Future Energy Challenges Research Articles

Modeling and simulation of the structural, and optoelectronic properties of aluminum trihydride (β-[formula omitted]) for hydrogen storage

Hydrogen is a promising clean energy source, but its storage poses challenges. In this research, we conducted an in-depth study of the structural and optoelectronic properties of the β-AlH3 phase as a potential material for hydrogen storage. Using the density functional theory (DFT)-based Wien2k code, we optimized the structure of β-AlH3. Hydrogen storage properties show that β-AlH3 contains 10.1% hydrogen by weight, which is a significant amount. Electronic properties reveal that this material is a semiconductor with a wide indirect bandgap of 5.947 eV, obtained by the generalized gradient approximation with modified Becke-Johnson correction (GGA-mBJ). The optical response of β-AlH3 to photons with energies from 0 to 10 eV is also examined for a better understanding of this material. β-AlH3 exhibits a static dielectric permittivity value ε1(ω) of 2.1, indicative of its semiconducting nature. The optical conductivity σ1(ω) shows peaks at 7.25 eV and 8.5 eV, while the absorption coefficient α(ω) increases significantly above the band gap of 5.947 eV, with peaks at 7.2 eV and 9 eV. The refractive index n(ω) and extinction coefficient κ(ω) both display notable features at 7.2 eV and 9 eV, reflecting substantial electronic transitions and optical resonances.This research is crucial to understanding how this material can meet the technological demands of hydrogen storage. The results provide valuable insights into the potential of β-AlH₃ within the future energy landscape, highlighting both advances and challenges in this promising field.

Lithium enrichment in high-enthalpy geothermal system influenced by seawater, Indonesia

Lithium holds significant importance in energy storage and can be extracted from geothermal water, making it an additional resource to traditional mining. Combining lithium extraction from geothermal water with electricity generation from geothermal energy offers a compelling strategy to address future energy challenges. Situated in Southeast Sumatra, Indonesia, Way Ratai has considerable geothermal potential and is known for its hot springs. This study primarily aims to characterize lithium enrichment within the Way Ratai geothermal system. Water samples from various sources (one spring, seven hot springs, one well, and seawater) were analyzed for cations, anions, trace elements, and isotopic composition. The results show that Way Ratai is an old geothermal system with sodium-chloride water, where lithium enrichment is attributed to interactions between water and rocks, with some influence from seawater. The discrepancy between calculated and observed magnesium (Mg) concentrations suggests a pre-heating mixing process between rainwater and seawater. The reservoir rock in Way Ratai is mostly andesitic, with temperatures ranging from 182o to 227oC. This study enhances our understanding of thermal water characteristics, reservoir temperatures, and water origins in high enthalpy geothermal systems, offering valuable insights into lithium enrichment in coastal geothermal regions.

Tailored Engineering of Layered Double Hydroxide Catalysts for Biomass Valorization: A Way Towards Waste to Wealth.

Layered double hydroxides (LDH) have significant attention in recent times due to their unique characteristic properties, including layered structure, variable compositions, tunable acidity and basicity, memory effect, and their ability to transform into various kinds of catalysts, which make them desirable for various types of catalytic applications, such as electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, and thermocatalysis. In addition, the upcycling of lignocellulose biomass and its derived compounds has emerged as a promising strategy for the synthesis of valuable products and fine chemicals. The current review focuses on recent advancements in LDH-based catalysts for biomass conversion reactions. Specifically, this review highlights the structural features and advantages of LDH and LDH-derived catalysts for biomass conversion reactions, followed by a detailed summary of the different synthesis methods and different strategies used to tailor their properties. Subsequently, LDH-based catalysts for hydrogenation, oxidation, coupling, and isomerization reactions of biomass-derived molecules are critically summarized in a very detailed manner. The review concludes with a discussion on future research directions in this field which anticipates that further exploration of LDH-based catalysts and integration of cutting-edge technologies into biomass conversion reactions hold promise for addressing future energy challenges, potentially leading to a carbon-neutral or carbon-positive future.

