The massive surge in the consumption of fossil fuels and the resulting environmental degradation necessitates the progression of renewable energy sources and energy storage/conversion technologies. The utilization of polymers characterized as being highly energy efficient and cost-effective is among the highly intriguing areas of research.
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This article reports the innovations, novel polymeric materials, and methods being developed for sustainable and highly efficient energy storage and conversion systems.
Importance of Polymeric Materials
Numerous power storage and conversion technologies, including batteries, supercapacitors, and fuel cells, utilize polymeric materials. These materials have multiple benefits over conventional materials, including elasticity, lightweight, and simple processing. In addition, they offer a broader spectrum of advantageous properties, including high conductivity and low resistance, which makes them particularly suitable for energy storage devices.
Polymeric Electrolytes: A Novel Innovation
Batteries are an integral part of modern energy storage systems, which are used to power everything from electric cars to cellular devices. The passage of ions is facilitated by liquid or gel electrolytes in conventional batteries. In comparison to conventional electrolytes, polymer electrolytes offer several advantages. First, they are non-combustible, making their utilization in applications such as electric vehicles much more secure. Second, they can be engineered to have a higher ionic conductivity than conventional electrolytes, allowing them to produce more electrical current for a given battery size and weight.
A research article published in the journal Advanced Energy Materials focuses on the use of polymeric electrolytes in various types of batteries, such as Lithium Ion Batteries (LIBs) and specifically Zinc Ion Batteries (ZIBs). They are becoming popular owing to their low cost, biocompatibility, and high abundance.
The PEs could be primarily categorized as solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs), gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs), and hybrid polymer electrolytes (HPEs). Each consists of polymer chains and salt-based mediums. Zinc compounds can be dissolved by polymer chains in SPEs. GPEs are created by combining zinc ions with a solvent to form polymers. Zinc salts are typically dissolved in the polymers that are used to crosslink or copolymerize HPE, in which zinc salts are typically cross-linked or copolymerized. Typically, SPEs favor mechanical robustness.
Conductive Polymers for Energy Storage and Conversion
The conductive polymer is another intriguing polymeric substance. These substances are being researched for use as electrodes for battery packs and supercapacitors due to their superior electrical conductivity. The exceptional conductivity and ionic conductivity of polyaniline and polythiophene are being studied in particular. However, one of the primary drawbacks of conductive polymers is their low mechanical robustness, which can result in electrode deformation and diminished device efficacy.
In addition to their use as functional materials in power storage and conversion technologies, polymers are also employed as anti-corrosion coatings. Corrosion is a significant issue in power systems, especially in severe environments like offshore turbines as well as oil and gas pipelines.
Polymer Based Fuel Cells
Polymer-based fuel cells are also being studied for their potential applications in energy conversion. A recent article published in the Journal of Energy Research focuses on the utilization of Polyvinylidene fluoride fuel cells for energy storage purposes.
Poly (vinylidene fluoride), or PVDF, is a widely utilized dielectric power storage substance because it is a non-reactive polymer with excellent mechanical properties, thermal conductivity, high dielectric strength, insulating attributes, and modest weight. The incorporation of additives with high permittivity into the PVDF matrix, i.e., polymer-based nanocomposites, results in a high energy density and efficacy. PVDF-based composite films' applications include capacitor nano-generators, fuel cells, pulse power energy storage, micro-capacitors, and energy harvesting applications, among others.
Silicon-Based Polymer-Derived Ceramics
The Journal of Advanced Ceramics has recently published an article focusing on the use of Si-based polymeric ceramics for energy storage and wearable electronics. As per the research, polymers have innate material characteristics (viscoelasticity, glass transition temperature, etc.) that distinguish them and make them extremely useful in a variety of applications.
Depending on their electrical conductivity response, Si based polymer nanocomposites can be utilized as electro-catalysts or dividers in energy storage devices. Polymeric composites have high power densities. They typically develop a high degree of flexibility, but at the expense of electrical conductivity; therefore, the optimal balance between augmented mechanical and electrical properties must be determined.
