Chemical input and I-V output: stepwise chemical information processing in dye-sensitized solar cells

Iodine-Pseudohalogen Ionic Liquid-Based Electrolytes for Quasi-Solid-State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

In the current work, novel symmetrically alkyl-substituted imidazolium-based ionic liquids have been synthesized featuring either iodide (I^-) or selenocyanate (SeCN^-) as counteranions. Physicochemical assays based on spectroscopy and electrochemistry techniques have been performed to identify the best ionic liquid for application as electrolytes in quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (qssDSSC). The latter were mixed with additives such as 4-tert-butylpyridine (4tbpy) and guanidinium thiocyanate (GuSCN) to optimize electrode surface coverage, ionic diffusion, and dye regeneration. In addition, we demonstrate that electrolytes containing a mixture of I₂ and (SeCN)₂ enhance the open-circuit voltage of the final quasi-solid-state device by up to 70 mV. As such, iodine-pseudohalogen electrolytes reveal in qssDSSCs a good balance between dye regeneration and hole transport and, in turn, enhance the overall solar energy conversion efficiency by 70% with respect to reference qssDSSCs with iodine-based electrolytes. Finally, devices with the iodine-pseudohalogen electrolyte show a 1000 h stable efficiency of 7-8% under outdoor temperature operation conditions and 1 sun illumination.

Extraction of nano-silicon with activated carbons simultaneously from rice husk and their synergistic catalytic effect in counter electrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells

The extraction of renewable energy resources particularly from earth abundant materials has always been a matter of significance in industrial products. Herein, we report a novel simultaneous extraction of nano-silicon with activated carbons (nano-Si@ACs) from rice husk (RH) by chemical activation method. As-extracted nano-Si@ACs is then used as an energy harvesting materials in counter electrodes (CEs) of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The morphology, structure and texture studies confirm the high surface area, abundant active sites and porous structure of nano-Si@ACs. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry analyses reveal that the nano-Si@ACs is highly beneficial for fast I₃⁻ reduction and superior electrolyte diffusion capability. The nano-Si@ACs CE based DSSC exhibits enhanced power conversion efficiency of (8.01%) in contrast to pristine Pt CE (7.20%). These favorable results highlight the potential application of RH in low-cost, high-efficiency and Pt-free DSSCs.

Metastability of anatase: size dependent and irreversible anatase-rutile phase transition in atomic-level precise titania

Since crystal phase dominantly affects the properties of nanocrystals, phase control is important for the applications. To demonstrate the size dependence in anatase-rutile phase transition of titania, we used quantum-size titania prepared from the restricted number of titanium ions within dendrimer templates for size precision purposes and optical wave guide spectroscopy for the detection. Contrary to some theoretical calculations, the observed irreversibility in the transition indicates the metastablity of anatase; thermodynamics cannot explain the formation of metastable states. Therefore, we take into account the kinetic control polymerization of TiO6 octahedral units to explain how the crystal phase of the crystal-nucleus-size titania is dependent on which coordination sites, cis- or trans-, react in the TiO6 octahedra, suggesting possibilities for the synthetic phase control of nanocrystals. In short, the dendrimer templates give access to crystal nucleation chemistry. The paper will also contribute to the creation of artificial metastable nanostructures with atomic-level precision.