Volume 2 Issue 7, July 2017

Beyond-intercalation batteries promise a step-change in energy storage compared to intercalation-based lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries. However, only performance metrics that include all cell components and operation parameters can tell whether a true advance over intercalation batteries has been achieved.

Concentrating solar power had a difficult market start compared to other renewable technologies, leading to a total global capacity of only 5 GW today after more than a decade of deployment. A comprehensive global empirical study identifies distinct deployment phases, with high learning rates exceeding 25% over the past 5 years.

Conventional Li–S batteries have a non-compact cathode structure containing low areal loading of active materials. Now, a strategy of burning Li foils in a CS₂ vapour is presented, which leads to the formation of highly compact Li₂S nanoparticles as a lithiated sulfur cathode, offering promising battery performance.

Perovskite solar cells are developing fast but their lifetimes must be extended. Now, large-area printed perovskite solar modules have been shown to be stable for more than 10,000 hours under continuous illumination.

Heterostructures with alternating layers of different 2D materials are finding increasing attention in energy applications. Pomerantseva and Gogotsi survey the opportunities and challenges of both developing the heterostructures and their implementation in energy storage devices.

Organic compounds can be used as electrode materials for Li-ion batteries, but problems such as facile dissolution and low electrical conductivity hinder their application. Here the authors report π-conjugated quinoxaline-based heteroaromatic molecules with multiple redox sites to tackle the problems.

Li-dendrite growth is an inherent problem for the application of Li-metal anodes in batteries. Here the authors coat the separator with functionalized nanocarbon with immobilized Li ions, regulating the dendrite growth direction and thereby improving the battery performance.

Mixed matrix membranes can separate CO₂ from flue gas mixtures but increasing selectivity without sacrificing permeability remains challenging. Selectivity can be increased with little loss in permeability by using nanoparticulate, amine-functionalized metal–organic framework fillers.

Electrochemical reduction of CO₂ to CO is a route to synthesize fuels, but cheaper and more selective catalysts are required. Using a cell equipped with a bipolar membrane and the same Earth-abundant electrocatalyst at each electrode, Schreier et al. selectively produce CO, powered by a triple-junction photovoltaic.

Facile and scalable fabrication of high-performing sulfur cathodes is challenging in the commercialization of Li–S batteries. The authors report a strategy of simply burning Li foils in a CS₂ vapour for the cathode design, which shows promising battery performance.

Concentrating solar power with thermal storage offers dispatchable renewable power but has enjoyed less support than photovoltaics. This study of global concentrating solar power projects finds a learning rate of 20%, which should be sustained if policy support and industrial development continue.

Losses in solar cells can be caused by material defects in the bulk or at interfaces. Here, Zheng et al. use quaternary ammonium halides to passivate various perovskite absorbers and prepare solar cells with certified efficiency above 20%, suggesting that both anionic and cation defects are affected.