Electrochemical capacitors, also called supercapacitors, store energy using either ion adsorption (electrochemical double layer capacitors) or fast surface redox reactions (pseudo-capacitors). They can complement or replace batteries in electrical energy storage and harvesting applications, when high power delivery or uptake is needed. A notable improvement in performance has been achieved through recent advances in understanding charge storage mechanisms and the development of advanced nanostructured materials. The discovery that ion desolvation occurs in pores smaller than the solvated ions has led to higher capacitance for electrochemical double layer capacitors using carbon electrodes with subnanometre pores, and opened the door to designing high-energy density devices using a variety of electrolytes. Combination of pseudo-capacitive nanomaterials, including oxides, nitrides and polymers, with the latest generation of nanostructured lithium electrodes has brought the energy density of electrochemical capacitors closer to that of batteries. The use of carbon nanotubes has further advanced micro-electrochemical capacitors, enabling flexible and adaptable devices to be made. Mathematical modelling and simulation will be the key to success in designing tomorrow's high-energy and high-power devices.

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02417326/document

Materials for electrochemical capacitors

4.3. Reaction Mechanism 2373 4.4. Asymmetric Synthesis 2374 4.5. Outlook 2374 5. Alternating Polymerization of Oxiranes and CO2 2374 5.1. Reaction Outlines 2374 5.2. Catalyst 2376 5.3. Asymmetric Polymerization 2377 5.4. Immobilized Catalysts 2377 6. Synthesis of Urea and Urethane Derivatives 2378 7. Synthesis of Carboxylic Acid 2379 8. Synthesis of Esters and Lactones 2380 9. Synthesis of Isocyanates 2382 10. Hydrogenation and Hydroformylation, and Alcohol Homologation 2382

Transformation of carbon dioxide.

Background Since at least 400 C.E., when the Mayans first used layered clays to make dyes, people have been harnessing the properties of layered materials. This gradually developed into scientific research, leading to the elucidation of the laminar structure of layered materials, detailed understanding of their properties, and eventually experiments to exfoliate or delaminate them into individual, atomically thin nanosheets. This culminated in the discovery of graphene, resulting in a new explosion of interest in two-dimensional materials. Layered materials consist of two-dimensional platelets weakly stacked to form three-dimensional structures. The archetypal example is graphite, which consists of stacked graphene monolayers. However, there are many others: from MoS 2 and layered clays to more exotic examples such as MoO 3 , GaTe, and Bi 2 Se 3 . These materials display a wide range of electronic, optical, mechanical, and electrochemical properties. Over the past decade, a number of methods have been developed to exfoliate layered materials in order to produce monolayer nanosheets. Such exfoliation creates extremely high-aspect-ratio nanosheets with enormous surface area, which are ideal for applications that require surface activity. More importantly, however, the two-dimensional confinement of electrons upon exfoliation leads to unprecedented optical and electrical properties. Liquid exfoliation of layered crystals allows the production of suspensions of two-dimensional nanosheets, which can be formed into a range of structures. (A) MoS 2 powder. (B) WS 2 dispersed in surfactant solution. (C) An exfoliated MoS 2 nanosheet. (D) A hybrid material consisting of WS 2 nanosheets embedded in a network of carbon nanotubes. Advances An important advance has been the discovery that layered crystals can be exfoliated in liquids. There are a number of methods to do this that involve oxidation, ion intercalation/exchange, or surface passivation by solvents. However, all result in liquid dispersions containing large quantities of nanosheets. This brings considerable advantages: Liquid exfoliation allows the formation of thin films and composites, is potentially scaleable, and may facilitate processing by using standard technologies such as reel-to-reel manufacturing. Although much work has focused on liquid exfoliation of graphene, such processes have also been demonstrated for a host of other materials, including MoS 2 and related structures, layered oxides, and clays. The resultant liquid dispersions have been formed into films, hybrids, and composites for a range of applications. Outlook There is little doubt that the main advances are in the future. Multifunctional composites based on metal and polymer matrices will be developed that will result in enhanced mechanical, electrical, and barrier properties. Applications in energy generation and storage will abound, with layered materials appearing as electrodes or active elements in devices such as displays, solar cells, and batteries. Particularly important will be the use of MoS 2 for water splitting and metal oxides as hydrogen evolution catalysts. In addition, two-dimensional materials will find important roles in printed electronics as dielectrics, optoelectronic devices, and transistors. To achieve this, much needs to be done. Production rates need to be increased dramatically, the degree of exfoliation improved, and methods to control nanosheet properties developed. The range of layered materials that can be exfoliated must be expanded, even as methods for chemical modification must be developed. Success in these areas will lead to a family of materials that will dominate nanomaterials science in the 21st century.

