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A simple and low-cost fabrication method of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) was developed to improve the structure and performance of the photoanode with the pressed layer and compact TiO2 thin film using spin coating, screen printing, and mechanical compression. In this study, four different TiO2 layers were adopted to fabricate photoanodes: a mesoporous TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) layer, a pressed TiO2 NPs layer, a mesoporous TiO2 NPs layer on the TiO2 compact thin film, and a pressed TiO2 NPs layer on the TiO2 compact thin film. The compact thin film was deposited on the fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass via spin coating, while the mesoporous TiO2 NPs layer was deposited via the screen-printing method. The pressed TiO2 NPs layer was produced by compressing the mesoporous TiO2 NPs layer with a hydraulic press machine. When using the pressed TiO2 NPs layer for the photoanode of DSSC, the power conversion efficiency of DSSC was enhanced the most. The electron lifetime for DSSC with photoanodes based on the pressed TiO2 NPs and mesoporous TiO2 NPs layers were 8.217 and 6.287 ms, respectively. The power conversion efficiency of DSSC with photoanodes based on the pressed TiO2 NPs layer was 5.4%, while that based on the mesoporous TiO2 NPs layer was 4.08%. DSSC with photoanodes based on the pressed TiO2 NPs layer showed a significant increase in the power conversion efficiency by 36.16% compared to that based on the mesoporous TiO2 NPs layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The preparation and characterization of heterojunction solar cell with ZnS nanocrystals synthesized by chemical bath deposition method were studied in this work. The ZnS nanocrystals were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Lower reflectance spectra were found as the annealing temperature of ZnS film increased on the textured p-Si substrate. It was found that the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the AZO/ZnS/textured p-Si heterojunction solar cell with an annealing temperature of 250°C was η = 3.66%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated using nanocrystalline titanium dioxide (TiO 2) nanoparticles as photoanode. Photoanode thin films were prepared by doctor blading method with 420 kg/cm 2 of mechanical compression process and heat treatment in the air at 500°C for 30 min. The optimal thickness of the TiO 2 NP photoanode is 26.6 μm with an efficiency of 9.01% under AM 1.5G illumination at 100 mW/cm 2. The efficiency is around two times higher than that of conventional DSSCs with an uncompressed photoanode. The open-circuit voltage of DSSCs decreases as the thickness increases. One DSSC (sample D) has the highest conversion efficiency while it has the maximum short-circuit current density. The results indicate that the short-circuit current density is a compromise between two conflict factors: enlargement of the surface area by increasing photoanode thickness and extension of the electron diffusion length to the electrode as the thickness increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) halted almost all the industrial scale anthropogenic activities across the globe, resulting in improvements in water and air quality of megacities. Here, using Sentinel-2A data, we quantified impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the water quality parameters in one of the largest perennial creeks i.e., the Buddha Nala located in District Ludhiana in India. This creek has long been considered as a dumping ground for industrial wastes and has resulted in surface and ground water pollution in the entire lower Indus Basin. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), Normalized Difference Chlorophyll Index (NDCI), Nitrogen Content Index (NI), Normalized Difference Turbidity Index (NDTI), and Total Suspended Matter (TSM) were compared prior (2019) and during (2020) lockdown in the creek. There was a significant enhancement in NDVI, NDWI, NDCI, and NI values, and reduction in NDTI and TSM values during the lockdown period. When compared with prior year (2019), the values of indices suggested an improvement in water quality and an indicative change in aquatic ecology in the creek. The impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on the improvement in water quality of Buddha Nala was more evident in the upstream and downstream sections than the middle section. This is intriguing since the middle section of the creek was continually impacted by domestic household effluents. The earth observation inspired methodology employed and findings are testament to the discriminatory power to employ remote sensing data and to develop protocols to monitor water quality in regions where routine surveillance of water remains cost prohibitive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of water pollution is a social issue in China requiring immediate and urgent solutions. In the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, the contradiction between preserving the ecological environment and facilitating sustainable economic development is particularly acute. This study analyzed the spatiotemporal evolution of water pollutants and their factors of influence using statistics on the discharge of two water pollutants, namely chemical oxygen demand (COD) and NH3-N (ammonia nitrogen), in 154 counties in both 2012 and 2016 as research units in the region. The study employed Exploratory Spatial-Time Data Analysis (ESTDA), Standard Deviational Ellipse (SDE), and the Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) models, as well as ArcGIS and GeoDa software, obtaining the following conclusions: (1) From 2012 to 2016, pollutant discharge dropped significantly, with COD and NH3-N emissions decreasing 65.9% and 47.2%, respectively; the pollutant emissions possessed the spatial feature of gradual gradient descent from the central districts to the periphery. (2) The water pollutants discharge displayed significant and positive spatial correlations. The spatiotemporal cohesion of the spatiotemporal evolution of the pollutants was higher than their spatiotemporal fluidity, representing strong spatial locking. (3) The level of economic development, the level of urbanization, and the intensity of agricultural production input significantly and positively drove pollutant discharge; the environmental regulations had a significant effect on reducing the emission of pollutants. In particular, the effect for NH3-N emissions reduction was stronger; the driving effect of the industrial structure and the distance decay was not significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The marine environment has plunged into crisis with the growth of human activities. The enhancement of responsible environmental behavior (REB) requires policy and education to cultivate social awareness and actions to sustain marine resources. Several studies revealed that the intention serves as an effective predictor of actual behaviors. Furthermore, researchers generally acknowledge that attitudes and perceived behavioral control are potential factors toward behavior intention. However, some research has found that a positive attitude toward the environment does not translate into responsible environmental behavior. Additionally, the model of behavior in the marine context, especially the relationships between attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and the intention of responsible environmental behavior, are still not clear. Students' attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and intentions toward responsible marine environmental behavior (M-REB) were evaluated via questionnaires. The data from a total of 79 undergraduate students were analyzed. The results suggest that perceived behavioral control is the mediator between attitudes and intentions toward M-REB. This finding reveals the potential benefits of reconsidering the importance of perceived behavioral control in promoting M-REB and provides empirical evidence for future policy-makers in society and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]