Themed collection Most popular 2023 energy & environmental chemistry articles

Water oxidation liberating dioxygen under visible light irradiation poses a formidable challenge to natural and artificial photosystems. The quest for the “green shift” represents a major goal to enhance the overall photosynthetic performance by tailoring molecular architectures.

Schematic illustration of layered transition metal oxide applicating in dual purpose as oxygen evolution reaction electrocatalyst and aqueous Li-ion batteries cathode.

This perspective highlights recent advances and challenges in transition-metal (oxy)nitrides, which are promising photocatalysts for overall water splitting, and discusses opportunities to upgrade the solar-to-hydrogen energy conversion efficiency.

The activity of Ni–Mo catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction originates from the interfaces of alloy–oxide or alloy–hydroxide, in which the oxide or hydroxide promotes water dissociation and the alloy accelerates hydrogen combination.

Frustrated Lewis pair systems have been explored efficiently in homogeneous and heterogeneous conditions for the activation and reduction of CO₂ to various useful products in stoichiometric as well as in catalytic reactions.

This review summarizes the recent advances in the electrode application of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) for supercapacitors, including the design strategies from the molecular scale to morphology control level and their device performance.

This review comprehensively summarizes the key features of existing liquid electrolyte formulations for Si and Li metal anodes and proposes design rules for advanced liquid electrolyte chemistry.

The design principle and synthesis method of halide solid-state electrolytes are discussed in detail. Interface optimization of halide solid-state electrolytes and their applications in all-solid-state batteries are described.

Our work highlights the impact of impurities and SEI properties on Li-ion battery safety. We could show that a thicker, inorganic SEI leads to a significant delay in thermal runaway, indicating a safer aged battery.

Non-linear threshold analysis enabled discovery of a highly soluble (1.3 M) bipyrimidine anolyte. Stable cycling in a full flow battery cell for 75 cycles.

Polyaniline (PANI), with merits of high electronic conductivity and capacity, is a promising material for zinc (Zn)-ion batteries.

Prospects for refurbishing and recycling energy storage technologies such as lead acid batteries (LABs) prompt a better understanding of their failure mechanisms.

A positive charged Ni(OH)₂ ion sieving membrane is in situ grown on 3D nickel foam based seawater HER electrode to dramatically reduce hydroxide-based precipitation on the electrode surface via hindering the transfer of Mg²⁺ ion.

Visible-light-absorbing photoswitches based on the Azo-BF₂ scaffold show reversible isomerization in the solid state, storing photon energy and releasing thermal energy on demand.

The electrochemical intercalation of Rb into graphite and low-crystalline carbons was demonstrated. It was confirmed that stage-1 RbC₈ was formed in the low-potential region close to the Rb plating potential (Rb⁺/Rb) in non-aqueous electrolytes.

The design of a potassiophilicity strategy for an oxygen-modified carbon cloth regulates interface electrons and enables strong binding of K adatoms through orbital hybridization, resulting in unprecedentedly stable and safe K metal batteries.

We engineered a catalyst via functionalization of fluorine in copper phthalocyanine grafted with graphene that forms a three-phase interface. This concept helps to suppress the parasitic HER process significantly with a high F.E. of NRR (49.3%).

Our study introduced light-weight fluorine into Mn-rich cathode to trigger a “Mn-locking” effect: more robust Mn ligand framework, suppressed Mn dissolution, improved structural stability and enhanced electronic conductivity.

A composite polymer electrolyte with ionic liquid grafted-LAP exhibits high conductivity and mechanical strength, contributing to dendrite-free all-solid-state lithium metal batteries.

A set of substituted binuclear zinc catalysts are employed to investigate the structure–activity relationship in PET hydrolysis, which leads to the identification of a new catalyst with four times more activity than the methyl-substituted one.

This paper describes the design of hollow-structured Ag@C electrocatalysts to adjust the local reaction environment for high-performance CO₂RR in acidic media.

A Ni-MOF material [Ni(dpip)] with double 1D tubular channels was demonstrated as a new family of cathode materials for chloride ion batteries (CIBs), which exhibited an extremely low capacity decay of 0.026% per cycle over 500 cycles.

IoT devices powered by copper electrolyte-based dye-sensitized photovoltaic cells as ambient light harvesters achieve 38% power conversion efficiency and incorporate a dynamic intelligent on-device energy management system.

Herein, we report the development of a MOF-semiconductor composite film active for water oxidation at a thermodynamic underpotential.

Solvent-based tandem conversion of PVC to PE-like material using hydrogen as atom economic reagent.

A new synthetic approach is reported to synthesize redox-active Ce(IV) MOFs at room temperature for efficient and reusable photo-induced overall water splitting.

Bond regulation not only makes the interlayer spacing larger, but also gives MoSe_2+x a double reaction mechanism combining intercalation and conversion reactions. Consequently, the capacity and energy density of MoSe_2+x can be greatly improved.

Benefiting from highly reversible structure evolution of pre-lithiated Li-rich Li₂Ni_0.5Mn_1.5O₄ cathode, the corresponding anode-free pouch cell delivers a considerable energy density of 350 W h kg⁻¹ and 97% capacity retention after 50 cycles.

Germanium hydride Ph₂GeH₂ can act as an efficient and reusable hydrogen-production/-storage material with the aid of iron catalysts. Hydrogen evolution from Ph₂GeH₂ as well as regeneration of Ph₂GeH₂ was realized at around room temperature.

The favorable channels of gel electrolyte enable rapid zinc ion transport for uniform Zn deposition via regulation of the solvation structure, thus efficiently enhancing battery performance.