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Spheres-in-Grating Assemblies with Altered Photoluminescence and Wetting Properties. NANOMATERIALS 2022; 12:nano12071084. [PMID: 35407201 PMCID: PMC9000395 DOI: 10.3390/nano12071084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2022] [Revised: 03/21/2022] [Accepted: 03/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
In this work, we report the fabrication of spheres-in-grating assemblies consisting of equally spaced parallel rectangular grooves filled with fluorescent spheres, by employing embossing and convective self-assembly methods. The developed hierarchical assemblies, when compared to spheres spin-cast on glass, exhibited a blueshift in the photoluminescence spectra, as well as changes in wetting properties induced not only by the patterning process, but also by the nature and size of the utilized spheres. While the patterning process led to increased hydrophobicity, the utilization of spheres with larger diameter improved the hydrophilicity of the fabricated assemblies. Finally, by aiming at the future integration of the spheres-in-grating assemblies as critical components in different technological and medical applications, we report a successful encapsulation of the incorporated spheres within the grating with a top layer of a functional polymer.
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Chen D, Tan H, Xu T, Wang W, Chen H, Zhang J. Micropatterned PEDOT with Enhanced Electrochromism and Electrochemical Tunable Diffraction. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2021; 13:58011-58018. [PMID: 34797985 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c17897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Micro-nanofabrication of conductive polymers (CPs) with functional structures is in great demand in organic electronic devices, micro-optics, and flex sensors. Here, we report the fabrication of micropatterned poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) and its applications on flexible electrochromic devices and tunable diffractive optics. The localized electropolymerization of 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene at the electrode/agarose gel stamping interface through an electrochemical wet stamping (E-WETS) technique is used to fabricate PEDOT with functional microstructures. PEDOT microdots, micro-rectangles, and interdigitated array microelectrodes are fabricated with submicron tolerance and ∼2 μm smallest feature size. Furthermore, the flexible PEDOT electrochromic devices consisting of the logo of Xiamen University are fabricated with a reversible switch of absorptivity. The improved optical and coloration-amperometric responses of electrochromism are demonstrated because of the enhanced charge transport rate of the micropatterned PEDOT. The electrochromism of the 2D PEDOT micropatterns is further used as a binary diffractive optical element to modulate the intensity and efficiency of diffracted 2D structural light because of the switchable absorptivity during doping and dedoping processes. When the potential is switched from 1 to -1 V to tune the absorptivity at ∼600 nm from low to high, the intensity of zero-order diffraction light spot decreases with the intensity of other order diffraction light spots increasing dramatically. The results demonstrate that E-WETS provides an alternative method for the fabrication of CPs with functional micro-nanostructures. The electrochemical tunable diffraction with high reversibility and fast response is of potential applications in micro-optics and flex sensors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duan Chen
- Key Laboratory of Theoretical Organic Chemistry and Functional Molecule, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, China
| | - Hao Tan
- Key Laboratory of Theoretical Organic Chemistry and Functional Molecule, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, China
| | - Tianyi Xu
- Key Laboratory of Theoretical Organic Chemistry and Functional Molecule, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, China
| | - Wei Wang
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jinggangshan University, Ji'an, Jiangxi 343009, China
| | - Hezhang Chen
- Key Laboratory of Theoretical Organic Chemistry and Functional Molecule, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, China
| | - Jie Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Theoretical Organic Chemistry and Functional Molecule, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, China
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Huang YJ, Sahoo PK, Tsai DS, Lee CP. Recent Advances on Pt-Free Electro-Catalysts for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells. Molecules 2021; 26:5186. [PMID: 34500618 PMCID: PMC8433667 DOI: 10.3390/molecules26175186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2021] [Revised: 08/20/2021] [Accepted: 08/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Since Prof. Grätzel and co-workers achieved breakthrough progress on dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) in 1991, DSSCs have been extensively investigated and wildly developed as a potential renewable power source in the last two decades due to their low cost, low energy-intensive processing, and high roll-to-roll compatibility. During this period, the highest efficiency recorded for DSSC under ideal solar light (AM 1.5G, 100 mW cm-2) has increased from ~7% to ~14.3%. For the practical use of solar cells, the performance of photovoltaic devices in several conditions with weak light irradiation (e.g., indoor) or various light incident angles are also an important item. Accordingly, DSSCs exhibit high competitiveness in solar cell markets because their performances are less affected by the light intensity and are less sensitive to the light incident angle. However, the most used catalyst in the counter electrode (CE) of a typical DSSC is platinum (Pt), which is an expensive noble metal and is rare on earth. To further reduce the cost of the fabrication of DSSCs on the industrial scale, it is better to develop Pt-free electro-catalysts for the CEs of DSSCs, such as transition metallic compounds, conducting polymers, carbonaceous materials, and their composites. In this article, we will provide a short review on the Pt-free electro-catalyst CEs of DSSCs with superior cell compared to Pt CEs; additionally, those selected reports were published within the past 5 years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi-June Huang
