Synthesis,characterization and electrochemical properties of La2-xEuxNiO4+δ Ruddlesden-Popper-type layered nickelates as cathode materials for SOFC applications

Eu doped La₂NiO₄ powders, with the general formula La_2-xEu_xNiO_4+δ denoted as LENO_x (for x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8), were synthesized via the mechanical milling reaction method. The Eu³⁺ doping content has a remarkable influence on structural and electrochemical properties. The phase identification and morphology were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, Infrared spectroscopy (IR), A laser size analyzer and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Lattice parameters were calculated using the Rietveld method. It was observed that the lattice parameter values in LENO_x systems varied with the amount of Eu³⁺. The latter was symmetrically deposited by spin coating on both surfaces of an Ce_0.8Sm_0.2O_1.9 (SDC) electrolyte and studied using AC impedance spectroscopy. The electrochemical properties were studied using two-probe impedance spectroscopy and results showed that the ASR of LENO_x was enhanced by the Eu³⁺ dopant content x. Results also showed that LNEO_0.2 had the lowest Area specific resistance (ASR) at 700 °C and it was therefore concluded that doping with the appropriate amount of Eu³⁺ can further improve the properties of a nickelate cathode.     

Novel porous carbon felt cathode modified by cyclic voltammetric electrodeposited polypyrrole and anthraquinone 2-sulfonate for an efficient electro-Fenton process

A novelty two-step synthesized porous carbon felt (PCF) cathode modified by cyclic voltammetric (CV) electrodeposited polypyrrole (Ppy) and anthraquinone 2-sulfonate (AQS) (PCF/Ppy/AQS) for an efficient electro-Fenton process has been investigated. Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) measurements verified the three-dimensional porous structure of the PCF, revealing that the specific surface area was approximately 2.5 times higher than that of the bare carbon felt (CF), which ensured more active sites available for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). In addition, the electrodeposited Ppy decreases the charge transfer resistance (R_ct) of the PCF cathode. AQS, a type of anthraquinone that can serve as an oxygen reduction catalyzer, could accelerate the ORR process and subsequently improve the performance of the electro-Fenton system. Rotating disk electrode (RDE) analysis confirmed that the ORR catalyzed by AQS was a double-electron reduction process, which contributed to hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) generation. The removal efficiency of total organic carbon (TOC) from Rhodamine B (RhB) could reach 51% within 1 h in the electro-Fenton system equipped with the PCF/Ppy/AQS, resulting in an improvement of approximately 24% compared with the bare CF cathode without porous treatment. The cycle experiment showed a good stability of the PCF/Ppy/AQS cathode. Additionally, the possible mechanism of degradation process in the electro-Fenton equipped with the PCF/Ppy/AQS cathode was proposed based on the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) analysis and quenching experiment. The novel fabricated PCF/Ppy/AQS provides an alternative as a high-efficiency cathode, yielding energy savings in the electro-Fenton system.     

High rate capability of LiFePO4 cathodes doped with a high amount of Ti

A Li-ion battery cathode with target stoichiometry LiTi_0.08Fe_0.92PO₄ was prepared by doping a high amount of Ti⁴⁺ into the olivine structure using solid-state reaction at 700 °C. Synchrotron X-ray diffraction studies confirmed the presence of a major olivine phase and NASICON-type ion-conducting Li₃Fe₂(PO)₄ and Li₂TiFe(PO₄)₃ impurities. Further, the calculated lattice parameter values appear to confirm Ti-doping in LiFePO₄. Electron microscopy and particle distribution studies not only revealed a slightly increased average particle-size and particle fragmentation but also confirmed a fair distribution of Ti⁴⁺ ions in the prepared sample. The LiTi_0.08Fe_0.92PO₄ cathode delivered high specific capacities and good capacity retentions (≤2% capacity loss after 50 cycles) for lithium battery applications. Besides, the cathode delivered impressive rate capabilities as specific capacities of 160 and 110 mA h g⁻¹ at 0.2 and 11.4 C, respectively, were retained. Although the average particle-size was slightly higher, the presence of ion-conducting NASICON-type species appear to contribute to the enhanced electrical conductivity and hence to the cathode performance of LiTi_0.08Fe_0.92PO₄.     

A low-cost and low-temperature processable zinc oxide-polyethylenimine (ZnO:PEI) nano-composite as cathode buffer layer for organic and perovskite solar cells

Nanocomposite buffer layer based on metal oxide and polymer is merging as a novel buffer layer for organic solar cells, which combines the high charge carrier mobility of metal oxide and good film formation properties of polymer. In this work, a nanocomposite of zinc oxide and a commercialized available polyethylenimine (PEI) was developed and used as the cathode buffer layer (CBL) for the inverted organic solar cells and p-i-n heterojunction perovskite solar cells. The cooperation of PEI in nano ZnO offers a good film forming ability of the composite material, which is an advantage in device fabrication. In addition, power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the ZnO:PEI CBL based device was also improved when compared to that of ZnO-only and PEI-only devices. The highest PCE of P3HT:PC₆₁BM and PTB7-Th:PC₆₁BM devices reached to 3.57% and 8.16%, respectively. More importantly, there is no obvious device performance loss with the increase of the layer thickness of ZnO:PEI CBL to 60 nm in organic solar cells, which is in contrast to the PEI based devices, whose device performance decreases dramatically when the PEI layer thickness is higher than 6 nm. Such a nano composite material is also applicable in inverted heterojunction perovskite solar cells. A PCE of 11.76% was achieved for the perovskite solar cell with a thick ZnO:PEI CBL (150 nm) CBL, which is around 1.71% higher than that of the reference cell without CBL, or with ZnO CBL. In addition, stability of the organic and perovskite solar cells having ZnO:PEI CBL was also found to be improved in comparison with that of PEI based device.     

