continuedThe cover image is based on the Research Article Neural network-based learning and estimation of battery state-of-charge: A comparison study between direct and indirect methodology by Wen Sun et al., https://doi.org/10.1002/er.5654.

This work presents a review on the use of nickel oxide as a hole transport material in perovskite solar cell configuration towards achieving a high performance and stable device. This review covers the background introduction, operating principle, device architectures, parameters affecting the hole transport mechanisms, application areas and updated overview of the recent progress on the use of nickel oxide as hole transport material in perovskite devices.

Content from 45 Review Articles on Solar Dryers analyzed and gap in research on Large-scale Industrial Solar Dryers (LISDs) identified. 34 Original Research Articles with content relevant to LISD analyzed and crossed with content from industrial drying literature. LISD Research Opportunities identified.

The organic photovoltaic cell (OPV) is composed of multiple layers, and some printing and coating techniques are more suitable than others for a certain type of layer. This paper aims to characterize and compare the most relevant coating and printing techniques that can be used in the manufacture of OPVs. The results show that the most used method for the processing of OPVs is spin-coating. In the studies found, rotation was used to coat the active layer, the electron transport layer and the hole transport layer. The techniques of pad printing, casting and meniscus are considered useful in the processing of the active layer. Regarding the deposition of the active layer, hole transport layer, electron transport layer and anode, the rotogravure, crack matrix, spraying and brushing techniques were satisfactory. Flexography has been used to form the active layer, electron transport layer and anode. Screen printing, inkjet printing and knife/blade coating were used in the processing of the active layer, hole transport layer, electron transport layer, anode and cathode. Both the double slot die coating, curtain coating and slide coating allows simultaneous processing of multiple layers. Techniques compatible with roll-to-roll processing are more likely to be at the center of OPVs in the future, thus making solar photovoltaic technology more competitive.

Simply infiltrating a secondary catalyst to the anode support of the thin-film-based solid oxide fuel cell (TF-SOFC) can secure both the fuel flexibility and the high performance. Infiltrated Pd forms an alloy with the main catalyst, Ni, at a temperature as low as 650 °C at both powder and unit cell levels, which enhances the steam reforming reaction of butane. The performance and durability at 600 °C reported in this work are among the highest reported for hydrocarbon-fueled SOFCs.

In this work a novel core-shell structured SiO₂@NaNO₃ microcapsule thermal storage material with enhanced thermal conductivity and thermal stability was fabricated via water-limited sol-gel method.

• A compact, lightweight liquid cooling system was constructed.
• Cycling tests were conducted under various conditions.
• Comprehensive thermal analysis was performed.
• Thermal performance was found to be satisfactory.

• TDA/TiO₂ composite as form-stable phase change material (Fs-CPCM) with no leakage.
• Fs-CPCM possesses good thermal energy storage capacity (97.75 kJ/kg) with suitable melting temperature (52.04°C).
• FS-CPCM showed good thermal reliability, thermal durability, and chemical stability.
• TiO₂ significantly enhanced thermal conductivity of TDA.

The investigation of volatile organic acids dynamics throughout the treatment process of palm oil mill effluent (POME) had led to the isolation of potential formate utilizing microbial consortia. After 25 days of culturing in formate synthetic medium, the consortium containing hydrogenotrophic methanogens; Methanoculleus marisnigri and Methanoculleus chikugoensis, uncultured bacteria, Aminobacterium sp., and Ruminobacillus xylanolyticum could produce the highest methane yield of 259 mL/g COD. The findings, here, can contribute to higher efficiency in palm oil mill wastewater treatment.

In this study, we introduce carbon nanocages (PtRu CNC) support for anodic Direct Methanol Fuel Cell. PtRu/CNC showed a maximum power density of 3.35 mW cm⁻², which is 1.72 times higher than that of the PtRu/C commercial electrocatalyst. The higher performance of PtRu/CNC was attributed to the fact that it had the smallest bimetallic-Pt crystallite with a smooth distribution of bimetallic-Pt on its CNC support, as shown by FESEM

Porous core-shell Fe₃O₄@MnO₂ nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized, and the synthesized NPs dispersed in poly (vinylidene fluoride) by solution mixing method. Then, flexible, piezoelectric, and EM-sensitive multifunctional nanofibers were fabricated using the solution electrospinning technique. Extensive characterizations were performed on both synthesized NPs and electrospun mats. The results showed that the fabricated nanofibers have the potential to be used in fabricating flexible clothing capable of EM shielding, hybrid piezoelectric-electromagnetic harvesting, and mimic the health and movement pattern.

