ABSTRACT
The one-step hydrothermal method was used to synthesize Sn-doped TiO2 (Sn-TiO2) thin films, in which the variation in Sn content ranged from 0 to 7-wt % and, further, its influence on the performance of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) photoanode was studied. The deposited samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy, which confirmed the existence of the rutile phase of the synthesized samples with crystallite size ranges in between 20.1 to 22.3 nm. In addition, the bare and Sn-TiO2 thin films showed nanorod morphology. A reduction in the optical band gap from 2.78 to 2.62 eV was observed with increasing Sn content. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis confirmed Sn4+ was successfully replaced at the Ti4+ site. The 3-wt % Sn-TiO2 based DSSC showed the optimum efficiency of 4.01%, which was superior to 0.87% of bare and other doping concentrations of Sn-TiO2 based DSSCs. The present work reflects Sn-TiO2 as an advancing material with excellent capabilities, which can be used in photovoltaic energy conversion devices.
ABSTRACT
The liquid-liquid extraction of neodymium(III) from succinate media (0.06 M) has been studied at pH 6.0 with the solution of 0.1 M of N-n-octylaniline in xylene when equilibrium is maintained for 5 min. The back-extraction of neodymium(III) has been performed by using 0.1 M HClO4. The effect of various parameters, such as pH, equilibrium time, extractant concentration, stripping agents, organic diluents, and aqueous to organic volume ratio on the extraction of neodymium(III) has been studied. On the basis of slope analysis, the stoichiometry of the extracted species was determined as 1 : 1 : 2 [RR'NH2âºNd(succinate)2â»](org). The method is free from interference of large number cations and anions. The method was used for the selective extraction of neodymium(III) from its binary mixture with U(VI), Zr(IV), Nb(V), La(III), Th(IV), Ce(IV), and Y(III). The proposed method is selective and was successfully applied to the synthetic mixtures to show the practical utility of the extractant.
