Themed collection Research advancing UN SDG 7: Affordable and clean energy

This perspective article highlights the good potentiality for the Langmuir Blodgett technique to produce massively BiVO₄ based photoelectrodes for biomass valorization and hydrogen production in the context of Brazil's decarbonation.

This perspective highlights progress in the development of cathode materials for potassium-ion batteries, whilst providing valuable insights into unexplored compositional spaces that can be pursued for high-performance electrode materials.

Interfacial engineering plays a key role in solving the reactivity puzzle of lithium metal batteries. Here, we discuss the interfacial engineering pieces that are in place and the ones that still need to be fitted.

Soft carbon is a special class of carbon materials having tunable physical properties that makes it suitable for various battery applications.

With the ever-increasing demand for efficient and sustainable energy solutions, rechargeable Fe-ion batteries have emerged as a viable alternative to conventional rechargeable batteries.

Phytochemical-based additives have functional groups that can modulate the nucleation and crystallization process of perovskite films resulting in improved optoelectronic and degradation resistance.

This thorough review explores the potential and obstacles related to cathode materials for zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs), providing insights into recent advancements, significant concerns, and prospective developments.

Designing hybrid materials with superior electrochemical properties has attracted tremendous interest in recent years for energy-storage applications owing to a high demand for energy sources and the depletion of fossil fuel resources.

Recent advances and perspectives of Ir-based anode catalysts in PEM water electrolysis are highlighted, and it is concluded that the anti-dissolution and stability improvement of Ir active species should be carefully considered for catalyst design in the future.

Nanocrystalline high-entropy CoNiFeCrMnO_x thin films were prepared by dip-coating and annealing at 400 °C, showing stable oxygen evolution with overpotentials of 258 mV VS. RHE at 10 mA cm⁻² over 10 hours in alkaline media.

This research explores the incorporation of 2D materials, BDAI₂ and DMPDAI₂, into perovskite solar cells, demonstrating enhanced efficiency and stability in the resulting devices.

In situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy and optical imaging confirm the role of selenium additives for enhancing power performance, increasing utilization, and suppressing undesirable side reactions in Li–sulphur batteries.

We present an easily scalable approach to developing a nonwoven-supported PVDF-HFP polymer-based quasi-solid-state flexible non-flammable electrolyte, with a conductivity of 1.16 × 10⁻⁴ S cm⁻¹ at RT with a transfer number of 0.68.

State-of-the-art experimental and computational techniques have been used to explore the effects of molecular isomerism on the phase behaviour of the three dihydroxybenzenes catechol, resorcinol, and hydroquinone.

We investigated bamboo electrodes for use in vanadium redox flow batteries. The electrodes showed promising electrochemical performance, wettability, and a channel structure suitable for vanadium electrolyte flow.

Unveiling structure-performance relationship for different ZnO-based electrodes used for aqueous dye-sensitized solar cell.

3D printed LiCoO₂ cathodes for lithium-ion batteries were obtained via vat photopolimerization additive manufacturing. The best electrochemical performance was obtained after performing thermal post-processing.

Hydrogen gas is among the sustainable energy forms that counteract the energy crisis.

Herein, we have engineered graphene oxide through pH change and freeze drying to get three-dimensional alkaline graphene oxide, and the resulting solid electrolyte exhibited efficient anion conductivity behavior.

Photo-accelerated oxidization enables fast production of a Spiro-OMeTAD hole transport layer in perovskite solar cells. This strategy delivers high power conversion efficiency and overcomes barriers to mass manufacturing.

Heterogeneous nanostructures serve dual purposes as energy filters and phonon scatterers to effectively optimize thermoelectric performance.

Lithium–ion batteries (LIBs) are ubiquitous in everyday applications.

Carbon framework modification to improve energy storage and dye adsorption.

Membranes are a critical component contributing to cost in flowing-electrolyte electrochemical systems. Flow-field-informed membrane reduction can be adopted to reduce performance compromise.

Binding mechanisms of iron electrochemical species to biobased electrode model surfaces with different features have been investigated.

All-soluble, all-iron flow battery performance is critically dependent upon cell configuration. Flow-through and flow-over designs exhibit stark differences in efficiency, maximum power density, capacity retention, and self-discharge.

Polystyrene spheres are used as sacrificial template in different contents to introduce additional pores into hard-carbon structures from glucose for the application as sodium-ion battery anodes.

The table of contents entry represents the use of machine learning to find suitable Mn-based aromatic PNP catalysts for the CO₂ reduction reaction to HCOOH and CH₃OH.

