Advanced Functional Materials for Marine Energy Utilization

Abstract

ABSTRACT Several features of marine energy, including large reserves, sustainable utilization, environmental friendliness, make it a promising area of exploration. In recent years, the progress in the material sciences has promoted a rapid development of materials that are vital for the conversion, storage, and transmission of renewable marine energy. However, the excessively large restrictions that are placed on materials used in marine environments have given an impetus to continued studies in this area. Thus far, few reports exist that categorize and integrate the types and requirements of materials that are employed for capturing, converting and storing marine energy. The goal of this review is to provide a detailed description of advanced materials that have been developed for use in these purposes. The review contains sections that cover materials used in (1) the capture and conversion of energy arising from ocean phenomena including tidal, wave and current fluctuations, and thermal and salinity gradients, (2) systems for the transmission of marine energy derived power including submarine cables and hydrogen production, and (3) electrodes for lithium‐ion batteries and supercapacitors for marine energy storage and utilization. Finally, the review contains a brief discussion of shortcomings of materials used currently for marine energy purposes, and proposals that could advance the industrialization of power generation using marine energy sources.