Nanomaterials for green energy

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Globally we are currently experiencing considerable challenges in energy and
environment. The use of the available three main fossil fuels oil, coal, and natural gas may
not always be readily available to meet the global energy demands. In addition the
associated fossil fuel emissions will not be environmentally acceptable and thus alternative
sources of energy are needed. In order to fully develop the potential of all forms of
renewable energy, current challenges in energy storage and conversion have to be met. So
the next generation energy conversion and storage in thin-film and multifunctional devices
depend on nanomaterials and composites, particularly with facile processing and
manufacturing technique.

1.1 NANOMATERIALS
Nanomaterials are structured components with at least one dimension less than 100
nm. Two principal factor cause the properties of nanomaterials differ from other material:
increased relative surface area and quantum effect. This is one of the major reasons why
nanotechnology has a signicant impact on energy conversion and storage.As a particle
decrease in size, a greater proportion of atoms are found at the surface compared to those
inside. Nanoparticles have greater surface area per unit mass.
Unique properties of the nano materials arising from their nano range.

Interface and colloid science has given rise to many materials which may be useful in

nanotechnology.
Nanoscale materials can be useful in bulk applications; most present commmerical

applications of nanotechnology are of this flavour.

Progress has been made in using these materials for medical applications.
Nanoscale materials are sometimes used for solar cells, which combats the cost of
traditional solar cells.

CHAPTER 2
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Nanomaterials for green energy

NANOMATERIALS FOR ENERGY CONVERSION AND

STORAGE
Nanostructured materials are advantageous in offering huge surface to volume ratios,
favourable transport properties, altered physical properties, and confinement effects
resulting from the nanoscale dimensions, and have been extensively studied for energyrelated applications such as solar cells, catalysts, thermoelectric, lithium ion batteries,
supercapacitors, and hydrogen storage systems. This review focuses on a few select aspects
regarding these topics, demonstrating that nanostructured materials benefit these
applications by:

providing a large surface area to boost the electrochemical reaction or

molecular adsorption occurring at the solidliquid or solidgas interface,

generating optical effects to improve optical absorption in solar cells
Giving rise to high crystalline and/or porous structure to facilitate the electron or ion
transport and electrolyte diffusion, so as to ensure the electrochemical process occurs
with high efficiency.

It is emphasized that, to further enhance the capability of nanostructured materials for

energy conversion and storage, new mechanisms and structures are anticipated. In addition
to highlighting the obvious advantages of nanostructured materials, and challenges of
nanostructured materials while being used for solar cells, lithium ion batteries,
supercapacitors, and hydrogen storage systems have also been addressed in this review.
With demand for clean and sustainable energy sources increasing at an exponential
rate, new material technologies are being explored that could provide cost-effective and
environmentally clean solutions to the worlds energy problems. Developments in the areas
of alternative fuels or energy storage technologies like advanced batteries, fuel cells, ultra
capacitors, and bio-fuels are emerging as strong contenders to petroleum-based sources.
Energy derived from clean and renewable sources like solar and wind power have
tremendous potential, but the practical use of these sources of energy requires efficient
electrical energy storage (EES) technologies that can provide uninterrupted power on
demand. In all of these new technologies, nanomaterials are increasingly playing an active
role by either increasing the efficiency of the energy storage and conversion processes or by
improving device design and performance. Some of the examples are shown below:

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Nanomaterials for green energy

2.1 LITHIUM ION BATTERIES

The Lithium Ion Batteries are one of the great successes of modern materials
electrochemistry. Their science and technology have been extensively reported. A lithiumion battery consists of a lithium-ion intercalation negative electrode (generally graphite) and
a lithium-ion intercalation positive electrode (generally the lithium metal oxide), these being
separated by a lithium-ion conducting electrolyte. Although such batteries are commercially
successful, we are reaching the limits in performance using the current electrode and
electrolyte materials. For new generations of rechargeable lithium batteries, not only for
applications in consumer electronics but especially for clean energy storage and use in
hybrid electric vehicles, further breakthroughs in materials are essential, such as the use of
nanomaterials devices.

