Themed collection Energy Advances 2022 Hot Papers

A perspective with an explicit account of the appropriate screening of water splitting electrocatalysts advocating dos and don’ts!

In this work, electrode materials based on ZnCo₂O₄ for the HER/OER/ORR and energy storage devices were reviewed considering their key multifunctional role in the way to a more sustainable society.

This review presents a brief scenario regarding the development of cathodes, anodes, and electrolytes for next-generation Li-ion batteries (LIBs) and supercapacitors for future energy technologies.

The hard carbon irreversible capacity loss in Na-ion cells can be reduced by decreasing the total surface area and the active surface area (defects).

A new localized high concentration electrolyte (LHCE) formulation enables improved oxidation stability (4.3 V), K anode passivation and Al anti-corrosion at the same time.

The N atom in the side chain of the PAN skeleton coordinated with the exposed Pb atom on the CsPbI₃ perovskite, which effectively passivated the defects of CsPbI₃ crystal grains, and the PCE of the CsPb₃I₃-based PSCs improved from 14.36% to 16.21%.

The first report of a DFT study on halide (I, Br, Cl) doping in Pb_0.6Sn_0.4Te, a topological crystalline insulator reveals an opening of band gap and band convergence without breaking crystal mirror symmetry, leading to high thermoelectric performance.

Electronic structure engineering of SnTe by doping with molybdenum results in an increase in the band gap, valence band convergence, introduction of resonance levels, Rashba splitting and multiband transport, leading to enhanced thermoelectric performance.

We investigate how different CDR options—afforestation/reforestation (AR), bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), and direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS)—might be deployed to meet the Paris Agreement's CDR objectives.

The in situ developed intermediate MoO₂-layered structures exhibited superior performance towards HER activity. The faceted and stacked MoO₂ structures are potential candidates as electrode materials for pseudocapacitors.

Efficacious H₂ and O₂ evolution over mediator free direct Z-scheme oriented 0D-2D CIS-BOI heterostructure photocatalyst.

Waste silicon wafer recovered from the solar panel production process acted as a reducing agent for reduction and reductive functionalization of CO₂ with fluoride catalyst.

Isoprene is converted to cycloalkanes by thermal dimerization followed by hydrogenation. The resulting blend exhibits outstanding jet fuel properties.

In this study, banana flower petal ash has been considered as an effective catalyst in the transesterification to produce biodiesel from waste cooking oil.

The addition of Al₂O₃ enhances Li⁺ transport along the PEO chains and provides an additional Li⁺ transport path, thereby significantly improving the conductivity.

Direct activation of biomass, via a simple and lower cost one-step process, with potassium oxalate as a mild and less corrosive agent, yields activated carbon with properties and CO₂ uptake comparable or superior to conventionally prepared activated carbons.

Novel, brown H₄Nb₆O₁₇, was synthesised and a composite heterojunction with g-C₃N₄ was formed, showing enhanced photocatalytic activity for H₂O₂ production.

This article sheds light on the combined impact of technological innovation and tightening raw material markets on future battery cost.

The band edges of GeI₂/C₂N vdW are favourable to generate H₂ at pH 0 to 9 with transition from a type-II indirect to type-I direct bandgap semiconductor under tensile biaxial strain.

Benchmarking of a polyethylene–styrene–divinylbenzene-based interpolymer cation exchange membrane for vanadium redox flow batteries.

Shea butter oil (SBO) is underutilized in the biodiesel production industry in Nigeria because of its high free fatty acid (FFA) content, which reduces its biodiesel yield.