Exploring zinc oxide morphologies for aqueous solar cells by a photoelectrochemical, computational, and multivariate approach.

Dye-sensitized solar cells assembled with aqueous electrolytes are emerging as a sustainable photovoltaic technology suitable for safe indoor and portable electronics use. While the scientific community is exploring unconventional materials for preparing electrodes and electrolytes, this work presents the first study on zinc oxide as a semiconductor material to fabricate photoanodes for aqueous solar cells. Different morphologies (, nanoparticles, multipods, and desert roses) are synthesized, characterized, and tested in laboratory-scale prototypes.

Effect of Thermal Stabilization on PAN-Derived Electrospun Carbon Nanofibers for CO Capture.

Carbon capture is amongst the key emerging technologies for the mitigation of greenhouse gases (GHG) pollution. Several materials as adsorbents for CO and other gases are being developed, which often involve using complex and expensive fabrication techniques. In this work, we suggest a sound, easy and cheap route for the production of nitrogen-doped carbon materials for CO capture by pyrolysis of electrospun poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN) fibers.