Thermally Reduced Graphene Oxide as a Counter Electrode Material for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.

In this present study, a highly conductive thermally reduced graphene oxide (TRGO) was synthesized by a low temperature thermal reduction method using RF heating, under an argon-hydrogen atmosphere. The crystallinity and morphology were examined by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and TEM analysis. The chemical structure including the functional groups present on TRGO was studied using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and FTIR analysis.

Surfactant-assisted synthesis of metallic cadmium, cadmium hydroxide nanostructures and their electrochemical charge storage properties.

We report a simple, surfactant-assisted room temperature synthesis of metallic cadmium nanoparticle sheets and their subsequent hydrolysis to the formation of rice-shaped monoclinic cadmium hydroxide nanostructures. These new nanostructures have demonstrated 30-40 fold superior electrochemical charge storage capacity along with quantized double layer charging of metal nanoparticles as compared to the bulk cadmium.

CdSe quantum dots and N719-dye decorated hierarchical TiO2 nanorods for the construction of efficient co-sensitized solar cells.

Three-dimensional hierarchical TiO2 nanorods (HTNs) decorated with the N719 dye and 3-mercaptopropionic or oleic acid capped CdSe quantum dots (QDs) in photoanodes for the construction of TiO2 nanorod-based efficient co-sensitized solar cells are reported. These HTN co-sensitized solar cells showed a maximum power-conversion efficiency of 3.93 %, and a higher open-circuit voltage and fill factor for the photoanode with 3-mercaptopropionic acid capped CdSe QDs due to the strong electronic interactions between CdSe QDs, N719 dye and HTNs, and the superior light-harvesting features of the HTNs.

Color tuning in new metal-free organic sensitizers (Bodipys) for dye-sensitized solar cells.

Fun in the sun! A strategy has been devised for functionalizing and solubilizing boron dipyrromethene (Bodipy) dyes at the central boron atom and changing the color by increasing delocalization on the central core. This approach leads to the formation of stable B-C[triple bond]C and pyrrole--C=C linkages suitable for use in TiO(2)-sensitized devices (see figure).

Platinum(II) terpyridyl-acetylide dyads and triads with nitrophenyl acceptors via a convenient synthesis of a boronated phenylterpyridine.

Four new Pt(II) terpyridyl acetylide complexes which possess a covalently linked nitrophenyl moiety were prepared and studied. Specifically, the chromophore-acceptor (C-A) dyads reported here include [Pt(ptpy-ph-p-NO(2))(C[triple bond]C-C(6)H(5))](PF(6))(3) (1), where ptpy-ph-p-NO(2) = 4'-{4-(4-nitrophenyl)-phenyl}-[2,2';6',2'']terpyridine, and C[triple bond]C-C(6)H(5) = phenylacetylide and [Pt(ptpy-ph-m-NO(2))(C[triple bond]C-C(6)H(5))](PF(6))(2) (2), where ptpy-ph-m-NO(2) = 4'-(4-m-nitrophenyl-phenyl)-2,2';6',2''-terpyridine, as well as the related donor-chromophore-acceptor (D-C-A) triads [Pt(ptpy-ph-p-NO(2))(C[triple bond]C-C(6)H(4)CH(2)-PTZ)]PF(6) (3), where C[triple bond]C-C(6)H(4)CH(2)-PTZ = 4-ethynylbenzyl-N-phenothiazine, and [Pt(ptpy-ph-m-NO(2))(C[triple bond]C-C(6)H(4)CH(2)-PTZ)]PF(6) (4). Transient absorption spectroscopy and electrochemical analyses were used to characterize these compounds.

Photoelectrochemical properties of alternating multilayer films composed of titania nanosheets and Zn porphyrin.

Alternating multilayer films composed of titania nanosheets and Zn porphyrins were prepared by use of a previously reported Langmuir-Blodgett film-transfer method in order to fabricate photoelectrochemical devices. Closely packed titania nanosheet monolayers on indium tin oxide (ITO), mica, and quartz surfaces strongly adsorbed cationic [5,10,15,20-tetrakis(1-methylpyridinium-4-yl)porphyrinatozinc]4+ (ZnTMPyP4+) by electrostatic interactions. The alternating deposition process afforded nanometer-scale multilayer films with the following structure: solid surface/(titania nanosheet/ZnTMPyP4+)n (n is the number of layers).