New semiconductor devices could supplement solar cells by making electricity when the Sun isn’t shining.
Category: sustainability – Page 3
More robust ‘two-dimensional’ perovskites, made from thin films, could have wide applications in power-generating windows, LEDs, radiation detectors and more.
New research has revealed the fundamental mechanisms that limit the performance of copper catalysts—critical components in artificial photosynthesis that transform carbon dioxide and water into valuable fuels and chemicals.
In a study co-led by scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, researchers have used sophisticated X-ray techniques to directly observe how copper nanoparticles change during the catalytic process.
By applying small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS)—a technique traditionally used to study soft materials like polymers—to this catalyst system, the team gained unprecedented insights into catalyst degradation that has puzzled scientists for decades.
Durham University has contributed to new international research that critically assesses the intricate relationship between urban digitization and sustainability, focusing on the significant environmental impact of data centers.
KAUST is part of an international collaboration that has demonstrated how an ionic salt molecule, known as CPMAC, can significantly boost solar cell performance by 0.6%. A new study published in Science reveals that integrating a synthetic molecule significantly improves the energy efficiency and
New research led by Imperial College London and co-authored by the University of Bristol, has revealed that aerial robotics could provide wide-ranging benefits to the safety, sustainability and scale of construction.
The research examines the emerging field of using drones for mid-air material deposition in the construction industry —a process known as Aerial Additive Manufacturing (Aerial AM).
This technology addresses pressing global housing and infrastructure challenges using aerial robots equipped with advanced manipulators that can overcome the limitations of traditional construction methods and ground-based robotic systems.
Technology is giving us more options for plastic waste, but new methods are still far from perfect.
Discover Japan’s renewable energy breakthrough with the first titanium solar panel—1000 times more powerful than conventional cells.
Over the past few decades, solar cells have become increasingly widespread, with a growing number of individuals and businesses worldwide now relying on solar energy to power their homes or operations. Energy engineers worldwide have thus been trying to identify materials that are promising for the development of photovoltaics, are eco-friendly and non-toxic, and can also be easily sourced and processed.
These include kesterite-based materials, such as Cu₂ZnSnS₄ (CZTS), a class of semiconducting materials with a crystal structure that resembles that of the naturally occurring mineral kesterite. Kesterite solar cells could have various advantages over the conventional silicon-based photovoltaics that are most used today, including lower manufacturing costs, a less toxic composition and greater flexibility.
Despite their potential, kesterite solar cells developed to date attain significantly lower power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) than their silicon counterparts. This is in great part due to atomic-scale defects in kesterite-based materials that trap charge carriers and prompt non-radiative recombination, a process that causes energy losses and thus reduces the solar cells’ performance.