EES Blog

Energy & Environmental Science was delighted to sponsor the 1st International Conference on Proton Coupled Electron Transfer (PCET2011) held in the Loire Valley, France from 9-13th October.

Energy & Environmental Science (EES) also plans to publish a collection of high-profile feature articles in a special issue to highlight some of the great research from this important first meeting bringing together the various disciplines involved with PCET.

Read some of the speakers recent articles published in EES:

“Fast food” energy
Daniel G. Nocera
DOI: 10.1039/C003891C

Water electrolysis and photoelectrolysis on electrodes engineered using biological and bio-inspired molecular systems
Phong D. Tran, Vincent Artero and Marc Fontecave
DOI: 10.1039/B926749B

EES themed issue, 2011, Issue 7
Biomimetic approaches to artificial photosynthesis
Guest Editors: Leif Hammarström and Michael Wasielewski

PCET 2011, the 1st International Conference on Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer, got off to an exciting and dynamic start yesterday.

This conference is the first of its kind; aiming to bring together all the different research areas that are working on proton and and electron transfer. So far it has sparked lively debate, with lectures going on until 11pm on the first evening!

The first two lectures aimed to give an insight into the diverse research areas which study proton-coupled electon transfer. Joanne Stubbe gave the opening lecture on the biological aspects of PCET and its role in enzyme activity. The next talk was by Jean-Michel Saveant, who discussed PCET and electochemistry.

EES are sponsoring PCET 2011 and we were delighted to host the Verre de l’amite last night where the debate and discussion went on late into the night! It’s going to be an exciting week…!

The first Sun New Energy Conference (SuNEC)  took place in Santa
Flavia, Sicily, 5-7 July 2011. Jointly organized by Palermo’s University and CNR, with Professor Mario Pagliaro at the helm, the meeting covered some of the latest developments in the solar energy science and technology, with eminent speakers including Bernard Kippelen, Vincenzo Balzani, Claudia Bettiol and Ralph Nuzzo.

Energy & Environmental Science (EES) was the official publication of the conference. With an Impact Factor of 9.45 and ranked #1 in its field, EES was the ideal journal partner for the conference.

Conference highlights:

Ralph Nuzzo, of the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, gave a memorable talk on new printing-based approaches to high performance, low cost photovoltaic energy conversion systems.

Read Professor Nuzzo’s EES Communication on monocrystalline silicon solar modules:

Compact monocrystalline silicon solar modules with high voltage outputs and mechanically flexible designs
Alfred J. Baca, Ki Jun Yu, Jianliang Xiao, Shuodao Wang, Jongseung Yoon, Jae Ha Ryu, Darren Stevenson, Ralph G. Nuzzo, Angus A. Rockett, Yonggang Huang and John A. Rogers
Energy Environ. Sci., 2010, 3, 208-211
DOI: 10.1039/B920862C

Vincenzo Balzani, now emeritus professor at the University of Bologna, explained the scope of the energy challenge requiring phase-out of fossil fuels with their severe damage to climate, environment, and human health. He said that a very important achievement will be  the production of powerful, clean fuel hydrogen directly from water and sunlight.

Professor Balzani’s review in EES discusses the shift he foresees to electricity-based energy. Read it now:

Towards an electricity-powered world
Nicola Armaroli and Vincenzo Balzani
Energy Environ. Sci., 2011, 4, 3193-3222
DOI: 10.1039/C1EE01249E

Bernard Kippelen, head of the Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics at the Georgia Institute of Technology,showed why organic photovoltaics will be one of the key clean energy technologies in the 21st century with ten percent efficient plastic solar cells almost a reality. Plastic solar cells instead will become ubiquitous he suggested and their are great opportunities in this field in future.

