ABSTRACT
A disulfide/thiolate (T(2)/T(-)) redox-couple electrolyte, which is a promising iodine-free electrolyte owing to its transparent and noncorrosive properties, requires alternative counter-electrode materials because conventional Pt shows poor catalytic activity in such an electrolyte. Herein, ordered mesoporous tungsten suboxide (m-WO(3-x)), synthesized by using KIT-6 silica as a hard template followed by a partial reduction, is used as a catalyst for a counter electrode in T(2)/T(-)-electrolyte-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The mesoporous tungsten suboxide, which possesses interconnected pores of 4 and 20 nm, provides a large surface area and efficient electrolyte penetration into the m-WO(3-x) pores. In addition to the advantages conferred by the mesoporous structure, partial reduction of tungsten oxide creates oxygen vacancies that can function as active catalytic sites, which causes a high electrical conductivity because of intervalence charge transfer between the W(5+) and W(6+) ions. m-WO(3-x) shows a superior photovoltaic performance (79 % improvement in the power conversion efficiency) over Pt in the T(2)/T(-) electrolyte. The superior catalytic activity of m-WO(3-x) is investigated by using cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and Tafel polarization curve analysis.
Subject(s)
Coloring Agents/chemistry , Disulfides/chemistry , Electric Power Supplies , Oxides/chemistry , Solar Energy , Sulfhydryl Compounds/chemistry , Tungsten/chemistry , Electrodes , Platinum/chemistry , PorosityABSTRACT
The synthesis and characterization of Ru(II) terpyridine complexes derived from 4'-functionalized 2,2':6',2''-terpyridine ligands by a multi step procedure have been described. The complexes are redox-active, showing both metal-centred (oxidation) and ligand-centred (reduction) processes. The antibacterial and antifungal activity of the synthesized ruthenium(II) complexes [Ru(attpy)2](PF6)2 (attpy = 4'-(4-acryloyloxymethylphenyl)-2,2':6',2''-terpyridine); [Ru(mttpy)2](PF6)2 (mttpy = 4'-(4-methacryloyloxymethylphenyl)-2,2':6',2''- terpyridine); [Ru(mttpy)(MeOPhttpy)](PF6)2 (MeOPhttpy = 4'-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2,2':6',2''-terpyridine); and [Ru(mttpy)(ttpy)](PF6)2 (ttpy = 4'-(4-methylphenyl)-2,2':6',2''-terpyridine) were tested against four human pathogens (Proteus vulgaris, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli) and five plant pathogens (Curvularia lunata, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium udum, Macrophomina phaseolina and Rhizoctonia solani) by the well diffusion method and MIC values of the complexes are reported. A biological study of the complexes indicated that the complexes [Ru(mttpy)2](PF6)2 and [Ru(mttpy)(MeOPhttpy)](PF6)2 exhibit very good activity against most of the test pathogens and their activity is better than those of some of the commercially available antibiotics like tetracycline and the fungicide carbendazim.
