Related papers: Low-cost high-efficiency solar steam generation by…
We present a systematic optimization of nighttime thermoelectric power generation system utilizing radiative cooling. We show that an electrical power density over 2 W/m2, two orders of magnitude higher than the previously reported…
Nanowire arrays exhibit efficient light coupling and strong light trapping, making them well suited to solar cell applications. The processes that contribute to their absorption are interrelated and highly dispersive, so the only current…
Developing low-weight, frugal and sustainable power sources for resource-limited settings appears to be a challenging proposition for the advancement of next-generation sensing devices and beyond. Here, we report the use of centimeter-sized…
Thermionic energy conversion (TEC) using nano materials is an emerging field of research. Graphene can stand high temperature as high as 4600 K in vacuum. Its work function can be engineered from its high value (for monolayer/bilayer) 4.6…
Thermal energy storage using sensible heating of a solid storage medium is a potential low-cost technology for long-duration energy storage. To effectively get heat in and out of the solid material, channels of heat transfer fluid can be…
The low conversion rate and efficiency always weaken the performance of thermochemical water-splitting reaction. Herein, we, for the first time, conducted the thermodynamic study of a hydrogen permeable membrane (HPM) in an isothermal…
Among several solutions to exploit solar energy, thermophotovoltaics (TPV) have been popularized and have known great breakthroughs during the past two decades. Yet, existing systems still have low efficiencies since the wavelength range of…
A fluid-based method is demonstrated for preparing graphene nanomeshes (GNMs) directly from pristine graphite flakes by a one-step process. The high efficiency is attributed to the combination of fluid-assisted exfoliation and perforation…
Thousands of tons of isotopic mixtures are processed annually for heavy-water production and tritium decontamination. The existing technologies remain extremely energy intensive and require large capital investments. New approaches are…
Thin crystalline silicon solar photovoltaics holds great potential for reducing the module price by material saving and increasing the efficiency by reduced bulk recombination loss. However, the module efficiency decreases rather…
Power-conversion efficiency is a critical factor for the wider adoption of solar-cell modules. Thin-film solar cells are cheap and easy to manufacture, but their efficiencies are low compared to crystalline-silicon solar cells and need to…
Thermophotovoltaics are promising solid-state energy converters for a variety of applications such as grid-scale energy storage, concentrating solar-thermal power, and waste heat recovery. Here, we report the design, fabrication, and…
Passive solar desalination is an emerging low-cost technology for fresh water production. State of the art desalinators typically evaporate water using wicking structures to achieve high solar-to-vapor efficiency by minimizing heat loss.…
Energy storage becomes crucial for energy systems with an increasing share of renewable energy sources. Artificial photosynthesis, in particular photovoltaic water splitting, provides both sustainable energy generation and energy storage in…
An energy efficient spark plasma sintering method enabling the densification of large size samples assisted by very low electric current levels is developed. In this method, the electric current is concentrated in the graphite foils around…
We report a low cost and scalable method to synthesize solar selective nanofluids from 'used engine oil'. The as-prepared nanofluids exhibit excellent long-term stability and photo-thermal conversion efficiency. Moreover, these were found…
Although perovskite solar cells have demonstrated impressive efficiencies in research labs (above 23%), there is a need of experimental procedures that allow their fabrication at ambient conditions, which would decrease substantially…
The active layer microstructure of organic solar cells is critical to efficiency. By studying the photovoltaic properties of organic solar cell's microstructure, it is possible to increase the efficiency of the solar cell. A graph-based…
A novel system has been developed that harnesses the phenomena of vortex-induced vibrations (VIV) from a slow current (<0.5 m/s) of water to generate renewable hydrokinetic energy. It utilizes a single degree-of-freedom pivoting cylinder…
We propose a theoretical approach to describe quantitatively the heating process in aqueous solutions of dispersed TiN nanoparticles under solar illumination. The temperature gradients of solution with different concentrations of TiN…