Category archives: Energy

The unexpected role of glycolaldehyde in photocatalytic cofactor regeneration using triethanolamine

The unexpected role of glycolaldehyde in photocatalytic cofactor regeneration using triethanolamine

ChemistryEnergyMaterials

By DIPC

Nature is a source of inspiration for scientists. If the efficiency of natural processes efficiency has been honed by billions of years of evolution, it seems reasonable that the best way to achieve some process is to try and mimic what nature has already come up with. This is the case with photosynthesis, a process […]

The costs of going green

The costs of going green

EconomicsEnergy

By José Luis Ferreira

A tax on carbon emissions is an efficient way to make firms and consumers internalize the environmental costs due to climate change. However, there are many other aspects to consider in a transition from a fossil-fueled economy to a cleaner one. In a past article we presented the case for subsidies on research to develop […]

Chemicals and fuels from plant waste

Chemicals and fuels from plant waste

BiotechnologyChemistryEnergyMaterials

By Pablo Ortiz

Both the depletion of fossil fuels and the environmental concerns are a powerful drive for the development of sustainable routes to commodity chemicals. Lignocellulose, comprised of lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose, is the ideal candidate, but its inherent complexity hampers its transformation to value-added chemicals. The group of Katalin Barta at the University of Groningen has […]

Accurate simulation of aqueous-based electrochemical setups

Accurate simulation of aqueous-based electrochemical setups

ChemistryCondensed matterEnergyMaterialsPhysicsQuantum physics

By DIPC

Following the need for new and renewable sources of energy worldwide, fuel cells using electrocatalysts can be thought of as viable options. Catalyst materials modify and increase the rate of chemical reactions without itself undergoing any permanent change. An electrocatalyst is a catalyst that participates in electrochemical reactions and that functions at electrode surfaces or […]

Ab initio modeling the chemical storage of alternative energy

Ab initio modeling the chemical storage of alternative energy

ChemistryEnergyMaterials

By TCCM

Author: Carles Martí is a Ph.D. student (ITN-EJD-TCCM) at University of Perugia Nowadays, mostly everybody has heard about global warming, a problem that humanity faces and that can drastically change our climate in the upcoming years. This is caused by the, also well known, greenhouse effect, produced by the gases our modern society generates, to […]

Mimicking Nature’s light-harvesting efficiency: the case of sulphur-bridged terthiophene dimers

Mimicking Nature’s light-harvesting efficiency: the case of sulphur-bridged terthiophene dimers

ChemistryCondensed matterEnergyMaterials

By DIPC

In nature, light harvesting organisms make extensive use of energy and electron transfer between adjacent molecules. Thus, in the photosynthetic cell of an algae, bacterium, or plant, there are light-sensitive molecules called chromophores, which contain a π-conjugated system (a system with alternate single and double bonds), arranged in an antenna-shaped structure named a photocomplex. When […]

Effects of defects and water on perovskite solar cells

Effects of defects and water on perovskite solar cells

ChemistryCondensed matterEnergyMaterialsPhysics

By DIPC

The German mineralogist Gustav Rose (1798 – 1873) made important contributions in the fields of petrology and crystallography. He was the first to use a reflective goniometer in Germany and developed a particular interest in the relationship between the crystalline form and the physical properties of minerals. As a consequence, he contributed significantly to the […]

Porphyrin complexes for high efficiency solar cells

Porphyrin complexes for high efficiency solar cells

ChemistryCondensed matterEnergyMaterials

By DIPC

As the search for renewable energy sources has intensified, the discovery of efficient and cheap technologies for exploiting the energy from the sunlight has emerged as a key challenge. Higher efficiency plays an increasingly important role in making competitive solar cell designs as the price of silicon continues to drop. At present, the actual silicon […]

Recent advances in lithium-ion rechargeable batteries

Recent advances in lithium-ion rechargeable batteries

ChemistryCondensed matterEnergyMaterials

By Francisco R. Villatoro

Lithium-ion batteries are widely used in portable electronic devices and electric vehicles since their introduction by Sony in 1991. Safety is an important concern since about two billion cells are produced every year but with a one-in-200,000 failure rate. Excessive temperature variations and high temperatures over the melting point of the metallic lithium can cause […]