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Perovskite photovoltaics are promising for space applications, but their reliability needs to be addressed. Now, Kirmani et al. present a 1-μm-thick silicon oxide that affords protection against protons, alpha particles and atomic oxygen.
Efficient mechanical energy harvesting approaches are needed. Here, Zhang et al. develop a plied carbon nanotube yarn that harvests mechanical energy upon stretching and lateral deformations, achieving 17.4 and 22.4% efficiencies for tensile and torsional harvesting, respectively.
The COVID-19 pandemic had substantial social and economic impacts globally but particularly in low- and middle-income countries. This study reports survey findings on changes to household energy use and engagement with a government liquefied petroleum gas scheme in rural North India in 2020 and 2021.
Public support or opposition plays an important role in the deployment of new energy technologies. This study explores how attitudes towards fracking in the United Kingdom can influence perceptions of geothermal systems and hydrogen, testing spontaneous, prompted and primed forms of the spillover effect.
Solar panels can reduce domestic electricity bills, but their cost often makes them unavailable to low-income households. This ten-month study follows the journeys of seven social-housing tenants who were given the opportunity to become solar-power prosumers, and the impact this had on their everyday practices, finances and lives.
The carbon and energy efficiencies of current CO2/CO electrolysis systems are limited. Here the authors show that these metrics can be improved by controlling ion flows in the vicinity of a copper catalyst by the application of a covalent organic framework.
Surface coating is a common method to combat the performance degradation of layered oxide cathodes in rechargeable batteries. Here the authors analyse coating design principles and demonstrate that a lanthurizing coating approach—which alters the atomic structure just beneath the cathode surface—leads to exceptionally high-voltage cycling stability.
Li–S chemistry can provide high-energy-density batteries. Here the authors use lithiated metallic phase 2D materials as a sulfur host for cathodes that leads to high-energy-density Li–S pouch cell batteries.
Organic functionalities are often introduced into conductive polymers for battery applications, but their addition also leads to conflicting properties and battery performance deterioration. Here the authors develop hierarchically ordered structures in conductive polymers that display exceptional electrochemical properties as a silicon binder.
Lithium-mediated nitrogen fixation is a promising pathway to electrochemical ammonia synthesis, but the role of metallic lithium and its passivation layer are unclear. Here the authors employ cryogenic transmission electron microscopy to explore these components, finding that the proton donor is the key determinant of lithium reactivity.
Historical appraisals of US neighbourhoods are thought to have led to present-day disparities in homeownership, home values and environmental and health outcomes. Cushing et al. examine the links between this historic red-lining, the siting of fossil fuel power plants and the burden of emissions.
There is a growing need for sustainable and green solvent processing of organic optoelectronics. Now Corzo et al. show that terpene solvents in a binary formulation enable device performance on par with that of more toxic solvents.
Understanding the drivers of opposition to renewable energy infrastructure is increasingly important. Here the authors find an association between wind farm opposition and belief in conspiracy theories and test the effectiveness of information provision in countering it.
How well households understand their own energy usage patterns may impact the effectiveness of demand response initiatives. Zanocco et al. find that only half of a sample of California households were able to identify their own usage pattern from among four test patterns before COVID-19 restrictions.
Solid oxide ionic conductors typically require elevated temperature to activate ionic transport. Here the authors report unusually high proton conductivity close to room temperature in a hydrogenated oxide, HSrCoO2.5, which they attribute to the intrinsically ordered oxygen vacancy channels and high proton concentration.
Bifacial Cu(In,Ga)Se2 photovoltaics have limited efficiency. Now Yang et al. have developed a process for low-temperature deposition of the absorber material that suppresses the formation of a detrimental GaOx interlayer and reduces the back interface recombination, enabling efficiencies of over 19% and 10% under front and rear illumination, respectively.
Organic solar cells with a bulk-heterojunction architecture suffer from photocurrent loss driven by triplet states. Now, Jiang et al. show that sequentially deposited donor–acceptor planar–mixed heterojunctions suppress triplet formation, enabling efficiencies over 19%.
Sustainable battery development requires high-performance components that are made of low-cost Earth-abundant materials. Here the authors report that an iron fluorosulfate—capable of both intercalation and conversion reactions during battery cycling—displays promising capacity and cyclability.
Achieving both high efficiency and stability in organic solar cells is challenging. Now, Liang et al. show that oligomer acceptors improve the molecular packing and morphology of the active layer, affording a 15% efficiency and enhanced stability.
Fabricating perovskite heterojunctions is challenging. Now, Ji et al. form a phase heterojunction with two polymorphs of CsPbI3, leading to 20.1% efficiency in inorganic perovskite solar cells.