Sustainable Energy & Fuels最新文献

Overcoming the efficiency limits of single-junction silicon photovoltaics, this study presents a high-efficiency mechanically stacked III–V/PERC tandem solar module designed for scalability. The architecture integrates a III–V multijunction top cell with a bifacial PERC silicon bottom cell, achieving precise voltage matching through series connection and current matching via rear-side albedo illumination. Under one-sun front and optimized 0.4-sun rear illumination, the tandem device achieved a record efficiency of 36.07%, with a short-circuit current density of 15.16 mA cm⁻² and a fill factor of 83.19%. System-level simulations (PVsyst) for a 500 kW installation validated these experimental results, predicting an annual energy yield of 721 MWh. This significantly outperforms standalone PERC (675 MWh) and III–V (658 MWh) systems, exhibiting a superior specific energy yield of 1442 kWh per kWp per year. By demonstrating improved performance over previous tandem designs through flexible mechanical stacking and bifacial light utilization, these findings establish a commercially viable pathway for deploying high-efficiency tandem modules in real-world, high-albedo applications.

The continuous advancement in low-power electronics, wearable devices, and autonomous sensing platforms has increased the demand for energy harvesting technologies capable of extracting power from ambient energy sources. Among these sources, atmospheric humidity has recently emerged as a promising source for micro-scale power generation, as ambient moisture gradients can drive ion transport in hygroscopic materials to produce electrical output for low-power electronics and self-powered sensors. Recently, the systems like moisture-enabled electric generators (MEGs), hygroelectric converters, and evaporation-induced energy harvesters have shown the capability to transform water vapor or humidity gradients into usable electrical energy, utilizing environmentally friendly materials and via passive operation. This review presents a comprehensive overview of the fundamental mechanisms, materials, and device architectures that define humidity-driven energy harvesting technologies. Current methods are categorized according to their operational principles, such as ionic diffusion, surface charge modulation, and evaporation-driven flow. Key material systems, including carbon-based films, hydrogels, metal oxides, and bio-inspired composites, are examined for their performance, durability, and scalability. The discussion also includes the integration of these harvesting systems with energy storage components as a means to achieve fully autonomous and self-sufficient power platforms. This review focuses on applications in wearable technology, environmental monitoring, and the Internet of Things (IoT) to emphasize the potential impact of humidity-powered systems in practical situations. Finally, the current limitations in power output, environmental sensitivity, and fabrication complexity are critically examined, and future research directions are suggested. This review aims to summarize emerging knowledge in this field and promote the advancement of next-generation humidity-enabled energy technologies for decentralized and sustainable energies.

Correction for ‘From biofuels to e-fuels: an assessment of techno-economic and environmental performance’ by Etienne de Chambost et al., Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2026, 10, 905–919, https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SE00786K.

The macroporous 3D architecture of the open-cell foams enables superior heat and mass transfer, exceptional thermal conductivity, rapid heat dissipation, and minimal diffusion resistance, ensuring structural stability under the highly exothermic methanation conditions. Herein, this work investigates and compares the performance of ZrO₂-based 3D structured foams for thermocatalytic conversion of CO₂ to methane with excellent selectivity. The foams were coated using the solution combustion method, where initially 40 wt% Ce and (5–15 wt%) Mg were coated, and a further 30 wt% nickel was utilized for coating. The catalyst was characterized via PXRD, SEM, H₂-TPR, and CO₂-TPD, and FE-SEM, EDX analysis confirmed the presence of Ce, Mg, Ni, and O. The catalyst showed 78% conversion with ∼99% selectivity at 300 °C, whereas foams without using Mg promoter showed only 17% conversion with 90% selectivity towards methane. This result confirmed the synergistic effect between the Ce–Mg for the CO₂ methanation reaction and can be linked with the basicity of the Ni/Ce–Mg catalyst. Overall, this work contributes to CO₂ valorization and methane production with excellent selectivity and an easy synthesis process.

Rechargeable zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) are promising energy storage systems for large-scale and stationary applications due to their intrinsic safety, low cost, environmental friendliness, and the natural abundance of zinc metal. However, their practical development is severely hindered by the poor electrochemical reversibility and structural instability of zinc metal anodes during repeated plating and stripping. In aqueous electrolytes, zinc anodes suffer from dendritic growth, hydrogen evolution, corrosion, surface passivation, and the formation of electrochemically inactive dead zinc, resulting in rapid capacity decay and low coulombic efficiency. These failure mechanisms originate from nonuniform zinc nucleation, anisotropic crystal growth, heterogeneous electric field and current density distributions, Zn²⁺ solvation–desolvation behavior, and unstable zinc–electrolyte interfacial chemistry. This review critically summarizes recent advances in understanding the fundamental mechanisms governing zinc anode behavior in aqueous ZIBs, with an emphasis on the origin of morphological instability and dendrite formation. Based on these insights, state-of-the-art anode engineering strategies are comprehensively reviewed, including electrolyte and solvation-structure engineering, functional electrolyte additives, artificial solid–electrolyte interphase construction, separator design, surface chemistry modulation, and host-structure engineering using porous carbon frameworks, metallic scaffolds, and zincophilic composite architectures. Finally, key challenges related to long-term cycling stability, high-areal-capacity operation, lean electrolyte conditions, and practical scalability are discussed to provide guidance for the rational design of dendrite-free and highly reversible zinc metal anodes.

Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution is a promising approach to generate hydrogen gas for use as a green alternative to fossil fuels which have contributed to climate change. Simple metal oxide semiconductors have been studied extensively in photocatalysis, however these systems are limited by their broad band gap energy. Herein, the synthesis of and photophysical characterisation of a zinc tetraphenyl porphyrin appended branched polyethylenimine polymer (PEI-ZnTPP) is reported. The photophysical porperties of the PEI-ZnTPP polymer are similar to porphyrins in the literature, with an absorption profile that extends into the visible region of the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum, and a long lived triplet excited state lifetime of 197 µs. These visible light absorption properties were exploited using the polymeric nature of the PEI-ZnTPP to prepare PEI-ZnTPP/TiO₂/Pt⁰ nanocomposites which displayed a photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate of 34 675 µmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ thus out-performing other photosensitising polymers coated onto TiO₂ in the literature. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of the nanocomposites indicated all components required for photocatalysis remained in the system following irradiation and were still available to act as PHE components, however slight degration of the coatings occurred. Using electrochemical analysis, a Rehm–Weller type thermodynamic analysis was performed for the nanocomposites indicating favourable electron transfer from the PEI-ZnTPP polymer to the TiO₂ and the Pt⁰ co-catalyst, helping to further rationalise the impressive PHE rate observed for the nanocomposites.

This study employs a one-dimensional solar cell capacitance simulator (SCAPS-1D) to investigate all-inorganic perovskite solar cells (PSCs) featuring single and bilayer absorbers, along with various electron transport layers (ETLs). We compared two devices, including a cesium lead triiodide (CsPbI₃) single absorber and CsPbI₃/cesium lead tribromide (CsPbBr₃) dual absorber. The bilayer absorber increases short-circuit current density (J_SC), open-circuit voltage (V_OC), fill factor (FF), and power conversion efficiency (PCE) to 19.48 mA cm⁻², 1.17 V, 79.4%, and 18.1%, respectively. This is because the energy bands are better aligned, the built-in potential is stronger, and the light absorption is higher. The optimization of absorber layer thickness reveals that 300 nm is optimum for CsPbI₃ and 700 nm thickness is the best for CsPbBr₃. Higher defect densities make all metrics degrade by increasing non-radiative recombination. Moreover, multiple ETLs were applied to further enhance and compare the photovoltaic (PV) performance of dual PSCs. Among all, strontium titanate (SrTiO₃) showed the highest PCE of 23.09% with a J_SC of 19.45 mA cm⁻², a V_OC of 1.36 V, and a FF of 87.06%. The obtained results confirm that the bilayer of CsPbI₃ and CsPbBr₃ synergistically enhances light absorption, band alignment, and carrier dynamics in PSCs.

The microbial electrosynthesis system (MES) offers an attractive platform for effective cathodic reduction of carbon dioxide (CO₂) to biomethane (CH₄). However, achieving high productivity and energy efficiency remains challenging, often due to sluggish hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) kinetics at the cathode. Here, we showed an efficient CO₂ reduction reaction with a stainless steel mesh cathode electrodeposited with magnesium oxide (MgO) and copper oxide (CuO); MgO/CuO-SSM. The electrodes are coupled with an enriched anaerobic culture to facilitate the bioproduction of CH₄ from CO₂. Material characterization confirmed the successful deposition of MgO and CuO on SSM, while electrochemical analysis revealed superior catalytic performance of the composite electrode compared to bare SSM. Furthermore, optimizing the applied cathode potential from −1 V to −0.9 V vs. Ag/AgCl/KCl (sat'd) for modified SSM improved the methane production while increasing the electrical energy efficiency. At −0.9 V vs. Ag/AgCl/KCl (sat'd), MgO/CuO-SSM recorded an energy efficiency of 21.6% (103.8 ± 3.8 L(CH₄) m⁻³(catholyte replaced) d⁻¹), surpassing that of bare SSM (14.7%, 117.5 ± 3.6 L(CH₄) m⁻³(catholyte replaced) d⁻¹) operated at −1 V vs. Ag/AgCl/KCl (sat'd). Overall, our work introduces a promising and facile electrode modification strategy that enhances MES performance, enabling CO₂ reduction to CH₄ at reduced energy demand towards practical carbon neutrality applications.

Converting carbon dioxide and water into high-value chemicals using renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power is an effective strategy to simultaneously address the depletion of fossil energy and promote low-carbon emissions and alleviate the greenhouse effect. The electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO₂RR) involves a multi-proton-coupled electron transfer process comprising multiple steps, including CO₂ adsorption, activation and hydrogenation. Although significant progress has been made in the electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂ to formate, achieving formate production that combines sustained high activity, selectivity and stability still faces severe challenges. This study developed a high-performance electrocatalyst, Bi₂O₃–In₂O₃@CuO, which was obtained by in situ growth of core–shell nanowire structures on Cu foam. In this structure, Cu nanowires acted as the core, and the outer layer was the bismuth–indium metal oxide shell. The obtained catalyst exhibited excellent performance in the CO₂RR, with a current density reaching 28.4 mA cm⁻² and a Faraday efficiency of formate as high as 88.7%.

Lignocellulose is one of the most sustainable and renewable carbon sources for the production of biofuels. However, its complex and recalcitrant structure, typically composed of bulky and highly oxygenated molecules, results in significant challenges for catalytic conversion using zeolites as catalysts. These structural complexities often require multiple reaction steps and severe reaction conditions, making product selectivity, carbon recovery, and catalyst deactivation particularly relevant. This review provides the latest developments in the application of zeolites for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass and its derivatives into biofuels. Both advantages and challenges associated with zeolites as well as the potential for further development of zeolites for the production of biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks were discussed.