This study contributes to the literature by estimating the interaction effects of economic growth and renewable energy consumption on carbon dioxide (CO
2
) emissions with the inclusion of human ...capital. The interaction between economic growth and renewable energy consumption suggests how income level affects energy consumption and CO
2
emissions. The study applies three-stage least square and ridge regression methods with Pakistani data from 1980 to 2014. The empirical findings show that the interaction effect of income and renewable energy contributes to CO
2
emissions. Besides, trade openness also increases CO
2
emissions, while the human capital mitigates CO
2
emissions. Furthermore, the moderating effect of economic growth helps to form the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in Pakistan.
Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) possess energy densities higher than those of the conventional batteries, but their lower power densities and poor cycling lives are critical challenges for their ...applications to electric vehicles (EVs) or grid stations. The energy and power densities, as well as the life of LIBs are dependent on electrodes where sluggish diffusion control process and structural stability are the main concerns. Here, the lithium storage mechanism of anode materials and the Goodenough diagram to explain the potential of cell and key parameters to determine the performance of an anode are highlighted. The cost reduction parameters and the availability of anode materials for future batteries on the basis of their resources and performances will be discussed. Further, the recent progress on anode nanostructures and solutions to the associated challenges will be outlined. The use of several techniques to determine the dynamic variations in nanostructures including both structural and chemical changes of electrode nanostructures during cycling as well as the limitations for high load applications will be explained. Finally, the concluding remarks will highlight the characteristics for both anode and cathode for better choice of electrode combinations in the full batteries.
Recent progress and solutions to the challenges associated with anode nanostructures are described comprehensively. Further, possible ways to increase the energy density of LIBs and a better choice of anode materials on the basis of their resource and performance are explained. Careful tuning of structure, composition and morphology of nanostructures can develop better LIBs for future EVs.
The global warming phenomenon emerges from the issue of climate change, which attracts the attention of intellectuals towards clean energy sources from dirty energy sources. Among clean sources, ...nuclear energy is getting immense attention among policymakers. However, the role of nuclear energy in pollution emissions reduction has remained inconclusive and demand for further investigation. Therefore, the current study contributes to extend knowledge by investigating the nexus between nuclear energy, economic growth, and CO2 emissions in a developing country context such as Pakistan for the period between 1973 and 2017. The auto-regressive distributive lag model summarizes the nuclear energy has negative effect on environmental pollution as it releases carbon emission in the environment. Moreover, vector error correction Granger causality provides evidence for bidirectional causality between nuclear energy and carbon emissions. These interesting findings provide new insight, and policy guidelines provided based on these results.
The effective treatment of industrial wastewater to protect freshwater reserves for the survival of life is a primary focus of current research. Herein, a multicomponent Eleocharis-manganese ...peroxidase enzyme (Eleocharis@MnPE) layered hybrid with high surface area (1200 m2/m3), with a strong synergistic adsorption and catalytic biodegradation (SACB), has been developed through a facile method. A combination of outer porous (Eleocharis) and inner catalytically active (MnPE) components of the hybrid resulted in highly efficient SACB system, evidenced by high removal rate of 15 kg m–3 day–1 (100%) and complete degradation of toxic Orange II (OR) azo dye into nontoxic products (gases and weak acids). The Eleocharis@MnPE layered hybrid efficiently degraded both OR in synthetic wastewater and also other azo dyes (red, pink, and yellow dyes) present in three different textile industrial effluents. For the industrial effluents, these were evidenced by the color disappearance and reduction in biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and total organic carbon (TOC) of up to 97%, 92%, and 76%, respectively. Furthermore, reduced toxicity of treated wastewater was confirmed by decreased cell toxicity to 0.1%–1% and increased cell viability to 90%. We believe that designing a hybrid system with strong ability of SACB could be highly effective for industrial-scale treatment of wastewater.
We develop a simple and economical thermal annealing method for the synthesis of phosphorus‐doped graphene, which exhibits remarkable electrocatalytic activity towards the oxygen reduction reaction ...and enhances the electrochemical performance as an anode material for lithium ion batteries. The experimental results suggest the significant role of phosphorus atoms in graphene.
Highlights
A multiscale structure is realized through layer-by-layer deposition with atom-scale precision via atomic layer deposition
FeSiAl@ZnO@Al
2
O
3
exhibits record-high absorption properties in ...low-frequency bands.
The corrosion resistance is improved by the unique multistage oxide barriers.
