Fabrication of co‐PVDF /modacrylic/ SiO 2 nanofibrous membrane: Composite separator for safe and high performance lithium‐ion batteries

Bio-Based Aerogels in Energy Storage Systems

Bio-aerogels have emerged as promising materials for energy storage, providing a sustainable alternative to conventional aerogels. This review addresses their syntheses, properties, and characterization challenges for use in energy storage devices such as rechargeable batteries, supercapacitors, and fuel cells. Derived from renewable sources (such as cellulose, lignin, and chitosan), bio-based aerogels exhibit mesoporosity, high specific surface area, biocompatibility, and biodegradability, making them advantageous for environmental sustainability. Bio-based aerogels serve as electrodes and separators in energy storage systems, offering desirable properties such as high specific surface area, porosity, and good electrical conductivity, enhancing the energy density, power density, and cycle life of devices. Recent advancements highlight their potential as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, replacing non-renewable carbon materials. Studies have shown excellent cycling stability and rate performance for bio-aerogels in supercapacitors and fuel cells. The yield properties of these materials, primarily porosity and transport phenomena, demand advanced characterization methods, and their synthesis and processing methods significantly influence their production, e.g., sol-gel and advanced drying. Bio-aerogels represent a sustainable solution for advancing energy storage technologies, despite challenges such as scalability, standardization, and cost-effectiveness. Future research aims to improve synthesis methods and explore novel applications. Bio-aerogels, in general, provide a healthier path to technological progress.

Recent Advances on Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Environmental issues related to energy consumption are mainly associated with the strong dependence on fossil fuels. To solve these issues, renewable energy sources systems have been developed as well as advanced energy storage systems. Batteries are the main storage system related to mobility, and they are applied in devices such as laptops, cell phones, and electric vehicles. Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are the most used battery system based on their high specific capacity, long cycle life, and no memory effects. This rapidly evolving field urges for a systematic comparative compilation of the most recent developments on battery technology in order to keep up with the growing number of materials, strategies, and battery performance data, allowing the design of future developments in the field. Thus, this review focuses on the different materials recently developed for the different battery components—anode, cathode, and separator/electrolyte—in order to further improve LIB systems. Moreover, solid polymer electrolytes (SPE) for LIBs are also highlighted. Together with the study of new advanced materials, materials modification by doping or synthesis, the combination of different materials, fillers addition, size manipulation, or the use of high ionic conductor materials are also presented as effective methods to enhance the electrochemical properties of LIBs. Finally, it is also shown that the development of advanced materials is not only focused on improving efficiency but also on the application of more environmentally friendly materials.

High-performance nanostructured bio-based carbon electrodes for energy storage applications

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based carbon precursor is a well-established and researched material for electrodes in energy storage applications due to its good physical properties and excellent electrochemical performance. However, in the fight of preserving the environment and pioneering renewable energy sources, environmentally sustainable carbon precursors with superior electrochemical performance are needed. Therefore, bio-based materials are excellent candidates to replace PAN as a carbon precursor. Depending on the design requirement (e.g. carbon morphology, doping level, specific surface area, pore size and volume, and electrochemical performance), the appropriate selection of carbon precursors can be made from a variety of biomass and biowaste materials. This review provides a summary and discussion on the preparation and characterization of the emerging and recent bio-based carbon precursors that can be used as electrodes in energy storage applications. The review is outlined based on the morphology of nanostructures and the precursor's type. Furthermore, the review discusses and summarizes the excellent electrochemical performance of these recent carbon precursors in storage energy applications. Finally, a summary and outlook are also given. All this together portrays the promising role of bio-based carbon electrodes in energy storage applications.