2.2 SUPERCAPACITORS
Supercapacitors are of key importance in supporting the voltage of a system during
increased load in everything from portable equipment to electric vehicles. There are two
general categories of electrochemical supercapacitors: electric double layer capacitors
(EDLC) and redox supercapacitors. In contrast to batteries, where the cycle life is limited
because of the repeated contraction and expansion of the electrode on cycling, EDLC
lifetime is in principle infinite, as it operates solely on electrostatic surface charge
accumulation. For redox supercapacitors, some fast faradic charge transfer takes place and
results in large pseudocapacitance. Progress in supercapacitor technology can benefit by
moving from conventional to nanostructured electrodes. In the case of supercapacitors, the
electrode requirements are less demanding than in batteries, at least in terms of electrode
compaction, because power prevails over energy density. Thus, the benefits of nanopowders
with their high-surfacearea (primary nanoparticles) are potentially more important, hence the
staggering interest in nanopowders and their rapid uptake for supercapacitor-based storage
sources.

2.3 FUEL CELL TECHNOLGY

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Nanomaterials for green energy

Fuel cells are now approaching commercialization, especially in the fields of

portable power sourcesdistributed and remote generation of electrical energy. Already,
nanostructured materials are having an impact on processing methods in the development of
low-temperature fuel cells (T < 200C), the dispersion of precious metal catalysts, the
development and dispersion of nonprecious catalysts, fuel reformation and hydrogen
storage, and the fabrication of membrane-electrode assemblies (MEA). Polymer electrolyte
membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have recently gained momentum for application in
transportation and as small portable power sources; whereas phosphoric acid fuel cells
(PAFCS), solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and molten carbonates fuel cells (MCFCs) still
offer advantages for stationary applications, and especially for cogeneration. Platinum-based
catalysts are the most active materials for low-temperature fuel cells fed with hydrogen,
reformate, or methanol. To reduce the costs, the platinum loading must be decreased (while
maintaining or improving MEA performance), and continuous processes for fabricating
MEAs in high volume must be developed. A few routes are being actively investigated to
improve the electro catalytic activity of Pt-based catalysts. They consist mainly of alloying
Pt with transition metals or tailoring the Pt particle size.

2.4 GRAPHENE FOR ENERGY CONVERSION

It is estimated that the world will need to double its energy supply by 2050, 1 so it
is of paramount importance to develop new types of energy sources. Compared to
conventional energy materials, carbon nanomaterials exhibit unusual size- and surfacedependent (e.g., morphological, electrical, optical, and mechanical) properties that enhance
energy-conversion performance. Specically, considerable efforts have been expended to
exploit the unique properties of graphene in high performance energy-conversion devices,
including solar cells and fuel cells.

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Nanomaterials for green energy

CHAPTER 3
ENERGY CONVERSION METHODS
Energy conversion methods are essential for developing a sustainable materials and
key in renewable energy sources. Renewable energy sources describes about the advanced
conversions.

3.1 HIGH SURFACE AREA AND CONFINED LIGHT REACTANT

INTERACTION
In a solar-powered fuel generation reactor, the confined light interaction space with
carbon feedstock greatly increases the energy production efficiency .These solar fuels are
made from solar energy; sun is an abundant source produces no emission. Among the
photocatalytic conversion, carbon di oxide conversion to hydrocarbons appears to have a
promising potential for solar fuels. It reduces atmospheric carbon di oxide, at same time
provide on a renewable basis fuel that can directly be supplied to our present energy source.
TiO2 has been used for photocatalysis because of its excellent photostability. In recent years,
NWs and nanotubes (NTs) have been developed because of their high surface area
andtunability as cocatalysts. Titanium oxide NTs were typically grown on Ti film using
potentiostatic anodization. These Titanium oxide NTs have an average length of 15 lm, an
average outer diameter of 100 nm (inner diameter can be varied from 30 to 80 nm with
growth conditions), and even a higher surface area than NWs, possessing superior
electrocatalytic properties and optical stability.
There are several ways to tune the electrochemical self-assembly through lattice
match between the electrode surface and NWs, or use nanostructured templates such as
anodized alumina or track-etched polycarbonate followed by removing the template. Figure
1,shows an example of Titanium oxide NTthin film for photocatalysis conversion of carbon
di oxide to hydrocarbon. The porous Titanium oxide NT membrane promotes carbon di
oxide interaction with Titanium oxide sensitized by Copper cocatalyst and activated by light,
providing the optofluidic synergy between the trapped light and flow reactants. Titanium
nanostructures increase the photocatalytic efficiency by at least ten times when compared
with the commercially available TiO2 product.

