Solid heat storage offers a low-cost solution for storing renewable energy, but falling temperatures during power delivery often cause unpredictable performance. Verma et al. address this challenge by introducing a multiscale design framework that combines optimized block geometries with dynamic fluid flow control. This approach enables high-temperature thermal energy storage systems to deliver steady, battery-like power for over 90% of their discharge cycle, providing a scalable pathway toward reliable, low-cost long-duration energy storage on the power grid.

This work explores a scalable compute system for machine learning in space, using fleets of satellites equipped with solar arrays, inter-satellite links using free-space optics, and Google tensor processing unit (TPU) accelerator chips. Looking at launch cost, radiation tolerance, and free-space optical communication in tight clusters, the conclusion is that AI in space is promising but entails serious engineering challenges.

Ruthenium oxides are promising low-cost anodes for proton exchange membrane water electrolysis but suffer from poor acidic stability. By eliminating non-bonding oxygen states and using oxygen charge as a descriptor, we show that Tb-B-RuO2 achieves high activity and 3,200-h durability in the test of the device, thereby offering a route toward scalable hydrogen production.

Organic solar cells are vulnerable to air, yet the roles of oxygen and moisture during degradation remain elusive. This study unravels the dominant role of oxygen in device failure, driving irreversible polymer oxidation, while moisture mainly induces reversible twisting of the polymer backbone. Importantly, direct excitation of the polymer is not required for its oxidation. Excitons formed as charge-transfer states or localized on the acceptor can generate singlet oxygen through triplet exciton transfer, rendering even infrared light harmful in the presence of oxygen.

Light-induced halide segregation remains the principal stability bottleneck in mixed-halide wide-band-gap perovskites. Here, dual SCN−/OCN− alloying induces an emergent cooperative frustration within the halide sublattice, creating a non-additive distortion field that simultaneously suppresses halide vacancy formation and elevates ion migration barriers. This cooperative mechanism delays phase segregation by an order of magnitude while preserving optoelectronic quality, providing a general design principle for stable wide-band-gap absorbers in tandem photovoltaics.

Polyhexamethylene guanidine hydrochloride (PHMG) is incorporated into wide-bandgap perovskites, modulating energy levels, suppressing ion migration, and passivating defects. Thus, a remarkable PCE of 34.71% is achieved under simulated illumination of 10 m water depth. Accelerated degradation tests predict a T80 operational lifetime of 48,094 h (∼5.49 years) at 25°C under simulated submerged conditions at a depth of 10 m. The resulting solar modules successfully charge LIBs in real-world underwater environments, advancing practical submerged photovoltaics.

All-solid-state batteries promise safer, longer-range electric vehicles, but their cathode particles work under mechanical confinement that liquid-based batteries never experience. Using X-ray imaging of cells as they run, the authors show that uneven lithium inside these particles is not slow diffusion but a stable state set by internal stress. The same pattern marks where particles later develop defects and degrade, and warming the cell restores uniformity and cycle life.

AI-driven data center expansion is outpacing grid capacity, with developers increasingly bypassing the grid to build on-site gas plants. El Makroum et al. propose a policy framework that ties grid access to flexibility provision, operational transparency, and tangible community and societal benefit, with Norway as the focal case.

An in situ fluorinated molecule-directed ionic regulation strategy is developed by incorporating functional ionic compounds into perovskite precursors. Synergistic cation-anion interactions optimize crystallization, redistribute buried SAMs, passivate defects, strengthen interfaces, suppress degradation and electrode corrosion, and enhance efficiency and stability, with applicability to wide-band-gap perovskites.

A ladder-type heteroheptacene-based low-band-gap (LBG) acceptor is designed and synthesized for ternary organic solar cells (OSCs), exhibiting a high open-circuit voltage of 0.853 V and enhanced external quantum efficiencies in the long-wavelength range. By combining this LBG ternary organic subcell with a wide-band-gap perovskite subcell, the resulting perovskite-organic tandem solar cells achieve a power conversion efficiency of 27.35%.

Comprehensive, comparable cost data for demand-side climate solutions have been lacking. This study presents a validated method for assessing the costs of demand-side interventions across sectors and regions, showing that most cost less than supply-side alternatives, positioning demand-side action as an affordable, low-regret complement to the energy transition.

