MoO 3 -Nanobelts Active for Energy Applications Synthetized Starting from Industrial Waste

• Published in: Meeting abstracts (Electrochemical Society) Vol. MA2025-01; no. 62; p. 2974
• Main Authors: Ursino, Federico, Di Mauro, Angelo, Mineo, Giacometta, Forestan, Angelo, Alba, Catya, Terrasi, Antonio, Mirabella, Salvatore
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 11.07.2025
• ISSN: 2151-2043; 2151-2035
• DOI: 10.1149/MA2025-01622974mtgabs

The increasing energy demand for the global population is one of the crucial points for society development in the next years, indeed, to satisfy it new solutions for energy production and storage were studied in accordance with a green transition. Hence, today the goal for researchers is to find materials which combine good performances and sustainability. Electrochemical energy storage (EES) can play a key role for future applications, thanks to their versality and promising high performances. As seen in the previous decades, Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) has high electrocatalytic activity, but they are not a sustainable choice. In this context the interest in Transition Metal (Mo, W, Mn, etc...) as alternative increased in the last years, they present interesting theoretical electrochemical features for EES devices; but the development of an efficient and sustainable EES devices requires several steps, like electrode morphology and electrolyte. This work is concerned with synthesis and characterization of MoO 3 -nanobelts starting from Mo-based powder, which were recycled from industrial waste; as synthesis technique a one-step hydrothermal treatment was used. Firstly, XRD pattern and Raman spectrum confirm the presence of orthorhombic MoO 3 , while thanks to SEM images the nanobelt morphology (50 nm thick, 200 nm width, about 10 µm long) was highlighted. Then, MoO 3 -nanobelts optical bandgap was evaluated. The nanostructures were tested in alkaline electrolytes, a comparison between different electrolytes was performed to study the storage mechanism in our material. Promising specific capacitance values were recorded for 1M NH 4 SO 4 and 1M KOH, respectively 100 and 287 Fg -1 at 5 mVs -1 . Power Law analysis was also employed to extract information on energy storage mechanisms, and it suggests a dominance of surface mechanisms for the sample tested in 1M NH 4 OH, while diffusive mechanisms for the other measured in 1M KOH. Galvanostatic Charge-Discharge measurements were recorded, in 1M NH 4 SO 4 the sample show faster decreasing of its performances increasing the current density than the one measured in 1M KOH. Firstly, this phenomenon was studied evaluating the iR Drops associating to GCD measurements, which suggests that the sample in 1M KOH has a lower resistance associated with the measurements. The resistances active in the sample were also studied performing EIS and DRT analysis, which show higher material resistance in 1M NH 4 SO 4 than 1M KOH. This work can clarify the knowledge on storage mechanisms in Mo-based materials, highlighting the role of electrolyte and ions action; further this research can open a path to large scale applications of recycled materials for EES devices. Figure 1