Energy & Environmental Science最新文献

{"title":"Weaving electron-rich alkynes: a durable in situ skin for stabilizing zinc anodes","authors":"Xin Liu, Weimian Zhang, Ying Liu, Xiaodong Li, Deyi Zhang, Kun Wang, Lifeng Liu, Changshui Huang","doi":"10.1039/d4ee03164d","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4ee03164d","url":null,"abstract":"The labile reactivity at the electric double layer (EDL) causes instability of the metallic anode in aqueous zinc batteries (AZBs). To address this issue, an electron-rich thiophdiyne interphase (e-TDYP) is in situ engineered as a durable “coordination skin” to stabilize the EDL of zinc anodes. The high electron density of e-TDYP facilitates strong interactions with zinc ions, enabling efficient zinc ion transport and deposition at the anode surface. The conjugated thiophene and cyclic diyne groups of e-TDYP reconstruct the EDL, while maintaining structural integrity and properties during long-term cycling. By dynamically regulating thiophene groups and convertible alkyne bonds, e-TDYP modified zinc anode achieves a low polarization voltage and long-term reversible plating/stripping over 1000 hours at 5 mA cm-2/5 mAh cm-2 with a high depth of discharge (DOD). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that Zn ions preferentially navigate the migration pathway via the cyclic diyne center's anchoring site with a low energy barrier. Full cell tests further demonstrate impressive capacity retention after 6000 cycles at 2 A g−1. These findings underscore the importance of advanced electrode design through EDL regulation, which allows for achieving stable zinc anodes.","PeriodicalId":72,"journal":{"name":"Energy & Environmental Science","volume":"13 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":32.5,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142556370","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reduction of Bulk and Interface Defects via Photo-annealing Treatment for High-efficiency Antimony Selenide Solar Cells","authors":"Xiaoyang Liang, Xinhua Wang, Qiwei Chang, Bingxin Yang, Wei Dang, Zheng Zhang, Yingnan Guo, Lin Yang, Zhiqiang Li","doi":"10.1039/d4ee02877e","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4ee02877e","url":null,"abstract":"Antimony selenide (Sb2Se3) exhibits outstanding photoelectric characteristics and has significant potential for application in photovoltaic devices. However, Sb2Se3 solar cells are hindered by severe carrier combinations at both the heterojunction interface and within the Sb2Se3 bulk, thereby limiting the improvement of device power conversion efficiency (PCE). This study presents a novel strategy for regulating the interface of the Sb2Se3/CdS heterojunction using a photo-annealing treatment. During this process, element substitution near the heterojunction efficiently prompts atomic rearrangement, leading to improved lattice matching at the interface and a reduction in the density of interface defects. Furthermore, the diffusion of Cd into the Sb2Se3 absorber facilitated the passivation of deep antisite and vacancy defects in the bulk of Sb2Se3. The photo-annealing process effectively enables the reduction of interface defects at the heterojunction interface and deep-level traps in the bulk of Sb2Se3. Consequently, this enhances the quality of the Sb2Se3/CdS heterojunction and facilitates the transport and collection of photo-generated carriers in the device. The resultant Sb2Se3/CdS heterojunction solar cells achieve a PCE of up to 10.58% (certified efficiency of 10.18%), making them the most efficient Sb2Se3 solar cells ever recorded. This work provides novel insights into the passivation of defects at the heterojunction and within the absorber bulk, highlighting pathways to enhance the photovoltaic performance of Sb2Se3 solar cells.","PeriodicalId":72,"journal":{"name":"Energy & Environmental Science","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":32.5,"publicationDate":"2024-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142542156","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Unveiling nanoscale fluid miscible behaviors with nanofluidic slim-tube","authors":"Zengding Wang, Tianjiang Zhang, Shanchao Liu, Keli Ding, Tengyu Liu, Jun Yao, Hai Sun, Yongfei Yang, Lei Zhang, Wen-Dong Wang, Cunqi Jia, Mojdeh Delshad, Kamy Sepehrnoori, Junjie Zhong","doi":"10.1039/d4ee02292k","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4ee02292k","url":null,"abstract":"Fluid miscible behaviors in nanoporous media are crucial for applications such as carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), membrane separation, subsurface pollutant remediation, and geothermal extraction. Confinement effects at the nanoscale cause fluid miscible behaviors to deviate from bulk phases, and the underlying mechanisms remain inadequately understood. Here, we developed a nanofluidic slim-tube method to directly visualize fluid miscible behaviors and measure the minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) at the nanoscale. Focusing on CO2-hydrocarbon systems—an intersection of low-carbon energy transition and environmental sustainability—we investigated miscibility within multiscale porous media featuring pore sizes from 100 nm to 10 μm for the first time. Our