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Register a new userOrigin of the electrocatalytic activity in carbon nanotube fiber counter-electrodes for solar-energy conversion
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However, their electrocatalytic activity is still poorly understood. This work deciphers the origin of the catalytic activity of counter-electrodes (CEs)/current collectors made of self-standing carbon nanotubes fibers (CNTfs) using Co$^(+2)$/Co$^(+3)$ redox couple electrolytes. This is based on comprehensive electrochemical and spectroscopic characterizations of fresh and used electrodes applied to symmetric electrochemical cells using platinum-based CEs as a reference. As the most relevant findings, two straight relationships were established: i) the limiting current and stability increase rapidly with surface concentration of oxygen-containing functional groups, and ii) the catalytic potential is inversily related to the amount of residual metallic Fe catalyst nanoparticles interspersed in the CNTf network. Finally, the fine tune of the metallic nanoparticle content and the degree of functionalization enabled fabrication of efficient and stable dye-sensitized solar cells with cobalt electrolytes and CNTf-CE outperforming those with reference Pt-CEs.
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Fabrication techniques such as laser patterning offer excellent potential for low cost and large area device fabrication. Conductive polymers can be used to replace expensive metallic inks such as silver and gold nanoparticles for printing technology. Electrical conductivity of the polymers can be improved by blending with carbon nanotubes. In this work, formulations of acid functionalised multiwall carbon nanotubes (f-MWCNT) and poly (ethylenedioxythiophene) [PEDOT]: polystyrene sulphonate [PSS] were processed, and thin films were prepared on plastic substrates. Conductivity of PEDOT: PSS increased almost four orders of magnitude after adding f-MWCNT. Work function of PEDOT:PSS/f-MWCNT films was ~ 0.5eV higher as compared to the work function of pure PEDOT:PSS films, determined by Kelvin probe method. Field-effect transistors source-drain electrodes were prepared on PET plastic substrates where PEDOT:PSS/f-MWCNT were patterned using laser ablation at 44mJ/pulse energy to define 36 micron electrode separation. Silicon nanowires were deposited using dielectrophoresis alignment technique to bridge the PEDOT:PSS/f-MWCNT laser patterned electrodes. Finally, top-gated nanowire field effect transistors were completed by depositing parylene C as polymer gate dielectric and gold as the top-gate electrode. Transistor characteristics showed p-type conduction with excellent gate electrode coupling, with an ON/OFF ratio of ~ 200. Thereby, we demonstrate the feasibility of using high workfunction, printable PEDOT:PSS/MWCNT composite inks for patterning source/drain electrodes for nanowire transistors on flexible substrates.
We have characterized the conductivity of carbon nanotubes (CNT) fibers enriched in semiconducting species as a function of temperature and pulsed laser irradiation of 266 nm wavelength. While at high temperatures the response approaches an Arrhenius law behavior, from room temperature down to 4.2 K the response can be framed, quantitatively, within the predictions of the fluctuation induced tunneling which occurs between the inner fibrils (bundles) of the samples and/or the elementary CNTs constituting the fibers. Laser irradiation induces an enhancement of the conductivity, and analysis of the resulting data confirms the (exponential) dependence of the potential barrier upon temperature as expected from the fluctuation induced tunneling model. A thermal map of the experimental configuration consisting of laser-irradiated fibers is also obtained via COMSOL simulations in order to rule out bare heating phenomena as the background of our experiments. (*) Author
Lightweight parabolic mirrors for solar concentrators have been fabricated using carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) and a nanometer scale optical surface smoothing technique. The smoothing technique improved the surface roughness of the CFRP surface from ~3 {mu}m root mean square (RMS) for as-cast to ~5 nm RMS after smoothing. The surfaces were then coated with metal, which retained the sub-wavelength surface roughness, to produce a high-quality specular reflector. The mirrors were tested in an 11x geometrical concentrator configuration and achieved an optical efficiency of 78% under an AM0 solar simulator. With further development, lightweight CFRP mirrors will enable dramatic improvements in the specific power, power per unit mass, achievable for concentrated photovoltaics in space.
Current approaches for electric power generation from nanoscale conducting or semi-conducting layers in contact with moving aqueous droplets are promising as they show efficiencies of around 30 percent, yet, even the most successful ones pose challenges regarding fabrication and scaling. Here, we report stable, all-inorganic single-element structures synthesized in a single step that generate electrical current when alternating salinity gradients flow along its surface in a liquid flow cell. 10 nm to 30 nm thin nanolayers of iron, vanadium, or nickel produce several tens of mV and several microA cm^-2 at aqueous flow velocities of just a few cm s^-1. The principle of operation is strongly sensitive to charge-carrier motion in the thermal oxide nano-overlayer that forms spontaneously in air and then self terminates. Indeed, experiments suggest a role for intra-oxide electron transfer for Fe, V, and Ni nanolayers, as their thermal oxides contain several metal oxidation states, whereas controls using Al or Cr nanolayers, which self-terminate with oxides that are redox inactive under the experimental conditions, exhibit dramatically diminished performance. The nanolayers are shown to generate electrical current in various modes of application with moving liquids, including sliding liquid droplets, salinity gradients in a flowing liquid, and in the oscillatory motion of a liquid without a salinity gradient.
We propose a solar thermal energy conversion system consisting of a solar absorber, a thermoradiative cell or negative illumination photodiode, and a photovoltaic cell. Because it is a heat engine, this system can also be paired with thermal storage to provide reliable electricity generation. Heat from the solar absorber drives radiative recombination current in the thermoradiative cell, and its emitted light is absorbed by the photovoltaic cell to provide an additional photocurrent. Based on the principle of detailed balance, we calculate a limiting solar conversion efficiency of 85% for fully concentrated sunlight and 45% for one sun with an absorber and single-junction cells of equal areas. Ideal and nonideal solar thermoradiative-photovoltaic systems outperform solar thermophotovoltaic converters for low bandgaps and practical absorber temperatures. Their performance enhancement results from a high tolerance to nonradiative generation/recombination and an ability to minimize radiative heat losses. We show that a realistic device with all major losses could achieve increases in solar conversion efficiency by up to 7.9% (absolute) compared to a solar thermophotovoltaic device under low optical concentration. Our results indicate that these converters could serve as efficient heat engines for low cost single axis tracking systems.
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