The influence of the substitution of Mn by Ni on the structural, morphological and electrochemical properties of CaNi_5−xMn_x alloys prepared by mechanical alloying, used in the Ni-MH battery.

A novel way to optimize the ionomer/Pt interfacial structure to alleviate ionomer poisoning effect has been proposed. It was achieved via a porous coating derived from Nafion on Pt particles which could reduce ionomer/Pt interface and made Pt particles accessible to protons and oxygen. The new catalyst with porous coating exhibits superior ORR and better cell performance.

Neat PEO-based SPE vs PEO/PPC BSPE.

Cs₂NbI₆, a K₂PtCl₆ type compound is half-metallic ferromagnet having excellent physical properties. It has 100% spin polarization at Fermi level, as; it is metallic in one spin state and semiconducting in other spin state. Due to versatile character, it can be utilized for multifunctional applications such as solar cells, thermo-power generators and spintronics.

Porous activated carbon in monolith forms were prepared from the low cost and environmentally friendly precursor of green stem cassava (GSC), through a combination of chemical and physical activation processes. Therefore, the synthesized porous activated carbon exhibits a micropores-mesopores combination, and the optimized sample demonstrated nanosheet and nanofiber structures. The results show a high electrochemical behavior with specific capacitance, energy and power densities of 164.58 F g⁻¹, 22.86 Wh kg⁻¹ and 82.38 W kg⁻¹, respectively.

In this present work, a simple electroless deposition method is used for the fabrication of hexacyanoferrate(III)-nickel deposited pencil graphite (HCF-Ni-PGE) electrode and applied as an electrochemical sensor for selective and simultaneous determination of ortho- and para- nitrophenol isomers.

• ME based PV/WT/HT-PEMFC hybrid energy system was designed to meet both the electricity and heat requirement of a grid independent house.
• The levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of system was calculated as 0.25 $/kWh with CHP application.
• The economic viability of ME based PV/WT/HT-PEMFC hybrid system was shown by LCOE.

Novel graphene/β-MnO₂ composite cathode material for rechargeable Mg battery. Appreciable cell capacity of 110mAh/g within 60 charge-discharge cycles.

In the current study, Pt nanoparticles (NPs) were decorated on a new hybrid network, comprising of carbon nanofiber (CNF) and carbon black (CB), by means of a facile and efficient microwave (MW) assisted reduction method. All synthesized electrocatalysts were characterized to elucidate chemical, morphological structures and electrocatalytic activity. Hybrid electrocatalyst exhibited enhanced fuel cell performance with 907 mW.cm⁻¹ maximum power density.

1. A novel resistance-based aging feature is extracted from the Thevenin model to describe battery capacity degradation;
2. Considering the influence of temperature, Box-Cox transformation is introduced to improve the performance of the aging feature;
3. A data-driven battery state of health estimator is established, Gaussian Process Regression, backpropagation network, and support vector regression are implemented to verify the generality of the proposed estimator.

• A novel wettability gradient anode flow channel is designed.
• The force analysis for the droplets on the wettability gradient surface is studied.
• The drainage capacity of turning part increases as the wettability gradient increases.

A thermo-stable separator was prepared by a simple dipping method for Li-S batteries, in which a layer of silicon dioxide-poly (propylene carbonate) based electrolyte with a high ionic-conductivity of 1.03 × 10−4 S cm−1 is coated on the commercial separator. The composite separator can not only block the shuttle of polysulfides but also improve the battery stability under elevated temperatures. As a result, the Li-S batteries using this separator exhibit high capacity retention of 69.4% after 200 cycles at 60 °C.

The direct and indirect neural network-based structures for learning and estimation of battery state-of-charge (SOC) are proposed, first with SOC as network output and second with the one as an internal state. Experimental results demonstrate that both estimators can achieve accurate SOC estimation for regular cases, in spite of the inaccurate initial conditions. Moreover, the cases with sensor bias can be well accommodated in the indirect structure by extending the sensor bias as an augmented state, realizing the accurate estimation of SOC together with unknown sensor bias.

