Volume 1 Issue 4, April 2024

For the transition to a sustainable energy sector, massive hydrogen production and use is crucial. There is growing awareness of a connection between an indirect global warming potential and the production of hydrogen, so its fugitive emissions must be addressed. This Comment emphasizes the need for affordable hydrogen-sensing methods to benefit safety, energy efficiency and the climate.

Addressing the electronic-waste crisis requires global cooperation to enhance recycling, innovate in sustainable materials management and embrace eco-design. By viewing electronic waste as valuable ‘urban mines’, we can unlock a circular economy and ensure the sustainable recovery of strategic metals, fostering a greener, more sustainable future.

To reduce environmental impact, imec has presented a bottom-up lifecycle assessment of logic technology nodes and prepared first recommendations to lower carbon emissions. Here we talk to Lars-Åke Ragnarsson, program director of Sustainable Semiconductor Technologies and Systems at imec, about their approach to help the semiconductor industry reduce the environmental effects of integrated circuit manufacturing.

An article in Nature presents large-area, high-performance intrinsically stretchable electronics thanks to innovation in materials selection, fabrication processes, device engineering and circuit design.

An article in Science Advances reports an integrated van der Waals system that enables field-free electric control of the magnetization of Fe₃GaTe₂ above room temperature.

Nature evolves intricate surfaces/interfaces to achieve high energy efficiency, providing a promising, low-carbon solution to energy crisis. This Review explores diverse energy processes in nature and how to translate nature’s inspiration to efficiently harvest energy from water, sunlight, heat and their hybrids, especially through interfacial engineering.

This Review discusses the current capabilities and challenges facing different power electronic technologies in wind generation systems from single turbines to the system level. Several projects are reviewed to highlight areas of current research focus, and future trends of wind power generation are summarized.

Rational and scientific use of hyperspectral imaging involves the selection of appropriate imaging hardware and data analysis software. Sun et al. describe applications of hyperspectral imaging in food quality inspection and provide guidance for non-specialist researchers aiming to implement this technology.

Blockchain technology can be integrated into mobile multi-robot systems. This Perspective overviews the initial achievements, open challenges and research directions in the field of blockchain-based mobile multi-robot systems.