Calculation of hydrogen adsorption isotherms and Henry coefficients with mixed CO2 and CH4 gases on hydroxylated quartz surface: Implications to hydrogen geo-storage

Hydrogen is a clean fuel that is becoming increasingly popular in addressing future energy challenges, however, its viable storage requires an understanding of its interaction with underground rock minerals. For this purpose, this study focuses on developing adsorption isotherms and Henry coefficients for hydrogen in hydroxylated quartz surfaces, which are predominant in sandstone and shale rocks. In this study, a molecular-scale hydroxylated quartz structure with a pore space is generated and the Monte Carlo (MC) simulation is utilized to assess the adsorption isotherms and Henry coefficients. Initially, the CO2 adsorption with the hydroxylated quartz is matched with the published data to determine the accuracy of MC simulation and the mineral-fluid interaction. After that, the concentration of H2 within the pore is progressively increased and the competitive adsorption is calculated under various subsurface temperature and pressure conditions. Additionally, CH4 is introduced to understand the competitive adsorption dynamics between H2 and CH4. The findings indicate that increasing pressure results in increasing molecules of hydrogen that monotonically increase H2 adsorption. On the contrary, increasing temperature reduces the affinity of hydrogen with the quartz surface causing a decrease in adsorption capacity and Henry coefficients. Furthermore, a weak single hydrogen adsorption layer is developed at all pressure and temperature conditions, while most of the hydrogen remains as a free gas in the pore. In addition, the hydroxyl group controls most of the adsorption of hydrogen in the hydroxylated quartz. Furthermore, the addition of water film (approximately 1 wt%) reduces the hydrogen adsorption by around 3 %. The H2 adsorption values further experience a notable decrease with the introduction of CO2 and CH4, primarily due to the establishment of a strong adsorption layer caused by the high electrostatic attraction between these gases and the quartz mineral. The study offers crucial microscopic details regarding H2 adsorption alongside CO2 and CH4 gases within hydroxylated quartz pores. These insights support efficient hydrogen geo-storage and larger-scale simulation research.

A green and environmentally benign route to synthesizing Z-scheme Bi2S3-TCN photocatalyst for efficient hydrogen production.

Designing and developing photocatalysts with excellent performance in order to achieve efficient hydrogen production is an important strategy for addressing future energy and environmental challenges. Traditional single-phase photocatalytic materials either have a large bandgap and low visible light response or experience rapid recombination of the photogenerated carriers with low quantum efficiency, seriously hindering their photocatalytic applications. To solve these issues, an important solution is to construct well-matched heterojunctions with highly efficient charge separation capabilities. To this end, an in situ sulfurization reaction was adopted after the deposition of Bi3+ supramolecular complex on a layered supramolecular precursor of tubular carbon nitride (TCN). X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns confirmed that the as-prepared sample has a good crystalline structure without any other impurities, while high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) revealed that the heterojunction possesses a 2D structure with a layer of nano-array on its surface. Combined Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) revealed the interfacial interactions. Owing to the formation of the Z-scheme heterojunction, the visible light adsorption and the separation efficiency of the photo-generated carriers are both obviously enhanced, leaving the high energy electrons and high oxidative holes to participate in the photocatalytic reactions. As a result, the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate of Bi2S3-TCN achieves 65.2μmolg-1·h-1. This proposed green and environmentally benign route can also be applied to construct other sulfides with 2D TCN, providing some important information for the design and optimization of novel carbon-nitride-based semiconductors.

Improvements in bonding through ultrasonic additive manufacturing of titanium by stabilizing displacive phase transformations

The development of advanced materials to operate in extreme environments (temperature, pressure, strain rate, irradiation, etc.) is essential to meet future energy challenges. In addition to being an advanced solid state bonding technique, ultrasonic additive manufacturing (UAM) can be considered as a type of extreme environment due to the high strain and high strain rate deformation that is created. Understanding the physical processes that occur in this extreme environment can be valuable to creating new desirable microstructures and/or phase changes. Although UAM has demonstrated great success in bonding a variety of materials, the underlying science mechanisms controlling the bonding are not well quantified. We observed crystal structure changes from hexagonal closed packed (HCP) to body centered cubic (BCC) in Ti and Ti alloy specimens occurring within ∼0.5 s following UAM bonding with an estimated peak temperature of ∼400 °C. Extensive interdiffusion of elements (0.2 µm – 2 µm depending on location) occurred that does not conform to thermal equilibrium bulk or grain boundary diffusion. We present evidence that a significant concentration of deformation induced vacancies Xv (between 10−4 - 10−6 atomic fraction) was created during UAM, approximately ten orders of magnitude higher than the Xv value of ∼10−15 expected for thermal equilibrium conditions. This caused pronounced metallurgical changes including rapid elemental diffusion, strain induced phase transformation, and bonding. We examined this UAM-induced severe plastic deformation on a variety of materials and performed uncertainty calculations from the measurements.

