Ni-O4 as Active Sites for Efficient Oxygen Evolution Reaction with Electronic Metal-Support Interactions.

Precise adjustment of the metal site structure in single-atom catalysts (SACs) plays a key role in addressing the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, we report the synthesis of O-doped Ni SACs anchored on porous graphene-like carbon (Ni-O-G) using molten salts (ZnCl2 and NaCl) as templates, in which the unique Ni-O4 structure serves as the active sites. Ni-O-G, with an overpotential of only 238 mV (@ 10 mA cm-2), is one of the more advanced catalysts. An array of characterizations and density functional theory calculations show that the Ni-O4 coordination enables Ni to be closer to the Fermi level compared to traditional Ni-N4, enhancing the electronic metal-support interaction to facilitate OER kinetics. Thus, this work offers an alternative strategy for the structural modulation of Ni SACs and the effect of different coordination elements with the same atomic coordination structure on the intrinsic OER activity.

Fragment-interconnected nitrogen-doped porous carbon nanosheets loaded with platinum group metals for highly boosted hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline solution.

The rational design and preparation of advanced electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) under alkaline conditions is the key to achieving sustainable hydrogen production. Herein, a new type of nitrogen-doped porous carbon nanosheets (NPCN) loaded with platinum group metals (Pd, Pt or Ru) were prepared. The introduction of melamine not only realized the doping of N-species, but also optimized the morphology and surface functional groups of the prepared catalysts. The prepared Pd-NPCN, Pt-NPCN and Ru-NPCN with a metal loading of about 10 wt% showed outstanding HER activity (21, 9 and 11 mv at 10 mA cm-2 current density), small Tafel slopes (49, 30 and 30 mV dec-1) and good stability in 1.0 M KOH. In addition, the mechanism of the introduction of melamine to improve the catalytic performance of HER was also discussed. Therefore, this work provides promising alternatives to traditional Pt-based catalysts, and is instructive for the design of high-efficiency alkaline HER catalysts.

Cesium-Containing Methylammonium Lead Iodide Light Absorber for Planar Perovskite Solar Cells.

Institute of Materials, Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics, Jiangyou 621908, P. R. China To improve the stability of organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite, cesium-containing methylammonium lead iodide perovskite have been synthesized by one-step solution deposition. With the increasing of Cs+ doping concentration, direct optical band gap of perovskite was increases, while defects and roughness of perovskite thin films were gradually augmented. A certain amount of Cs+ incorporated in perovskite absorb layer could improve power conversion efficiency through the enhancing of open circuit voltage and fill factor. However, excessive Cs+ doping concentration results in the reduced of short-circuit current and fill factor, which reduced power conversion efficiency. The optimized ratio 10% Cs+ doping achieved the highest power conversion efficiency (16.84%).

Anchoring carbon nanotubes and post-hydroxylation treatment enhanced Ni nanofiber catalysts towards efficient hydrous hydrazine decomposition for effective hydrogen generation.

For effective hydrogen generation with remarkable durability, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) grown on Ni nanofibers and their post hydroxylation treatment engendered active Ni nanofiber catalysts an efficient decomposition of hydrous hydrazine with a turnover frequency (TOF) of 19.4 h-1 and an activation energy down to 51.05 KJ mol-1.

Hydrothermally Synthesized Li4Ti5O12 Nanotubes Anode Material with Enhanced Li-Ion Battery Performances.

Hollow Li4Ti5O12 nanotubes were synthesized by stirring in a heated oil bath using P25 as titanium source and lithium hydroxide as lithium source. The as-prepared samples displayed a nanotube structure, with diameter of about 20~50 nm and length of 0.4 µm. The specific surface area of as-prepared samples reached 153.2 m²g-1. It is demonstrated that the Li4Ti5O12 nanotubes with improved performance can be obtained by hollow structure and high specific surface area. In consequence, it delivered a high reversible initial discharge capacity of 174.2 mAh g-1 at 0.5 C rate. A stable capacity of 170.9 mAh g-1 was delivered when the rate was reduced back to 0.5 C, suggesting good structural stability of the nanocable, high reversibility even after high rate charge- discharge, and good cycle stability. In addition, a capacity of 134.9 mAh g-1 and 98 mAhg-1 could be retained at a high rate of 5 C and 10 C, indicating excellent rate performances.

Ultrasonic Remove of Particle Aggregation in Carbon Based Counter Electrodes for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.