Professor Kippelen has recently published some of his exciting research in EES. Read his paper:

Roles of thermally-induced vertical phase segregation and crystallization on the photovoltaic performance of bulk heterojunction inverted polymer solar cells
Hyeunseok Cheun, John D. Berrigan, Yinhua Zhou, Mathieu Fenoll, Jaewon Shim, Canek Fuentes-Hernandez, Kenneth H. Sandhage and Bernard Kippelen
Energy Environ. Sci., 2011, 4, 3456-3460
DOI: 10.1039/C1EE01316E

Delegates also enjoyed the sights of the Castle of Solanto, the Formica rocks and Aspra – part of Sicily’s northern coast featuring a multitude of historical remnants and natural marvels. The conference banquet dinner features Sicilian cuisine and time-honoured recipes accompanied by local wine.

SuNEC 2012 will be held in Sicily from 4–6 September 2012. Early bird registration is now open.

Energy & Environmental Science is delighted to announce its exciting collaboration with the Sun New Energy Conference and Exhibition (SuNEC).

SuNEC will be held 5-7 July 2011 in Sicily, Italy and will be co-chaired by Vittorio Loddo and Mario Pagliaro. Confirmed plenary speakers include Ralph G. Nuzzo, Athanasios Konstandopoulos, Bernard Kippelen and Vincenzo Balzani.

The meeting will focus on the practical aspects of solar energy in every major field, covering the latest developments in solar energy science. For more information and to register for this conference, visit the SuNEC website.

Themes:

• Photovoltaics
• Solar electrical vehicles
• BIPV
• Solar cooling
• Concentrated solar power
• Solar thermal
• Solar economy (Helionomics)

Energy & Environmental Science plans to publish a collection of high-profile feature articles in a special issue to highlight some of the great research from this important meeting in the area of solar energy conversion.

Energy & Environmental Science articles of interest:

Solar hydrogen: fuel of the near future
Mario Pagliaro, Athanasios G. Konstandopoulos, Rosaria Ciriminna and Giovanni Palmisano,
Energy Environ. Sci., 2010, 3, 279

Compact monocrystalline silicon solar modules with high voltage outputs and mechanically flexible designs
Alfred J. Baca, Ki Jun Yu, Jianliang Xiao, Shuodao Wang, Jongseung Yoon, Jae Ha Ryu, Darren Stevenson, Ralph G. Nuzzo, Angus A. Rockett, Yonggang Huang and John A. Rogers,
Energy Environ. Sci., 2010, 3, 208

EES author, Harry Atwater, gave a keynote lecture today at the E-MRS Bilateral Energy Conference in Nice.  His talk gave an overview of his reseach covering many aspects of solar energy conversion, including new nanomaterials for photovoltaics and light trapping.

Read Professor Atwater’s latest ESS papers: 

820 mV open-circuit voltages from Cu2O/CH3CN junctions
Chengxiang Xiang, Gregory M. Kimball, Ronald L. Grimm, Bruce S. Brunschwig, Harry A. Atwater and Nathan S. Lewis
Energy Environ. Sci., 2011, 4, 1311-1318
DOI: 10.1039/C0EE00554A, Paper

High-performance Si microwire photovoltaics
Michael D. Kelzenberg, Daniel B. Turner-Evans, Morgan C. Putnam, Shannon W. Boettcher, Ryan M. Briggs, Jae Yeon Baek, Nathan S. Lewis and Harry A. Atwater
Energy Environ. Sci., 2011, 4, 866-871
DOI: 10.1039/C0EE00549E, Communication

Si microwire-array solar cells
Morgan C. Putnam, Shannon W. Boettcher, Michael D. Kelzenberg, Daniel B. Turner-Evans, Joshua M. Spurgeon, Emily L. Warren, Ryan M. Briggs, Nathan S. Lewis and Harry A. Atwater
Energy Environ. Sci., 2010, 3, 1037-1041
DOI: 10.1039/C0EE00014K, Communication

EES Advisory Board member James Dumesic gave the first Plenary lecture at the Rideal Catalysis Conference yesterday.

The topic of his talk was the catalytic conversion of biomass-derived carbohydrates into hydrocarbon fuels, some great discussion then followed… engaging all of the catalysis community at the meeting.

Read some of the great work Professor Dumesic has published in EES at www.rsc.org/ees