Plasma-Doped Carbon-Based Anode Materials in Potassium Ion Batteries: A Review of Current and Future Prospects

With the increasing demand for energy, finding clean, efficient, and renewable energy storage solutions is a crucial focus in today's world. In this context, potassium-ion batteries have garnered widespread research and attention as an essential solution to address environmental pollution and future energy challenges. This paper focuses on one of the key components of potassium-ion batteries - the anode materials, with a special emphasis on plasma-doped carbon-based anode materials. Initially, the significance of carbon-based anode materials in ion batteries is introduced. Subsequently, a detailed exploration is conducted on the diverse applications of plasma-doped carbon-based anode materials in lithium-ion, sodium-ion, and potassium-ion batteries. These materials demonstrate excellent electrochemical performance, significantly improving the energy density, cycle life, and stability of the batteries. Looking ahead, we will additionally discuss the optimization of synthesis methods, further enhancement of electrochemical properties, and the prospective development of large-scale production techniques. Finally, the study underscores the potential of plasma-doped carbon-based anode materials to emerge as a new trend in the field of future energy storage, making a substantial contribution to advancing sustainable energy storage technologies.

A Fibrous Perovskite Nanomaterial with Exsolved Ni-Cu Metal Nanoparticles as an Effective Composite Catalyst for External Steam Reforming of Liquid Alcohols

The conversion of hydrogen to power via combined external reforming of liquid alcohol and solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology is an effective approach to address future energy challenges. In this study, an La0.8Ba0.1Mn0.8Ni0.1Cu0.1O3 (LBMNCu) perovskite nanofiber with high porosity was synthesized with a modified electrostatic spinning method, which acted as an efficient catalyst for steam reforming of liquid alcohols (methanol and ethanol). After reduction, fine metallic Ni-Cu was uniformly distributed throughout the perovskite nanofiber surface. The obtained composite displayed a methanol conversion above 99.9% at 450 °C and an ethanol conversion above 99% at 600 °C, which was highly superior to the common Ni-Cu/Al2O3 catalyst. The catalytic performance of our assembled catalysts also remained stable in methanol and ethanol atmospheres for 50 h and no coking was detected. Furthermore, when the reformed gas was fed into a Y0.08Zr0.92O2 (YSZ)-based SOFC system, the open circuit voltage remained around 1.1 V at 700 °C for 50 h accordingly, without coking, and the voltage remained virtually unchanged at 0.7 V for 50 h at 700 °C and 400 mA cm−2 during galvanostatic discharge mode, indicating that using LBMNCu nanofiber as a catalyst for hydrogen production and utilization is an efficient strategy. The interaction of the in situ exsolved metallic nanoparticles and nanofibrous perovskite could also be a promising approach for designing a highly active catalyst for H2 generation.

A review of Cu2O solar cell

Cu2O-based solar cells offer a promising solution to address future energy challenges due to their affordability, eco-friendliness, and impressive power conversion efficiency (PCE). With the development of thin film deposition technology, the maximum PCE of single-junction solar cells fabricated based on Cu2O is 9.5%. Because the spectral sensitivity overlaps between Cu2O and crystalline silicon (c-Si) is small, Cu2O thin-film solar cells can be made into tandem solar cells with Si-based solar cells to achieve higher PCE. The Cu2O–Si tandem solar cell has been delivered 24.2% PCE in 2020, a time when the PCE of stand-alone silicon solar cells was 17.6%. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the development of Cu2O-based heterojunction, homojunction. The Cu2O material properties, n and p-type doping, the role of defects and impurities in bulk of films or at the interface of the p–n-junction and n-type buffer layer on the performance of Cu2O-based heterojunction like ZnO–Cu2O, and the difficulty in decreasing the interface state and doping in Cu2O homojunction solar cells are discussed. This review discusses the Cu2O film material preparation method, the history of Cu2O based solar cells, the essential factors required to enhance the performance of various types of Cu2O-based solar cells, and the potential future research opportunities for as a top subcells in Cu2O–Si tandem solar cells.

