Themed collection 2020 Energy and Environmental Science HOT Articles

We reveal the insignificance of advanced materials in further enhancing the energy efficiency of desalination and suggest more impactful approaches.

Renewable electricity can be leveraged to produce fuels and chemicals from CO₂, offering sustainable routes to reduce the carbon intensity of our energy and products-driven economy.

The pulp and paper industry is a suitable candidate to lead the deployment of BECCS in the US.

Energy storage at all timescales, including the seasonal scale, plays a pivotal role in enabling increased penetration levels of wind and solar photovoltaic energy sources in power systems.

A record PCE of ∼9.5% is achieved for a P3HT-based non-fullerene OSC with enhanced V_OC and optimized phase separation morphology by modifying the end groups of the NFA, ZY-4Cl.

We discover that an Sb single atom material consisting of Sb–N₄ moieties anchored on N-doped carbon nanosheets can serve as a CO₂RR catalyst to produce formate with high efficiency.

We demonstrate the important role of the water dissociation process in proton-feeding and enhancing ORR kinetics under an alkaline environment.

The uphill reaction of H₂ evolution was made possible by harvesting wastewater energy using electrical circuiting.

An inter-halogen strategy is proposed to activate and stabilize the unrealized I⁰/I⁺ redox in aqueous Zn ion batteries.

Lithium activated SnS–graphene nanocomposite membrane is employed as an artificial Li-based SEI layer, allowing cyclability of record-thin 100 μm Na metal foils.

The whiskers/dendrites-growth phenomenon observed on metal anode-surfaces in batteries is shown to have a thermodynamic origin taking its root from negative surface tensions associated with a symmetry breaking of the crystal shape.

Differences in the intermolecular interactions of small molecule acceptors with different chlorine substitution positions affect their molecular packing and photovoltaic properties.

Understanding and predicting the effect of reactor operating conditions on electrochemical water splitting is essential to optimize sustainable hydrogen production using excess renewable electricity and to adapt it for commercial use.

The optimized ternary organic solar cells achieve a PCE of 17.53% by synergizing two well-matched polymer donors.

In real-time measurements, CO dimerization occurred concurrently with CO adsorption (∼5 s), while proton-coupled reduction toward *CHO has slower kinetics (∼30 s).

Operando synchrotron XRD and in situ ptycho-tomography of single NMC811 particle revealed the correlation between lattice strain and degradation.

Combined experimental and theoretical investigations show that deviations of Sand's time scaling exponent reveal the geometry of the ionic conduction pathway.

Tailored dopant strategies are proposed to optimise the energy density of BiFeO₃–SrTiO₃, which can be adapted for other high polarisability oxide-based systems.

A one-step synthesis has been developed to fabricate layered double hydroxide microcapsules via a Ce-doping strategy in metal–organic frameworks.

A high performance, binder-free flexible silicon electrode with high Si content up to 92% is developed for lithium ion batteries with a novel cellulose-based topological microscroll structure.

A hydrated ionomer catalyst support layer, capable of slowing oxygen transport, enables the generation of multi-carbon products from pressurized, oxygen-containing, dilute carbon dioxide feedstocks.

Superparamagnetic Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles remarkably enhance the room-temperature thermoelectric and cooling performance of BiSbTe alloys.

We elucidate the multi-redox charge-transfer kinetics across a photocatalyst/(co-catalyst)/water interface and reveal the dynamic interplay between local energetics and kinetics.

A 3D-printed multilayer copolymer rugby ball-structured energy harvester is prepared, and a high peak output power of 16.4 mW cm⁻² is obtained.