Founded on 4 April in 1881 at a London meeting, the Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) has grown to become a global network of innovators and the place where science meets business. The SCI was created mainly to promote the communication between professionals and companies in the chemical industries. The SCI runs over 200 conferences a year and has launched numerous journals. In the past 140 years, the SCI has made a great impact on the innovation of chemical industries.

To celebrate the 140th anniversary of SCI, we have organized this special issue with the invited contributions from the ESE editorial advisory board members. All 8 accepted manuscripts, which passed through the peer-review process, are comprehensive reviews or research articles in advanced energy areas, including solar cells, batteries, fuel cells, CO₂ reduction, and hydrothermal processes. The first article, which is from Prof. Peter Lund and coworkers at Aalto University, reviews the progress in TiO₂ nanotubes for dye-sensitized solar cells, with emphasis on the fabrication methods of photoelectrode. Prof. Guozhong Cao’s group at University of Washington contributes the second article that evaluates the fluorine in NASICON-type materials as cathodes for aqueous zinc ion batteries. In the third article, Prof. Mario Pagliaro at Istituto per lo Studio dei Materiali Nanostrutturati provides a critical perspective for renewable energy in Russia, showing the importance of combining the low cost of electricity generation via today's photovoltaic modules and wind turbines with energy storage in ion batteries and hydrogen produced from water electrolysis. The fourth article from my group at Michigan technological University reviews the recent advances in graphene-based materials for fuel cell applications and outlines the challenges and perspectives in using graphene-based materials for fuel cells. The progress in proton-conducting oxides as electrolytes is evaluated for low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells in our fifth article. Prof. Fangming Jin’s group at Shanghai Jiao Tong University contributes the sixth article to review the recent progress in the electrocatalytic reduction in CO₂, with focus on materials, reaction conditions, and devices. Prof. Shurong Wang and coworkers at Zhejiang University report the preparation of energy platform chemicals by hydrothermal conversion of citrus peel in the seventh article. As reported in the final article, Prof. Xianqin Wang’s group at New Jersey Institute of Technology develops the novel composite material of Ni electrodeposited on MWNTs as a promising catalyst for CO₂ reduction reaction.

I wish to thank all the authors of the articles for their contributions to the special issue. I appreciate the peer reviewers for their time and efforts in evaluating the manuscripts. I also thank my two colleagues (ESE Deputy Editors-in-Chief at Wiley), Dr. Sonia Ojo and Dr. Costas Kouroupis-Agalou, for their great efforts in the peer-review process and the organization of this special issue. I also appreciate the support and help from the SCI for this special issue.

化学工业协会 (SCI) 于 1881 年 4 月 4 日在伦敦会议上成立，现已发展成为一个全球创新者网络，也是科学与商业相遇的地方。SCI 的创建主要是为了促进化工行业专业人士与公司之间的交流。SCI 每年举办 200 多场会议，并推出了众多期刊。在过去的 140 年里，SCI 对化学工业的创新产生了巨大的影响。

为庆祝 SCI 诞生 140 周年，我们特邀 ESE 编辑顾问委员会成员共同投稿。通过同行评审程序的所有8篇稿件均为太阳能电池、电池、燃料电池、CO ₂还原和水热过程等先进能源领域的综合评论或研究文章。第一篇文章来自阿尔托大学的 Peter Lund 教授及其同事，回顾了 TiO ₂的进展用于染料敏化太阳能电池的纳米管，重点是光电极的制造方法。华盛顿大学曹国忠教授团队贡献了第二篇文章，评估了 NASICON 型材料中的氟作为水性锌离子电池的阴极。在第三篇文章中，Istituto per lo Studio dei Materiali Nanostrutturati 的 Mario Pagliaro 教授为俄罗斯的可再生能源提供了一个重要的视角，展示了将当今光伏组件和风力涡轮机的低成本发电与离子储能相结合的重要性电池和水电解产生的氢气。我在密歇根理工大学的小组的第四篇文章回顾了用于燃料电池应用的石墨烯基材料的最新进展，并概述了将石墨烯基材料用于燃料电池的挑战和前景。在我们的第五篇文章中评估了低温固体氧化物燃料电池的质子传导氧化物作为电解质的进展。上海交通大学金方明教授课题组贡献第六篇文章回顾CO电催化还原的最新进展₂、重点关注材料、反应条件和装置。浙江大学王树荣教授及其同事在第七篇文章中报道了柑橘皮水热转化制备能源平台化学品。正如在最后一篇文章中报道的那样，新泽西理工学院的王贤勤教授团队开发了一种新型的电沉积在 MWNT 上的 Ni 复合材料，作为 CO ₂还原反应的有前途的催化剂。

我要感谢文章的所有作者对特刊的贡献。我感谢同行评审员在评估手稿方面付出的时间和努力。我还要感谢我的两位同事（Wiley 的 ESE 副主编）Sonia Ojo 博士和 Costas Kouroupis-Agalou 博士，感谢他们在同行评审过程和本期特刊的组织方面做出的巨大努力。我也感谢 SCI 对这个特刊的支持和帮助。