Themed collection 2017 Sustainable Energy and Fuels HOT Articles

This study demonstrates a novel thermal energy harvesting cycle and provides pathway for low-grade waste heat recovery using magnetocaloric materials.

Energy harvesting from the weak magnetic fields based on the magneto-mechano-electric (MME) effect is quite promising for powering the low power consumption electronics.

We review the most promising design strategies for enhanced conducting polymer-based supercapacitors, summarizing the challenges and recent progress in optimizing each of the most important metrics of supercapacitor performance.

Herein, we review the recent advances and challenges in the field of visible-light-absorbing semiconductor/molecular catalyst photoelectrodes for H₂ and O₂ evolution.

Hydrogen can be produced from ethanol via reforming, partial oxidation, dehydrogenation, gasification, photocatalysis, and electrocatalysis.

This article provides a comprehensive perspective of perfluorosulfonic acid fuel cell membrane degradation phenomena, reviews and appraises the effectiveness of key concepts for the mitigation strategies and identifies future research priorities.

The lithium–selenium (Li–Se) battery is an alternative to its sulfur counterpart with some noticeable advantages, such as the significantly higher electrical conductivity of Se and better electrochemical performance.

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analyses were utilised to explore the oxygen ion conductivity of alkali metal salts promoted CaO.

Low-temperature atomic layer deposition forms a compact TiO₂ film atop a polymer light absorber for stable and efficient organic–inorganic photo-driven H₂ evolution.

The interaction of biochar and aromatic amines showed an unexpected, but excellent synergy improving the oxidation stability of biodiesel.

Inverse vulcanization was used to create carbon onion/sulfur hybrid cathodes for lithium–sulfur battery applications.

BiVO₄/WO₃/FTO multilayer photoelectrode was found to be suitable for the photoelectrochemical Cl⁻ oxidation into HClO with high current efficiency and low external bias.

A lightweight flexible asymmetrical all solid-state supercapacitor based on common laboratory filter paper has been built and exhibits excellent electrochemical and mechanical flexibility performance.

Efforts to reduce the cost of CO₂ capture via the development of new sorbents have primarily focused on increasing CO₂ working capacity. Here we show that improved transport properties should be the primary focus.

The multi-shell Sn₄P₃ nanospheres with larger specific surface area and interlayer space improve the cycling performance of a sodium ion battery.

This paper presents an installation with an average power of 2 kW converting solar energy into synthetic hydrocarbons.

Direct utilisation of CO₂ is shown to be no less thermodynamically favourable than CO in the production of dimethyl ether.

The carbon nanotube interpenetrated porous doped carbon alloy derived from trimetallic ZIF displays excellent oxygen reduction activity in alkaline media.

A search for photoactive ferroelectric minerals reveals three candidates, which are investigated using first-principles materials modelling.

The calixarene laden Gr–MoS₂ sheets make SC8 as an ideal nanoreactor for the uniform growth of nanometer sized Ni NPs without using any surfactant. The coalescing of the SC8 will form an interconnected network, facilitate rapid electronic transport in electrode reactions and enhances the stability of the GrMoS₂SC8Ni nano composite for OER reaction.

Complex borohydrides of calcium (Ca(BH₄)₂) and magnesium (Mg(BH₄)₂) have the potential to store significant amounts of hydrogen. However, the temperature for hydrogen release is high >300 °C and reversibility difficult to achieve. Nanoconfinement of these hydrides in Cu₂S hollow spheres provides an effective approach to achieve a low temperature for hydrogen release with some partial reversibility.

Experiments described in this work examine degradation mechanisms of nickel-based anodes in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) operating with a biogas surrogate and exposed to 110 ppm Cl (delivered either as CH₃Cl or HCl).

To develop a high-capacity rechargeable aluminum–air battery with resistance toward the degradation induced by long-term charge–discharge electrochemical reactions, non-oxide ceramic materials, e.g., TiN, TiC, and TiB₂, were used as air cathode materials with the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride as the electrolyte.

Z-scheme water splitting was achieved using K₂[CdFe(CN)₆]-modified metal sulfides as H₂-evolving photocatalysts combined with CoO_x-loaded TaON photoanode in the presence of [Fe(CN)₆]^3−/4− as an electron mediator.

Spinifex grass derived hard carbon is used as anodes for sodium-ion batteries. Extraordinary stability and capacity retention of ∼300 mA h g⁻¹ on prolonged cycling against sodium was observed. The eco-friendly and low-cost synthesis procedure make the biomass derived carbon material promising for energy storage applications.

In this study, a super-high flexible membrane electrode (FME) was developed via a facile method based on liquid–liquid phase separation involving the migration and self-assembly of the components.

Hydrothermal liquefaction of 11 biomasses and their co-liquefaction mixtures show how product composition depends on feedstock biochemical components, while nitrogen and oxygen distribution is controlled by carbohydrate and protein interactions.

Solvothermally synthesised MnCO₃ leads to template-free formation of highly porous, defect-rich MnO₂ with high activity in water oxidation.

ZnO–graphene hybrid materials were synthesized via a hydrothermal fabrication method. As cathodes for Li-ion batteries, their electrochemical performances are investigated.

Loading an appropriate cocatalyst significantly enhances the activity of semiconductor photocatalysts in both conventional one-step water splitting and Z-scheme-type water splitting with a redox couple.

An efficient CuInS₂ photocathode was fabricated on conductive carbon microfiber felt (CMF), which comprises a three-dimensional (3D) network of carbon fibers (CFs), by the sequential deposition of metal precursors (Cu and In) and subsequent annealing under a stream of diluted H₂S.

We analyzed and compared quantitatively the optoelectronic characteristics of perovskite PV devices with and without annealing the perovskite layer in a methyl ammonium chloride vapor atmosphere (MACl treatment).

Operating conditions and design principles for the efficient operation of solar-fuel generators with active flow of near-neutral pH electrolytes.

Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) refers to the conversion of carbonaceous resources into oily substances in hot pressurized liquid water.

Electrocatalytic hydrogenation offers a carbon and energy efficient strategy for upgrading pyrolytic bio-oil with renewable electricity in biomass processing depots.

Spherically shaped MOF-derived CeO₂@C shows a superior performance as a lithium-ion battery anode with high specific capacity, rate performance and cycling stability.

Hybrids of carbon onions and sulfur can be used as efficient lithium sulfur battery cathodes with promising performance stability.