Search

Through a facile two-step synthetic procedure, three metal-free organic dyes having D-π-A kind of structure, belonging to chalcone family have been designed, produced and anchored on one dimensional cadmium sulfide nanowires (1D CdS NWs) to serve as a light energy harvester through dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) assembly. In order to anchor dye on CdS NWs nano-network, solution chemistry has been used in an easy and effective manner. The sensitizing capability of synthesized materials has been evaluated using optical and electrochemical studies, density functional theory (DFT) simulations, and photovoltaic performances. In line with a detailed analysis of fabricated Dye sensitized solar cells containing T4PC a photovoltaic efficiency yields 4.35 times (0.487%) more than that of bare CdS NWs (0.112%), while the other devices having T3PC and T2PC have shown 3.0 (0.338%) and 2.40 (0.273%) times greater photovoltaic efficiencies, respectively under standard light illumination. The obtained results offer solid evidence in favour of boosting external quantum efficiency (EQE) and reflect good agreement with the optical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bismuth selenide (Bi2Se3) thin films have been grown on stainless steel (SS) substrate by using successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) at room temperature to serve as a supercapacitive electrode. Structural, surface morphological, and wettability studies have been performed to obtain a correlation between the morphological and crystalline characteristics with the supercapacitive electrochemical performance. Synthesized thin film exhibits irregular spherical shape and crystallize in rhombohedral structure. In a three-electrode cell configuration using 0.5 M KOH as electrolyte, well-optimized Bi2Se3/SS exhibited areal capacitances of 114 mF cm−2 at 10 mV/s and 20.4 mF cm−2 at 1.1 mA cm−2 with a cyclic stability of 122.8% after 400 CV cycles, indicating a potential candidature of formed electrode towards supercapacitor applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One-dimensional iron hydroxide@cadmium hydroxide nanostructures have been prepared by sequentially converting cadmium hydroxide into iron hydroxide via simple and cost-effective cation exchange reaction based on solubility product to design electrochemical supercapacitive electrode. Surface architecture of iron hydroxide@cadmium hydroxide nanostructures in the form of core–shell enables easy and effective electrochemical reactions which have been studied via electrochemical cyclic voltammetry and charge–discharge studies. Interestingly, iron hydroxide@cadmium hydroxide electrode exhibits specific capacitance of 368 F g−1 at current density of 0.5 A g−1 along with electrochemical impedance analysis. Capacitance retention performed at the scan rate of 50 mV s−1 for 5000 cycles results in 52% capacity of its initial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An interconnected needle-like structure of BiO has been directly grown on stainless steel (SS) substrate by binder-free successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method. The structural study confirms the formation of cubic δ-BiO phase. The coverage of interconnected needle-like network structure has been seen from surface morphological study. The electrochemical performance of BiO has been tested as an electrode material through cyclic voltammetry, charge-discharge, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy techniques in aqueous electrolyte. The electrochemical tests manifest the pseudocapacitive behavior of BiO thin-film electrode with a specific capacitance of 329.6 F g at 5 mV s scan rate. In addition, the BiO electrode exhibits long-term cycling performance with 72% capacitance retention after 3000 cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple and eco-friendly biosynthesis approach was developed to synthesize silver nanoparticles (SNPs) and gold nanoparticles (GNPs) using Ficus racemosa latex as reducing agent. The presence of sunlight is utilized with latex and achieved the nanoparticles whose average size was in the range of 50-120 nm for SNPs and 20-50 nm for GNPs. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by UV/Visible absorption spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and field emission-scanning electron microscopy techniques toget understand the obtained nanoparticles. The pH-dependent binding studies of SNPs and GNPs with four amino acids, namely l-lysine, l-arginine, l-glutamine and glycin have been reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New kinds of additive, 4-alkyloxypyridne derivatives, were synthesized by introducing an alkyloxy group into the 4-position of 2-methylpyridine. The influence of these electrolyte additives on the short-circuit photocurrent ( J sc) of dye sensitized solar cells was investigated by combining electrochemical and spectral techniques. With the addition of pyridine derivatives to the electrolyte, a decrease in the rate of dye regeneration was observed by laser flash photolysis measurements and cyclic voltammetry, whereas, measurement of electrochemical impedence spectra showed an increase in the charge transfer resistance due to the formation of a complex between the pyridine derivatives and iodine, as identified by an absorption peak around 378 nm in the UV–Vis spectra. This leads to a decrease in J sc of dye-sensitized solar cells. This adverse effect on the J sc can be attributed to reaction or coordination between the dye cations and the iodine in the electrolyte. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple and scalable approach has been reported for V2O5 encapsulation over interconnected multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) network using chemical bath deposition method. Chemically synthesized V2O5/MWCNTs electrode exhibited excellent charge-discharge capability with extraordinary cycling retention of 93% over 4000 cycles in liquid-electrolyte. Electrochemical investigations have been performed to evaluate the origin of capacitive behavior from dual contribution of surface-controlled and diffusion-controlled charge components. Furthermore, a complete flexible solid-state, flexible symmetric supercapacitor (FSS-SSC) device was assembled with V2O5/MWCNTs electrodes which yield remarkable values of specific power and energy densities along with enhanced cyclic stability over liquid configuration. As a practical demonstration, the constructed device was used to lit the 'VNIT' acronym assembled using 21 LED's. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]