Energy science and technology articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Rechargeable magnesium batteries suffer from slow solid-state Mg2+diffusion in the intercalation cathode. Here the authors show magnesium/iodine chemistry in which the liquid–solid two-phase reaction leads to increased rate capabilities by overcoming the sluggish kinetics.

    • Huajun Tian
    • , Tao Gao
    •  & Chunsheng Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Photosynthesis uses only a limited range of solar radiation. Here, Graysonet al. genetically incorporated the yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) chromophore into a bacterial photosystem, and show that energy harvested by reaction centre–YFP complexes can augment photosynthesis in vivo.

    • Katie J. Grayson
    • , Kaitlyn M. Faries
    •  & C. Neil Hunter

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lithium-based batteries employing silicon anodes and sulfur cathodes are promising for combining low cost and high capacity, but have been limited in terms of cycling stability. Here authors present cycling and characterization data supporting beneficial synergies between a selenium disulfide cathode and a silicon anode.

    • KwangSup Eom
    • , Jung Tae Lee
    •  & Thomas F. Fuller

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Carbon nanotube yarns with high loadings of pseudocapacitive material are desirable, e.g., for emerging wearable technologies. Here authors make biscrolled yarns with high loadings of MnO2nanoparticles confined in carbon nanotube galleries, demonstrating very high linear and areal capacitances.

    • Changsoon Choi
    • , Kang Min Kim
    •  & Seon Jeong Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Metal oxide semiconductors are promising photoelectrode materials for solar water splitting but their efficiency needs to be improved. Here, the authors report a hetero-type dual photoelectrode strategy in which two photoanodes of different band gaps are connected in parallel for extended light harvesting.

    • Jin Hyun Kim
    • , Ji-Wook Jang
    •  & Jae Sung Lee

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Radiative cooling relies on the atmosphere’s transparency window. Here the authors achieve up to 42 °C drops in temperature for low thermal loads under diffuse sunlight by improving the selectivity of the emissivity and the thermal management of their devices.

    • Zhen Chen
    • , Linxiao Zhu
    •  & Shanhui Fan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hydrogen evolution by water electrolysis is a promising route to 'green energy', but efficiency is still an issue. Here, the authors make mixed organic/inorganic hierarchical nanostructures with high hydrogen evolution activity, identifying synergic effects in the material contributing to enhanced efficiency.

    • Giovanni Valenti
    • , Alessandro Boni
    •  & Francesco Paolucci

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The spin Seebeck effect enables thermal-to-electrical energy conversion but the power generated in thin films remains low. Here, Boonaet al. use composites of ferromagnetic conductors containing noble metal nanoparticles to show that the effect can enhance the transverse thermopower of bulk materials.

    • Stephen R. Boona
    • , Koen Vandaele
    •  & Joseph P. Heremans

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While the photovoltaic industry aims to achieve cleaner energy production, it consumes energy and emits greenhouse gases during production and deployment. Here, Louwenet al. show that the industry has likely already reached break-even points for both greenhouse gases emissions and electricity consumption.

    • Atse Louwen
    • , Wilfried G. J. H. M. van Sark
    •  & Ruud E. I. Schropp

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Theoretical limiting efficiencies play a critical role in determining technological viability and expectations for device prototypes. Here, the authors present a unified framework for photoelectrochemical device performance through which previous limiting efficiencies can be understood and contextualized.

    • Katherine T. Fountaine
    • , Hans Joachim Lewerenz
    •  & Harry A. Atwater

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Early stellarator designs suffered from high particle losses, an issue that can be addressed by optimization of the coils. Here the authors measure the magnetic field lines in the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator, confirming that the complicated design of the superconducting coils has been realized successfully.

    • T. Sunn Pedersen
    • , M. Otte
    •  & Sandor Zoletnik

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Piezoelectricity in diphenylalanine peptide nanotubes (PNTs) suggests an avenue towards green piezoelectric devices. Here the authors show ‘smart’ PNTs whose polarization can be controlled with an electric field, and a resultant power generator which harvests biomechanical energy with high power density.