A deformable underwater solar concentrator (DUSC) with bi-layer film structure is introduced. The effective deformation ratio of the DUSC was found to get the maximum concentration. The focus of DUSC under static water was carried out through indirect CCD testing.

A novel approach to improve the performance of a solar-driven Stirling engine by using a solar-driven ejector cooling cycle is proposed and evaluated. The concentrated solar energy is split into two parts: The first part is used to drive the Stirling engine and the second part to derive the ejector cooling system. The cooling produced in the ejector cooling cycle is used to cool the Stirling engine in order to enhance its efficiency.

The mixed matrix membrane using 2-N-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propane sulfonic acid modified graphene oxide nanocomposite (PAMPS-mGO), Carboxylated poly (vinyl chloride) (CPVC), and poly 2-N-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propane sulfonic acid (PAMPS) was prepared for PEM fuel cell applications. The effect of amounts of membrane precursors was optimized using DOE. The membrane with excellent fuel cell performance, proton conductivity, young modulus and elongation break percentage, water uptake percentage at elevated temperatures, ion exchange capacity and oxidative stability was obtained using PAMPS-mGO, CPVC and PAMPS.

The generator temperatures of both hybrid cycles based on LiNO₃-[BMIM]NO₃/H₂O were lower than that using the other working fluids. At different refrigeration temperatures, the generator temperatures were reduced about 7°C and 10°C for the single effect and double effect, respectively, in comparison with LiBr/H₂O. Under the giving operating conditions, COP and ECOP of the both ACHR cycles were increased slightly compared with other working fluids. Therefore, LiNO₃-[BMIM]NO₃/H₂O has a great potential to be used as an alternative working fluid in the absorption-compressed hybrid refrigeration system.

In this work, methane autothermal reforming in heat-pipe and folded reactor were compared to that of a tubular reactor. Results show that the performance of novel reactors are superior to the tubular reactor, and the optimal hydrogen yield of the folded reactor increased by 2.57% compared to the heat pipe reactor. The performance of the heat pipe reactor depends on the length and position of the heat pipe; the characteristics of the folded reactor depend on the material and thickness of the intermediate plate.

To our knowledge, this is the first study to compare mesophilic and thermophilic conditions for the continuous dark fermentation of sugarcane molasses in anaerobic fluidized bed reactors using different mixed cultures. Based on the results observed, the variation of hydraulic retention time can select the microbial populations and the main metabolic pathways between succinic acid and hydrogen production routes in high-rate mesophilic and thermophilic reactors. This enables the adoption of precise operational conditions depending on the targeted product.

1. We proposed an original hybrid energy system by utilizing the waste heat of a data center cooling unit in a thermal-driven desalination process.
2. A two-phase liquid-immersion cooling system, which is one of the most recent and efficient data center cooling solutions thanks to its high heat flux removal performance for the rapidly developed Information and Communication Technology facilities such as cloud computing and big data, is combined with the direct contact membrane distillation module (a thermal-driven desalination system) and the proposed hybrid design is completely different than the previously presented data center waste heat studies.
3. The hybrid design has demonstration potential in real life as an interdisciplinary solution that can be a beneficial way for the engineering community in the energy and environment sectors; hence, we do not only perform classical thermodynamic assessment, but also carry out an interdisciplinary thermoeconomic approach with the multiobjective optimization procedure.

This research article fills the gap in the literature by assessing the environmental impact from the perspective of CO₂ emissions embedded in alternative energy systems and estimating the environmental benefits of their implementation in the power supply of electric vehicles charging stations from the perspective of avoided CO₂ emissions compared to the classic electricity supply grid. This study was carried out within the complex project “Intelligent conductive charging stations, fixed and MobiLe, for electric propulsion transport”–(SMiLE-EV).

The ionanofluid plasticized PEO-LiTFSI electrolyte in Li/LiFePO₄ battery shows superior electrochemical performances as compared to the ionic liquid plasticized electrolyte. The ionanofluid significantly improves the free ion concentration within the electrolyte by reducing the ion-pair concentration.

