EES Blog

Take a look at this week’s selection! These articles are available free for a limited time:

Si-based Earth abundant clathrates for solar energy conversion
Yuping He, Fan Sui, Susan M. Kauzlarich and Giulia Galli
DOI: 10.1039/C4EE00256C, Communication

Improving the photoelectrochemical activity of La5Ti2CuS5O7 for hydrogen evolution by particle transfer and doping
Jingyuan Liu, Takashi Hisatomi, Guijun Ma, Aki Iwanaga, Tsutomu Minegishi, Yosuke Moriya, Masao Katayama, Jun Kubota and Kazunari Domen
DOI: 10.1039/C4EE00091A, Communication

Performance of a mixing entropy battery alternately flushed with wastewater effluent and seawater for recovery of salinity-gradient energy
Meng Ye, Mauro Pasta, Xing Xie, Yi Cui and Craig S. Criddle
DOI: 10.1039/C4EE01034E, Paper

Experimental demonstration of enhanced photon recycling in angle-restricted GaAs solar cells
Emily D. Kosten, Brendan M. Kayes and Harry A. Atwater
DOI: 10.1039/C3EE43584A, Communication

Take a look at this week’s selection! These articles are available free for a limited time:

Improvement of open-circuit voltage and photovoltaic properties of 2D-conjugated polymers by alkylthio substitution
Chaohua Cui, Wai-Yeung Wong and Yongfang Li
DOI: 10.1039/C4EE00446A, Paper

Towards low-cost, environmentally friendly printed chalcopyrite and kesterite solar cells
Hamed Azimi, Yi Hou and Christoph J. Brabec
DOI: 10.1039/C3EE43865A, Review Article

A wearable thermoelectric generator fabricated on a glass fabric
Sun Jin Kim, Ju Hyung We and Byung Jin Cho
DOI: 10.1039/C4EE00242C, Paper

Researchers in South Korea have devised a way to harness the motion of water, including from raindrops or from a flushing toilet, as a sustainable energy source.

Devices that renewably generate electricity in an uncomplicated manner are in demand. Now, Youn Sang Kim and his team at Seoul National University and Korea Electronics Technology Institute (KETI) have adapted a transducer to convert the mechanical energy from water motion into electrical energy.

Interested to know more? Read the full article by Abigail Hallowes on Chemistry World.

Read the original article in Energy & Environmental Science – it’s free to download until 27th May 2014!

The Effective Energy Harvesting Method from Natural Water Motion Active Transducer (WMAT)
Youn Sang Kim, Junwoo Park, YoungJun Yang, Eungkyu Lee, Soon-Hyung Kwon, Won Keun Kim, Cheouljong han, Jeongno Lee and Siyun Park
Energy Environ. Sci., 2014, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/C4EE00588K, Communication

A simple “one-pot” solvothermal method has been developed to prepare high-surface-area mesoporous TiO₂ microspheres in order to extend the light absorption from the ultraviolet to the visible region of the solar spectrum.

By Martina Congiu

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) is a wide bandgap semiconductor, extensively studied for photocatalysis because nontoxic, abundant, stable and photoactive. Unfortunately, bare TiO₂ absorbs photons only in the ultraviolet, hence the need to find suitable dopants to enhance its absorption in the visible region.

The new nonaqueous solvothermal method carried out by Liu and co-workers, shows how it is possible to synthesize carbon-doped microspheres with high specific surface area, tunable pore diameter and grain size, high crystallinity, well-defined morphology and high visible light absorption.

Furthermore, the new material was tested as solid-state photocatalyst under visible light irradiation. The experiment showed that doped-TiO₂ microspheres created with this new method have an hydrogen production rate three times higher than commercial TiO₂ nanoparticles.

Interested in a better understanding about this field? Read more from the Communication:

Doping high-surface-area mesoporous TiO₂ microspheres with carbonate for visible light hydrogen production
Bin Liu, Li-Min Liu, Xiu-Feng Lang, Hsin-Yi Wang, Xiong Wen (David) Lou and Eray S. Aydil
DOI: 10.1039/C4EE00472H, Communication

A thermoelectric generator that converts body heat into electricity could make replacing or recharging batteries in wearable electronics a task of the past.

As the electronics market continues to expand there is a growing need for new ways to charge devices like smart watches and wearable medical sensors. However, conventional organic-based thermoelectric (TE) generators do not produce a high enough power output for use in wearable devices. And previously reported inorganic-based systems tend to use bulky, rigid and heavy ceramic substrates that increase thermal energy loss and limit their power output and energy conversion efficiency. The TE generator developed by Byung Jin Cho and his team at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology uses a glass fabric that is thinner, lighter and more flexible than other devices reported to date.

