Editorial Board Chair Professor Nathan Lewis at US Energy Hearing

Cover image for EES showing a representation of photocatalysisOn 15 June 2016 US Energy Subcommittee Chairman Randy Weber chaired a hearing, Innovation in Solar Fuels, Electricity Storage, and Advanced Materials. A panel of expert witnesses discussed the status of research in the United States and the development of solar fuels, electricity storage and quantum computing systems. Energy & Environmental Science Editorial Board Chair Professor Nathan Lewis, California Institute of Technology, discussed artificial photosynthesis and some of the recent developments in solar fuel research.

You can watch the hearing in full at the website for the Committee on Science, Space & Technology.

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Energy & Environmental Science Impact Factor increases to 25.427

Energy & Environmental Science (EES) is pleased to announce its Impact Factor has increased to 25.427*.

EES continues to lead the field as the home of extraordinarily high quality, agenda-setting research relating to energy conversion and storage, alternative fuel technologies and environmental science. This impressive Impact Factor of 25.427* and a 5-year Impact Factor of 22.118 means that research published in the journal has lasting impact. EES has strengthened yet further its position at the top of three key Journal Citation Reports categories: Energy & Fuels; Engineering, Chemical; and Environmental Sciences, and has moved up to 4th in the Chemistry, multidisciplinary category.

Our broad scope and the interdisciplinary nature of research published in the journal, coupled with our rigorous peer review and rapid times to publication of 60 days** from receipt to acceptance, ensures your work will quickly attract the attention it deserves.

We’re also excited to announce that Wolfgang Lubitz, Jenny Nelson and Yan Shao-Horn have joined the Editorial Board in 2016.

We would like to thank all our authors, readers, reviewers and editorial & advisory Board members for making EES the number 1 journal in the field

*The Impact Factor provides an indication of the average number of citations per paper. Produced annually, Impact Factors are calculated by dividing the number of citations in a year, by the number of citeable articles published in the preceding two years. Data based on 2015 Journal Citation Reports® (Thomson Reuters).

**2015 average for Full Papers

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Polymer Photocatalysts for Solar Fuels Synthesis, 13-14 April 2016

EES and Catalysis, Science and Technology were delighted to support the Polymer Photocatalysts for Solar Fuels Synthesis which took place on 13-14t April 2016.

The two-day workshop at University College London on 13th and 14th April, focussed on polymer photocatalysts in the widest sense of the word (e.g. conjugated polymers, carbon nitride, graphene oxide) and their application in photocatalytic water splitting and CO2 reduction.

From left to right; Benjamin Martindale, Georgina Hutton, Martijn Zwijnenburg (conference organiser), Run Li.

The prize winners were;

EES poster prize: Georgina Hutton & Benjamin Martindale , Reisner group, Cambridge. Poster title: Solar hydrogen production using carbon quantum dots and a molecular catalyst.

Catalysis, Science and Technology poster prize: Run Li, Zhang group, Max Planck Institute for Polymer research, Mainz, Germany.  Poster title: Photocatalytic Selective Bromination of Aromatic Compounds using Microporous Organic Polymers with Visible Light.

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IWPEEA-2016 Liverpool, 21-24 August 2016

EES are pleased to support the International Workshop on Plasmas for Energy and Environmental Applications IWPEEA-2016 which will take place in Liverpool, UK from 21 – 24 August 2016.

This workshop will bring together people from academia and industry who are interested in the latest scientific and technological advances in core areas of emerging plasma technology for environmental clean-up and energy applications.

Topics

The workshop will cover the following topics:

  1. Plasma generation, diagnostics and modelling for energy and environmental applications.
  2. Plasma chemistry for energy conversion and fuel and chemical synthesis (e.g. greenhouse gas conversion, ammonia synthesis, hydrogen production, CO2 to fuels/chemicals etc.)
  3. Plasma environmental clean-up (e.g. removal of VOCs, NOx, odour, tars, PM and PAHs, sterilisation, ozone generation etc.)
  4. Plasma treatment of waste liquid (e.g. wastewater treatment)
  5. Plasma solid waste treatment (e.g. plasma gasification, pyrolysis, vitrification etc.)
  6. Plasma synthesis of catalysts and energy materials (e.g. carbon nanomaterials)