results demonstrate that in nanoporous media, the CO2 diffusion front advances faster than the displacement front, indicating that molecular diffusion dominates mass transport. Miscible flow reduces CO2 fingering caused by mobility differences, achieving ~100% displacement efficiency. In multiscale porous media, distinct miscible stages emerge due to fluid composition variations at different scales and CO2 selective extraction. Our experimental findings also reveal that MMP decreases in nanoporous media compared to bulk values. However, in multiscale porous media, MMP exceeds the theoretical prediction in the largest pore size, underscoring the necessity for theories that consider multiscale confinement effects. This study presents a novel nanofluidic approach to elucidate nanoscale fluid miscible behaviors and the impact of pore structures, providing an important strategy for quantifying fluid miscibility in complex porous media.","PeriodicalId":72,"journal":{"name":"Energy & Environmental Science","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":32.5,"publicationDate":"2024-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142541391","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Theory-Guided Development of a Barium-Doped Cobalt Catalyst for Ammonia Decomposition","authors":"Alexander Gunnarson, ANG CAO, Olivia Fjord Sloth, Miriam Varón, Ruben Bueno Villoro, Thomas Veile, Christian Danvad Damsgaard, Cathrine Frandsen, Jens Kehlet Norskov, Ib Chorkendorff","doi":"10.1039/d4ee02874k","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4ee02874k","url":null,"abstract":"The efficiency of the catalytic decomposition of ammonia is a central challenge for the use of ammonia as a potential hydrogen vector and fuel for heavy-duty applications. In this study, we explore the promotional effect of alkaline and earth-alkaline metals on cobalt and nickel catalysts for ammonia decomposition in a computational screening. We elucidate the strong influence of the recently proposed spin promotion effect on catalytic activity and identify barium as a promising and stable promoter of Co under the relevant reaction conditions. The predictions are validated experimentally through the study of a BaCo catalyst, ultimately yielding a metal-based hydrogen productivity of 12.2 mol gCo-1 h-1 at 500 °C, common for state-of-the-art ruthenium catalysts. This work not only reports the successful development of a novel catalyst but also provides validation for the spin-promotion effect and its substantial influence on catalyst performance.","PeriodicalId":72,"journal":{"name":"Energy & Environmental Science","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":32.5,"publicationDate":"2024-10-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142536383","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Data-driven Discovery of Electrode Materials for Protonic Ceramic Cells","authors":"Xueyu Hu, Yucun Zhou, Zheyu Luo, Haoyu Li, Nai Shi, Zhijun Liu, Weilin Zhang, Weining Wang, Yong Ding, Meilin Liu","doi":"10.1039/d4ee03762f","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4ee03762f","url":null,"abstract":"Protonic Ceramic Electrochemical Cells (PCECs) offer an efficient solution for the closed-loop conversion between chemical and electrical energy, supporting zero-emission objectives. The varying and high-humidity conditions on the oxygen electrode side necessitate the development of novel materials with superior electro-catalytic activity and durability. In this study, we circumvent conventional trial-and-error approaches by utilizing high-throughput calculations and a novel data-driven decomposition analysis to predict the key properties important for applications of 4,455 distinct perovskite oxides, including thermodynamic stability and decomposition tendencies. Our analysis results in a small number of highly promising candidates. Among them, PrBaCo1.9Hf0.1O5+δ demonstrates exceptional performance in PCECs, achieving peak power densities of 1.49 W cm-2 at 600 °C and 0.6 W cm-2 at 450 °C in fuel cell mode and extraordinary current density (2.78 A cm-2) at an applied voltage of 1.3 V at 600 °C in electrolysis mode, while maintaining outstanding durability over 500 hours of operation. This study highlights the pivotal role of data-driven high-throughput calculations in accelerating the discovery of novel materials for various clean energy technologies.","PeriodicalId":72,"journal":{"name":"Energy & Environmental Science","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":32.5,"publicationDate":"2024-10-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142536382","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Stabilizing doped Spiro-OMeTAD by organic molten salt for efficient and stable perovskite solar cells","authors":"Tengfei Pan, Zhiwei Li, Biyun Ren, Wan Yang, Xueqin Ran, Yajing Li, Yutian Xu, Yue Wang, Deli Li, Yingdong Xia, Xingyu Gao, Lingfeng Chao, Yonghua Chen","doi":"10.1039/d4ee04310c","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4ee04310c","url":null,"abstract":"Bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonimide (LiTFSI) and 4-tert-butylpyridine (TBP) have been currently suggested to be irreplaceable in classic doped 2,2′,7,7′-tetrakis (N,N-di-p-methoxyphenylamine)-9,9′-spirobifluorene (Spiro-OMeTAD) for high-performance perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, the stability of Spiro-OMeTAD was demonstrated to be seriously limited by the Li+ diffusion of LiTFSI and the volatilization of TBP. Here, we report an organic molten salt, Cyclohexylamine Trifluoroacetic acid (CYTFA), doping strategy to stabilize doped Spiro-OMeTAD for high-performance PSCs. We found the Li+ diffusion and the TBP volatilization were effectively suppressed through strong interaction by the dissociated CY+ and TFA- acting on TBP and Li+. Moreover, the CYTFA doped Spiro-OMeTAD exhibits an order of magnitude increase in hole mobility and matched energy levels with perovskite. As a result, a solar cell with a power-conversion efficiency of 25.80% was achieved with maintaining 96% and 80% of the initial efficiency for 500 hours at 55°C and 55% humidity and for 470 hours at the maximum power point, respectively.","PeriodicalId":72,"journal":{"name":"Energy & Environmental Science","volume":"240 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":32.5,"publicationDate":"2024-10-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142536541","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A donor: hole-transport layer alloy for high-efficiency and stable binary organic solar cells with promoted hole collection and suppressed recombination","authors":"Xianghui Zeng, Ting Xu, Hansheng Chen, Baoshen Deng, Qing Yan, xuanlin Wen, Zijian Li, Haoxuan Zeng, Chuanlin Gao, Yaodong Xiao, Jiwei Liao, Hui Liu, Bin He, Peigang Han, Guangye Zhang, Shunpu Li, Yiwang Chen, Chen Xie","doi":"10.1039/d4ee04072d","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4ee04072d","url":null,"abstract":"Charge collection efficiency is primarily dependent on the interface layer in organic solar cells (OSCs), minimizing the recombination at interface can effectively suppress energy losses. A persistent challenge remains in the development of hole-transport materials that can establish intimate contact with organic photoactive materials, primarily due to their hydrophilic nature. Here, we incorporated water-based nanoparticles (NPs) containing donor material into the conventional PEDOT:PSS to fabricate the hole-transport layer (HTL) in OSC devices. This strategy creates an extensively intermixed donor:PEDOT:PSS alloy, which optimizes the work function, reduces energy loss, and significantly increases the interface area between the HTL and the photoactive layer. The alloy formation promotes high crystallinity in the active layer, facilitating charge collection and suppressing non-radiative recombination. OSCs based on this approach, particularly those using PM6:L8-BO, achieved an efficiency of 19.9 % (19.3 % certified). Inverted device retained 95 % of its initial efficiency after 1600 hours of continuous illumination, marking one of the best stability records for PM6:L8-BO-based OSCs. This novel approach addresses the incompatibility issues between solution-processed HTLs and active layers in OSCs, offering significant promise for future advancements in organic solar cell research about interface engineering.","PeriodicalId":72,"journal":{"name":"Energy & Environmental Science","volume":"100 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":32.5,"publicationDate":"2024-10-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142536381","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Depressing charge recombination in hybrid perovskites by introducing dynamic electron/energy relay couple towards enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production","authors":"Jiaqi Liu, Yuxin Xie, Yongxin Jiao, Hefeng Zhang, Junhui Wang, Yuying Gao, Xu Zong","doi":"10.1039/d4ee03864a","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4ee03864a","url":null,"abstract":"Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites (OIHPs) like methylammonium lead iodide perovskite (MAPbI<small>₃</small>) are attractive candidates for solar hydrogen production. However, the serious charge recombination occurring on OIHPs seriously impairs the photocatalytic performance, defining the imperative to develop efficient strategies that can address this issue. Herein, we show that by introducing dynamic Cu/(CuI<small>₂</small>)<small>^-</small> couple as the electron/energy relay station, drastically improved extraction of photogenerated electrons from MAPbI<small>₃</small> can be achieved, thus leading to significantly depressed charge recombination and enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production. We find that the electrons generated from MAPbI<small>₃</small> can be efficiently captured by the (CuI<small>₂</small>)<small>^-</small> ions in the reaction solution to produce metallic Cu as the electron/energy storage medium, therefore retarding the recombination of photogenerated charges and realizing the simultaneous storage of photon energy. Subsequently, the in-situ generated metallic Cu reacts with HI to release the as-stored solar energy, realizing decoupled off-light hydrogen generation that resembles the dark reduction reaction in natural photosynthesis. Moreover, metallic Cu can also act as a hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) co-catalyst to promote the proton reduction reaction with photogenerated electrons from MAPbI<small>₃</small>. By further introducing Pt as the HER co-catalyst, additional drastic enhancement in both dark HER and light-driven proton reduction reaction can be realized. Consequently, the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity of MAPbI<small>₃</small> is enhanced by <em>ca.