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Nanomaterials for green energy

Figure 3.1 Tio2 NT thin filim

3.2 HIGH SURFACE DISPERSION AND CHARGE TRANSFER

The key to improve electrocatalysis is to promote highly dispersed catalysts on the
electrodes.To disperse more reproducible and uniform Cu nanoparticles (NPs) on the gas
diffusion layer in electrocatalytic conversions for CO2, graphene is used to increase the
electrical conductivity path and surface area dispersions. As shown in Figure 2, graphene has
high tensile strength and also high electrical conductivity. Once coated over traditional
(fibrous)carbonpaper ,the graphene thin coating forms continuous surface dispersion for Cu
NP NP electroplating. In addition, the interaction of graphene and the semiconductor metal
oxides improves the conducting path in the electrode.

Figure3.2 .Graphene has high tensile strength and high electrical conductivity

3.3NANOMATERIAL MULTILAYER LAYER DEVICE ASSEMBLY

In addition to the high surface area and nanoscale proximity of interactions,
nanomaterial multilayer assembly helps in the key optoelectronic fabrication of optical fiber
devices in solar lighting andphoto voltaic conversion. Themultimode optical waveguides are
guiding media through total internal reflection and coupling of light into the photovoltaic
active region by scattering. These fiber solar cells provide an opportunity to surpass both the
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Nanomaterials for green energy

efficiency and functionality of traditional flat-panel solar cells. Such fiber-solar cells behave
like waveguides to transmit visible light through total internal reflection fromone end to the
other and absorb the evanescent light fabricated around fibers along the side wall of the
fibers.Figure3 depicts the transmission, evanescent light, and total internal reflection from
optical fiber and actual fiber devices made in our laboratory. The three dimensional structure
results in the absorption layer havinga greater surface area than the traditional twodimensional absorption layer, which can be maximized by the length of the fiber, resulting in
an increased number of internal reflections and an increased absorption surface area without
making the end of the fiber cell any larger. The example of solution-based multiple layer
processing includes an insitu growth of lead sulphate (PbS) quantum dots (QDs) and enables
the key device fabrication process. The fabrication around optical fibers can be optimized
layer by layer through nanomaterial-coating techniques such as Langmuir Blodgett and dipcoating processing. Figure 4 shows the nanostructure film consisting of sensitizer PbS QDs
in situ grown in TiO2 NWs and the high electrical conductivity and high density coating of
optical fibers consisting of TiO2 NWs combined with NPs. These fiber cells can be created
without using silicon and using the total internal reflection to concentrate and transmit light.
To maximize efficiency, the absorption layer must strongly absorb in both the visible and
infrared

(IR)

regions

of

the

electromagnetic

Figure 3.3 .Optical transmission waveguide

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Nanomaterials for green energy

CHAPTER 4
ENERGY STORAGE METHODS
Here the nanomaterials are also used for storage of energy. We can expected that the
nanomaterials using advanced energy storage and recovery solutions will become much
more widely used in the coming years as the efficiency and energy density of semiconductor
increases and manufacturing cost decreases. In the next few decades, our fossil-fuelled cars
and home-heating will need to switch over to electric power as well if we're to have a hope
of averting catastrophic climate change. Electricity is a hugely versatile form of energy, but
it suffers one big drawback: it's relatively difficult to store in a hurry. Batteries can hold
large amounts of power, but they take hours to charge up. Capacitors, on the other hand,
charge almost instantly but store only tiny amounts of power. In our electric-powered future,
when we need to store and release large amounts of electricity very quickly, it's quite likely
we'll turn to supercapacitors (also known as ultracapacitors) that combine the best of both
worlds.
We can store electric charges by different sources such as batteries and capacitors do
a similar jobstoring electricitybut in completely different ways:

