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Metal-based smart windows allow for light and heat transmission control but suffer from poor metal ion diffusion over large areas. Here, the authors demonstrate a 100 cm2 window that is uniformly switchable from clear to black in 60 s by combining reversible metal electrodeposition with ion insertion.
The growing deployment of solar panels in urban areas requires tools to determine their optimal placement and electricity yield. Towards this end, this study presents a simplified model based on the sky view and sun coverage factors and validates it using real-world data from different systems in different climates.
Carrier recombination limits the power conversion efficiency of perovskite solar cells. Here the authors construct a planar p–n homojunction perovskite solar cell to promote the oriented transport of carriers and reduce recombination, thus enabling power conversion efficiency of 21.3%.
This Article presents a battery with protons as the charge carrier, as opposed to Li-ion batteries, which rely on the transport of Li-ions. Protons are conducted by means of the Grotthuss mechanism in a hydrated Prussian blue analogue electrode, offering potential for ultrafast rate and long-life batteries.
Blockchain-based distributed management of electricity systems is an important step towards making these systems more resilient. Although there are many implementations, here the researchers formalize a basic template for smart contracts that can be built upon for distributed electricity systems management.
Luminescent solar concentrators are promising for semi-transparent, building-integrated photovoltaic systems. Here the authors minimize the absorption losses by relying on fast energy transfer in multiphase perovskite nanoplatelets to achieve optical quantum efficiency of 26% on 100 cm2 devices.
Compressed-air energy storage could be a useful inter-seasonal storage resource to support highly renewable power systems. This study presents a modelling approach to assess the potential for such storage in porous rocks and, applying it to the UK, finds availability of up to 96 TWh in offshore saline aquifers.
Despite its importance in lithium batteries, the mechanism of Li dendrite growth is not well understood. Here the authors study three representative solid electrolytes with neutron depth profiling and identify high electronic conductivity as the root cause for the dendrite issue.
Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are increasingly being explored as electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution and reduction reactions, which are important processes in electrolysers and fuel cells. Here, the authors increase the activity of MOFs for these reactions by introducing strain into the lattice using UV light illumination.
Thermomagnetic generators exploit magnetic flux and temperature differences across magnetocaloric materials to generate electricity from waste heat. Waske et al. present a device based on a pretzel-like magnetic-field topology that leads to a higher power output than previous, simpler, topologies.
Integrating electrocatalytic H2 production with biological H2-fed systems for CO2 upgrading requires H2 generation to occur in biocompatible media—typically with neutral pH. Here, the authors design multi-site H2 evolution catalysts that minimize the water dissociation barrier and promote hydride coupling in neutral media.
Electric aircraft offer an aviation decarbonization pathway and attract increasing attention owing to the rapid development of batteries. Here Andreas Schäfer and colleagues analyse the potential technological, economic and environmental viability of battery-electric commercial aircraft.
Time-of-use tariffs aim to shift energy use to better match available supply. This study shows that perception of savings, more so than actual savings, predicts intent to remain enrolled in time-of-use programmes, which may undermine benefits for household finances and energy-reduction goals.
The oxygen reduction reaction, catalysed by platinum, is a crucial process in the operation of fuel cells, but the mechanistic pathways through which it occurs remain a matter for debate. Here, the authors use in situ Raman spectroscopy to identify key intermediates for this reaction at different atomically flat platinum surfaces, shedding light on the mechanism.
Large variations exist in the revenue prediction of grid-scale storage due to uncertainties in operations of storage technologies. Here the authors integrate the economic evaluation of energy storage with key battery parameters for a realistic measure of revenues.
The development of aluminium batteries relies heavily on the discovery of cathode materials that can reversibly insert Al-containing ions. Here the authors show that phenanthrenequinone-based compounds can take up the cationic aluminium complex, leading to promising aluminium batteries.
Two-terminal monolithic all-perovskite tandem solar cells are attractive due to their flexible nature and low-cost fabrication. Here the authors develop a process to obtain high-quality Sn–Pb perovskite thin films by incorporating chlorine. Such layers are employed to fabricate 20.7%-efficient tandem cells with 80 h operational stability.
Wakes from upwind wind farms can reduce energy generation at downwind farms. Here, using power production data and atmospheric simulations, researchers quantify the economic impacts of wakes, explain the physics of wake variability and highlight that no legal framework exists to protect downwind farms.
A natural field experiment found that real-time feedback on energy consumption while showering led to an 11.4% reduction in energy use in a random sample of hotel guests, demonstrating the potential for activity-specific feedback as a cost-effective and scalable conservation strategy.
Multilateral development banks are known to finance a significant number of new power plants in low-income countries, and have been pushing for more renewables. Here, researchers build a bottom-up dataset of more than 800 projects from 10 banks to quantify the extent to which these banks have greened their portfolios.