Improved electron transfer and plasmonic effect in dye-sensitized solar cells with bi-functional Nb-doped TiO2/Ag ternary nanostructures

A highly efficient nanofibrous air filter membrane fabricated using electrospun amphiphilic PVDF-g-POEM double comb copolymer

Current global emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and particulate matter (PM) pollution, require urgent protective measures. Nanofibrous air filter membranes that can capture PM0.3 and simultaneously help in preventing the spread of COVID-19 are essential. Therefore, a highly efficient nanofibrous air filter membrane based on amphiphilic poly(vinylidene fluoride)-graft-poly(oxyethylene methacrylate) (PVDF-g-POEM) double comb copolymer was fabricated using atomic transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and electrospinning. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, proton nuclear magnetic resonance, transmission electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis were employed to successfully characterize the molecular structure of the fabricated amphiphilic PVDF-g-POEM double comb copolymer. The nanofibrous air filter membrane based on amphiphilic PVDF-g-POEM double comb copolymer achieved a low air resistance of 4.69 mm H2O and a high filtration efficiency of 93.56 % due to enhanced chemical and physical adsorption properties.

Shape-Controlled TiO2 Nanomaterials-Based Hybrid Solid-State Electrolytes for Solar Energy Conversion with a Mesoporous Carbon Electrocatalyst

One-dimensional (1D) titanium dioxide (TiO₂₎ is prepared by hydrothermal method and incorporated as nanofiller into a hybrid polymer matrix of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and employed as a solid-electrolyte in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Mesoporous carbon electrocatalyst with a high surface area is obtained by the carbonization of the PVDC-g-POEM double comb copolymer. The 1D TiO₂ nanofiller is found to increase the photoelectrochemical performance. As a result, for the mesoporous carbon-based DSSCs, 1D TiO₂ hybrid solid-state electrolyte yielded the highest efficiencies, with 6.1% under 1 sun illumination, in comparison with the efficiencies of 3.9% for quasi solid-state electrolyte and 4.8% for commercial TiO₂ hybrid solid-state electrolyte, respectively. The excellent photovoltaic performance is attributed to the improved ion diffusion, scattering effect, effective path for redox couple transfer, and sufficient penetration of 1D TiO₂ hybrid solid-state electrolyte into the electrode, which results in improved light-harvesting, enhanced electron transport, decreased charge recombination, and decreased resistance at the electrode/electrolyte interface.

Solid-State Solar Energy Conversion from WO3 Nano and Microstructures with Charge Transportation and Light-Scattering Characteristics

Solar energy conversion devices composed of highly crystalline gel polymers with disk-WO₃ nanostructure and plate-WO₃ microstructures (D-WO₃ and P-WO₃, respectively) exhibited higher power conversion efficiency than those with a gel electrolyte. In this study, D-WO₃ and P-WO₃ were prepared using a hydrothermal process and their structural and morphological features were investigated for application in solar energy conversion devices. The P-WO₃ solid-state electrolyte significantly enhanced the cell performance owing to its charge transportation and light-scattering characteristics. The P-WO₃ solid-state electrolyte showed a power conversion efficiency of 6.3%, which is higher than those of the gel (4.2%) and D-WO₃ solid-state (5.5%) electrolytes. The electro-chemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), intensity-modulated voltage spectroscopy (IMVS), diffuse reflectance, and incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) analysis results showed that the P-WO₃ solid-state electrolyte showed improved charge transportation and light scattering, and hence enhanced the cell performance.

Surface Carbon Shell-Functionalized ZrO2 as Nanofiller in Polymer Gel Electrolyte-Based Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

We prepare dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) fabricated with a poly (ethylene glycol) based polymer gel electrolytes (PGEs) incorporating surface carbon shell-functionalized ZrO2 nanoparticles (ZrO2-C) as nanofillers (NFs). ZrO2 are polymerized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) using poly (ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (POEM) as a scaffold to prepare the ZrO2-C through carbonization. The power conversion efficiency of DSSC with 12 wt% ZrO2-C/PGEs is 5.6%, exceeding that with PGEs (4.4%). The enhanced efficiency is attributed to Lewis acid-base interactions of ZrO2-C and poly (ethylene glycol), catalytic effect of the carbon shells of ZrO2-C, which results in reduced crystallinity, enhanced ion conductivity of electrolytes, decreased counterelectrode/electrolyte interfacial resistance, and improved charge transfer rate. These results demonstrate that ZrO2-C introduction to PGEs effectively improves the performance of DSSCs.