</em> 2334 times through the cascade interplay of the Cu/(CuI<small>₂</small>)<small>^-</small> couple and Pt co-catalyst, achieving an outstanding solar-to-hydrogen (STH) energy conversion efficiency of <em>ca.</em> 5.25%.","PeriodicalId":72,"journal":{"name":"Energy & Environmental Science","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":32.5,"publicationDate":"2024-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142519300","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Asymmetric Evaporation for Efficient and Simultaneous Extraction of Freshwater, Salt, and Electrical Energy from Seawater","authors":"Yitian Wu, Chaoliang Ma, Kangxin Zhu, Lizheng Jin, Lvfu Song, Lanze Li, Yingzhuo Lu, Yu Zheng, Yaoxin Zhang, Xin Zheng, Sai Wu, Yajun Pang, Zhehong Shen, Swee Ching Tan, Hao Chen","doi":"10.1039/d4ee04201h","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4ee04201h","url":null,"abstract":"The simultaneous extraction of freshwater, salt, and energy from seawater using solar interfacial evaporation methods still faces significant challenges. Here, a novel asymmetric evaporation model is proposed. This asymmetric evaporation can create differences in water supply/loss ratios at the evaporation surface, thereby elevating salt concentration gradients in specific directions. Consequently, during the freshwater extraction process, solid salt precipitates and accumulates only on the side of the evaporator away from the seawater supply center, facilitating convenient collection. Additionally, the introduction of the positively charged polyacrylamide gel into the evaporator can decelerate the movement of cations in the seawater. This results in a significant potential difference between the evaporator surfaces away from the seawater supply center and those near the seawater supply center, enabling the continuous output of electrical energy. Therefore, the asymmetric evaporation evaporator realizes the efficient simultaneous extraction of freshwater, salt, and electrical energy from seawater.","PeriodicalId":72,"journal":{"name":"Energy & Environmental Science","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":32.5,"publicationDate":"2024-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142519296","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Flexible Spacer-block Multi-component Copolymerized Donors Enable Resilient Organic Solar Cells with over 40% Crack-onset Strain","authors":"Congqi Lin, Zhenyu Chen, Ruixiang Peng, Wei Song, Jiangwei Gao, Xueliang Yu, Tingting Feng, Yong Bai, Ziyi Ge","doi":"10.1039/d4ee04208e","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4ee04208e","url":null,"abstract":"Multi-component copolymerized donors (MCDs) represent an advantageous electron-donating material for optimizing the efficiency of flexible organic solar cells (f-OSCs). However, the inherent randomness in typical MCD structures often leads to non-uniform structures, thereby compromising intermolecular assembly and molecular organization. Consequently, achieving a balance between high efficiency and adequate stretchability poses a significant challenge. In this study, a novel series of <em>sequentially-block</em> MCDs with high molecular weight has been developed. The regular polymer skeleton and ideal molecular stacking resulting from the sequential block arrangement in the <strong>PM6-Cl<small>_0.8</small>-<em>b</em>-D18-Cl<small>_0.2</small>-TCl</strong> donor material led to a stabilized power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 18.55% for rigid and 17.21% for flexible binary OSCs. Additionally, promising crack-onset strain (COS) values of 32.02% and 22.58% have been observed in pristine and blend films, respectively, striking a balance between photovoltaic and mechanical properties. Notably, the PCE of the optimal ternary device based on <strong>PM6-Cl<small>_0.8</small>-<em>b</em>-D18-Cl<small>_0.2</small>-TCl</strong> also achieved 19.57%. Furthermore, the incorporation of the flexible functional group 1, 4-bis (thiophen-2-ylthio) butane (<strong>BTB</strong>) further enhanced the mechanical stretchability. The COS values of 40.29% and 25.38% have been obtained in <em>flexible spacer-block</em> MCD <strong>PM6-Cl<small>_0.8</small>-<em>b</em>-D18-Cl<small>_0.2</small>-BTB</strong> pristine film and corresponding blended film, respectively, marking some of the highest values achieved by MCD-based binary OSCs. This study showcases the innovative potential of <em>sequentially-block</em> MCDs incorporating flexible spacers in the development of high-performance and mechanically robust f-OSCs for the first time.","PeriodicalId":72,"journal":{"name":"Energy & Environmental Science","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":32.5,"publicationDate":"2024-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142519297","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}