It concludes the synthesis, post-treatments to electrocatalytic performance steps. Post-annealing and plasma treatments are used to modify the structure of pristine NbS₂ for better hydrogen evolution performance. Annealing induced thinning which exposed extra basal plane and enhanced electro-catalytic results are achieved.

Silicon-based metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitor using Al_xZr_yO_z as a potential high dielectric constant gate oxide was studied with regards to interface trap density, oxide trapped charges, dielectric constant as well as crystalline phases, oxide thickness, composition, and energy band gap. Interfacial layer formation was impeded and defect formation was suppressed by nitrogen and hydrogen, respectively. Oxygen vacancy formation and annihilation as well as interstitial oxygen formation affected generation of charged traps.

• Performances of electric-driven heat pump are analyzed
• Average, time-dependent and spatial varying Italian electric efficiency indicators are considered
• Average, time-dependent and spatial varying Italian carbon dioxide emissions for electricity are taken into account

A 1-D electrochemical model of a Li-S battery predicting the dependence of the discharge behavior on the critical cell design parameters (carbon-to-sulfur and electrolyte-to-sulfur ratios) is proposed. Both the discharge voltage and capacity are improved considerably with increasing C/S or E/S ratio up to a certain point, while the dependence of the discharge performance on these factors is less significant at higher ratios. The model offers a mechanistic interpretation of the impact of cell design on the Li-S battery performance.

• Pure H₂ production at room temperature from a commercial stable solution of NaBH_4.
• Elastic structured catalytic support obtained from a bio-inspired method.
• Cobalt foams as robust and new tools for H₂ release at room temperature.

A novel heat sink cooling system is proposed, and its exergy efficiency and entropy generation are studied. This work is helpful to design and operate the heat sink cooling system in the fields of thermal management of electronic components.

The concept of an ultrahigh voltage AAB based on aqueous alkaline-acid hybrid electrolyte is introduced and demonstrated. The open circuit voltage of the newly designed battery is 2.56 V, 29.9% higher than conventional alkaline AAB. And a high energy density of 4591 mWh g_Al⁻¹ is achieved at a discharge voltage of around 2.08 V at 10 mA cm⁻².

Batch mode CDI system.

The operation of the hybrid (EMG-TENG) generator in line with the thermomagnetic engine holds great potential in harnessing low-grade thermal energy with high added value as compared to common practices in its utilization. The thermomagnetic engine produced the highest average rotational speed of 226 ± 1.76% rpm when the temperature difference between the hot and cold water jets driving the engine reached 45°C delivering power output of 8.4 mW at a loading resistance of 100 Ω.

The article «MnOx-carbon arc soot composite for supercapacitor application» (Iurchenkova A.A., Fedorovskaya E.O., Matochkin P.E., Sakhapov S.Z., and Smovzh D.V.*) is devoted to the description of the original method of synthesis of Mn-C composite for supercapacitor electrodes. The method allows obtaining nanoparticles of manganese oxide and carbide in a carbon matrix. The technology allows synthesizing materials of high chemical purity and is easily scaled. The influence of synthesis conditions on the composite structure and phase composition was studied.

The structure stability, optoelectronic properties of Ga1-xAlxN superlattice nanowires photocathodes is investigated through first-principles. The results show that large-size and high-Al component superlattice nanowires have higher stability. The built-in electric field generated by multiple sublayers of continuous gradient can make the superlattice nanowires show lower band gap and work function.

This research proposes a new rooftop electromagnetic rainwater energy harvester including a pipe-connected tank with a passive rainwater buffer. Experimental results show that the intermittent high-efficiency power generation of the proposed structure is better than the continuous low-efficiency power generation of the traditional structure for energy harvesting in light rain consitions.

SnS phases were synthesized via cost effective and environment friendly mechanochemical route without addition of carbon derivative to be used as anode for sodium ion batteries. Contrary to the other synthesis approaches which necessity harsh reaction conditions, mechanochemical synthesis does not require the use of solvents, surfactants, high reaction temperature or any purification step. Binder effect was investigated where Na-alginate based electrode exhibited much better electrochemical responds due to its self-healing properties than CMC and PVdF supported by postmortem analysis.