Plenary Speakers

• Prof. Christopher Whitehead, The University of Manchester, UK ◦Plasma-catalysis: What do we still need to know?
• Prof. Annemie Bogaerts, University of Antwerp, Belgium ◦Plasma chemistry modeling for CO2 conversion: A better understanding of energy efficiency and product formation
• Prof. Gerard van Rooij, DIFFER, The Netherlands ◦CO2 reduction by microwave plasma as a route to solar fuels
• Dr. Antoine Rousseau, École Polytechnique, France ◦Air treatment using plasma-sorbent coupling
• Prof. Bruce R Locke, Florida State University, USA ◦Plasma liquid (TBC)
Invited Lectures

•Prof. Davide Mariotti, Ulster University, UK ◦Third generation photovoltaics with atmospheric pressure plasmas
•Prof. Wei Chu, Sichuan University, China ◦Plasma assisted preparation of new catalysts for CO2 conversion to feasible products
•Dr. Hyun-Ha Kim, AIST, Japan ◦Plasma-catalysis: From catalyst screening to NH3 synthesis
•Dr. Qi Wang, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, The Netherlands ◦Nitrogen fixation by plasma: A touch on future application?

‌Oral and poster abstract submissions are now invited for IWPEEA-2016 on any of the themes listed above.  Please see the website for more details.

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CO2 photoreduction: shining a light on surface activation

CO2 photoreduction

Harnessing sunlight to produce fuel from CO2

Photocatalytic reduction of CO2 to solar fuels such as methane or methanol may be a promising route to sustainably meet our energy needs. Yet many existing photocatalysts suffer from poor product selectivity and efficiency, caused in part by the competing hydrogen evolution reaction that can occur in the presence of water.

Jinlong Gong and colleagues at Tianjin University, China, highlight recent strategies used to improve the adsorption and activation of CO2 at the catalyst surface – an important and under-researched step in this process – and discuss conditions influencing the reaction pathways leading to the photoreduction products. They also review how chemisorption of the molecule can be enhanced by tailoring properties such as catalyst surface area, surface defects and noble metal co-catalysts, and how factors such as electrolyte pH and CO2 absorption mode can influence product distribution.


Want to know more? Read this review article online, which is free to access until 6 May 2016:

CO2 photo-reduction: insights into CO2 activation and reaction on surfaces of photocatalysts” by X. Chang et al., DOI: 10.1039/C6EE00383D

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4th UK Solar Fuels Symposium, St John’s College, Cambridge

On 9th January 2016, the 4th UK Solar Fuels Symposium took place at St John’s College, University of Cambridge.  The event was held by the Solar Fuels network and hosted by the Reisner group at the University of Cambridge.

Prof. James Durrant (Imperial College London) gave the welcome and opening remarks, and the invited speakers included: Edman Tsang (University of Oxford), Gregory Wildgoose (RSC Advances Associate Editor, University of East Anglia) and Kylie Vincent (University of Oxford).

Energy & Environmental Science was pleased to present the following prizes,

Best Oral Presentation (£100 prize): Katherine Orchard, University of Cambridge

Best Poster Prizes (£50 each): Grace Lowe, University of Nottingham and Timothy Rosser, University of Cambridge

Left to right: Dr Katie Lim, Deputy Editor Energy & Environmental Science, Katherine Orchard, University of Cambridge, Timothy Rosser, University of Cambridge and Grace Lowe, University of Nottingham.

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Harvesting hydrogen from tough biomass

Written by Nelly Berg for Chemistry World

US-based scientists have come up with a sustainable way to harvest hydrogen fuel from biomass. Their new electrolytic approach can even release hydrogen from obstinate molecules like lignin and cellulose.

Although hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, it’s so light that Earth’s gravity cannot hold onto it. This is unfortunate, as molecular hydrogen also happens to be the cleanest fuel – burning in air to give just water and energy. Because only trace amounts exist in the atmosphere, most hydrogen fuel today is derived from fossil fuels, using processes called petroleum reforming and coal gasification. It can also be thermochemically extracted from biomass, using high temperatures and expensive catalysts. Other ways to harvest hydrogen from biomass are fermentation, electrolysis and photoelectrochemical conversion, but these methods cannot directly break down the fibrous lignin and cellulose found in wood and grass.