Chemical carriers can make hydrogen easier to store, transport, and release where it is needed. This review compares thermal, electrical, and light-driven catalytic routes for extracting hydrogen from ammonia, methane, methanol, and liquid organic hydrogen carriers. By linking carrier-specific reaction bottlenecks with active-site design, reactor engineering, purification, durability, and energy efficiency, it outlines how integrated carrier-to-hydrogen systems could support cleaner, safer, and more flexible hydrogen supply chains.

Heat moves through perovskite solar cells like a hidden current, which at first dims performance but is ultimately capable of reshaping the device itself. This perspective maps its origins, consequences, and escape routes, offering a thermal blueprint for solar cells that endure as well as they perform.

Next-generation batteries increasingly need to do more than store energy. They also must be multifunctional and capable of bending, stretching, or bearing mechanical loads. This review surveys how battery architectures, from fiber-like 1D designs to deformable 2D frameworks and volumetric 3D structures, navigate electro-chemo-mechanical trade-offs among flexibility, energy density, stability, and fabrication feasibility. Unlocking deployable, multifunctional batteries will require moving beyond empirical design toward computationally guided architecture and scalable manufacturing processes that bridge laboratory prototypes to industrial deployment.

Submicron-textured silicon substrates introduce interfacial heterogeneity that compromises the performance of perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells. To address this issue, we present an asymmetric phosphonic acid-based SAM (L30) bearing a thiophene group. This monolayer provides a conformal coating on the submicron-textured peaks and valleys, thereby uniformly covering the textured surfaces and establishing a stable buried interface. This molecular strategy effectively suppresses non-radiative recombination and contact losses, achieving a certified stabilized efficiency of 34.15% in the champion tandem device.

Conventional cathode active materials (CAMs) often face structural and interfacial challenges when integrated into all-solid-state batteries. A sulfide-based CAM design strategy that combines interfacial compatibility, structural disorder, and anion regulation enables reversible insertion-dominated multi-electron redox chemistry, delivering high specific energy, rapid kinetics, and durable cycling performance.

Thermal evaporation enables scalable, solvent-free fabrication of perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells, but the mechanisms governing perovskite formation remain underexplored. Using in situ X-ray diffraction during evaporation, the formation of sequentially evaporated perovskite films was studied, enabling the first fully solvent-free tandem top cell with a champion efficiency of 27.3%.

CsCl seed layer enables uniform growth of co-evaporated perovskite films on textured silicon, suppressing the formation of interfacial defects caused by uneven hole-transport layer coverage. The resulting improvement in film quality enables 30.3% efficient perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells.

Making perovskite solar cells efficient and durable requires molecules that fix defects without blocking charge flow. This work shows that ADA-DA, a rigid 3D molecule with two binding arms, can strongly passivate lead-related defects while controlling interfacial packing. The strategy delivers 27.10% certified stabilized efficiency in inverted cells and stable, >22% bifacial modules, offering a molecular design rule for scalable perovskite photovoltaics.

Utilizing captured atmospheric CO2 is a promising route toward a circular carbon economy. This work studies feeding carbon capture solutions directly into electrolyzers to make ethylene, a key feedstock for the plastics industry, thus demonstrating that copper nanowire-modified porous electrodes promote the mass transport of reactants/intermediates, leading to improved ethylene selectivity.

Trace iron impurities are often viewed as beneficial for alkaline water electrolysis, yet their full role during long-term operation has remained unclear. We show that iron moves through the cell during operation, where it can both improve catalytic performance and form metallic deposits and dendrites that threaten long-term stability. By identifying the operating conditions that govern iron ion mobility, this work provides a framework for managing impurities toward improving electrolyzer durability.

Solid electrolytes have long been treated as inert “dead mass” in all-solid-state batteries. This perspective challenges that view by highlighting the redox chemistry of halide materials, which can serve as both ionic conductors and capacity contributors. A strategic voltage window matching design enables substantial electrode energy density gains, paving the way toward 600 Wh kg−1 next-generation all-solid-state batteries for electric aviation and beyond.

A cascaded NiOx film fabricated via a scalable dual-step CBD process establishes a gradient structure that optimizes energetic alignment and mitigates interfacial non-radiative recombination, boosting hole extraction to deliver an efficiency of 27.05% with an FF of 87%.

Electrolyte reduction at lithium metal limits the efficiency and lifetime of high-energy batteries. A molecular charge-topology framework links electron uptake with molecular reorganization, enabling the rational design of intrinsically stable electrolytes. The resulting electrolyte suppresses parasitic reactions, supports highly reversible lithium cycling, and enables 13.0 Ah pouch cells with energy densities above 630 Wh kg−1 under ultra-lean conditions.