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Prasanta Kumar Sahoo
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan, Deemed to Be University, Bhubaneswar 751030, India;
| | - Dung-Sheng Tsai
- Department of Electronic Engineering, Chung Yuan Christian University, Taoyuan City 32023, Taiwan
| | - Chuan-Pei Lee
- Department of Applied Physics and Chemistry, University of Taipei, Taipei 10048, Taiwan
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Handrea-Dragan M, Botiz I. Multifunctional Structured Platforms: From Patterning of Polymer-Based Films to Their Subsequent Filling with Various Nanomaterials. Polymers (Basel) 2021; 13:445. [PMID: 33573248 PMCID: PMC7866561 DOI: 10.3390/polym13030445] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2021] [Revised: 01/25/2021] [Accepted: 01/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
There is an astonishing number of optoelectronic, photonic, biological, sensing, or storage media devices, just to name a few, that rely on a variety of extraordinary periodic surface relief miniaturized patterns fabricated on polymer-covered rigid or flexible substrates. Even more extraordinary is that these surface relief patterns can be further filled, in a more or less ordered fashion, with various functional nanomaterials and thus can lead to the realization of more complex structured architectures. These architectures can serve as multifunctional platforms for the design and the development of a multitude of novel, better performing nanotechnological applications. In this work, we aim to provide an extensive overview on how multifunctional structured platforms can be fabricated by outlining not only the main polymer patterning methodologies but also by emphasizing various deposition methods that can guide different structures of functional nanomaterials into periodic surface relief patterns. Our aim is to provide the readers with a toolbox of the most suitable patterning and deposition methodologies that could be easily identified and further combined when the fabrication of novel structured platforms exhibiting interesting properties is targeted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madalina Handrea-Dragan
- Interdisciplinary Research Institute in Bio-Nano-Sciences, Babes-Bolyai University, 42 Treboniu Laurian Str. 400271 Cluj-Napoca, Romania;
- Faculty of Physics, Babes-Bolyai University, 1 M. Kogalniceanu Str. 400084 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Ioan Botiz
- Interdisciplinary Research Institute in Bio-Nano-Sciences, Babes-Bolyai University, 42 Treboniu Laurian Str. 400271 Cluj-Napoca, Romania;
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Mehmood S, Suresh S, Ahmed S, Alizadeh M, Rahim NA, Zhan Y. Basics of Dye Sensitized Solar Cell and Use of Conductive Polymer as Counter Electrode. ADVANCES IN HYBRID CONDUCTING POLYMER TECHNOLOGY 2021:327-345. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-62090-5_13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/02/2023]
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Huang YJ, Lin YJ, Chien HJ, Lin YF, Ho KC. A Pt-free pristine monolithic carbon aerogel counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells: up to 20% under dim light illumination. NANOSCALE 2019; 11:12507-12516. [PMID: 31140524 DOI: 10.1039/c9nr02903f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
In this work, pristine carbon aerogels (CAs) were used as Pt-free counter electrodes (CEs) in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) by varying the molar ratio of their precursors. Pristine mesoporous CAs with controlled resorcinol (R)/formaldehyde (F) and resorcinol (R)/sodium carbonate (C) molar ratios were successfully prepared. The as-prepared CAs were synthesized via a polymeric sol-gel reaction and were labeled as CA-O, CA-Q, CA-F, CA-C, and CA-G. The DSSCs using the as-prepared CA-C CE gave the best power conversion efficiency (PCE, η), 9.08 ± 0.01%, among all the CA CEs. The CA-C CE is further applied to an indoor T5 light source system with an impressive η value of 20.1 ± 0.60% at 2.18 mW cm-2 (T5 lamp with 7000 lux). Moreover, the hardness of CA-C CE is 3.01 GPa (Brinell hardness test), which is comparable to that of the FTO/glass substrate. As a result, the CA-C CE shows great potential to replace traditional CEs based on the Pt/FTO/glass in DSSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi-June Huang
- Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan.
| | - Yong-Jie Lin
- Department of Chemical Engineering and R&D Center for Membrane Technology, Chung Yuan Christian University, Taoyuan 32023, Taiwan.
| | - Hung-Jei Chien
- Department of Chemical Engineering and R&D Center for Membrane Technology, Chung Yuan Christian University, Taoyuan 32023, Taiwan.
| | - Yi-Feng Lin
- Department of Chemical Engineering and R&D Center for Membrane Technology, Chung Yuan Christian University, Taoyuan 32023, Taiwan. and Research Center for Circular Economy, Chung Yuan Christian University, Taoyuan 32023, Taiwan
| | - Kuo-Chuan Ho
- Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan. and Institute of Polymer Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan and Advanced Research Center for Green Materials Science and Technology, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
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