Poor mass transfer in aqueous electrochemical CO₂ reduction limits the achievable current density toward desired products. We introduce flowable suspension electrodes to spread the current over a larger volume and alleviate mass transfer limitations.

Machine learning on perovskite photovoltaics reveals the relative importance of material and process information, while data degeneracy limits prediction accuracy.

Plasmonic metal nanoparticle integrated mesoporous TiO₂ nanocomposites (Ag/TiO₂, Cu/TiO₂ and Ag–Cu/TiO₂), prepared by a simple chemical reduction method, have been demonstrated to show superior activity in thin-film form for solar H₂ generation.

A Janus–silicene heterojunction as a potential candidate for solar cell applications.

Oxidant precipitation in the electrolyte significantly enhances the open circuit voltage and output power in a liquid thermoelectric conversion device.

Perovskite solar cells integrated with lower dimensional materials can outperform the environmental performance of conventional solar photovoltaic technologies such as crystalline silicon, CIGS, and CdTe with shorter lifetimes.

Phosphotungstic acid (H₃PW₁₂O₄₀) can function as a surface solid electrolyte for porous WO₃ photoanode in gas-phase photoelectrochemical reactions such as water vapour splitting and methane conversion in the absence of liquid electrolytes.

Comparison of Li-SPAN pouch cells with and without lithium treatment. The Li-SPAN pouch cell with the PVDF-HFP : DMF lithium treatment shows a LiF rich SEI.

This work demonstrates the development of organic material and reduced graphene oxide composites for environment-friendly, stable, and recyclable lithium-ion batteries.

A comprehensive study of stronger-binding complexing agents than MEP to increase coulombic and energy efficiency using a membraneless single-flow zinc–bromine battery with a multiphase electrolyte.

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is a promising way to produce green hydrogen. Finding a stable photocathode is important to the development of (PEC) water splitting. This work aims to use scrap brass alloy as a stable photocathode.

The novel synthesis of carbon spherogels in organic solvents enables energy and solvent savings and omits supercritical drying. In addition, the resulting carbon spherogels feature excellent capacitance for energy storage in a supercapacitor setup.

Pyrolysed resole-type phenol-formaldehyde resins were used as carbonaceous sulfur-hosts in the cathodes of lithium–sulfur batteries.

Manganese oxides such as LiMn₂O₄ exhibit two distinct Mn dissolution processes; one independent of oxygen evolution and the other associated with it. Less Mn⁴⁺ before the onset of the OER lowers the Mn dissolution rate.

Using the split-operator method to simulate wave propagation, it is possible to calculate the hole flux to the surface in hematite OER catalysis. The flux can then be translated to photocurrent to predict the dependence of voltage on photocurrent.

Graphene-based materials doped with N can act as supports to boost the electrocatalytic activity of Co-Prussian Blue in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) under mild conditions.

WS₂ and UiO-66 hybrid as a highly effective electrocatalyst for water splitting. It shows improved bifunctional catalytic activity for both HER and OER for efficient overall water-splitting.

Operation of 500 W h kg⁻¹ class rechargeable batteries was demonstrated. Non-destructive XCT analysis revealed volume expansion of the lithium metal electrode as the primary reason for the capacity fading.

N-doping of hierarchically porous carbons boosts ORR performance in non-alkaline Zn–air batteries.

Schematic illustration of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution of Mo-doped g-C₃N₄.

A silver-centred carbon host for a Li–Se battery cathode is developed by a simple microwave-assisted approach. The successful immobilization of polyselenides by silver catalyst within the pores of the carbon spheres offers improved cycling stability.

New water reduction catalysts containing secondary amines in the backbones show turnover numbers for photochemical hydrogen evolution up to 2237.

Multifunctional tridoped porous carbon electrocatalysts for simultaneous oxygen reduction, oxygen evolution, and hydrogen evolution.

Using microscopy and spectroscopy to assess ultrathin nanowire structure.

A facile synthesis route for preparing manganese dioxide (MnO₂) with unique nano-needle morphology and its nanocomposite with reduced graphene oxide (MnO₂–rGO) for high energy density quasi-solid-state asymmetric supercapacitor.

An economically viable thermally annealed cation exchange membrane for polysulfide-based redox flow batteries.

Constructing intriguing morphologies of mono/multivalent materials e.g. NiCo₂O₄ leads to improvement in electrochemical activities due to high surface area and porosity. This is an eco-effective method for achieving higher performance in energy applications.

This study reports a comprehensive analysis of the operation of a biogas methanation system with a total 240 kW SNG output.

Next step forward towards green steel! A pilot plant integrated into a steel mill has been operated successfully and shows promising results. This novel, retrofitted process for steel production has the potential to cut global CO₂ emissions by 0.5%!