Nature Energy September 2020
olume 5 Issue 9, September 2020
Road to recovery
Recovery in fuel demand after the COVID-19 slowdown continues to depend on healthcare and economic indicators, and shows extreme uncertainty. Ou et al. combine healthcare scenarios and cellphone mobility data in a machine-learning model to predict short-term gasoline demand in the United States and foresee a slow recovery.
See Ou et al.
Image: Liang Huang. Cover Design: Thomas Phillips.
Comment & Opinion
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Comment | 10 August 2020
Five thermal energy grand challenges for decarbonization
Roughly 90% of the world’s energy use today involves generation or manipulation of heat over a wide range of temperatures. Here, we note five key applications of research in thermal energy that could help make significant progress towards mitigating climate change at the necessary scale and urgency.
- Asegun Henry
- Ravi Prasher
- & Arun Majumdar
Research Highlights
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Research Highlight | 16 September 2020
Extra space charge
- Changjun Zhang
Research Highlight | 16 September 2020
Send the right message
- Jenn Richler
News & Views
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News & Views | 07 August 2020
Quantification beyond expenditure
The use of energy expenditure thresholds for quantifying energy poverty is a widely used approach, particularly within the Global North. New research from Hong Kong confirms that this method risks overlooking important housing and climate-related factors.
- Harriet Thomson
News & Views | 24 August 2020
Sacrificing nothing to reduce CO2
Photocatalytic systems for CO2 conversion to fuels tend to suffer from low selectivity, and sacrificial reagents or external bias are often required to make the reaction work. Now, a wireless and stand-alone photocatalyst device is demonstrated that converts CO2 and water into formate and O2 using solar energy without external bias.
- Tuo Wang
- & Jinlong Gong
News & Views | 31 August 2020
How to split an exciton
Non-fullerene acceptors have enabled record power conversion efficiencies in organic solar cells, but it is unclear how they achieve efficient electron–hole separation. New research shows that extremely long exciton lifetimes are essential to ensure that charges are generated efficiently.
- Tracey M. Clarke
Reviews
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Review Article | 16 July 2020
Current status and future directions of multivalent metal-ion batteries
Batteries based on multivalent metal anodes hold great promise for large-scale energy storage but their development is still at an early stage. This Review surveys the main complexity arising from anodes, electrolytes and cathodes, and offers views on the progression path of these technologies.
- Yanliang Liang
- Hui Dong
- & Yan Yao
Research
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Article | 20 July 2020
Simplified interconnection structure based on C60/SnO2-x for all-perovskite tandem solar cells
Interconnecting layers are critical to the efficiency of tandem solar cells and a high number of layers is typically needed to ensure good electrical properties. Yu et. al show that a fullerene/tin-oxide interconnecting layer enables 24.4% efficiency and improved stability in all-perovskite tandem solar cells.
- Zhenhua Yu
- Zhibin Yang
- & Jinsong Huang
Article | 17 July 2020
Machine learning model to project the impact of COVID-19 on US motor gasoline demand
The COVID 19 pandemic and consequent lockdown has had a substantial impact on mobility and therefore fuel demand and it is not clear when demand will recover. Ou et al. use a machine learning model that integrates health recovery scenarios to project the near-term future of gasoline demand.
- Shiqi Ou
- Xin He
- & Jessey Bouchard
Article | 24 August 2020
Operando decoding of chemical and thermal events in commercial Na(Li)-ion cells via optical sensors
Tracking a battery’s chemical and thermal states during operation offers important information on its reliability and lifetime. Here the authors develop optical fibre sensors and decouple temperature and pressure variations in the measurements inside of batteries, allowing chemical and thermal events to be monitored with high accuracy.
- Jiaqiang Huang
- Laura Albero Blanquer
- & Jean-Marie Tarascon
Article | 10 August 2020
Molecular engineering of dispersed nickel phthalocyanines on carbon nanotubes for selective CO2 reduction
Widespread deployment of electrochemical CO2 reduction requires low-cost catalysts that perform well at high current densities. Zhang et al. show that methoxy-functionalized nickel phthalocyanine molecules on carbon nanotubes can operate as high-performing molecularly dispersed electrocatalysts at current densities of up to −300 mA cm–2.
- Xiao Zhang
- Yang Wang
- & Yongye Liang
Article | 10 August 2020
Diagnosing and correcting anode-free cell failure via electrolyte and morphological analysis
Anode-free batteries have emerged as a promising storage means to offer high energy density but still suffer from long-term reversibility. The authors analyse the cell failure mechanisms and present an optimized electrolyte to extend the lifetime of anode-free pouch cells.
- A. J. Louli
- A. Eldesoky
- & J. R. Dahn
Article | 24 August 2020
Molecularly engineered photocatalyst sheet for scalable solar formate production from carbon dioxide and water
Selective photocatalytic conversion of CO2 into fuels without using sacrificial reagents and external bias has proved difficult. Addressing these challenges, Wang and colleagues fabricate wireless photocatalyst sheets comprising a molecular cobalt catalyst and metal oxide semiconductors that convert CO2 and H2O into formate and O2.
- Qian Wang
- Julien Warnan
- & Erwin Reisner
Article | 31 August 2020
The role of exciton lifetime for charge generation in organic solar cells at negligible energy-level offsets
Donor–acceptor systems with low energy-level offset enable high power efficiency in organic solar cells yet it is unclear what drives charge generation. Classen et al. show that long exciton lifetimes enable efficient exciton splitting and thus generation of free charges while also suppressing voltage losses.
- Andrej Classen
- Christos L. Chochos
- & Christoph J. Brabec
Analysis | 06 July 2020
Assessing the feasibility of carbon dioxide mitigation options in terms of energy usage
Carbon emission reduction measures have widely differing energy consumptions that have not been systematically compared. Babacan et al. estimate comparable energy use per unit emission reduction of various emission reduction measures, from efficiency improvements to renewable electricity generation to carbon removal.
- Oytun Babacan
- Sven De Causmaecker
- & Jenny Nelson
Amendments & Corrections
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Author Correction | 22 July 2020
Author Correction: Highly efficient reversible protonic ceramic electrochemical cells for power generation and fuel production
- Chuancheng Duan
- Robert Kee
- & Ryan O’Hayre
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