4.1 BATTERIES
Batteries havetwo electrical terminals (electrodes) separated by a chemical substance
called an electrolyte. When you switch on the power, chemical reactions happen involving
both the electrodes and the electrolyte. These reactions convert the chemicals inside the
battery into other substances, releasing electrical energy as they go. Once the chemicals have
all been depleted, the reactions stop and the battery are flat. In a rechargeable battery, such
as a lithium-ion power pack used in a laptop computer or MP3 player, the reactions can
happily run in either directionso you can usually charge and discharge hundreds of times
before the battery needs replacing.

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4.2 CONVENTIONAL CAPACITOR

Capacitoruse static electricity (electrostatics) rather than chemistry to store energy..
Inside a capacitor, there are two conducting metalplates with an insulating material called
a dielectric in between themit's a dielectric sandwich, if you prefer! Charging a capacitor
is a bit like rubbing a balloon on your jumper to make it stick. Positive and negative
electrical charges build up on the plates and the separation between them, which prevents
them coming into contact, is what stores the energy. The dielectric allows a capacitor of a
certain size to store more charge at the same voltage, so you could say it makes the capacitor
more efficient as a charge-storing device.
Capacitors have many advantages over batteries: they weigh less, generally don't
contain harmful chemicals or toxicmetals, and they can be charged and discharged millions
of times without ever wearing out. But they have a big drawback too: kilo for kilo, their
basic design prevents them from storing anything like the same amount of electrical energy
as batteries. Broadly speaking, you can increase the energy a capacitor will store either by
using a better material for the dielectric or by using bigger metal plates. To store a
significant amount of energy, you'd need to use absolutely whopping plates. Thunderclouds,
for example, are effectively super-gigantic capacitors that store massive amounts of power
and we all know how big those are!

4.3 SUPERCAPACITOR
A supercapacitor (often called an ultracapacitor) differs from an ordinary capacitor in
two important ways: its plates effectively have a much bigger area and the distance between
them is much smaller, because the separator between them works in a different way to a
conventional dielectric. Like an ordinary capacitor, a supercapacitor has two plates that are
separated. The plates are made from metal coated with a porous substance such as powdery,
activated charcoal, which effectively gives them a bigger area for storing much more charge.
Imagine electricity is water for a moment: where an ordinary capacitor is like a cloth that
can mop up only a tiny little spill, a supercapacitor's porous plates make it more like a
chunky sponge that can soak up many times more. Porous supercapacitor plates are
electricity sponges!

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Nanomaterials for green energy

CHAPTER 5
SUPER CAPACITOR
Supercapacitors, also known as ultracapacitors, are able to hold
hundreds of times the amount of electrical charge as standard capacitors,
and are therefore suitable as a replacement for electrochemical batteries
in many industrial and commercial applications. Supercapacitors also
work in very low temperatures; a situation that can prevent many types
of

electrochemical

batteries

from

working.

For

these

reasons,

supercapacitors are already being used in emergency radios and

flashlights, where energy can be produced kinetically (by winding a
handle, for example) and then stored in a supercapacitor for the device
to use.
In an ordinary capacitor, the plates are separated by a relatively thick dielectric made from
something like mica (a ceramic), a thin plastic film, or even simply air (in something like a
capacitor that acts as the tuning dial inside a radio. When the capacitor is charged, positive
charges form on one plate and negative charges on the other, creating an electric field
between them. The field polarizes the dielectric, so its molecules line up in the opposite
direction to the field and reduce its strength. That means the plates can store more charge at
a given voltage.
In a supercapacitor, there is no dielectric as such. Instead, both plates are soaked in
an electrolyte and separated by a very thin insulator (which might be made of carbon, paper,
or plastic). When the plates are charged up, an opposite charge forms on either side of the
separator, creating what's called an electric double-layer, maybe just one molecule thick
(compared to a dielectric that might range in thickness from a few microns to a milli-meter
or more in a conventional capacitor). This is why supercapacitors are often referred to as
double-layer capacitors, also called electric double-layer capacitors or EDLCs). If you look
at the lower diagram in the artwork, you'll see how a supercapacitor resembles two ordinary
capacitors side by side.