Electrochemical investigations on amorphous Fe-base alloys for alkaline water electrolysis

In this work different amorphous melt-spun Fe-alloys (Fe₈₂B₁₈, Fe₈₀Si₁₀B₁₀, Fe₆₀Co₂₀Si₁₀B₁₀) were investigated as cathode materials for the alkaline electrolysis of water. In particular, the influence of cobalt as well as the metalloids boron and silicon on the activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) was studied in 1 M KOH at 298 K using cyclic voltammetric, galvanostatic and polarization techniques. The electrocatalytic activity was evaluated in the view of the overpotential. It was found that cyclic voltammetric techniques can be used to activate the melt-spun Fe-alloys strongly. Different cyclic voltammetric activation procedures are discussed and the influence of the sweep rate and the potential window on the HER activity was elucidated. The experimental data indicate that the addition of metalloids and, most importantly, of cobalt improves the HER activity of the materials. Thus, the overpotential can be reduced by 200 mV compared to polycrystalline Ni.     

An effective bilayer cathode buffer for highly efficient small molecule organic solar cells

Novel organic/ultrathin low work function metal bilayer cathode buffers for small molecule organic solar cells are proposed. Ultrathin low work function metal layers possess a high built-in electric field for effective carrier extraction and a high cathode reflectivity for maximum absorption in the photoactive layers. This leads to a significant increase of short circuit current density and fill factor of cells. By integrating this bilayer cathode buffer with DTDCTB:C₆₀ small molecular heterojunction, the device exhibits a high power conversion efficiency of up to 5.28%, which is an improvement of 22% compared to a device with a traditional single organic layer buffer.     

Catalyst layer formulations for slot-die coating of PEM fuel cell electrodes

The series of electrodes were fabricated by the scalable and manufacturable slot-die coating method for proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) application. The inks with different amounts of solids were studied by rheological methods in order to establish a coating window with minimum manufacturing defects. The obtained electrodes were characterized by SEM, AFM, and optical microscopy, which showed that they were uniform and homogeneous with minimum defects. The electrochemical evaluation of the manufactured gas diffusion electrodes (GDE) showed that the main characteristics of the electrodes, like electrochemical surface area, proton resistivity, and double layer capacitance, were found to be close for all samples confirming the reproducibility of the slot-die process. Additionally, we studied the effects of membrane thickness on the performance of the GDE membrane electrode assemblies and determined that a decrease in membrane thickness favored the performance. The obtained results clearly demonstrated the applicability and feasibility of the approach for the Manufacturing of catalyst layers for the fuel cell application with potential for future mass production.     

Modified La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ cathodes with the infiltration of Er0.4Bi1.6O3 for intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cells

Aiming to lower the activation energy and expedite the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) process of La_0.6Sr_0.4Co_0.2Fe_0.8O_3-δ (LSCF) cathodes for application in intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFCs), Er_0.4Bi_1.6O₃ (ESB) modified LSCF was prepared by infiltrating using organic solvents. The infiltration of ESB dramatically reduces the polarization resistances of LSCF cathodes (from 0.27 to 0.11 Ω cm² at 700 °C, from 0.58 to 0.25 Ω cm² at 650 °C), and lowers their activation energy (from 100.28 to 97.15 kJ mol^?1). Also, ESB makes the rate-limiting step of LSCF cathodes at high frequency change from the charge transfer process on the cathode to the adsorption and diffusion of oxygen on cathode surface. The single cell with ESB infiltrated LSCF cathodes shows a peak power density of 469 mW cm^?2 at 700 °C using humid hydrogen and air as fuels and oxidants, respectively, as well as a good short-term stability for 50 h.     

Effect of PEI cathode interlayer on work function and interface resistance of ITO electrode in the inverted polymer solar cells

In this paper, we investigated the effect of PEI cathode interlayer on the work function and the interface resistance of ITO electrode in the inverted polymer solar cells (PSCs) based on PBDTTT-C-T:PC₇₀BM. It is found that a very thin layer of PEI (⩽5.5 nm), either linear PEI (l-PEI) or branched PEI (b-PEI) with different molecular weights, is enough to lower the work function of the ITO electrode and to enhance the photovoltaic performance of the devices. The champion power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the devices with the PEI cathode interlayer is 7.84%, more than doubled of that without the interlayer. However, a thicker PEI interlayer (⩾10 nm) results in abrupt decrease of the PCEs due to the increase of the resistance. Interestingly, for the thicker interlayers, the l-PEI shows high photovoltaic performance than that of b-PEI, which can also be explained by their difference in the resistances. This work supplies an insight into the function of PEI cathode interlayer on improving the work function and resistance of ITO electrode in the inverted PSCs, and provides some instructions on the future design of interlayer materials in PSCs.     

Improved performance of inverted polymer solar cells by utilizing alcohol-soluble oligofluorenes as efficient cathode interlayers

Two star-shaped oligofluorenes with hexakis(fluoren-2-yl)benzene as core are designed and synthesized, namely Tn0 and Tn1. Diethylamino groups are attached to the side chain of fluorene units of Tn0 and Tn1 and enable them alcohol solubility, additional hydrophobic nhexyl chains are grafted on the π-extended fluorene arms of Tn1. Power conversion efficiency (PCE) as high as 8.62% and 8.80% are achieved when utilizing Tn0 and Tn1 as cathode interlayers in inverted polymer solar cells, respectively. The work function of ITO effectively decreased by introducing interlayer, resulting in high Voc of the device, besides, the wetting properties of the interlayers can be tuned by modifying the oligofluorenes with π-extended structure, and the more hydrophobic interlayer will benefit the device performance with enhanced Jsc and FF.