Two-Dimensional Soft Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion

Two-dimensional (2D) porous carbons and their composites have attracted tremendous attention from both science and industry communities due to their wide applications for energy storage and conversion. Surface area, dopants and dimensionality have been recognized to be the main features determining the performance of these porous materials. However, the rational synthesis of carbon-rich 2D porous materials with controlled porosity, heteroatom dopants and dimensionality still remain great challenge. Porous polymers, which are one kind of rising porous carbon precursors, can rational synthesized at molecular level due to the widely commercial available and designable heteroatom-containing monomers and different high yield polymerization methods. Beyond 2D templates, both layered C=C bond linked covalent organic framework and single layered coordination polymer frameworks can be rational designed and synthesized. In this presentation, the energy related applications of 2D porous polymers and their derived porous carbons will be introduced, e.g., as electrodes for supercapacitors, as electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction and hydrogen evalution reaction, and as air-cathodes for Zn-air batteries.

Biography: Xiaodong Zhuang received his BsE (2006) and PhD (2011) degrees from East China University of Science and Technology. Then, he carried out postdoctoral research at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPIP) and Dresden University of Technology (TUD). Now, he is full professor of SJTU and focusing on two-dimensional (2D) soft materials, including 2D porous polymers and 2D carbon materials for optoelectronics and energy-related applications. He currently is deputy Editor-in-Chief of PhysChem and serves as Editorial Board Member for Scientific Reports and J. Funct. Polym.