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The capacitance of a capacitor increases as the area of the plates increases and as the
distance between the plates decreases. In a nutshell, supercapacitors get their much bigger
capacitance from a combination of plates with a bigger, effective surface area (because of
their activated charcoal construction) and less distance between them (because of the very
effective double layer).

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5.1 PRINCIPAL AND WORKING

Energy stored in a semiconductor can be either electrostatic charge accumulation at
the electrode/electrolyte interface (EDLC) or charge transfer via reversible redox materials
on the surface of electrode. In practical supercapacitorsthe two storage mechanisms often
work simultaneously. Different charge transfer process involved in the EDLC and pseudocapacitance. In EDLC, the energy is stored through ion adsorption at electrode-electrolyte
interface with no charge transfer across the electrodes.
The first supercapacitors were made in the late 1950s using activated charcoal as the
plates. Since then, advances in material science have led to the development of much more
effective plates made from such things as carbon nanotubes (tiny carbon rods built
using nanotechnology, graphene aerogel, and barium titanate.Figure Top: Ordinary
capacitors store static electricity by building up opposite charges on two metal plates (blue
and red) separated by an insulating material called a dielectric (grey). The electric field
between the plates polarizes the molecules (or atoms) of the dielectric, making them align in
the opposite way to the field. This reduces the strength of the field and allows the capacitor
to store more charge for a given voltage. Read more in our article on capacitors.
Bottom: Supercapacitors store more energy than ordinary capacitors by creating a very thin,
"double layer" of charge between two plates, which are made from porous, typically carbonbased materials soaked in an electrolyte. The plates effectively have a bigger surface area
and less separation, which gives a supercapacitor its ability to store much more charge.

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Nanomaterials for green energy

Figure 5.1 charges formed in supercapacitor

5.2 SUPERCAPACITORS COMPARED TO ORDINARY CAPACITORS

AND BATTERY
The basic unit of electric capacitance is called the farad (F), named for pioneering
British chemist and physicist Michael Faraday (17911867). Typical capacitors used
in electronic circuits store only miniscule amounts of electricity (usually rated in units called
microfarads (millionths of a farad) or picofarads (billionths of a farad). In marked contrast, a
typical supercapacitor can store a charge thousands, millions, or even billions of times
bigger (rated in farads). The biggest commercial supercapacitors made by companies such as
Maxwell Technologies have capacitances rated up to several thousand farads. That still
represents only a fraction (maybe 1020 percent) of the electrical energy you can pack into a
battery. But the big advantage of a supercapacitor is that it can store and release energy
almost instantlymuch more quickly than a battery. That's because a supercapacitor works
by building up static electric charges on solids, while a battery relies on charges being
produced slowly through chemical reactions, often involving liquids.
Supercapacitors can sometimes used as a direct replacement for batteries. Here's a
cordless drill powered by a bank of supercapacitors for use in space, developed by NASA.
The big advantage over a normal drill is that it can be charged up in seconds rather than
hours.
You often see batteries and supercapacitors compared in terms of their energy and
power. In everyday speak, these two words are used interchangeably; in science, power is
the amount of energy used or produced in a certain amount of time. Batteries have a
higherenergy density (they store more energy per unit mass) but supercapacitors have a
higher power density (they can release energy more quickly). That makes supercapacitors
particularly suitable for storing and releasing large amounts of power relatively quickly, but
batteries are still king for storing large amounts of energy over long periods of time.
Although supercapacitors work at relatively low voltages (maybe 23 volts), they
can be connected in series (like batteries) to produce bigger voltages for use in more
powerful equipment. Since supercapacitors work electrostatically, rather than through
reversible chemical reactions, they can theoretically be charged and discharged any number
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Nanomaterials for green energy

of times (specification sheets for commercial supercapacitors suggest you can cycle them
perhaps a million times). They have little or no internal resistance, which means they store
and release energy without using much energyand work at very close to 100 percent
efficiency (9798 percent is typical).

