Thin-film solar cells

The R&D status of cells and modules based on hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and those based on CdTe and CuInSe₂ is reviewed. The stability of a-Si:H solar cells is still a major concern. Improvements have been achieved on an empirical basis by application of multijunction structures, optimization of interfaces, etc. Stabilized efficiencies of close to 10% have been reported. In parallel, the introduction of the ‘defect-pool model’ led to remarkable progress in understanding; it follows that a-SiGe:H instead of a-Si:H should be used for the i-layer (absorber). Improved cell engineering concepts, however, such as enhancement of the built-in electric field via reduction of the i-layer thickness and/or folded structures, are believed to be more promising. Polycrystalline thin-film cells based on CdTe and CuInSe₂ are not affected by inherent degradation mechanisms. the specific properties of these materials demand heterojunctions, and particular problems arise due to the polycrystallinity of the films and to the lattice mismatch and mismatch of the electronic band structures of the materials involved. These are discussed in conjunction with measures currently applied for optimizing solar cell performance. Both cell types exhibit eficiencies in the range 16-17%. Estimations of production costs and energy payback times of thin-film photovoltaic modules are reviewed (even below 1 US$ W_p⁻¹ and as low as 4 months, respectively) and environmental concerns, especially for Cd-containing cells, are summarized.     

Probing molecular mobility during crosslinking process of commercial resins by NMR multiexponential relaxation data analysis

In this study, we present the experimental results for the crosslinking process of a commercial polyester resin based on measurements of the spin lattice relaxation time T₁ of protons, as function of the crosslinking time evolution. Multiexponential decomposition of the evolution of magnetization measured in inversion‐recovery experiments is performed. The population of “rigid” and “mobile” nuclear spin sites was estimated as function of time evolution. In analogy to the usual monomer conversion u, site conversion from “mobile” to “rigid” sites u_M were also estimated as a function of time evolution and initial concentrations of the reagents. The multiexponential decomposition approach of T₁ relaxation data allows one to follow crosslinking processes. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Identification of ritual blood in African artifacts using TOF-SIMS and synchrotron radiation microspectroscopies

A new protocol is implemented to demonstrate the presence of blood in the patina of African art objects from Mali. Divided into three steps, the protocol first consists in demonstrating the presence of proteins and localizing them in the sample's cross sections using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) and synchrotron-based infrared microspectrometry (microFT-IR). In a second time, TOF-SIMS is used to investigate heme, which is a blood marker. If heme is missing, which could mean that it is too degraded to be detected, X-ray microfluorescence (microXRF) and X-ray absorption near-edge microspectroscopy (microXANES) are used to prove the presence of iron in the protein area and to get a fingerprint of its chemical environment. This permits us thus to demonstrate that iron is indeed linked with proteins and not with mineral phases of the sample. Coupled with the ritual context of the objects, this constitutes a proof of the use of blood. Thanks to this protocol, which has the major advantage of avoiding false positive results, the presence of blood has been demonstrated in seven out of the eight studied samples.     

Reaktionen mit Cyclobutendionen. LII. Reaktionen von 4-Hydroxy-3-phenyl-cyclobut-(3)-en-onen-(1) mit Arylhydrazinen

Reactions of Cyclobutendiones. LII. Reaction of 4-Hydroxy-3-phenyl-3-cyclobuten-1-ones with Arylhydrazines In the reaction of hydroxycyclobutenones of the typ 1 – 4 with arylhydrazines 5 an unexpected reaction behaviour is found. The major products are hydrazones of different structure, the well known hydroxy-cyclopropane-carboxylicacid hydrazines 6 [1] are byproducts. The direction of the reaction depends on the substituents X, on the different substituted arylhydrazines and the solvents.