An ultra-fast flame method was used to prepare W-doping bismuth vanadate photoanode for enhancing the transport ability of carriers.

The paper explored the mechanism of working of dye sensitizers for the improvement of efficiency of environmentally benign dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). The identified natural dyes namely anthocyanin (A), betalain (B) and chlorophyll (C) were extracted from Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.), spinach (Spinacia oleracea) and beetroot (Beta vulgaris) respectively. The N3 (synthetic dye chosen for the reference) dye-based cell showed the highest efficiency of 6.19% out of all of 11 cells fabricated using different sensitizers. The DSSC fabricated using the novel mixed dye (ABC) mixture gave the highest efficiency of 3.73%, however it showed similar drop (almost 22%) in efficiency as that with of N3 dye in stability studies. The mechanism for the increase in the overall power conversion efficiency of DSSC was also suggested.

Nickel hydroxide/reduced graphene oxide (Ni(OH)₂/rGO) composite thin films were fabricated using dip-coating and electrodeposition method at room temperature. It shows better oxygen evolution (OER) performance as compared to the prinstine electrodes with an excellent long-term stability.

The manuscript proposes that India has to consider solar thermal technology, the molten-salt solar tower technology (STT), that can be ramped up and down. Based on the direct solar irradiance data, many locations are suitable where such STT plants can be set up. Cost analysis demonstrates that the capital cost of STT plant is quite competitive compared to the nuclear and coal thermal technologies because these technologies have high operational costs.

Defects (V_Oand V_Zn) cause strong splitting of H₂ molecule and enhances sensor response in gas sensing applications; whereas dopants (Pd and Pt) cause weak splitting of H₂ molecule and would be more useful in energystorage applications.

TiO₂ integrated with g-C₃N₄ (TiO₂@g-C₃N₄: TOCN) hybrid was prepared by a facile heating treatment from the precursor of urea and commercial TiO₂ nanoparticles, which used as sulfur host (TOCN@S) for Li-S batteries. Relying on the synergistic adsorption of polysulfide by TOCN has increased positive active material utilization and reduced the electrochemical resistance and electrode polarization.

CNTs prepared by conventional methods have disadvantages of high impurity and low yield, which restricts the further application of CNTs, and the preparation of CNTs with large specific surface area and controllable pore structure are even more difficult. Here, porous CNTs were fabricated by activating sulfonated polymer nanotubes with steam at 800°C. Thanks to the unique bamboo-like 1D structure, large specific surface area and porous structure, ACNTs display a high specific capacitance of 276 F g⁻¹ at 1 A g⁻¹.

Impact of COVID-19 on airline mobility investigated. Two EU based airports analyzed from mobility, energy and environmental aspect.

To obtain high-efficiency AlGaN monolayer photocathode, we present an Al_xGa_{1 − x}N monolayer photocathode with varying Al contents and ultra-thin emission layer. And then the quantum efficiency formulas of photocathode including reflection-mode and transmission-mode structures have been derived. From simulated results of quantum efficiency under different conditions, we can know that difference in Al components, thickness of Al_xGa_{1 − x}N monolayer emission layer, thickness of buffer layer and Al components distribution have a crucial impact on improvement of quantum efficiency.

Commercial (SoA) Ni/GDC was modified with Deposition-Precipitation (D.P.) of iron and exhibited enhanced performance as functional SOE fuel electrode. The promoting effect depends on the wt% Fe content, where D.P. of quite low amount of iron, through the formation of Ni-Fe alloy, caused a threefold enhancement compared to Ni/GDC. Interestingly, the 0.5-Fe-Ni/GDC electrode performed similarly high like the noble-metal modified Au-Mo-Ni/GDC. Nevertheless, Fe-Ni/GDC samples seem more susceptible to oxidation in the presence of high pH₂O, requiring further investigation.

Balancing the growth and nucleation leads to the improved size distribution of colloidal AgBiS₂ nanocrystals (NCs) by adding the 1-octadecene (ODE) as non-coordinating solvent to control the concentration of oleic acid. Device parameter based on AgBiS₂ NCs synthesized with modified method shows the enhanced open-circuit voltage (VOC) value owing to decreased energetic disorder and band tail broadening of AgBiS₂ NCs.