Nature Energy最新文献

Lithium metal batteries operating under extreme conditions are limited by the sluggish desolvation process and poor stability of the electrode–electrolyte interphase. However, rational interphase design is hindered by the ill-defined understanding of interphasial chemistry at the molecular level. Here we design and synthesize a series of sulfoximide salts, lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfinyl)imide (LiBSTFSI) and lithium (trifluoromethanesulfinyl)(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiSTFSI), that possess distinctive oxidizability. Their molecular structure and interphasial chemistry were correlated. An anionic electro-polymerization was induced by the asymmetric LiSTFSI to establish a bilayer catholde–electrolyte interphase (CEI) with LiF dominated inner covered by negative-charged inorganic polymers. LiSTFSI-derived CEI enables superior mechanical stability and accelerated Li⁺ desolvation that contribute to the stable cycling and superior energy and power densities under ultra-high rate and ultra-low temperature conditions. Industrial pouch cells of 474 Wh kg⁻¹ achieved extreme power density of 5,080 W kg⁻¹ at 30 °C and exceptional low-temperature energy and power densities at −20 °C (382 Wh kg⁻¹, 3,590 W kg⁻¹) and −40 °C (321 Wh kg⁻¹, 1,517 W kg⁻¹).

Accurate energy system modelling of chemical separations is a critical component of technology selection to minimize operating costs, energy consumption and emissions. Here we report a hybrid modelling approach based on data-driven and mechanistic models to holistically compare chemical separation performance. Our model can be used to select the most suitable technology for a given chemical separation, such as membrane separation, evaporation, extraction or hybrid configurations, by training a machine learning model to predict solute rejection using an open-access membrane dataset. We estimated an average 40% reduction in energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions for industrially relevant separations using our methodology. We predicted and analysed 7.1 million solute rejections across several industrial sectors. Pharmaceutical purification could realize carbon dioxide emissions reductions of up to 90% by selecting the most efficient technology. We mapped the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions and the reduction in operating costs globally, establishing parameter thresholds to facilitate corporate and governmental decision-making.

Commercializing perovskite-based tandems necessitates environmentally friendly solvents for scalable fabrication of efficient wide-bandgap (WBG) (1.65–1.80 eV) perovskites. However, the green solvents developed for formamidinium lead iodide-based ~1.50-eV-bandgap perovskites are unsuitable for WBG perovskites due to the low solubility of caesium and bromide salts, leading to reliance on toxic N,N-dimethylformamide solvent. Here we present a green solvent system comprising dimethyl sulfoxide and acetonitrile to effectively dissolve the named salts, with the addition of ethyl alcohol to prevent precursor degradation and to extend the solution processing window. Using this green solvent mixture, we achieve blade-coated WBG perovskite solar cells with power conversion efficiencies of 19.6% (1.78 eV) and 21.5% (1.68 eV). We then demonstrate 20.25-cm² all-perovskite tandem solar modules with a power conversion efficiency of 23.8%. Furthermore, we achieved WBG perovskites deposited in ambient air and narrow-bandgap perovskites fabricated using the same green solvents, which promotes the viability of environmentally friendly fabrication.