Development of energy-efficient polymers by using conductive nanohybrid fillers: recent progress and future prospects

Energy-efficient polymer-based systems (EEPBSs) have received remarkable attention; this is because of their suitability and unique capability as the gateway to the future of energy towards the development of popular materials that are suitable for the global sustainable development goals (SDGs). EEPBSs play a significant role in saving energy and resourceful materials, across various applications, such as the cutting-edge energy technologies (photovoltaic, fuel cell, polymer semiconductors, light-emitting diode (LED), etc.), automotive, packaging, transport, healthcare, construction, and the buildings industry or the efficient energy management design. Despite these numerous applications, polymers’ use is limited by their low energy densities and operating temperatures. Polymer nanocomposites (PNCs), based on conductive nanohybrid fillers, have excellent energy-efficient generation and storage functional materials that can exhibit a wider range of properties. Such properties include excellent electrical conductivity, superior capacitance, low density, high chemical resistance, and ease of processing, thus making them materials of choice. In this work, the recent advances in homopolymers, based on conductive nanohybrid fillers and their synergistic effects on energy-efficient generation and storage applications, are reviewed and discussed. The incorporation of conductive nanohybrid fillers into the homopolymer can lead to lightweight nanocomposites with better capabilities, faster charge, and discharge rates than the pristine matrices. The fabrication methods and surface modification strategies plus the overall desired properties, are presented in this project. This work explores the use of homopolymers, reinforced with conductive nanohybrid fillers for various applications, viz for energy-efficient generation/harvesting, saving, storage, and defense systems owing to their smart and intelligent functions.