EES Blog

Analysis article – comparing hydrogen, ethanol, butanol, fatty acid ethyl esters

This high-profile analysis suggests that it may be difficult to produce some advanced biofuels economically through aerobic fermentations due to low energy efficiency, as compared to ethanol, butanol, and hydrogen.

Evaluation of energy-retaining efficiency from sugar to the desired biofuels is prerequisite to its R&D and technoeconomical analysis, read this insightful article now:

Analysis of biofuels production from sugar based on three criteria: Thermodynamics, bioenergetics, and product separation
Wei-Dong Huang and Y.-H. Percival Zhang
Energy Environ. Sci., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C0EE00069H

‘HOT’ paper – carbon riveted Pt/TiO₂–C exhibits excellent stability

The significantly enhanced stability for carbon riveted Pt/TiO2–C catalyst is ascribed to:

(1) the excellent stability of anatase TiO₂
(2) the strong metal-support interaction between Pt and TiO₂
(3) the anchoring effect of the carbon layers formed during the carbon riveting process

These findings indicate that it is a promising catalyst for proton exchange membrane fuel cells which are under long term operation.

Ultrahigh stable carbon riveted Pt/TiO₂–C catalyst prepared by in situ carbonized glucose for proton exchange membrane fuel cell
Zheng-Zhi Jiang, Zhen-Bo Wang, Yuan-Yuan Chu, Da-Ming Gu and Ge-Ping Yin
Energy Environ. Sci., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C0EE00475H

‘HOT’ paper – read it now

CO₂ is regenerated from aqueous capture solutions using bipolar membrane electrodialysis (BPMED), demonstrating energy consumption as low as 100 kJ mol^-1(CO₂).

CO₂ separation using bipolar membrane electrodialysis
Matthew D. Eisaman, Luis Alvarado, Daniel Larner, Peng Wang, Bhaskar Garg and Karl A. Littau
Energy Environ. Sci., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C0EE00303D

Matthew Eisaman and colleagues have performed a comprehensive experimental investigation of CO₂ gas regeneration from aqueous potassium carbonate and bicarbonate solutions using bipolar membrane electrodialysis (BPMED). This system allows the regeneration of pure CO₂ gas, suitable for subsequent sequestration or reaction to synthetic hydrocarbons and their products.

‘HOT’ Communication – hot off the press today!

A highly pure Ge nanowire anode material sheathed with carbon shows impressive results – with very high reversible charge capacity, coulombic efficiency of 91% and superior capacity retention.

High performance Ge nanowire anode sheathed with carbon for lithium rechargeable batteries
Min-Ho Seo, Mihee Park, Kyu Tae Lee, Kitae Kim, Jeyoung Kim and Jaephil Cho
Energy Environ. Sci., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C0EE00552E