Novel 4H-pyranylidene organic dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells: Effect of different heteroaromatic rings on the photovoltaic properties

Eight novel Ruthenium-free dyes consisting of a 4H-pyranylidene donor, a 2-cyanoacrylic acid acceptor and several heterocyclic rings with different electronic properties are designed and synthesized. The photovoltaic performances of the related dye-sensitized solar cells are discussed and compared, obtaining the best results with the thiophene followed by the mismatched-oriented thiazole. Dyes containing a pyrrol or a matched-oriented thiazole lead to the lower efficiencies of all the series. Charge extraction (CE) and transient photovoltage (TPV) measurements were conducted in order to investigate the recombination resistance and the difference in voltage for the devices. In order to get further insight in the electronic and optical properties of the studied compounds, theoretical calculations using TD-DFT and the CPCM have been carried out.     

IZO deposition by RF and DC sputtering on paper and application on flexible electrochromic devices

The present work describes indium-zinc oxide (IZO) sputtering depositions onto several types of papers, using radio-frequency (RF) and direct current (DC) sputtering with a ceramic IZO target. The electrical and optical properties of the resulting materials were optimized; by studying the argon and oxygen gas flow rates and the sputtering power effects. At optimal deposition conditions, thin films of IZO were achieved with a low sheet resistance (about 20 Ω/sq) and an optical transmittance of ca. 80% in the visible spectrum range. These materials retained these properties for more than 8 months. Electrochromic devices (ECDs) with several configurations were built with those conductive papers and life cycling and contrast were measured for the ECDs. These devices exhibited a very good color contrast (as defined using L^*a^*b^* color coordinates, = 32) and electrochromic cyclability up to 30,000 redox cycles.     

A New Validated Real-Time PCR-Based Method for the Specific and Fast Detection of Cronobacter spp. in Infant Formula

In this study, a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method was designed for the fast detection of Cronobacter spp. (a newly proposed genus formerly known as Enterobacter sakazakii) in infant formula. The real-time PCR was positively tested with 70 Cronobacter strains, including members of all the species of this genus, and 88 non-Cronobacter strains. This new PCR-based system was validated against the reference standard ISO/TS 22964: 2006 (ISO International Organization for Standardization 2006) using 70 food matrices including powdered infant formula, follow-up formula, and hydrolyzed cereals for infants. The detection limit of the technique was found to be of 1 cfu in 10 g of food, fulfilling the requirements of the European Commission. The time of analysis, which comprises around 3–6 days using the reference method, is considerably reduced to less than 24 h using the real-time PCR-based system hereby described, allowing food industry a faster release of the stocks for commercialization. Moreover, this method includes an internal amplification control, co-amplified during each PCR run to verify the results.     

Decision-making criteria and indicators for water and sanitation projects in developing countries

Water and sanitation projects for solving the needs of small communities in developing countries are complex in nature and involve complex decision-making, which must consider technical, socioeconomic and environmental dimensions. Multicriteria analysis (MCA) is a suitable decision-aid method that scores a finite number of options on the basis of a set of evaluation criteria. The main challenge in MCA is choosing the appropriate criteria and evaluation indicators to use for assessment. The aim of this paper is to present a comprehensive and wide list of criteria and evaluation indicators as a guideline in MCA of water and basic sanitation projects in small rural communities of developing countries. First, the paper details the general criteria to be considered in all the projects, which are classified in to 4 main groups: technical (e.g., local resources use, appropriate management); social (e.g., local community participation, overcoming discrimination of conflict); economic (e.g., low cost, employment of local staff) and environmental criteria (e.g., atmospheric emissions, water pollution). Then, it describes technical criteria to be additionally considered in each specific type of project: water supply (e.g., water needs, independent access), water treatment (e.g., constant resource availability, flexibility of use for different types of water) and basic sanitation projects (e.g., maximum number of people per system, effluent quality).     

Estimating the industrial waste heat recovery potential based on CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> emissions in the European non-metallic mineral industry

Industrial waste heat (IWH) is a key strategy to improve energy efficiency and reduce CO₂ emissions in the industry. But its potential for different countries remains unclear due to a non-existent or inconsistent data basis. The objective of this paper is to assess the IWH potential of the European non-metallic mineral industry, using databases which comprise CO₂ emissions of more than 400 industrial sites as well as country- and sector-specific parameters. This sector is selected because of its homogenous nature, meaning that most sites carry out similar or the same processes, which facilitates site-level modelling with subsector-level assumptions. The bottom-up approach is employed to derive the IWH potential for this industry over the period 2007–2012. Average results in this period show an IWH potential per site of 0.33 PJ/a and a potential for the whole sector of 134 PJ/a. The countries with the largest IWH potentials are Germany, Italy, France and Spain with yearly average potentials of 23, 19, 17 and 16 PJ, respectively. The subsector with the most IWH potential is cement. Further work should focus on the improvement of methodologies to assess the IWH potential, in particular through a techno-economic assessment of links between IWH sources and potential sinks.     

汽车应用中的继电器驱动器

大多数面板安装的继电器由微处理器或其他敏感的电子设备驱动。一个良好的线图驱动电路要求在继电器和微处理器电路之间进行隔离。有效的驱动电路必须考虑到驱动电流和驱动电压的要求，以及有效的抑制L di/dt的瞬态过程，谈瞬态会损坏微处理器电路。虽然现在很容易就可以设计一个复杂、有效的驱动电路，但是今天的设计必须突出成本效益。在继电器中装入单片的IC驱动器可以为系统设计师提供显著的价值。本文描述安森美半导体的集成式继电器驱动器产品的工作原理，它可以使敏感的电子设备和机械继电器连接，以获得不同的控制／功率功能。本文还介绍了该器件的一些优点，如节约印刷电路板面积和减少元件数量。