Polymer-derived ceramics owing to superior piezo-resistivity can be utilized for pressure sensing applications along with in-situ heat flux sensors, thermal sensors, and hot-wire anemometers.
Poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT: PSS) is the most studied ICP because of its durability, high electrical conductivity, and water resistance, which makes it appropriate for roll-to-roll fabrication. It can be sprayed on a material substrate material via in-situ crosslinking or fiber spinning. Other polymers include Polydiacetylenes (PDAs), Polypyrrole (PPY), and Polyaniline (PANI).
Polymer Binders
The utilization of polymer binders in electrodes is yet another application of polymeric advancements in batteries. Metal foils or filaments are layered with active materials such as lithium cobalt oxide or graphite to create conventional electrodes.
Polymer compounds are utilized to retain the active materials in position on the electrode, thereby enhancing the battery's efficiency and long-term reliability. The polymer bindings can also minimize the likelihood of faulty circuits. In addition, the use of polymer compounds can efficiently increase the battery's life span.
Integration of Biopolymer Based Materials
The latest research published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences focuses on the utilization of bio-polymeric-based materials. Biopolymers are repetitive macromolecules that are biodegradable. Hazardous leakages pose a threat to human health and the environment when electronics are discarded improperly. This dearth of secure degradation results from the material's reasonably stable bonds.
All biopolymer-based electrical devices have the distinct advantage of biodegradability through both mechanical disintegration and microbial enzymatic breakdown of susceptible linkages.
In addition, biopolymers are an intriguing technological prospect for rechargeable batteries. Other prospective avenues for biopolymer-based rechargeable batteries include hybrid inorganic-organic electrolytes and compound polymer electrolytes. In addition, biopolymers have been identified as a promising source for the enhancement of solar cells, particularly dye-sensitized solar cells. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), which convert light energy to electricity using organic dyes, are an affordable and lightweight alternative to conventional solar cells.
Healable Supramolecular Phase Change Polymers for Thermal Energy Storage
Healable Supramolecular phase change polymers are extensively researched in the latest article published in Chemical Engineering Journal. Researchers proposed a method for producing a sequence of healable supramolecular phase change polymers (HOPs) with poly(4-vinyl pyridine) (P4VP) backbones and stearic acid (SA) side chains.
The synthesized supramolecular polymer demonstrated excellent experimental results specifically in terms of durability and a uniform energy harvesting capacity. In addition, through 1000 cycles of solar irradiation, researchers demonstrated the practical importance of high cycling resilience, reversible solar-thermal energy conversion, and storage capacity.
Moreover, the hydrogen-bonding interaction enabled fractures or abrasions in HOPs to self-repair rapidly when exposed to external heat or light. It extends their operational life and reduces waste buildup. This productive method may inspire new concepts for the design and development of the next generation of intelligent thermal energy storage materials.
In short, polymers and their composites are playing a vital role in energy storage and conversion technologies. With the advancements in technological avenues polymers are expected to play a vital role in sustainable power generation.
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References and Further Reading
Dalwadi S. et al. (2023). The Integration of Biopolymer-Based Materials for Energy Storage Applications: A Review. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 24(4). 3975. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24043975
Wu, K. et al. (2022) Recent Advances in Polymer Electrolytes for Zinc Ion Batteries: Mechanisms, Properties, and Perspectives. Adv. Energy Mater. 10, 1903977. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201903977
Cao Y et al. (2022). Healable supramolecular phase change polymers for thermal energy harvesting and storage. Chemical Engineering Journal. Volume 433, Part 1. 134549. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2022.134549
Wen, Q. et al. (2022). Si-based polymer-derived ceramics for energy conversion and storage. Journal of Advanced Ceramics. 11, 197-246. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40145-021-0562-2
Abad et. al. (2022). Last developments in polymers for wearable energy storage devices. International Journal of Energy Research. Volume 46(8). 10475-10498. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/er.7934
Behera et al. (2022). A review on polyvinylidene fluoride polymer based nanocomposites for energy storage applications. Journal of Energy Storage. Volume 48. 103788. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2021.103788
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