Interested to know more? Read the full article by Charlotte Still on Chemistry World.

Read the original article in Energy & Environmental Science – it’s free to download until 15th May 2014!

Wearable Thermoelectric Generator Fabricated on Glass Fabric
Sun Jin Kim, Ju Hyung We and Byung Jin Cho
Energy Environ. Sci., 2014, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/C4EE00242C, Paper

Scientists in China and the US say a new anode material they have created represents a significant step forward in the development of long-life stationary lithium-ion batteries for large-scale energy storage systems.

Lithium-ion batteries are one of the most effective rechargeable batteries thanks to their high energy density and low environmental impact. However, the performance of current lithium-ion batteries, which use graphite as the anode material, cannot satisfy requirements of large-scale systems that could support smart electricity grids linked with renewable sources. Their charging rate is limited because at voltages required for a fast charge, lithium deposition, or plating, occurs, which can result in the battery short circuiting.

Interested to know more? Read the full article by Jennifer Newton on Chemistry World.

Read the original article in Energy & Environmental Science – it’s free to download until May 13th 2014!

A long-life lithium-ion battery with highly porous TiNb2O7 anode for large-scale electrical energy storage
Bingkun Guo, Xiqian Yu, Xiao-Guang Sun, Miaofang Chi, Zhen-An Qiao, Jue Liu, Yong-Sheng Hu, Xiao-Qing Yang, John B Goodenough and Sheng Dai
Energy Environ. Sci., 2014, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/C4EE00508B, Communication

A pioneering study has proposed a new integrated method for producing aviation fuels from woody feedstock by considering all downstream processing stages and carrying out a detailed economic analysis.

Lignocellulose, a raw material in biomass, can be converted to biofuels and is often considered a long-term alternative to the diminishing supply of fossil fuels. The conversion process involves biomass pretreatment, hydrolysis of constituent carbohydrates and catalytic conversion of platform chemicals. Proposed strategies to convert lignocellulose to aviation fuels have underused components, preventing their commercialisation.

Interested to know more? Read the full article by Dannielle Whittaker on Chemistry World.

Read the original article in Energy & Environmental Science – it’s free to download for the next few weeks!

Production of renewable jet fuel range alkanes and commodity chemicals from integrated catalytic processing of biomass
Jesse Q. Bond, Aniruddha A. Upadhye, Hakan Olcay, Geoffrey A. Tompsett, Jungho Jae, Rong Xing, David Martin Alonso, Dong Wang, Taiying Zhang, Rajeev Kumar, Andrew Foster, S. Murat Sen, Christos T. Maravelias, Robert Malina, Steven R. H. Barrett, Raul Lobo, Charles E. Wyman, James A. Dumesic and George W. Huber
Energy Environ. Sci., 2014,7, 1500-1523
DOI: 10.1039/C3EE43846E, Paper

Take a look at this week’s selection! These articles are available free for a limited time:

Investigating charge dynamics in halide perovskite-sensitized mesostructured solar cells
V. Roiati, S. Colella, G. Lerario, L. De Marco, A. Rizzo, A. Listorti and G. Gigli
DOI: 10.1039/C3EE43991G, Communication

Microfluidic fuel cells on paper: meeting the power needs of next generation lateral flow devices
J. P. Esquivel, F. J. Del Campo, J. L. Gómez de la Fuente, S. Rojas and N. Sabaté
DOI: 10.1039/C3EE44044C, Paper

Designing the next generation high capacity battery electrodes
H.-C. Yu, C. Ling, J. Bhattacharya, J. C. Thomas, K. Thornton and A. Van der Ven
DOI: 10.1039/C3EE43154A, Paper

Take a look at this week’s selection! These articles are available free for a limited time:

Colossal pseudocapacitance in a high functionality–high surface area carbon anode doubles the energy of an asymmetric supercapacitor
Zhi Li, Zhanwei Xu, Huanlei Wang, Jia Ding, Beniamin Zahiri, Chris M. B. Holt, Xuehai Tan and David Mitlin
DOI: 10.1039/C3EE43979H, Paper

A multiple ion-exchange membrane design for redox flow batteries
Shuang Gu, Ke Gong, Emily Z. Yan and Yushan Yan
DOI: 10.1039/C4EE00165F, Paper

Doping high-surface-area mesoporous TiO2 microspheres with carbonate for visible light hydrogen production
Bin Liu, Li-Min Liu, Xiu-Feng Lang, Hsin-Yi Wang, Xiong Wen (David) Lou and Eray S. Aydil
DOI: 10.1039/C4EE00472H, Communication

Pseudocapacitive oxide materials for high-rate electrochemical energy storage
Veronica Augustyn, Patrice Simon and Bruce Dunn
DOI: 10.1039/C3EE44164D, Review Article