Owing to their scalability, flexible operation, and long cycle life, vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) have gained immense attention over the past few years. However, the VRFBs suffer from significant polarization, which decreases their cell efficiency. The activation polarization occurring during vanadium redox reactions greatly affects the overall performance of VRFBs. Therefore, it is imperative to develop electrodes with numerous catalytic sites and a long cycle life. In this study, we synthesized heteroatom-rich carbon-based freestanding papers (H-CFPs) by a facile dispersion and filtration process. The H-CFPs exhibited high specific surface area (~820 m2 g–1) along with a number of redox-active heteroatoms (such as oxygen and nitrogen) and showed high catalytic activity for vanadium redox reactions. The H-CFP electrodes showed excellent electrochemical performance. They showed low anodic and cathodic peak potential separation (ΔEp) values of ~120 mV (positive electrolyte) and ~124 mV (negative electrolyte) in cyclic voltammetry conducted at a scan rate of 5 mV s–1. Hence, the H-CFP-based VRFBs showed significantly reduced polarization.

The dielectric medium used in electrophoretic displays (EPDs) is required to be an environmentally friendly solvent with high density, low viscosity, and a large electric constant. Hydrofluoroether, a highly fluorinated solvent with eco-friendly characteristics, is regarded as a viable alternative medium for EPDs, owing to the similarity of its physical properties to those of the conventional EPD medium. Surface modification of particles is required, however, in order for it to disperse in the charged solvent. Also, positive/negative charges should be present on the particle surface to enable electrophoretic behavior. In this study, carbon black particles wrapped with positively charged nitrogen (N-CBs) were fabricated by a simple hydrothermal process using a poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) solution as a black coloring agent for the EPD. The dispersion behavior of N-CBs was investigated in various solvents.

In this study, cellulose nanoplates (CNPs) were fabricated using cellulose nanocrystals obtained from commercial microcrystalline cellulose (MCC). Their pyrolysis behavior and the characteristics of the product carbonaceous materials were investigated. CNPs showed a relatively high char yield when compared with MCC due to sulfate functional groups introduced during the manufacturing process. In addition, pyrolyzed CNPs (CCNPs) showed more effective chemical activation behavior compared with MCC-induced carbonaceous materials. The activated CCNPs exhibited a microporous carbon structure with a high surface area of 1310.6 m2/g and numerous oxygen heteroatoms. The results of this study show the effects of morphology and the surface properties of cellulose-based nanomaterials on pyrolysis and the activation process.

The development of nanostructured functional materials derived from biomass and/or waste is of growing importance for creating sustainable energy-storage systems. In this study, nanoporous carbonaceous materials containing numerous heteroatoms were fabricated from waste coffee grounds using a top-down process via simple heating with KOH. The nanoporous carbon nanosheets exhibited notable material properties such as high specific surface area (1960.1 m2 g–1), numerous redox-active heteroatoms (16.1 at% oxygen, 2.7 at% nitrogen, and 1.6 at% sulfur), and high aspect ratios (>100). These unique properties led to good electrochemical performance as supercapacitor electrodes. A specific capacitance of ~438.5 F g–1 was achieved at a scan rate of 2 mV s–1, and a capacitance of 176 F g–1 was maintained at a fast scan rate of 100 mV s–1. Furthermore, cyclic stability was achieved for over 2000 cycles.