Plasmonic Solar Cells: From Rational Design to Mechanism Overview

Plasmonic effects have been proposed as a solution to overcome the limited light absorption in thin-film photovoltaic devices, and various types of plasmonic solar cells have been developed. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art progress on the design and fabrication of plasmonic solar cells and their enhancement mechanism. The working principle is first addressed in terms of the combined effects of plasmon decay, scattering, near-field enhancement, and plasmonic energy transfer, including direct hot electron transfer and resonant energy transfer. Then, we summarize recent developments for various types of plasmonic solar cells based on silicon, dye-sensitized, organic photovoltaic, and other types of solar cells, including quantum dot and perovskite variants. We also address several issues regarding the limitations of plasmonic nanostructures, including their electrical, chemical, and physical stability, charge recombination, narrowband absorption, and high cost. Next, we propose a few potentially useful approaches that can improve the performance of plasmonic cells, such as the inclusion of graphene plasmonics, plasmon-upconversion coupling, and coupling between fluorescence resonance energy transfer and plasmon resonance energy transfer. This review is concluded with remarks on future prospects for plasmonic solar cell use.

Gold nanorods coated by oxygen-deficient TiO2 as an advanced photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution

Gold nanorods coated by oxygen-deficient TiO₂ are synthesized by slow hydrolysis followed with high-temperature annealing in a reducing atmosphere. The hydrogenated product Au@H-TiO₂ shows enhanced photocatalytic ability in hydrogen generation.

Variable temperature spectroelectrochemistry study of silver-doped TiO2 and its influence on the performance of dye sensitized solar cells

Doping a TiO₂ semiconductor with Ag is a promising way to achieve improvements in the properties of DSSCs.

High performance electrocatalyst consisting of CoS nanoparticles on an organized mesoporous SnO2 film: its use as a counter electrode for Pt-free, dye-sensitized solar cells

High energy conversion efficiencies of 6.6% and 7.5% are demonstrated in solid and liquid states, Pt-free, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), respectively, based on CoS nanoparticles on an organized mesoporous SnO2 (om-SnO2) counter electrode. These results correspond to improvements of 14% and 9%, respectively, compared to a conventional Pt counter electrode and are among the highest values reported for Pt-free DSSCs. The om-SnO2 layer plays a pivotal role as a platform to deposit a large amount of highly electrocatalytically active CoS nanoparticles via a facile solvothermal reaction. The om-SnO2 platform with a high porosity, larger pores, and good interconnectivity is derived from a poly(vinyl chloride)-g-poly(oxyethylene methacrylate) (PVC-g-POEM) graft copolymer template, which provides not only improved interaction sites for the formation of CoS nanoparticles but also enhanced electron transport. The structural, morphological, chemical, and electrochemical properties of CoS on the om-SnO2 platform are investigated using field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements. The performance enhancement results from the excellent electron transport at the fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO)/counter electrode/electrolyte interface, reduced resistance at the FTO/CoS interface, and better catalytic reduction at the counter electrode/electrolyte interface.

Panchromatic quasi-monolayer of Ag nanoparticles for high-efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells

We developed a panchromatic quasi-monolayer of Ag NPs and applied this technique to fabricate DSSCs.

Photoelectrochemical activities and low content Nb-doping effects on one-dimensional self-ordered Nb2O5–TiO2 nanotubes

Nb₂O₅-doped TiO₂ nanotube arrays were fabricated by anodization. Nb's beneficial effects exhibit an improved charge separation efficiency, resulting in higher photocatalytic/photoelectrocatalytic activities.

Multifunctional organized mesoporous tin oxide films templated by graft copolymers for dye-sensitized solar cells

The synthesis of organized mesoporous SnO2 films with high porosity, larger pores, and good interconnectivity, obtained by sol-gel templating with an amphiphilic graft copolymer, poly(vinyl chloride)-graft-poly(oxyethylene methacrylate), is reported. An improved performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) is demonstrated by the introduction of a 400 nm thick organized mesoporous SnO2 interfacial (om-SnO2 IF) layer between nanocrystalline TiO2 (nc-TiO2 ) and a fluorine-doped tin oxide substrate. To elucidate the improved efficiency, the structural, optical, and electrochemical properties of the devices were characterized by SEM, UV/Vis spectroscopy, noncontact 3D surface profilometry, intensity-modulated photocurrent/voltage spectroscopy, incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements. The energy-conversion efficiency of the solid polymerized ionic liquid based DSSC fabricated with the om-SnO2 IF/nc-TiO2 photoanode reached 5.9% at 100 mW cm(-2) ; this is higher than those of neat nc-TiO2 (3.5%) and organized mesoporous TiO2 interfacial/nc-TiO2 layer (5.4%) photoanodes. The improved efficiency is attributed to the antireflective property, cascadal energy band gap, good interconnectivity, and high electrical conductivity of the om-SnO2 IF layer, which results in enhanced light harvesting, increased electron transport, reduced charge recombination, and decreased interfacial/internal resistance.

One-pot synthesis of hierarchical mesoporous SnO2 spheres using a graft copolymer: enhanced photovoltaic and photocatalytic performance

Hierarchical mesoporous SnO₂ spheres with a large surface area were synthesized via a facile solvothermal reaction using a graft copolymer template.