The gradual shift towards cleaner and green energy sources requires the application of electric vehicles (EVs) as the mainstream transportation platform. The application of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) shows promise in optimizing the power demand, shaping the load variation, and increasing the sustainability of smart grids. However, no comprehensive paper has been compiled regarding the of operation of V2G and types, current ratings and types of EV in sells market, policies relevant to V2G and business model, and the implementation difficulties and current procedures used to cope with problems. This work better represents the current challenges and prospects in V2G implementation worldwide and highlights the research gap across the V2G domain. The research starts with the opportunities of V2G and required policies and business models adopted in recent years, followed by an overview of the V2G technology; then, the challenges associated with V2G on the power grid and vehicle batteries; and finally, their possible solutions. This investigation highlighted a few significant challenges, which involve a lack of a concrete V2G business model, lack of stakeholders and government incentives, the excessive burden on EV batteries during V2G, the deficiency of proper bidirectional battery charger units and standards and test beds, the injection of harmonics voltage and current to the power grid, and the possibility of uneconomical and unscheduled V2G practices. Recent research and international agency reports are revised to provide possible solutions to these bottlenecks and, in places, the requirements for additional research. The promise of V2G could be colossal, but the scheme first requires tremendous collaboration, funding, and technology maturation.

Electric vehicles (EVs) in Malaysia are gaining more attention and interest from the public. However, the electric vehicle’s exposure, awareness, and sales are still low compared to other countries. In this review, the challenges associated with implementing the electric vehicle culture in Malaysia are thoroughly reviewed, including the obstacles that the Malaysian government, policymakers, EV manufacturers, and EV users face in terms of EV cost, travel demand, charging station availability, impact on the power grid, and battery capacity. Then, all the identified challenges have been addressed by considering the user behavior, travel demand, socio-economical culture of Malaysia, current policies taken by the government of Malaysia, and the psychological outlook of Malaysians towards EV adoption. Moreover, potential suggestions have been proposed that the government of Malaysia may adopt during policy planning and when seeking to provide incentives to the users. Finally, a concrete conclusion has been drawn by disseminating the vision about the future of EVs in Malaysia. The proposed review of the technologies, challenges, prospects, and potential solutions associated with EV adoption in Malaysia can provide a base for proper strategic policy and help policymakers frame strategies to achieve the targets. This review could help achieve sustainable EV transport, and the successful implementation of Malaysian National Automotive Plan 2020, with the goal of adopting next-generation green vehicles.

Here, we provide a systematic assessment of biaxial strain effects on the electronic, phonon, and optical properties of monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) XTe ₂ (X = Mo and W) using density functional theory calculations. We observed a large direct bandgap of 1.163 eV and 0.974 eV for MoTe ₂ and WTe _2, which reduced to 1.042 eV and 0.824 eV in the spin–orbit coupling ambient. The XTe ₂ structures show a tunable bandgap with the variation of the applied biaxial strains. Due to the breaking of inversion symmetry, a large spin-valley coupling emerged at the valance band edges for both MoTe ₂ and WTe ₂ monolayers under applied biaxial strain. The phonon properties with different biaxial strains reveal that monolayer MoTe ₂ is more stable than the WTe ₂ structure. The calculated optical properties demonstrate that the dielectric constant and absorption coefficient of MoTe ₂ and WTe ₂ move to higher photon frequencies when the compressive strain is increased. On the other hand, with the increase in tensile strain, a red-shift behavior is found in the calculated optical properties, indicating the suitability of the XTe ₂ monolayer for different infrared and visible light optical applications.

Developing van der Waals heterostructures (vdWHs) utilizing vertical mounting of diverse two-dimensional (2D) materials is an efficient way of achieving favorable characteristics. Using first-principles calculations, we demonstrated the geometric configurations and electronic properties of germanene/2D-AlP vdWHs. We considered four high symmetric patterns that show a bandgap opening in the heterostructures of 200 meV–460 meV. The incorporation of spin-orbital coupling reduces the bandgap by 20 meV–90 meV. Both direct and indirect bandgaps were found from these high symmetric patterns, depending on the structural patterns. The charge density distribution and the partial density of states confirmed that germanene was the property builder of the heterostructure, in which 2D-AlP could be a decent substrate. The heterostructure bandgap can be widely tuned in the range 0 meV–500 meV by changing the interlayer separation between the two monolayers. The application of strain and external electric fields also significantly tailored the electronic structures of the heterostructures. Intriguingly, an exceptionally high carrier mobility of more than 1.5 × 10⁵ cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ was observed, which outperforms compared to other studies on germanene heterostructures. All these promising properties make the germanene/2D-AlP heterostructure a viable candidate for FETs, strain sensors, nanoelectronics, and spintronic devices.