    • Vu Nguyen
    • , Ren Zhu
    •  & Rusen Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hyperaccumulation can allow facile enrichment of metal ions in halophytic plants. Here, the authors use the effect to convert plant structures into hierarchical carbon/metal-oxide nanocomposites and demonstrate the structures as battery electrodes combining high power density and excellent cycling stability.

    • Jian Zhu
    • , Yu Shan
    •  & Xiangfeng Duan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Rechargeable aqueous electrochemical energy storage is a promising technology but suffers from a narrow potential window. Here the authors report a surface hydroxylated Mn5O8pseudocapacitor electrode with bivalence structure that expands the potential window to deliver high energy and power performance.

    • Xiaoqiang Shan
    • , Daniel S. Charles
    •  & Xiaowei Teng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Flexible materials for harvesting and storing energy are desirable for wearable electronics, but efficiency is still an issue. Here, the authors demonstrate a flexible and weavable ribbon which integrates a solar cell and supercapacitor via a shared electrode for efficient energy harvesting and storage.

    • Chao Li
    • , Md. Monirul Islam
    •  & Jayan Thomas

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Thermoelectric devices are often rigid and do not adapt conformally to surfaces. Here, Park et al. prepare a Bi2Te3-based thermoelectric paint, containing a Sb2Te3chalcogenidometalate additive, that can be paint-brushed onto curved surfaces and form thermoelectric modules with good efficiencies.

    • Sung Hoon Park
    • , Seungki Jo
    •  & Jae Sung Son

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Improving the stability of perovskite solar cells remains crucial. Here, Ahn et al. show that trapped charges at grain boundaries induce the dissociation of the perovskite compound in the presence of moisture, and explain why degradation is irreversible under illumination and reversible in the dark.

    • Namyoung Ahn
    • , Kwisung Kwak
    •  & Mansoo Choi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In order to be practical for large-scale deployment, the cost of solar hydrogen generation must be significantly reduced. Here, the authors employ a triple-junction solar cell with two series connected polymer electrolyte membrane electrolysers to achieve solar to hydrogen efficiency of 30%.

    • Jieyang Jia
    • , Linsey C. Seitz
    •  & Thomas F. Jaramillo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fe-N/C catalysts show surprising activity towards oxygen reduction in fuel cells. However, there is significant uncertainty as to the structure of the active site. Here, the authors quantify the number and turnover frequency of the active sites by reversibly blocking those sites with nitrite (NO2¯).

    • Daniel Malko
    • , Anthony Kucernak
    •  & Thiago Lopes

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In organic photovoltaics, electron acceptors are developed to replace fullerenes, and new donors need to be designed to match these acceptors. Here, the authors show that a polymer with strong temperature dependent aggregation and intentionally reduced crystallinity matches non-fullerene acceptors.

    • Zhengke Li
    • , Kui Jiang
    •  & He Yan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    High performance CdTe thin film solar cells typically require a chloride activation treatment. Here, Majoret al. show that the main effect of the most effective chloride-based treatments is chloride accumulation at grain boundaries and that it results in improved open circuit voltages.

    • J. D. Major
    • , M. Al Turkestani
    •  & K. Durose

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In photovoltaics, sub-band gap energy photons can be harvested using up-conversion strategies. Here, the authors show that the thermally enhanced up-converted photoluminescence results in enhanced energy conversion, for an accessible temperature range and with a broad range of incident photon energy.

    • Assaf Manor
    • , Nimrod Kruger
    •  & Carmel Rotschild

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Direct measurement of electron-phonon interactions at the single-mode level has been a challenge. Here, Liaoet al. use a three-pulse photoacoustic spectroscopy technique to investigate the damping of a single sub-terahertz coherent phonon mode by photo-excited free charge carriers in silicon at room temperature.

    • Bolin Liao
    • , A. A. Maznev
    •  & Gang Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Multiple exciton generation could help limit thermalization losses in solar cells, but the efficiency of the process is still limited. Here, the authors show by atomistic calculations that type-II interfaces in nanostructures along with a change in exciton cooling rate favour multiple exciton generation.