Developing highly efficient magnetic microwave absorbers (MAs) is crucial, and yet challenging for anti-corrosion properties in extremely humid and salt-induced foggy environments. Herein, a dual-oxide shell of ZnO/Al
2
O
3
as a robust barrier to FeSiAl core is introduced to mitigate corrosion resistance. The FeSiAl@ZnO@Al
2
O
3
layer by layer hybrid structure is realized with atomic-scale precision through the atomic layer deposition technique. Owing to the unique hybrid structure, the FeSiAl@ZnO@Al
2
O
3
exhibits record-high microwave absorbing performance in low-frequency bands covering L and S bands with a minimum reflection loss (RL
min
) of -50.6 dB at 3.4 GHz. Compared with pure FeSiAl (RL
min
of -13.5 dB, a bandwidth of 0.5 GHz), the RL
min
value and effective bandwidth of this designed novel absorber increased up to ~ 3.7 and ~ 3 times, respectively. Furthermore, the inert ceramic dual-shells have improved 9.0 times the anti-corrosion property of FeSiAl core by multistage barriers towards corrosive medium and obstruction of the electric circuit. This is attributed to the large charge transfer resistance, increased impedance modulus |Z|
0.01 Hz
, and frequency time constant of FeSiAl@ZnO@Al
2
O
3
. The research demonstrates a promising platform toward the design of next-generation MAs with improved anti-corrosion properties.
Abstract
The predicted strong piezoelectricity for monolayers of group IV monochalcogenides, together with their inherent flexibility, makes them likely candidates for developing flexible ...nanogenerators. Within this group, SnS is a potential choice for such nanogenerators due to its favourable semiconducting properties. To date, access to large-area and highly crystalline monolayer SnS has been challenging due to the presence of strong inter-layer interactions by the lone-pair electrons of S. Here we report single crystal across-the-plane and large-area monolayer SnS synthesis using a liquid metal-based technique. The characterisations confirm the formation of atomically thin SnS with a remarkable carrier mobility of ~35 cm
2
V
−1
s
−1
and piezoelectric coefficient of ~26 pm V
−1
. Piezoelectric nanogenerators fabricated using the SnS monolayers demonstrate a peak output voltage of ~150 mV at 0.7% strain. The stable and flexible monolayer SnS can be implemented into a variety of systems for efficient energy harvesting.
Freestanding composite structures with embedded transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) as the active material are highly attractive in the development of advanced electrodes for energy storage ...devices. Most 3D electrodes consist of a bilayer design involving a core–shell combination. To further enhance the gravimetric and areal capacities, a 3D trilayer design is proposed that has MoSe2 as the TMDC sandwiched in‐between an inner carbon nanotube (CNT) core and an outer carbon layer to form a CNT/MoSe2/C framework. The CNT core creates interconnected pathways for the e−/Na+ conduction, while the conductive inert carbon layer not only protects the corrosive environment between the electrolyte and MoSe2 but also is fully tunable for an optimized Na+ storage. This unique heterostructure is synthesized via a solvothermal‐carbonization approach. Due to annealing under a confined structural configuration, MoSe2 interlayer spaces are expanded to facilitate a faster Na+ diffusion. It is shown that an ≈3 nm thick carbon layer yielded an optimized anode for a sodium‐ion battery. The 3D porosity of the heterostructure remains intact after an intense densification process to produce a high areal capacity of 4.0 mAh cm−2 and a high mass loading of 13.9 mg cm−2 with a gravimetric capacity of 347 mAh g−1 at 500 mA g−1 after 500 cycles.
A 3D trilayer heterostructure (3D CNT/MoSe2/C) (CNT: carbon nanotube) is fabricated in which expanded MoSe2 is sandwiched in‐between the carbon nanotube and the carbon layer with a tunable thickness of outer carbon layer. The 3D CNT/MoSe2/C heterostructures are highly porous and can be densified by compaction. Representative CNT/MoSe2/C present adequately high mass loading, high areal capacity, and excellent cyclic stability for sodium‐ion batteries.
A unique nanostructure of 3D and vertically aligned and interconnected porous carbon nanosheets (3D‐VCNs) is demonstrated by a simple carbonization of agar. The key feature of 3D‐VCNs is that they ...possess numerous 3D channels with macrovoids and mesopores, leading to high surface area of 1750 m2 g−1, which play an important role in loading large amount of sulfur, while vertically aligned microporous carbon nanosheets act as the multilayered physical barrier against polysulfides anions and prevent their dissolution in the electrolyte due to strong adsorption during cycling process. As a result, the 3D hybrid (3D‐S‐VCNs) infiltered with 68.3 wt% sulfur exhibits a high and stable reversible capacity of 844 mAh g−1 at the current density of 837 mA g−1 with excellent Coulombic efficiency ≈100%, capacity retention of ≈80.3% over 300 cycles, and good rate ability (the reversible capacity of 738 mAh g−1 at the high current density of 3340 mA g−1). The present work highlights the vital role of the introduction of 3D carbon nanosheets with macrovoids and mesopores in enhancing the performance of LSBs.
Integrated 3D vertically aligned and interconnected porous carbon nanosheets are fabricated to demonstrate the effect of physical adsorption of soluble polysulfides via 3D‐S‐VCNs with large macrovoid and mesoporous channels on enhancing the electrochemical performance of lithium‐sulfur batteries (LSBs).
PDF
