Themed collection Recent Open Access Articles

This perspective summarizes design strategies for gas diffusion layers (GDLs), from the aspects of pore, wettability, interface and component integration, while also providing an outlook on the future development of GDLs and highly integrated fuel cells.

Improving overall resource efficiency enhances energy security.

The use of renewable fuels will exacerbate nitrogen oxide emissions, damaging the climate, environment, and human health. Sustainable technologies in development must replace current abatement techniques.

This article investigates the water-conscious production of green methanol in sunny and dry regions, leveraging direct air capture, photovoltaic power, and solid oxide electrolysis.

An Intelligent Battery Management System (IBMS) integrating cloud, IoT, and digital twin technologies, offering scalable, real-time battery management was developed to enhance safety, performance, and lifespan of lithium-ion batteries in EVs.

Production of low-cobalt/cobalt-free cathodes, recycling, continuous manufacturing and fast-charging ability is important. They determine the cell manufacturing cost, supply-chain stability, environmental benignity.

Ultrasound-induced cavitation and dispersed photocatalysts synergistically decompose water into hydrogen, offering higher efficiency. Reasons and future research avenues are explored.

Schematic comparative diagram of the stages involved in moving from compact solid electrode materials to dilute nanofluids and RFB solutions.

The current status and prospects of six routes to electrochemically convert CO₂ into different products are investigated. The study includes for each of these routes an analysis of the costs and of the emissions related to electricity use.

In Spain, biomethane is emerging as one of the great keys, not only for the transformation of the energy mix in the short term, but also to advance towards the decarbonisation of the economy.

Analysis of properties and data – both known and missing – related to materials selection, life cycle assessment, and end-of-life reuse and recycling options for device components to achieve a sustainable design of dye-sensitized solar cells.

Current commercial SIB-cells can go in TR even at a low SOC of 30% and, thus, should be classified alongside LIB-cells. Higher SOCs worsen TR-effects, lowering onset temperature, increasing peak pressure, and raising the risk of jelly roll ejection.

All-solid-state rechargeable air batteries (SSABs) utilizing a novel naphthoquinone-based redoxactive polymer (PPNQ) as the negative electrode material demonstrated exceptional performance.

Visible-light-driven NADH regeneration with a dual-photoelectrode system without external bias was developed.

Visible-light controlled H₂ production from formate with the combination system of a biocatalytic process with formate dehydrogenase and a photoredox reaction of water-soluble zinc porphyrin, methylviologen and colloidal platinum nanoparticles was developed.

Lithium metal is considered as an ideal anode for high-energy density storage systems with dendrites being a major issue for lifetime and safety. A gadolinium additive is found to be suppressing dendrite growth resulting higher performance retention.

We present an experimental proof-of-concept study of organic semiconductor nanoparticles (NPs) for visible-light-driven carbon dioxide (CO₂) conversion.

By creating surface vacancy-dopant-mediated solid frustrated Lewis pairs, efficient photochemical conversion of CO₂ to formic acid is achieved on Bi-doped CeO₂ in the presence of strain, which is investigated by using density functional theory.

This study unveils a promising and innovative strategy for electrochemical green H₂ generation utilizing distillery industry wastewater. Investigating simultaneous electrochemical processes, it offers a sustainable solution for wastewater treatment and energy production.

A polymer-electrolyte electrochemical cell, equipped with a Ru/ZrO₂ catalyst at 120 °C, converts CO₂ and H₂O into CH₄ and O₂ with a current efficiency of 85%.

Core–shell transition metal oxide nanoparticles as efficent material for water electrolysis.

Copper nanowires with fivefold twinned structures (t-CuNWs) are shown to be effective as cathode catalysts for the electrochemical reduction of CO₂ (CO₂RR) in a zero-gap electrolyzer to produce ethylene.

Enhanced electron transfer in MFCs using bio-Pd catalyst and marine bacteria.

Scalable screen printing of Bi/Te-doped SnSe enables carrier-type control and enhanced power output in flexible devices.

Unsupported catalyst nanoparticles in fluorine-free PEMFC electrodes alleviate the protonic versus mass transport resistance trade-off, enhancing overall electrode performance.

Methanol reforming is carried out at ultra-low temperatures around 423 K catalyzed by supported liquid phase molecular Pu-pincer catalysts (Ru-SLP). The formed hydrogen is directly fed to a HTPEM fuel cell to demonstrate the feasibility.

The direct methanol hydrogen peroxide fuel cell (DMHPFC) with a pH-gradient microscale bipolar interface (PMBI) achieves a high open circuit voltage of 1.69 V and peak power density of 630 mW cm⁻² by optimising an alkaline anode and acidic cathode.

The performance of LIBs deteriorates over time due to various aging mechanisms, among which lithium plating (LP) is critical. The goal of this research was to analytically approve the presence of LP, prior identified by non-destructive methods.

This study uses operando neutron imaging and electrochemical data to reveal how flow field geometry and electrode structure shape concentration profiles and transport dynamics in organic redox flow cells.

The lacunar Co^II[Co^III(CN)₆]_2/3□_1/3 Prussian blue analogue confines ammonia borane (NH₃BH₃) via a dual mechanism: with chemisorption onto coordinatively unsaturated Co²⁺ sites and physisorption within the vacancies of the porous structure.

Phosphorus-doped Ni and Fe foams as efficient electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution: a DFT and electrochemical investigation of Ni(111) and Fe(110) surfaces.

Blending, hydrotreating, and distilling tall oil fatty acids with Canadian refinery feeds offers a sustainable path to produce gasoline, kerosene, and diesel-range fuels, supporting low-carbon fuel goals in commercial transportation.

This study presents the development and optimisation of a co-production process for methanol and carbon monoxide via methane decomposition using Aspen Plus.