Pathway to high performance, low temperature thin-film solid oxide cells grown on porous anodised aluminium oxide

Reversible solid oxide cells (rSOCs) present a promising solution to future energy challenges through the efficient conversion between electrical and chemical energy. To date, the benefits of rSOC technology have been off-limits to portable power and electrolysis applications due to the excessive polarisation resistance of the oxygen electrode at low temperatures, characterised by high area specific resistance (ASR) values below 500 °C. In this work we demonstrate growth of symmetric and complete rSOC structures based on state-of-the-art vertically aligned nanocomposite (VAN) films grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on porous Pt-coated anodised aluminium oxide (AAO) substrates. The symmetric rSOC structures give the first demonstration of an rSOC oxygen electrode with ASR below 0.1 Ωcm2 at temperatures less than 450 °C. This is achieved through oxygen vacancy tuning by annealing, as confirmed by Time-of-Flight Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis (ToF-ERDA) and Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) measurements. Thus, the present work describes a promising route towards future high-performance rSOC devices for portable power applications.

Health Risks of Major Air Pollutants, their Drivers and Mitigation Strategies: A Review

The impact of increasing air pollution on human health and the environment is a major concern worldwide. Exposure to air pollution is one of the leading risk factors and substantially contributes to morbidity and premature mortality. This review paper aims to examine the exposure of major air pollutants (i.e., particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide) and its association with respiratory, cardiovascular, reproductive, and genotoxic adverse health outcomes that can cause DNA damage leading to genetic mutations. The study emphasized how a better understanding of source-receptor relationships and exposure assessment methodologies can support effective air quality management planning. Hence, there is a need to augment various exposure indicators (spatial modeling, personal/area monitoring, emphasizing central/rural site measurements, etc.) to generate reliable surrogates for informed decision-making. The critical drivers of anthropogenic interference for air pollution remain urbanization, growing vehicle use, and industrialization. This requires innovative approaches, such as energy-efficient and technologically sustainable solutions to gradually replace conventional fossil fuel from primary energy mix with renewable energy. It holds the key to meet future energy challenges and minimizing air pollution emissions. Further, there is an urgent need to frame effective public policy with graded mitigation actions to reduce the adverse impact of air pollution on human health and the environment.

Applicable Smart City Strategies for a Smart Sustainable City to Ensure Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Integration: Casablanca Case Study

A Smart city is essentially expected to diminish the utilization of assets and upgrade efficiencies. In practically any region, effectiveness brings about energy saving, diminished energy force, supportable monetary turn of events, upgraded usefulness, a safeguarded climate, and in particular, participation with the environmental change fight. In spite of the fact that financial plan, innovation, and the necessary framework are significant imperatives for helpless urban areas to accomplish shrewd and economical city objectives, the advantages of brilliant urban areas are numerous for helpless urban areas contrasted with creating and created urban areas. Helpless urban areas accomplish worked on living conditions, security, wellbeing, financial turn of events, administration, and personal satisfaction as well as accomplishing supportable energy objectives, and this study tries to distinguish those shrewd sustainable power and energy production systems that are monetarily achievable and in fact relevant in helpless urban communities. Renewable energies are a sustainable, unlimited, and decarbonized solution to address future energy challenges. In this context, Morocco has considerable lead vantage to position itself on this promising market. Furthermore, renewable energies have been highlighted as a key strategic source for the country’s green growth. Morocco has adopted the renewable energy path through a strategy targeted at the development of solar, wind, and hydroelectric power to boost its energy policy by adapting it to the challenges posed by today’s world. Nowadays, Morocco is facing a challenge to reach 52% by 2030 of its total renewable energy capacity, which will exceed 42% by the end of 20221

Black phosphorus analogue- 0D/2D multistructure of Tin(II) monosulfide for improved photocatalytic hydrogen evolution and pollutant removal

In the present era, eco-friendly green hydrogen production is emerging as a very important technology. Photocatalytic hydrogen generation is a field that must be developed as a future-oriented technology. SnS has a low electron affinity, low enough to generate hydrogen from water, and has a small ionization potential, so it can absorb a wide range of visible light. We successfully synthesized 0D/2D SnS multi structures using hydrothermal methods and demonstrated that when the band gap of SnS is wider and tuned than that of bulk materials, this material can be used for more efficient photocatalytic applications. In addition to the chromium hexavalent (CrVI) reduction and organic dye reduction photocatalysts, the efficiency was improved by about 2 times in the hydrogen generation photocatalyst. Because each dimension shape of SnS has a different bandgap, SnS can act as a donor/acceptor as a heterojunction. This increases the lifetime and reduces the electron–hole recombination rate. Designing and fabricating bandgap energy-matched nanocomposite photocatalysts could provide a fundamental direction to solving future clean energy challenges. Since SnS is composed of safe and abundant elements and SnS QDs and various structures can be synthesized using simple wet chemistry methods applicable to mass production, the SnS material described here is suitable for future solar hydrogen production. In addition, band control and performance improvement through material structuring are expected to be widely applied to other materials.

