomposites for energy related applications. For example, manufacturing of transition metal chalcogenides (MCs) on graphene support (MC-Gr) was developed based a one-step microwave approach. In this regard, a series of suitable combinations of metals and chalcogens have been selected, such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂), molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe₂), molybdenum sulftotelluride (MoSTe), cobalt doped MoS₂ (Co-MoS₂) and other hybrids. Electrochemical characterizations i.e., cyclic voltammogram (CV), galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and so on, reveal that the as-produced nanocomposites can be used as high mileage catalyst materials for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and electrical energy storage (EES) such as hybrid-capacitor applications. In addition to the MC-Gr system, another flexible nanocomposite was developed based on cellulose nanofiber-conducting polymer system (CNF-CP). Formic acid was used to hydrolyze paper mill sludge, resulted in high quality CNF, which is used as support for conducting polymers. The conducting polymers were in-situ deposited to the CNF surface, and CNF-CP free standing paper was formed through simple filtration process, which possesses outstanding flexibilities and energy storage properties. More development is on the way to develop large scale sustainable production of the functional nanocomposites.