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ENGINEERING Energy (formerly Frontiers in Energy) is an international journal presenting frontiers, innovation, and interdisciplinary energy research.

27/08/2026

🌊⚡ Turning seawater into hydrogen—while keeping the electrode clean.

Direct seawater electrolysis offers a promising route to green hydrogen, but mineral scaling on the cathode can quickly reduce performance. This News article highlights a clever surface-charge engineering strategy that tackles both challenges at once.

🔬 Research highlights:
• Halide-modified Pt cathodes repel OH⁻ away from the electrode surface, suppressing mineral scaling.
• Surface halide ligands tune the electronic structure of Pt and optimize hydrogen adsorption, improving HER kinetics.
• The Pt–I cathode maintained stable performance for 5000 h at 100 mA cm⁻², with less than 10 mV potential increase.
• The system continuously produced high-purity Mg(OH)₂ (>99% purity) as a valuable co-product.
• A full seawater electrolyzer achieved continuous Mg(OH)₂ recovery at 5.54 g h⁻¹ during a 1000 h test at 100 mA cm⁻².

💡 By combining stable hydrogen production with the recovery of a valuable mineral product, this strategy could help address a key challenge in direct seawater electrolysis.

📖 Read the full News article: https://rdcu.be/fCouI

18/08/2026

⚡ Call for Papers | Research Progress in Photovoltaic Solar Cells

Photovoltaic technology is rapidly evolving—from crystalline silicon and TOPCon to perovskite, tandem, organic and thin-film solar cells.

Original research articles, reviews, perspectives, viewpoints, and highlights are welcome.

Guest editorial board: Pierre Verlinden, Hui Shen, Ned Ekins-Daukes, Olindo Isabella

📅 Deadline: Dec. 31, 2026

🔗Learn more about this special issue: https://link.springer.com/collections/ggihiffjci

Submit your work and join the discussion on the future of photovoltaics!

08/08/2026

⚡ A new strategy to make solid oxide fuel cells more efficient and durable!

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are promising technologies for clean energy conversion, but large-scale cells often suffer from uneven current distribution and thermal gradients during high fuel utilization operation, which can reduce efficiency and durability.

In this study, researchers introduced a thickness-gradient electrolyte design that regulates local resistance inside the fuel cell, enabling a more uniform current distribution.

🔬 Key Highlights:
✅ Developed and fabricated the first industrial-size SOFC with a thickness-gradient electrolyte.
✅ Achieved more uniform current distribution by tailoring electrolyte thickness along the fuel flow direction.
✅ Reduced the current density deviation between fuel inlet and outlet by 76% compared with conventional uniform electrolytes under high fuel utilization conditions.
✅ Improved electrical efficiency and operational stability while maintaining practical scalability.

The combination of experimental validation and multiphysics simulations provides new insights into designing next-generation high-performance fuel cells.

Read the full article: https://rdcu.be/fyzVb

06/08/2026

🌍 Toward greener ethylene production with electrochemical innovation

Ethylene is one of the most important chemical feedstocks worldwide, yet conventional production routes face challenges including high energy consumption and carbon emissions.

A new Review Article provides a comprehensive overview of solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC)-driven upgrading of light alkanes to ethylene.

🔹 Research Highlights:
• Summarizes recent progress in SOEC-based methane and ethane conversion pathways.
• Reveals how oxygen species regulation and proton transfer mechanisms influence product selectivity.
• Reviews advanced anode materials, including perovskites, metal–oxide interfaces, and composite electrode systems.
• Discusses strategies for improving activity, selectivity, stability, and future industrial scalability.

🔬 Key Results:
• Ethane conversion rates of up to 80% with ethylene selectivity exceeding 85% have been achieved.
• Methane upgrading via oxidative coupling approaches has demonstrated C₂ selectivity above 99.5% under optimized conditions.
• SOEC technology offers promising advantages for low-carbon chemical production through integration with renewable electricity.

This review provides valuable insights into the future development of sustainable light olefin production technologies.

Read the article: https://rdcu.be/fyecN

30/07/2026

🚀 Machine learning is reshaping the future of sustainable solvent design!

Ionic liquids (ILs) are promising green solvents for applications such as carbon capture, energy storage, and advanced chemical processes. However, their vast chemical space makes traditional trial-and-error screening highly challenging.

In this review, researchers provide a comprehensive overview of machine learning-based structure–property modeling strategies for ionic liquid design and screening, highlighting how data-driven approaches can accelerate the discovery of high-performance and sustainable ILs.

🔍 Research Highlights:
✅ Summarizes major machine learning algorithms, including neural networks, random forests, support vector machines, and Gaussian process regression for IL property prediction.
✅ Reviews ML-assisted prediction of critical properties, including toxicity, viscosity, density, and CO₂ solubility.
✅ Discusses how molecular descriptors, physical information, and interpretable AI methods can improve the reliability and understanding of ML models.
✅ Provides future perspectives on multi-objective optimization and the development of next-generation sustainable ionic liquids.