Risk, “Radiophobia,” and Social Learning: Applying Lessons from the Literature

Social learning aims to produce a change in both understanding and behavior on the part of individuals that diffuses to wider social units and communities of practice. This paper asks: What lessons from the social learning literature can be applied to research and public engagement with respect to radiation exposure risk? Five key lessons were assembled, and recent survey results were used to demonstrate how these lessons can be applied to outline a risk communication strategy that includes, but is not limited to, well-designed engagement. The marked divergence between public and “expert” opinion on radiation exposure risk remains at the heart of current debates over the role of nuclear energy in tackling climate change. Earlier literature tended to be dismissive of the risk gap, siding with the experts and branding the public “radiophobic.” We show how applying the findings of the literature review to the design and analysis of the survey can overcome shortcomings of past approaches and build on strengths. This paper seeks to demonstrate the importance and interrelated nature of mixed-methods studies where quantitative and qualitative analysis is combined. This includes avoiding overly binary approaches of study and finding ways to open up conversations and exchanges. This exploration of social learning and public engagement highlights the potential barriers nuclear energy faces in contributing to the future energy mix and challenges current practices to be more perceptive to the spectrum of public positions to radiation exposure risk.

Editorial: Special Issue on Materials for Extreme Environments, Part 2

Abstract The response of materials to extreme conditions of heat flux, stresses, strain rates, and corrosive environments provides an insight into new phenomena, reveals failure modes that limit technological possibilities, and presents novel routes for making new and improved materials. Exposing materials to extreme environments induces new physical phenomena, which are central to the challenges of science. Understanding and exploiting these extreme environments is critical for facing many of the future energy challenges, as materials for these usually operate at extremes of pressure, temperature, and chemical reactivity. Identifying materials that not only survive but also perform under extreme conditions to the design requirements is a major concern in energy research. It is in this context that this special issue on materials for extreme environment becomes relevant and useful for readers in their research endeavors. It has been a pleasure to be guest editors for the two-part special issue on Materials for Extreme Environments for Materials Performance and Characterization. The first part of special issue covered 16 papers, essentially covering the areas of materials for cryogenic applications and ultrahigh temperature, advanced materials, and manufacturing technologies. The second part of the special issue contains the remaining 18 papers, essentially showcasing recent advances in materials for energy applications. There are two review articles in this volume. The first is by Prasad Reddy et al. from the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, India, on “Core Materials for Sodium Cooled Fast Reactors: Past to Present and Future Prospects,” which reviews materials that are subjected to extreme conditions of intense fast-spectrum neutron irradiation, high temperatures, and mechanical/chemical fuel-cladding interactions. The second article, by Patil et al., “A Review on the Material Development and Corresponding Properties for Power Plant Applications,” brings out the recent advances in materials for power plants. These are followed by six papers each on corrosion/oxidation and welding of advanced materials for use in extreme environments. We sincerely thank both the authors and reviewers for their hard work and dedication. We wholeheartedly thank the ASTM International staff dealing with the special issues for all their efforts. We sincerely hope that you enjoy the papers in this special issue.

Advances in plastic waste-derived carbon nanomaterial for supercapacitor applications: Trends, challenges and prospective

Plastic is one of the most serious environmental threats. Plastic is a non-biodegradable substance that releases various hazardous compounds that cause cancer and other serious illnesses, as well as endangering aquatic life and polluting the environment. The use of waste plastic in the production of a variety of nanomaterials can protect people and the surroundings from the dangers of plastic waste, while simultaneously producing useful compounds for other applications. This critical review summarizes the current plastic waste circumstances investigation of the worldwide energy crisis, as well as a recent development in the structural forms and presents a situational investigation of common plastic waste into valuable carbon-based nanomaterials (CNMs) like carbon quantum dots, carbon nanoparticles, Carbon nanotube (CNT), graphene, and 3D porous carbon, which can be used as supercapacitor electrode materials. The impact of various structural alterations on CNMs on the charge storage mechanism has been widely addressed for the manufacture of high-performance electrode materials for supercapacitors, and their future potential. We think that our review reveals a promising long-term strategy for using plastic waste for supercapacitor electrode applications, as well as a new way for humanity's future energy and waste management challenges.