5.3 GRAPHENE IN SUPERCAPACITOR

Although carbon nano tubes are used for supercapacitance since in the end
of 1990s, carbon nano tubes based nanomaterials is does not exhibit satisfactory
capacitance for the expected device performance. This is because of the high contact
resistance between CNT based electrode and current electrode and current collector,
inefficient interaction between CNT based electrode and electrolyte, and the instability of
double layer. Due to its larger surface area, high carrier mobility and excellent
thermal/mechanical stability, graphene has recently been studied as an alternative carbon
based electrode in supercapacitors. Theoretically, the double layer capacitance value of a
graphene electrode can reach up to 550 F/g, the highest value of intrinsic capacitance.
Supercapacitors are mainly used for:
If you need to store a reasonable amount of energy for a relatively short period of
time (from a few seconds to a few minutes), you've got too much energy to store in a
capacitor and you've not got time to charge a battery, a supercapacitor may be just what you
need. Supercapacitors have been widely used as the electrical equivalents of flywheels in
machines"energy reservoirs" that smooth out power supplies to electrical and electronic
equipment. Supercapacitors can also be connected to batteries to regulate the power they
supply.

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Nanomaterials for green energy

Figure 5.2 Supercapacitor

5.4 APPLICATION OF SUPERCAPACITOR

One common application is in wind turbines, where very large supercapacitors help
to smooth out the intermittent power supplied by the wind. In electric and hybrid vehicles,
supercapacitors are increasingly being used as temporary energy stores for regenerative
braking (where the energy a vehicle would normally waste when it comes to a stop is briefly
stored and then reused when it starts moving again). The motorsthat drive electric vehicles
run off power supplies rated in the hundreds of volts, which means hundreds of
supercapacitors connected in series are needed to store the right amount of energy in a
typical regenerative brake.For example a large supercapacitor used to store power in a
hybrid bus. Supercapacitors are used in regenerative brakes, widely used in electric vehicles.

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Nanomaterials for green energy

CHAPTER 6
CONCLUSION
We are ready to develop nanomaterials for simultaneous control of device fabrication
and optimization. That will impact energy conversion and storage technology.
Thenanomaterials development meets the demand from the sustainable energy.Low power
consumption

and

longer

performance

life

time

are

displayed

for

the

future

market.Sustainable energy production, transformation and use are very much needed to
maintain the readily and cheap access to energy to the growing. To transit from a carbonbased energy economy to others more sustainable, many technological breakthroughs are
needed, not only in the energy production (we tend to focus too much on the energy source)
but also in the transportation, transformation, storage, and final use of the energy. In all these
steps we face significant scientific and engineering challenges.The nanomaterial is an
excellent example of how better material science can contribute to the well-being of present
and future generations

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Nanomaterials for green energy

REFERENCES
[1] ShaliniChaturuedi, Pragnesh N Dave,Applications of nanocatalyst in new era , journal
of Saudi Chemical Society, 2012 16, 307-325
[2] Shun Mao, Ganhua Lu and Junhong Chen Three-dimensional graphene-based
composites for energy applications Nanoscale, 2015, 7, 6924
[3] Chang-jun-Liu,Uwe Burghaus, Preparation and characterization of Nanomaterials for
sustainable

energy

production,

school

of

chemical

engineering

and

technology,2010,30072
[4] Tao Chen and Liming Diea, Carbon nanomaterials for high performance
supercapacitors,materials today. Volume 16, number 7/8b 2013
[5] Fernand D.S. Marquis Carbon Nanotube Nanostructured Hybrid Materials Systems for
Renewable Energy Applications, journal of nanomaerials, 2011,300234

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