Volume 10 Issue 9, September 2025

The passivation of perovskite surface defects is crucial to achieving perovskite solar cells with high performance and stability, but universal strategies remain elusive. Now, a passivation strategy is developed that has a broad processing window and shows applicability to various perovskite compositions and device architectures.

The performance of perovskite solar cells with mesoscopic carbon electrodes is limited by inefficient charge transport and charge accumulation at interfaces. Now, by reacting hexamethylene diisocyanate with organic cations at the surface of perovskite grains and passivating defects, 23.2% efficiency can be achieved in small-area devices.

As demand for higher-energy batteries grows, pushing cathode voltages to higher voltages often triggers rapid degradation. Now, a co-doping strategy creates an ultrathin metal surface layer on advanced cathode materials, helping them maintain performance at elevated voltages.

Long charging times remain a critical limitation for state-of-the-art lithium metal batteries. Now, an electrolyte design inhibits inorganic agglomeration in solid electrolyte interphases, unlocking fast-charging capabilities in high-energy-density lithium metal batteries.

In the USA, households with heat pumps tend to cool their homes earlier, and this adoption helps narrow the income-based disparities in cooling usage. Heat pumps can help to alleviate residential energy insecurity and contribute to making energy more affordable and homes more comfortable, especially in the summer.

Electrochemically induced pH swing can facilitate direct air capture at ambient temperature; however, the energy efficiency is compromised by the oxidation of the redox-active organic molecules. A hybrid flow cell that spatially isolates the oxygen-sensitive materials from air achieves stable CO₂ capture from oxygen-containing gas streams with low energy demand.

A quantitative theory based on cation–solvent and anion–solvent affinity has been developed to elucidate the solvation microstructure of electrolytes. This unified framework can simultaneously predict electrolyte structure, transport properties, and interfacial behaviour. Thus, the framework provides a solvent-specific design platform for the development of high-performance electrolytes.

Shaping the magnetic configuration in the power exhaust region brings major advantages to addressing the challenge of controlling the power exhaust in nuclear fusion. Power exhaust control in these alternative configurations is now demonstrated in the MAST-U nuclear fusion experiment, offering an increased ability to passively absorb disturbances.

Stack pressure plays a critical role in battery performance, influencing electrochemical behaviour, material integrity and system efficiency. The authors analyse existing stack pressure data and establish relationships between stack pressure and battery performance to provide insights for improving battery design and efficiency.

The passivation of surface defects is critical in perovskite photovoltaics yet challenging to implement in practice. Wang et al. show that fluorinated isopropanol allows the use of a high concentration of passivator molecules, ensuring the complete passivation of defects.

Printable mesoscopic perovskite solar cells are a promising device design, yet their efficiency is limited by charge collection. Ma et al. use hexamethylene diisocyanate to eliminate unreacted organic cations at grain boundaries, enhancing hole collection.

Methane can be converted into other useful chemicals and fuels via photocatalytic oxidative coupling, yet producing molecules with more than two carbon atoms remains difficult. Here the authors show that highly strained Au confined within the nanopores of TiO₂ can convert methane to propane with high selectivity.

Ni-rich layered cathodes promise higher energy density at high voltages, but suffer from poor cycling stability. This study improves stability by introducing a supersaturated high-valence cation surface layer that stabilizes the structure and suppresses side reactions for durable cycling at 4.8 V.

Managing power exhaust in fusion reactors is a key challenge, especially in compact designs for cost-effective commercial energy. This study shows how alternative divertor configurations improve exhaust control, enhance stability, absorb transients and enable independent plasma regulation.

Lithium metal batteries offer high energy density for electric vehicles but face challenges with fast charging. This study investigates pyran-based electrolytes containing various substituted anions, revealing that weakly Li⁺-associating anions enhance fast-charging performance.

Electrochemical CO₂ capture is hindered by the oxidation of redox-active organic molecules by O₂, affecting energy efficiency and capacity. Here the authors develop a flow cell in which the O₂-sensitive components are isolated from O₂, achieving 99% coulombic efficiency with low energy requirements.

Electrolyte design is key for high-energy lithium metal batteries, but structure–performance links are hard to predict. A framework using the normalized cation/anion–solvent affinity enables quantitative prediction of microstructure, transport and interphase, driving exceptional performance.

US households with heat pumps begin cooling earlier, and this adoption narrows the income-based disparities in cooling. Heat pumps help alleviate energy insecurity, make energy more affordable and make homes more comfortable.