Reviews & Analysis

Ink formulations based on terpenes commonly employed as food additives or fragrances have been used to produce various organic electronics without compromising on device performance. These terpene solvents have reduced toxicities and produce lower overall carbon emissions than standard processing solvents.

Historically redlined communities have been disproportionately burdened by multiple environmental and social stressors, related to lower housing values and inequitable access to investments and other resources. New research examines whether redlining was associated with the siting of fossil fuel power plants and how that association changed over time.

Bifaciality allows the harvest of sunlight from both sides of a solar cell and thereby increases power output, but the efficiency of thin-film devices lags behind that of silicon counterparts. Now, researchers demonstrate a bifacial Cu(In,Ga)Se₂-perovskite tandem solar cell with a 28 mW/cm² power output under front and rear illumination.

The growing proportion of renewable energy increases the need to align consumer consumption behaviours with fluctuating energy supply. A new study pairs objective smart meter electricity data with subjective survey data to offer important insights into whether consumers are aware of their own electricity use patterns and thus whether they are prepared for an increasingly dynamic energy system.

Achieving high ionic conductivity at close to room temperature in solid oxide electrolytes is challenging due to the large thermal activation needed for ion transport. Now, a hydrogen-intercalated brownmillerite oxide, SrCoO_2.5, has been shown to function as a high-performance proton conducting electrolyte for fuel cells below 200°C.

One of the biggest hurdles to realise high-performance Li-metal batteries is the instability of Li metal towards all relevant electrolytes. Now, an approach is reported to improve Li cells’ stability by upshifting the Li electrodes’ potential to reduce their voltage gap with the electrolyte electrochemical stability windows.

It is challenging to develop battery cathodes with both high performance and low cost. Now, an amorphous material based on cheap, earth-abundant elements is shown to achieve high capacity by undertaking both the intercalation and conversion reactions reversibly.

A phase heterojunction (PHJ) solar cell is formed by interfacing two phases of the perovskite CsPbI₃ — each of which exhibits different opto-electronic properties. Devices based on PHJs reach a maximum power conversion efficiency of 20.17%, surpassing the 15% achieved by devices based on either of the single phases alone.

Real-time tracking of the dynamic chemistry in commercial batteries by infrared fibre spectroscopy provides insight into the parasitic reactions that occur at the electrodes and in the electrolyte. This chemical-sensing method enables identification of chemical species and observation of Na(Li) inventory changes upon cycling, providing essential information for improving battery technology.

Evidence from a policy experiment shows that public safety bans on electric scooters and electric bikes can generate unintended traffic congestion in city centres. The studied ban is found to increase travel times by 9–11% for daily evening commutes and by 37% following stadium events.

Charge generation in organic photovoltaics hinges upon the frontier molecular orbital energies of organic semiconductors, yet their precise determination is not trivial. Now, researchers compare various methods to determine these energies and show the need for an energy level offset to assist charge generation in non-fullerene-based solar cells.

Electrochemical CO₂ capture could potentially avoid large energy inputs typical of approaches based on temperature and pressure swings, but better sorbents are still needed. New research expands the sorbent library using molecules with redox-tuneable sp² nitrogen centres as effective electrochemical CO₂ capture agents.

Discussions abound regarding the future of African energy systems, yet they typically overlook the different starting points and development objectives of each country. This Perspective highlights these differences and calls for more context-specific attention to define low-carbon energy pathways.

The development of high-energy Li-ion batteries is being geared towards cobalt-free cathodes because of economic and social–environmental concerns. Here the authors analyse the chemistry, thermodynamics and resource potential of these strategic transition metals, and propose that the use of cobalt will likely continue.

Lithium-metal batteries offer great energy density improvement over lithium-ion, but understanding their cyclability is a daunting task. Now, an analytical method is reported to quantify lithium in its electrochemically inactive and active forms, enabling insights about the anode reversibility throughout cycling.

Pyroelectric materials have potential applications in sensors and energy harvesters but it is difficult for these materials to deliver energy in the joule range. Now, a pyroelectric harvester made of lead scandium tantalate with a multilayer structure is shown to generate about 4.43 J cm^–3 from each thermodynamic cycle.

Collections of Pt monomers (close to each other but not directly bonded) supported on black TiO₂ exhibit superior photocatalytic performance in the nonoxidative dehydrogenation of alkanes than that of single-atom catalysts. The extent of clustering of Pt species has a decisive role in determining the reaction activity and product selectivity.

Energy-development projects typically adopt a Western perspective, which can create tensions and difficulties among Indigenous communities. In this Review the authors examine sustainable energy interventions in Indigenous territories and call for a more pluralistic approach that is focused on learning from Indigenous narratives.

It is an important challenge to ensure that battery components such as lithium come from a sustainable source. A Li isotope-based approach is now shown to be a potentially useful tool for tracing the origin of processed Li in Li-ion batteries.

Electroreduction of N₂ to ammonia is a possible alternative to the Haber–Bosch process, but the competing hydrogen evolution reaction typically limits yields. Now, electrochemical protocols combining two molecular catalysts are shown to produce ammonia with adequate selectivity at moderate overpotentials under mild conditions.