Now, Yulin Deng and his team at Georgia Tech have developed a low-temperature electrolytic technology that can harvest hydrogen fuel from nearly all types of biomass.

Read the full Chemistry World article and original article published in EES:

Wei Liu, Yong Cui, Xu Du, Zhe Zhang, Zisheng Chao and Yulin Deng
Energy Environ. Sci., 2016, Advance Article. DOI: 10.1039/C5EE03019F

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A new EES Board Member for 2016

Meet Professor Yang Shao-Horn

Energy & Environmental Science are delighted to announce that Professor Yang Shao-Horn joins the Editorial Board of the journal.

Yang Shao-Horn is W.M. Keck Professor of Energy at MIT. Her research is centered on the chemical physics of surfaces with emphasis on metal oxides, searching for descriptors of catalytic activity, and reactivity between oxides and ion conductors, wetting properties and ion transport, and design materials for solar fuel and batteries including electrochemical/photoelectrochemical water splitting and CO2 reduction, ion/electron storage, and ion conductors. Professor Yang’s research includes extensive experimental components, including synthesis of well-defined surfaces and nanostructured materials, and investigation of processes at the surfaces/interfaces using electrochemical methods coupled with ex situ and in situ X-ray-based and electron-based spectroscopy. These experimental components are used in conjunction with Density Functional Theory computation efforts to develop new, physically based reaction mechanisms and design principles of materials. Professor Yang has published ~200 archival journal papers.

Read Professor Yang’s latest article in EES here:

Jae-Il Jung, Marcel Risch, Seungkyu Park, Min Gyu Kim, Gyutae Nam, Hu-Young Jeong, Yang Shao-Horn and Jaephil Cho
Energy Environ. Sci., 2016, 9, 176-183. DOI: 10.1039/C5EE03124A.

Professor Yang and the rest of the Editorial Board invite you to submit your best work to EES now!

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1st International Symposium on Singlet Fission and Photon Fusion, 18-21 April 2016

EES is pleased to support the 1st International Symposium on Singlet Fission and Photon Fusion, held on 18-21 April 2016.  This new conference series will cover all aspects of singlet fission and photon fusion including both molecular and heavy metal systems, as well as molecular solar thermal storage. Some of the most talented scientists in this exciting up-and-coming field, including chemists, physicists, spectroscopist and theoreticians are coming to present their most recent results. We are certain that this will promote highly stimulating and creative days in Gothenburg (Sweden).

Confirmed Keynote Speakers:
Richard Friend, Cambridge
Felix Castellano, NC State
Stanislav Balouchev, MPI/Sofia
Timothy W. Schmidt, UNSW
Jennifer Dionne, Stanford
Jianzhang Zhao, Dalian University of Technology
Ferdinand Grozema, TU Delft

Confirmed Invited Speakers:
Michel R. Wasielewski, Northwestern
Justin Johnson, NREL
Lüis Campos, Columbia
Nobuo Kimizuka, Kyushu
Ana Morandeira, Uppsala
Michael J. Tauber, UCSD
Dirk Guldi, Erlangen
Christopher Bardeen, UC Riverside,
Yoan Simon, Fribourg
Francesco Meinardi, Milano
David Zhitomirsky, MIT

Due to the strong lineup of confirmed speakers we expect to have 200 participants coming to Gothenburg. The conference has high visibility within the photochemistry and materials science research community. The symposium covers all aspects of the interaction of light and matter, related to singlet fission and photon fusion including photochemistry, photophysics and spectroscopy, and materials science. More information is available at the symposium website.

Looking forward to see you all in Gothenburg!

Maria Abrahamsson and Kasper Moth-Poulsen, on behalf of the organizing committee.

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UK-Korea Symposium on Lithium and Sodium Batteries

We are excited to announce the upcoming UK-Korea Symposium on Lithium and Sodium Batteries which will take place in London from the 18th – 19th January 2016.

The symposium will be a joint meeting organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry and Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) and will be focussed upon covering all aspects of lithium-ion, sodium-ion and metal-air batteries (for e.g. Li, Na and Zn).

There will be talks showcasing some of the best research from Korea and the UK with opportunities to highlight recent developments and identify emerging and future areas of growth. There will also be a poster session with prizes and certificates awarded for the best poster presentations.

Further details about the symposium can be found here along with information on registration and abstract submission.

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