Here, we developed a “liquid crystal-SAM supramolecule” strategy to suppress SAM aggregation and construct a dense, preferentially oriented monolayer. This supramolecular strategy enhanced SAM adhesion under external stress and promoted hole transport through strong π-π interactions. The resulting nBuO-TPEP-based devices achieved a PCE of 26.72% in small areas and 20.10% in flexible modules, along with outstanding operational stability in air. This strategy also showed good universality across different SAM molecules.

Batteries steadily lose usable lithium as they cycle, as reactive lithium is consumed spontaneously—a key factor limiting how long they retain capacity. A metastable lithium-copper alloy, built into the current collector, stores lithium in reserve and keeps it dormant during operation. The stored lithium is released only when intentionally triggered, boosting the cell’s capacity on demand and extending cycle life in both lithium-metal and lithium-ion batteries, illustrating how metastable materials can introduce functionalities to energy storage.

Sequentially adaptive electron transfer in NiFe-MOFs enables high-performance AEM water electrolysis with ultralow cell voltage at industrial-level current densities, excellent stability under harsh operating conditions, and efficient solar-driven hydrogen production under natural sunlight irradiation.

Real-time observations reveal that p-type organic electrodes operate through a solution-mediated redox pathway rather than conventional solid-state ion transport. The reaction proceeds through transient solvated intermediates, followed by recrystallization into the charged phase. This mechanism explains exceptional rate capability and cycle life in p-type organic batteries.

Mitigating emissions from point sources requires carbon-capture technologies that are efficient, scalable, and compatible with renewable electricity. This study reports a methanol-assisted electrochemical CO2 capture system based on a compact zero-gap electrolyzer, enabling flue-gas capture and direct integration with CO2 conversion. By coupling CO2 capture and utilization in one scalable platform, this work points toward lower-cost and modular flue-gas carbon management.

This work reports an oxygen-resistant Ni-based dual-functional material for integrated CO2 capture and conversion to CH4 (ICCCCH4) and demonstrates stable pilot-scale operation (25 Nm3/h), achieving near-complete CO2 capture and conversion efficiency. Verification of the process on such a scale, together with techno-economic analysis based on practical operation data, fully showcases the promising potential of ICCCCH4 in practical applications.

Electrochemical filter capacitors (EFCs) offer compact energy-buffering components for dynamic power conditioning, but their performance is limited by coupled ion- and electron transport losses. This review establishes a multiscale impedance-decoupling framework and standardized 120 Hz benchmarking to connect materials, electrodes, devices, and modules with practical filtering metrics, guiding EFC development from chip-level integration to renewable-energy interfaces.

A fatigue-resistant shape memory alloy was integrated into a carefully engineered elastocaloric device with high mechanical reliability. The device delivered 400 watts of cooling power and a 41 Kelvin temperature span over one million operation cycles, highlighting a promising route toward durable solid-state cooling.

This study presents a supramolecular strategy employing a crown ether and a Cs salt for wide-band-gap perovskite solar cells. This approach enables efficient and stable double-junction all-perovskite tandem solar cells, achieving 30.35% efficiency alongside exceptional photostability with a T95 of 518 h.

Shi et al. show that aluminum-air batteries can operate in a fuel-cell-like mode when discharge-product buildup, hydration, hydrogen release, and interfacial contact are controlled together. A replaceable anode pouch, electrolyte microdosing, and a compliant enclosure preserve reusable hardware while replenishing metal fuel, providing design principles for continuously operating machines powered by metal-air systems.

Electrochemical CO2 reduction is a promising route to convert waste carbon into value-added chemicals. However, industrial CO2 feedstocks are dilute and contain reactive impurities such as O2, NOx, and SOx, which affect electrolyzer performance. Designing electrolyzers that can tolerate impurities reduces the need for upstream purification but then shifts the separation burden downstream, where purity requirements for synthesis are often stricter. This perspective examines where in the carbon value chain impurities should be addressed and concludes that upstream removal is generally optimal.

Light-driven H2O2 production offers a sustainable alternative to the anthraquinone process, yet challenges in efficiency and scalability remain. Herein, we establish a radical photochemistry framework, integrating high-throughput screening and computation to optimize organic working solutions. This enables liter-scale H2O2 production beyond single-photon limits with high yield and purity.