A low-cost syringe-based printer enables sustainable fabrication of organic solar cells, organic field-effect transistors, and supercapacitors, demonstrating its versatility and potential for scalable, eco-friendly printed electronics.

The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is limited by high activation barriers and sluggish kinetics, constraining the efficiency of water electrolysis.

Bio-oil from biomass pyrolysis contains a wide range of oxygenated compounds, limiting its direct use as a fuel due to chemical instability and low energy density.

Here, a transparent hydrogel membrane is made from waste potato peels for next-gen smart windows. The material can adjust to temperature, reducing indoor heat, and boosting solar panel efficiency by up to 15%. Our approach is a step forward in energy-efficient, climate-responsive architecture.

This study provides a comprehensive thermophysical characterization of a new potential oxygenate fuel composed of hexane as a surrogate for fossil fuel, cyclopentyl methyl ether (CPME) as a synthetic fuel, and propan-1-ol as a biofuel.

In this work, hard carbon active material and lignin binder were produced from holm oak waste feedstock. The obtained materials were used to prepare bio-based anode materials for sodium ion batteries, with promising rate capability and long cycling stability even at high current rates.

The selection of pretreatment methods is critical to achieving high product yields during bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass.

SEMS powered by renewable energy achieves 72–96% GHG savings, meeting the RED II sustainability threshold, and 45–93% reduction compared to the conventional process. Most environmental impacts come from electricity demand for water electrolysis.

A comparison of chemical methanol and microbiological ethanol production routes from various feedstocks (sugar, side-streams, CO₂ and biogas) under a prospective 2050 scenario.

Enhanced photothermal dry reforming of methane (PT-DRM) activity is achieved by controlling temperature gradients and promoting direct light absorption at Ni active sites.

NiAl-LDH/MXene TENG achieved a power density of 36.9 W m⁻², enabling efficient energy harvesting. It drives self-powered copper electroplating from biomechanical energy, highlighting promise for sustainable, eco-friendly electronics.

This study evaluates environmental impacts of a lead-free halide perovskite/polymer composite versus traditional PZT ceramics, emphasizing the former's sustainability and potential in energy harvesting applications.

The article presents the greenhouse gas and cost implications of algae production in a photobioreactor using flue gas directly, and its subsequent valorization. Process sensitivities and design considerations are also discussed to guide future work.

This study introduces a simplified, time-dependent, zero-dimension DAC model to optimise sorbent selection based on varying ambient conditions.

Discharging processes of spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) were evaluated using statistical entropy analysis (SEA), exergy analysis (ExA), and exentropy, which is a novel multidimensional circularity parameter combining SEA and ExA.

Remarkable 2.5 times improvement in the power factor achieved in a porous thermoelectric oxide functionalized with a viologen molecule.

Crystallization of antisolvent-free perovskite films is controlled using alkali metals. KPF₆ enhances efficiency and film uniformity of perovskite solar cells.

Ultra-high efficiency Lithium extraction is achieved through a hydrothermal reaction employing terephthalic acid.

Development of efficient bifunctional catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is highly required for the application in rechargeable metal–air batteries.

Higher temperatures and lower flow rates significantly improved the ammonia conversion rate for the monolithic thermo-catalytic reactor.

Enhancing the robustness of microbial cell factories is essential for improving both first- and second-generation bioethanol production.

The conversion of methane into useful chemicals has an enormous interest from both economic and social points of view as it is an important feedstock in chemical industry and is the second most important greenhouse gas contributor to climate change.

BAI and BDAI are deposited on the perovskite surface with different energy level alignments. BAI forms a favorable alignment for electron transfer, while BDAI molecules form an additional interfacial dipole that impairs the electron transfer process.

Solvent transfer procedure for moving polymer nanoparticles from water into non-aqueous solvents preserves colloidal stability and charge generation, expanding opportunities for diverse redox photocatalysis.

Durable lithium metal anodes with improved plating-stripping stability made possible by MnO₂-coated copper current collectors.

A series of intermetallic Pt–Zn nanaoparticles decorated on a TiO₂ support was designed via direct vapour–solid synthesis approach, and their co-catalytic performance towards the light-driven hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) was investigated.

This study demonstrates the life-cycle assessment of different energy sources-coal, natural gas, solar, wind, nuclear, and hydro-particularly focused on mining activities and waste per given electricity capacity and generation.

Schematic representation of the process of dry coating of NCM-88 with GO.

Transition-metal-based coordination polymers of bipyridyl-ethylene were synthesized, characterized, and evaluated as catalysts for CO₂-to-CO reduction under simulated solar irradiation. The cobalt analogue shows a high activity and good selectivity.

This novel observation of hydrogen bonds as a catalytic tool represents a significant advancement in the selective hydrogenation process.

Heterogenised half-sandwich Ir^III molecular catalysts as efficient heterogeneous water oxidation catalysts for artificial photosynthesis.

Manipulation of photoexcited charge transportation via modulation of polymer structures significantly improved the photocatalytic performance of metal complex/conjugated polymer hybrids for CO₂ reduction.

The formation of metallic dendrites during battery cycling is a persistent challenge for alkali metal-ion batteries, reducing cycle life and posing safety risks.

A new method for synthesizing ammonia from water and nitrogen using electricity has been developed, employing a molten NaOH–KOH electrolyte, a Pd alloy membrane, and Ru catalysts at 250 °C and 1.0 MPa.

Sequential thermally evaporated perovskite films with high carrier mobility for efficient p–i–n cell preparation and film scaling-up.

Selective ketone and bio-hydrocarbon synthesis via ZrO₂-based ketonic decarboxylation.

The social acceptance of domestic hydrogen and prospects for deploying hydrogen homes will be shaped by public trust in key actors and stakeholders.