    • Hagai Eshet
    • , Roi Baer
    •  & Eran Rabani

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Perovskite solar cells reach high efficiencies but their stability remains a challenge. Here, Bai et al. functionalize the fullerene-based transport layer with hydrophobic and crosslinkable molecules to prepare devices reaching 19% efficiency and degrading by 10% over a month in ambient conditions.

    • Yang Bai
    • , Qingfeng Dong
    •  & Jinsong Huang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The energy harvesting potential of triboelectric nanogenerators is currently limited by their output power. Here, the authors design a triboelectric nanogenerator inspired by lightning generation, featuring an electric double layer that delivers impressive charge separation and electric potential.

    • Jinsung Chun
    • , Byeong Uk Ye
    •  & Jeong Min Baik

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Zeolite crystal with porous structure is predicted to be a good membrane material for water purification, but experiments show water uptake orders of magnitude smaller than the theory. Here, Fasano et al. attribute this disagreement to the additional diffusion resistance induced by surface defects.

    • Matteo Fasano
    • , Thomas Humplik
    •  & Pietro Asinari

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Harvesting bio-mechanical energy is a promising route to powering wearable electronics, however design obstacles remain. Here the authors report on a triboelectric nanogenerator with optimized materials and design that can sustainably power an electronic watch and fitness tracker solely by human motion.

    • Jie Wang
    • , Shengming Li
    •  & Zhong Lin Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tomographic imaging of graphite-based anodes is challenging due to weak X-ray attenuation contrast. Here, the authors use operando propagation-based phase contrast tomography and digital volume correlation to study the electrochemical activity and microstructural dynamics in (silicon−) graphite electrodes.

    • Patrick Pietsch
    • , Daniel Westhoff
    •  & Vanessa Wood

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In photovoltaics window electrodes must display uniform current transport, as well as high light transmission from the substrate. Here, Han et al.show that quasi-fractal metallic networks provide a practical realization of an electrode structure with an optimal surface coverage and a uniform current density.

    • Bing Han
    • , Qiang Peng
    •  & Jinwei Gao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The realization of photoelectrochemical water splitting requires the upscale of associated technologies. Here, the authors report a scalable design based on independent photovoltaic and electrochemical silicon thin-film modules and assess its solar hydrogen generation performance.

    • Bugra Turan
    • , Jan-Philipp Becker
    •  & Stefan Haas

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    With the continued miniaturization of electronics, there are increasing efforts to engineer small, powerful energy storage devices. Here the authors review the cutting edge of this rapidly developing field, highlighting the most promising materials and architectures for our future energy storage requirements.

    • Maria R. Lukatskaya
    • , Bruce Dunn
    •  & Yury Gogotsi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Charge generation and transport are crucial to the performance of organic solar cells, but the mechanism remains controversial. Causa’ et al. show that the phase morphology of polymer:fullerene blends determines the exciton dissociation at femtoseconds, although the spatial separation can occur at picoseconds.

    • Martina Causa'
    • , Jelissa De Jonghe-Risse
    •  & Natalie Banerji

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Carbon dioxide capture technologies have been implemented as a strategy to alleviate the environmental costs of CO2 emissions. Here, the authors synthesize a functionalized-polyethyleneimine/silica adsorbent for post-combustion CO2 capture that exhibits a large CO2capacity and long-term stability.

    • Woosung Choi
    • , Kyungmin Min
    •  & Minkee Choi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Photoelectrochemical water splitting uses solar power to decompose water to hydrogen and oxygen. Here, the authors integrate thylakoid membranes extracted from spinach into a bio-photo-electro-chemical cell capable of overall water splitting without the need for any sacrificial reagents.

    • Roy I. Pinhassi
    • , Dan Kallmann
    •  & Avner Rothschild

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Determining active species in non-precious metal catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction remains a challenge due to catalyst heterogeneity. Here the authors perform gas-phase treatments on an iron-based catalyst to allow the identification of carbon-encapsulated iron nanoparticles as the active species.

    • Jason A. Varnell
    • , Edmund C. M. Tse
    •  & Andrew A. Gewirth

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