Low-cost carbon materials (carbon black and graphite power) were applied as substitution of platinum (Pt) in counter electrodes (CEs) for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Three fabrication methods, such as ball-milled, pulp-refined, and ultrasonic-crushed, were applied to remove the particle aggregation in the carbon pastes. Then the carbon based pastes were printed on fluorine-doped transparent conducting oxide (FTO) glasses, used as the CEs for DSSCs. Under illumination of 100 mW/cm2, DSSCs with ultrasonic-crushed CEs (U-CEs) show an energy conversion efficiency of 3.57%, which reach to 65.38% of that with conventional sputtered platinum CEs (5.46%). In addition, U-CEs exhibit a higher catalytic activity and a faster charge transfer rate toward the reduction of I-3 to I-.

Cobalt Salt as Efficient Dopant for Spiro-MeOTAD in Cesium-Containing Planar Perovskite Solar Cells.

The chemical doping is an effective strategy to improve the charge transport property of hole transport material (HTM). Herein, tris(2-(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)pyridine]cobalt(III) (FK102) doped 2,2,7,7-tetrakis(N, N-di-p-methoxyphenylamine)-9,9-spirobifluorene (spiro-MeOTAD) as HTM for semi-transparent cesium-containing planar perovskite solar cell (Cs0.1MA0.9PbI3) is demonstrated. Incorporating FK102 realizes efficient doping, which improves the mobility of HTM from 3.948 × 10-3 m2V-1s-1 to 2.22 × 10-2 m2V-1s-1, which is 5.6 times enhancement. As a result, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) is largely improved from 7.58% to 10.09% due to the improved hole transport and extraction.

Improved efficient perovskite solar cells based on Ta-doped TiO2 nanorod arrays.

Organometal halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are nowadays regarded as a rising star in photovoltaics. In particular, PSCs incorporating oriented TiO2 nanorod (NR) arrays as the electron transport layer (ETL) have attracted significant attention owing to TiO2 NR's superior electron transport abilities and its potential in long-term stable PSCs. In addition to improve the electron-transport ability of TiO2 NRs, the tuning of the band alignments between the TiO2 NR array and the perovskite layer is also crucial for achieving efficient solar cells. This work describes a facile, one-step, solvothermal method for the preparation of tantalum (Ta) doped TiO2 NR arrays for efficient PSCs. It is shown that the trace doping with Ta tunes the electronic structure of TiO2 NRs by a synergistic effect involving the lower 5d orbitals of the doped Ta5+ ions and the reduced oxygen vacancies. The synergistic tuning of the electronic structure improves the band alignment at the TiO2 NR/perovskite interface and boosts the short-circuit current and the fill factor. By using the optimized doped TiO2 NR array as the ETL, a record efficiency of 19.11% was achieved, which is the highest among one-dimensional-array based PSCs.

Aluminum-Doped Zinc Oxide as Highly Stable Electron Collection Layer for Perovskite Solar Cells.

Although low-temperature, solution-processed zinc oxide (ZnO) has been widely adopted as the electron collection layer (ECL) in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) because of its simple synthesis and excellent electrical properties such as high charge mobility, the thermal stability of the perovskite films deposited atop ZnO layer remains as a major issue. Herein, we addressed this problem by employing aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) as the ECL and obtained extraordinarily thermally stable perovskite layers. The improvement of the thermal stability was ascribed to diminish of the Lewis acid-base chemical reaction between perovskite and ECL. Notably, the outstanding transmittance and conductivity also render AZO layer as an ideal candidate for transparent conductive electrodes, which enables a simplified cell structure featuring glass/AZO/perovskite/Spiro-OMeTAD/Au. Optimization of the perovskite layer leads to an excellent and repeatable photovoltaic performance, with the champion cell exhibiting an open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.94 V, a short-circuit current (Jsc) of 20.2 mA cm(-2), a fill factor (FF) of 0.67, and an overall power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 12.6% under standard 1 sun illumination. It was also revealed by steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence that the AZO/perovskite interface resulted in less quenching than that between perovskite and hole transport material.

Low temperature reduction of free-standing graphene oxide papers with metal iodides for ultrahigh bulk conductivity.

Here we report a green and facile route for highly efficient reduction of free-standing graphene oxide (GO) papers with metal iodide aqueous solutions at low cost. The metal iodides (MgI2, AlI3, ZnI2, FeI2) were synthesized directly from metal and iodine powder with water as a catalyzer. An extremely high bulk conductivity of 55088 S/m for reduced graphene oxide (rGO) papers were obtained with FeI2 solution of which pH = 0 at 95°C for 6 hours. The catalytic effect of strong Lewis acid for the promotion of the nucleophilic substitution reaction is responsible for the greatly improved bulk conductivity. Furthermore, it was found that the layer-to-layer distance (dL) and the crystallinity of the rGO papers are regarded as two main factors affecting the bulk conductivity rather than C/O ratio and defect concentration.