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Liquid Exfoliation of Layered Materials

Due to their abundance, high strength and stiffness, low weight and biodegradability, nano-scale cellulose fiber materials (e.g., microfibrillated cellulose and bacterial cellulose) serve as promising candidates for bio-nanocomposite production. Such new high-value materials are the subject of continuing research and are commercially interesting in terms of new products from the pulp and paper industry and the agricultural sector. Cellulose nanofibers can be extracted from various plant sources and, although the mechanical separation of plant fibers into smaller elementary constituents has typically required high energy input, chemical and/or enzymatic fiber pre-treatments have been developed to overcome this problem. A challenge associated with using nanocellulose in composites is the lack of compatibility with hydrophobic polymers and various chemical modification methods have been explored in order to address this hurdle. This review summarizes progress in nanocellulose preparation with a particular focus on microfibrillated cellulose and also discusses recent developments in bio-nanocomposite fabrication based on nanocellulose.

Microfibrillated cellulose and new nanocomposite materials: a review

Hyperbranched polymers: from synthesis to applications

Hydroxy double salts (HDS’s) comprise a class of layered materials that are similar to layered double hydroxides (LDH’s) and show a comparable intracrystalline reactivity. Their anion exchange reactions occur with preincorporated anions in the hydroxide layer and with anions bound as gegenions of the positively charged layers, respectively. In this study, nitrate and acetate anions of HDS’s were exchanged with anionic monoand di-carboxylic acids, and we confirmed that interlayer spacing of HDS’s increased depending on the size of mono- and di-carboxylic acids. Moreover, we have prepared photofunctional materials by exchange reaction with azobenzene-p-carboxylic acid and 4–4′-azobenzenedicarboxylic acid.

Preparation of hydroxy double salts exchanged by organic compounds

An amylose-grafted chitosan has been synthesized by a chemoenzymatic method according to the following two reactions. First, maltoheptaose is introduced to chitosan by a reductive amination using sodium cyanotrihydroborate in a mixed solvent of 1.0 mol. L -1 aqueous acetic acid and methanol at room temperature to produce a maltoheptaose-grafted chitosan that has a well-defined molecular structure. A phosphorylase-catalyzed enzymatic polymerization of α-D-glucose 1-phosphate is then performed from the maltoheptaose-grafted chitosan to obtain the amylose-grafted chitosan. This material does not dissolve in any solvent, e.g., aqueous acetic acid and dimethyl sufoxide, which are good solvents for chitosan and amylose, respectively.

Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of Amylose‐Grafted Chitosan

Seven prepolymers of phenol resin were decomposed into their monomers such as phenol, cresols, and p-isopropylphenol by reactions at 523--703 K under an Ar atmosphere in subcritical and supercritical water. The total yield of identified products depended on the kind of prepolymers, and the maximum yield reached 78% in the reaction at 703 K for 0.5 h. The decomposition reactions were accelerated by the addition of Na{sub 2}CO{sub 3}, and the yields of identified monomers reached more than 90%. Two kinds of molding materials of phenol resin whose content of phenol resin was less than 50% were also decomposed mainly into phenol and cresols by the reaction in supercritical water.

Jun-ichi Kadokawa

Papers

Preparation of hydroxy double salts exchanged by organic compounds

Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of Amylose‐Grafted Chitosan

Decomposition of Prepolymers and Molding Materials of Phenol Resin in Subcritical and Supercritical Water under an Ar Atmosphere

Nitric Oxide Release in Human Aortic Endothelial Cells Mediated by Delivery of Amphiphilic Polysiloxane Nanoparticles to Caveolae

Preparation of chitin nanofiber-reinforced carboxymethyl cellulose films.