Review of the renewable energy status and prospects in Pakistan

The studies are conducted to discuss and review the status and prospects of renewable energy (solar, wind, and biomass) in Pakistan. The future power demand, as well as the general growth in power consumption, were considered. The findings demonstrated that renewable energy sources like solar, wind, biomass, and hydro are the only remedies to tackle Pakistan's future energy challenges. Moreover, the potential energies of offshore wind, tide waves, ocean terminals, and geothermal need to be investigated and discovered. The geographical location of the region arrests 7 kWh/m 2 solar insolation daily, which can produce 25 MJ of energy. In addition, global irradiation on a horizontal surface can generate 2.4 MWh of energy per annum. Similarly, plains and mountain regions can generate 50,000 MW of electric power. Additionally, the importance of renewable energy in graduation and post-graduation programs and public awareness has been addressed. It has been concluded that solar energy is the short-term and best solution to deal with the energy crisis in Pakistan.

Natural Hierarchically Structured Highly Porous Tomato Peel Based Tribo‐ and Piezo‐Electric Nanogenerator for Efficient Energy Harvesting

AbstractTo mitigate future global energy challenges, it is vital to utilize natural resources to harness sustainable and environmentally‐friendly energy. This paper explores the tribo‐ and piezo‐electric functionalities of tomato peel (TP) to fabricate a nature‐driven hybrid nanogenerator. Tomato is one of the most cultivated vegetables globally, however, a significant amount of TP is disposed after utilization in the food processing industries. The TP possesses a natural hierarchically placed highly porous structure, which is helpful to enhance the output performance of both piezo‐ and tribo‐electric devices. This work shows that a TP based piezo‐electric nanogenerator can produce an open circuit voltage of 24.5 V, short circuit current of 2.5 µA, and maximum instantaneous power of 19.5 µW. In addition, the TP based tribo‐electric nanogenerator generates open circuit voltage, short circuit current, and instantaneous power of 135 V, 81 µA, and 3750 µW, respectively. Combining two NGs functionalities, the proposed TP based tribo‐ and piezo‐electric nanogenerator (TP‐TPENG) shows enhanced output performance with the rectified open circuit voltage, short circuit current, and maximum instantaneous power of 150 V, 84 µA, and 5400 µW, respectively. These results show that the TP‐TPENG can offer a new pathway toward bio‐based nanogeneration and self‐powered sensing green technologies.

The good process or the great illusion? A spatial perspective on public participation in Danish municipal wind turbine planning

ABSTRACT This paper explores limitations and potentials of the public space for participation in Danish municipal wind energy planning. Although the Danish procedure for involving citizens in wind energy developments is often praised for its participatory merits, the approach is not without problems. Based on explorative case study research of three Danish wind energy projects at the planning stage, and qualitative interviews with both citizens and planners, the paper reveals shortcomings in terms of perceived procedural fairness and the powerful role ascribed to developers in a planning process. A general conclusion is that the implementation of limited participation requirements of the inherent invited space decouples citizens’ perspectives while providing a space for economic and strategic interests that is closed in its character. However, the study also localizes public input which is not limited to formal participation mechanisms. Self-initiated participation representing a ‘claimed’, ‘uninvited’ and ‘self-organized’ space exerts pressure from the outside and may carry important answers to future energy challenges. The paper suggests that a successful nurturing of such potentials could help to reconfigure a public space that encourages collective reflection between established and oppositional understandings of wind energy and society.

Rhenium Doping of Layered Transition-Metal Diselenides Triggers Enhancement of Photoelectrochemical Activity.

The ever decreasing sources of fossil fuels have launched extensive research of alternative materials that might play a key role in their replacement. Therefore, the scientific community continuously investigates the possibilities of maximizing the working capacity of such materials in order to fulfill energy challenges in the near future. In this context, doping of the semiconducting materials is a versatile strategy to trigger their physicochemical properties as well their electrochemical performance. Herein, the impact of rhenium doping toward photoelectrochemical activity of MoSe2 and WSe2 was studied. Our results indicate that rhenium as a dopant contributes to better overall electrochemical performance, that is, an easier electron transfer of these materials compared to pristine compounds. Additionally, the photoelectrochemical measurements revealed that the doping with rhenium generated an enhancement of the photocurrent response of MoSe2 as well as WSe2 under UV light illumination.