Graphene nanosheets as counter electrode with phenoxazine dye for efficient dye sensitized solar cell

Efficient dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are developed using phenoxazine (POZ) based organic dye (WS5) and graphene nanosheets (GNs) counter electrode (CE). Being organic, both these materials are used together to explore compatibility of organic materials in current DSSCs. Organic dye with POZ moiety is synthesized and graphene oxide nanosheets (GONs) are spin coated on FTO glass and thermally reduced afterwards. To increase the performance of WS5 through decreased dye aggregation, deoxycholic acid (DCA) is added to it. The results of adding DCA are observed and compared using UV–Vis spectroscopy, external quantum efficiency (EQE), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and photovoltaic conversion efficiency (PCE). Prepared organic dye based DSSC cell results in a high PCE of 6.61%. The optimized WS5 dye and GNs CE, shows PCE of 5.77% and the GNs CE compared to Pt CE results in almost identical charge transfer resistance value at the CE/electrolyte interface. Low cost of this designed organic dye and GNs and the PCE results indicate that this combination may result in the reduction of cost of current DSSCs and the realization that expensive and rare inorganic materials can be replaced with organic ones in future.     

Ti/Co3O4/RuO2-IrO2纳米结构阳极电催化析氧研究

目的 研发含纳米结构Co3O4中间层的Ti/Co3O4/RuO2-IrO2阳极,并对其电化学析氧性能进行研究,以提升Ti/RuO2-IrO2金属氧化物阳极的电化学析氧性能。方法 在Ti基底上电沉积制备Co(OH)2,烧结形成Co3O4纳米片结构,随后采用热分解工艺在Ti/Co3O4表面制备RuO2-IrO2电催化层,从而构建了Ti/Co3O4/ RuO2-IrO2复合阳极。使用透射电子显微镜(TEM)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、X-射线衍射仪(XRD)和电化学工作站对涂层的微观表面形貌、物相组成、电化学性能等进行观察与分析。结果 SEM显示出Ti/Co3O4纳米片上RuO2-IrO2的负载量随涂刷次数增加逐渐增多,最终完全遮盖Co3O4纳米片中间层。且随着RuO2- IrO2前驱体溶液涂覆次数的增加,XRD观察到RuO2-IrO2衍射峰强度在逐渐增大。TEM测试显示Co3O4中间层是由纳米颗粒堆叠组成且具有多孔结构。电化学极化曲线测试表明,涂覆三次RuO2-IrO2层的含Co3O4中间层阳极析氧电位最低,当电流密度达到10 mA/cm²时,析氧电位仅为1.326 V(vs. SCE),低于无中间层的Ti/RuO2-IrO2阳极(1.413 V)。循环伏安测试表明,Ti/Co3O4/RuO2-IrO2阳极的伏安电量达到62.83 mC/cm²,相较于Ti/RuO2-IrO2阳极的23.65 mC/cm²提高了166%。稳定性能试验表明,在经过1 000次循环稳定性试验后,加入Co3O4纳米片中间层的复合阳极的伏安电量降低了35.94%,低于无中间层阳极48.88%的伏安电量损耗率。循环极化试验后的Ti/Co3O4/RuO2-IrO2复合阳极的电化学活性仍明显优于循环极化试验前的Ti/RuO2-IrO2阳极。结论 Co3O4纳米片中间层的加入使得Ti/Co3O4/RuO2-IrO2阳极的电催化析氧性能和稳定性都得到了提升。     

石墨相氮化碳纳米片膜研究进展

石墨相氮化碳（g-C₃N₄）纳米片由于具有本征孔、高孔密度、高稳定性、高力学强度、大比表面积、化学环境可调节等特性,在气体分离、渗透汽化、脱盐等膜分离工艺中具有独特的优势,从而引起了研究人员的广泛关注。本文介绍了g-C₃N₄纳米片的结构和性质,总结了g-C₃N₄纳米片的制备方法,阐述了不同形式的g-C₃N₄纳米片基分离膜,讨论了g-C₃N₄纳米片膜在分离中的应用,提出了g-C₃N₄纳米片膜的存在的问题和未来的发展趋势。     

Mechanical properties of freely suspended semiconducting graphene-like layers based on MoS2

We fabricate freely suspended nanosheets of molybdenum disulphide (MoS₂) which are characterized by quantitative optical microscopy and high-resolution friction force microscopy. We study the elastic deformation of freely suspended nanosheets of MoS₂ using an atomic force microscope. The Young''s modulus and the initial pre-tension of the nanosheets are determined by performing a nanoscopic version of a bending test experiment. MoS₂ sheets show high elasticity and an extremely high Young''s modulus (0.30 TPa, 50% larger than steel). These results make them a potential alternative to graphene in applications requiring flexible semiconductor materials.PACS, 73.61.Le, other inorganic semiconductors, 68.65.Ac, multilayers, 62.20.de, elastic moduli, 81.40.Jj, elasticity and anelasticity, stress-strain relations.     

Deformable thermoelectric sponge based on layer-by-layer self-assembled transition metal dichalcogenide nanosheets for powering electronic skin

In this study, we fabricated mechanically deformable thermoelectric sponges comprising transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and polyethyleneimine (PEI) through a layer-by-layer (LBL) self-assembly technique for a thermoelectric power supply for electronic skin. Chemically exfoliated molybdenum sulfide (MoS₂) and niobium diselenide (NbSe₂) were prepared as p- and n-type room-temperature thermoelectric materials, respectively, and deposited on a melamine sponge via electrostatic bonding with PEI to obtain stable mechanical stretchability and low thermal conductivity. Five bilayers of LBL self-assembled thermoelectric sponges exhibited an enhanced thermoelectric performance and figure of merit, which resulted from the improvement in the Seebeck coefficient compared with that of pristine chemically exfoliated TMDs owing to the energy filtering effect and the extremely low thermal conductivity owing to the phonon scattering effect at several created interfaces and the porous structure of the sponge. Additionally, the thermoelectric sponges showed mechanical stability during operation under stretching and compression and mechanical durability over 10,000 cycles under 30% tensile strain. Finally, based on the proposed thermoelectric sponge, a power patch that can be installed on the back of a hand to produce electrical energy in real time was successfully demonstrated.