🌱 Impact:
By bridging artificial intelligence, molecular design, and energy-related applications, this review offers valuable insights into accelerating the development of environmentally friendly solvents and advanced energy technologies.

📖 Read the full article: https://rdcu.be/eQgK7

28/07/2026

🌱 A scalable pathway toward efficient and durable green hydrogen production!

Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) is a promising technology for large-scale green hydrogen production, but its development is limited by the high cost and scarcity of Ir-based oxygen evolution catalysts.

In this study, researchers developed a scalable IrOx/Ir-Co₃O₄ heterostructure electrocatalyst through a facile electrochemical co-deposition and annealing strategy. The unique structure integrates surface-anchored IrOx with bulk-doped Ir-Co₃O₄, enabling optimized Ir electronic environments and improved catalytic stability.

🔬 Research Highlights
✅ Low OER overpotential of 237 mV at 10 mA cm⁻²
✅ High Ir mass activity of 230 A gIr⁻¹
✅ Only 1.773 V required to reach 1 A cm⁻² in PEMWE
✅ Stable operation for over 160 h at 200 mA cm⁻²
✅ Successful scale-up to a 100 cm² electrode with comparable performance to laboratory-scale devices

💡 Impact
This work provides a practical strategy for reducing Ir consumption while improving activity and durability, bringing low-Ir PEM water electrolysis closer to real-world applications.

🔗 Read the full article: https://rdcu.be/fwpgh

23/07/2026

🔋 Advancing Zinc-Ion Batteries with Atomic-Level Precision

Zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) are promising next-generation energy storage systems—but their practical application is limited by interfacial instability, dendrite growth, and side reactions.

This review highlights how Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) enables precise interface engineering to address these challenges.

✨ Key highlights:
Atomic-scale coatings regulate Zn²⁺ transport and suppress dendrite formation
ALD shifts from passive protection to active interfacial regulation
Improved cathode stability and separator functionality
Insights into scalability and future material design

📊 Key takeaway:
ALD provides a paradigm shift in battery interface design—enabling more durable and high-performance ZIBs for grid-scale storage and beyond

👉 Read the full article: https://rdcu.be/fvl4t

21/07/2026

🌱 Turning biomass waste into next-generation battery solutions! 🔋

As the demand for safer, higher-performance, and more sustainable energy storage grows, biomass-derived materials are emerging as promising building blocks for solid-state batteries (SSBs).

In this review, Chen et al. provide a comprehensive overview of how renewable biomass resources—including cellulose, lignin, chitosan, and bio-derived carbons—can be engineered into advanced battery components. The study highlights their applications in electrodes, solid electrolytes, binders, separators, and functional additives.

🔎 Research Highlights:
✅ Bio-derived carbons offer tunable porous structures and improved ion/electron transport pathways for electrodes.
✅ Biomass-based polymers enhance ionic conductivity, mechanical stability, and interfacial compatibility in solid electrolytes.
✅ Bio-based binders and separators help suppress dendrite growth, reduce interfacial degradation, and improve battery safety.

🌍 Key Impact:
This review demonstrates how renewable biomass resources can contribute to the development of safer, high-performance, and environmentally sustainable solid-state batteries, while identifying future challenges in scalability, material consistency, and AI-assisted design.

📖 Read the full article: https://rdcu.be/fuIMI

14/07/2026

🚗🌱 How can we make ammonia engines cleaner without losing performance?

A new study introduces an innovative ammonia post-injection strategy that actively reduces NOx emissions inside the engine cylinder—a major step toward cleaner combustion and sustainable transport.

📌 Key Highlights
• Reveals how ammonia helps reduce NOx via in-cylinder reactions
• Explains key chemical pathways (SNCR mechanism)
• Demonstrates 14.4% NOx reduction experimentally
• Maintains combustion efficiency while lowering emissions

📊 Why it matters
Ammonia is a promising carbon-free fuel, but NOx emissions remain a major challenge. This work shows a practical solution that balances clean emissions + high efficiency, supporting future low-carbon engines.

🔗 Read the full article: https://rdcu.be/fvAoj

10/07/2026

🔋 New breakthrough in thermoelectrics!
Segmented GeTe-based modules achieve 12.7% efficiency with high power density—unlocking new potential for waste heat recovery.

✨ Key Highlights
• Segmented design combines materials optimized for different temperature ranges
• Advanced structural optimization using multiphysics simulations
• Improved interface stability with Ni diffusion barrier

📊 Key Results
• Up to 12.7% energy conversion efficiency (ΔT = 500 K)
• Power density reaching 0.35 W/cm² and 143 W/kg
• ~35% increase in power density vs. conventional designs

🌍 This work demonstrates a promising pathway for high-efficiency waste heat recovery and sustainable energy systems.

Read the full article: https://rdcu.be/fs8un

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