Efficient semitransparent organic photovoltaic modules on areas > 200 cm2 are fabricated with scalable methods. They are based on a near-infrared reflecting back electrode and a metal-less polymeric front electrode. While the back electrode is sputtered, all other layers are deposited by slot-die coating. Visible transmissions of up to 50% and light utilization efficiencies of up to 4% are achieved, which constitute by far the highest values on larger areas, thus proving the successful upscaling of this technology.

(Joule 10, 102535; November 18, 2026)

Topology-governed self-assembled monolayers establish dense buried interfaces in inverted perovskite solar cells. The meta-linked LY-m delivers 26.39% efficiency (certified 26.37%), with a 1.231 V open-circuit voltage and stable operation after −100°C to +100°C thermal cycling, results that link molecular topology to device reliability.

Messmer et al. demonstrate a transient electrical method that extracts both subcell currents of perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells within milliseconds from a standard reverse current-voltage scan. Validated on full-size industrial devices, the approach enables inline subcell current monitoring without additional hardware or spectral modification.

Du and colleagues introduce a rigid self-assembled monolayer, PhPADCB, to regulate the textured buried interface in perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells. The molecular design improves conformal contact, accelerates interfacial charge transfer, mitigates thermal stress, and enables efficient and stable tandem photovoltaics.

We report that the size of congeneric solvents can strongly affect fast-cycling performance in metal batteries. Smaller solvents outperform their larger counterparts at high rates, while their similar behaviors at low rates suggest an electrochemical “leveling” effect. Generative screening accelerates electrolyte discovery and identifies DMFSA from a DMTMSA-derived chemical space. DMFSA-based electrolytes deliver ∼99.6% Coulombic efficiency, >4.9 V oxidative stability, and stable cycling at ∼6.0 mA cm−2. Our design principle shows feasibility in broader electrolyte and metal-electrode chemistries.

Xiong et al. show that China’s end-of-life electric vehicles can become a technology-dependent urban mine for batteries and motors. Their model reveals high resupply potential for lithium, cobalt, neodymium, and dysprosium but persistent gaps for nickel and manganese, highlighting the need for collection, closed-loop recycling, and rare earth element recovery policies.

Traditional material design approaches struggle with the vast compositional space of electrolytes, leading to high development costs and hindering the practical deployment of electric aircraft. A physics-augmented AI design framework with accurate electrolyte property modeling is proposed to simultaneously improve the efficiency, reliability, and interpretability of high-dimensional electrolyte design, significantly reducing design resources and uncovering key mechanistic insights from statistical data to advance more rigorous electrolyte design principles for demanding eVTOL operations.

Future fusion reactors may rely on lithium-6 to breed tritium, but the very high enrichments proposed in some blanket concepts create a material of heightened proliferation concern while also imposing steep economic and engineering penalties. This paper argues that fusion scale-up should be paired with internationally recognized enrichment limits and safeguards and with breeder designs that avoid the highest-risk lithium-6 levels so deployment can proceed globally with stronger oversight, clearer material accountancy, improved international supply-chain monitoring, and lower proliferation risk.

There are thousands of solid-state battery device publications per year, but the data in these publications are highly varied in type, format, consistency, and accessibility, greatly limiting their use by many stakeholders involved in battery device research and development. This paper presents a solid-state battery device database that includes all the key data types required to specify a battery device and describes the data practices needed to move battery device research in the direction of the FAIR data principles.

By integrating a doubly asymmetric acceptor pair with layer-by-layer deposition, a favorable interpenetrating fibrillar network and optimized vertical phase distribution are achieved for all-small-molecule organic photovoltaics. As a result, a power conversion efficiency of 19.15% (certified 19.0%) is realized alongside exceptional thermal stability, photostability, and outdoor operational stability. This study challenges the conventional perception of intrinsic instability in small-molecule systems and provides a general pathway toward efficient and durable organic solar cells.

Perovskite precursor formulations that deliver high efficiencies in conventional n-i-p solar cells often fail to reproduce comparable performance in inverted p-i-n architectures due to the fundamentally different crystallization environment imposed by the underlying layer. Here, we reveal that the underlayer-dependent retention of MACl-derived intermediate phases at the buried interface is responsible for this performance discrepancy. Substituting excess chloride originating from volatile MACl-derived species with PbCl2-derived chloride modulates interfacial nucleation and growth, thereby enabling highly efficient perovskite solar cells.