This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of major advances in core–shell structured TiO₂nanomaterials for solar energy utilization.

Nowadays, energy storage system is utilized in many countries for energy planning in the future. The changes in solar radiation lead to the overproduction of electricity in a solar photovoltaic generator. A hybrid energy storage system would play an important role in enhancing the reliability of power generation using the solar system. The microgrid is the indispensable infrastructure of the smart grid in photovoltaic systems. In this paper, the energy storage system within the microgrid of the PV system is analysed. The storage system configuration and topologies of the microgrid are analysed with power electronic interference, control scheme, and optimization of the renewable source and energy storage system. A general sizing technique for HESS in a PV system based on pinch analysis and design space. The size of HESS scales that connect generator ratings to storage capacity is created by utilizing the pinch analysis on load and resource data. The design space is a feasible combination of a short-, long-, and medium-sized energy storage system in a PV generator.

A series of new supramolecular three-ring bent-shape Schiff base liquid crystal (LC) complexes were prepared and studied. On one side, two alkoxy chain lengths of the carboxylic acids were used, namely eight and sixteen carbons. Moreover, on the other side, terminal small compact groups, which substituted aniline, with different polarities were utilized. Furthermore, the hydrogen-bonding interactions in the formed complexes were elucidated by Fourier-transform infrared (FT–IR) spectroscopy. The mesomorphic thermal and optical characteristics of the samples were determined by differential thermal analysis (DSC) and polarized optical microscopy (POM). The complexes exhibited enantiotropic and dimorphic mesophase behaviors. The results indicate that the polarity of the compact groups and the lengths of the alkoxy chains greatly impacted the mesomorphic characteristics and thermal stabilities of the mesophases. The observed values of the enthalpy changes (ΔH) associated with the crystalline smectic-A (T_Cr-SmA) transitions were extremely small compared with the conventional values that characterize supramolecular hydrogen-bonded liquid crystalline complexes. ΔH, which corresponded to the nematic isotropic transitions (T_N-I), varied from 0.13 to 9.54 kJ/mol depending mainly on the polarity of the groups that were para-attached to the aniline moiety. Finally, the theoretical results obtained by density functional theory (DFT) calculations were discussed. The DFT geometrical structures showed non-coplanar structures. The mesomorphic range was correlated with the calculated dipole moment, polarizability and the aspect ratios of the investigated compounds.

A series of non-symmetrical Schiff base liquid crystals were prepared and investigated. Schiff bases of p-alkyloxy aniline derivatives and 4-phenyl pyridine-4′-carbaldehyde were synthesized. The terminal alkoxy groups substituting aniline are of varied chain length, namely C6, C8, and C16. The structures of the compounds were confirmed via ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. Different mesophases of the samples were thermally and optically characterized by differential thermal analysis (DSC) and polarized optical microscopy (POM). All samples revealed enantiotropic smectic B (SmB) and smectic A (SmA) mesophases. The results obtained were further correlated with the density functional theory (DFT) theoretical calculations. The results are compared to a series of compounds bearing biphenyl moiety in their mesogens. The thermal stabilities of the different mesophase reduced upon the increment of the alkoxy chain length. The temperature ranges of both the smectic mesophases of new compounds bearing the 4-phenyl pyridine moiety are generally expanded higher than the other series. In addition, the total mesophase range is greater in the new compounds when compared to their biphenyl analogues. The DFT results were investigated in terms of the molecular geometries and the frontier molecular orbitals as well as the charge distribution mapping to show and illustrate the difference in the mesomorphic properties.