A Double Compatibilization Strategy To Boost the Performance of -- Solar Cells Based on Perovskite Deposited in Humid Ambient Air.

Formamidinium lead iodide (FAPI) represents the most promising perovskite for single junction solar cells, exhibiting an impressive performance when deposited in a controlled nitrogen environment. In order to foster the real-world application of this technology, the deposition of FAPI in ambient air is a highly desirable prospect, as it would reduce fabrication costs. This study demonstrates that the wettability of FAPI precursors on the hole transporting layers (HTL) used to fabricate inverted -- solar cells is extremely poor in ambient air, hampering the realization of a perovskite active layer with good optoelectronic quality.

Characterisation of the correlations between oxidative potential and in vitro biological effects of PM at three sites in the central Mediterranean.

Atmospheric particulate matter (PM) is one of the major risks for global health. The exact mechanisms of toxicity are still not completely understood leading to contrasting results when different toxicity metrics are compared. In this work, PM was collected at three sites for the determination of acellular oxidative potential (OP), intracellular oxidative stress (OSGC), cytotoxicity (MTT assay), and genotoxicity (Comet assay).

Size-Resolved Redox Activity and Cytotoxicity of Water-Soluble Urban Atmospheric Particulate Matter: Assessing Contributions from Chemical Components.

Throughout the cold and the warm periods of 2020, chemical and toxicological characterization of the water-soluble fraction of size segregated particulate matter (PM) (<0.49, 0.49−0.

Concentration and size distribution of atmospheric particles in southern Italy during COVID-19 lockdown period.

Many countries imposed lockdown (LD) to limit the spread of COVID-19, which led to a reduction in the emission of anthropogenic atmospheric pollutants. Several studies have investigated the effects of LD on air quality, mostly in urban settings and criteria pollutants. However, less information is available on background sites, and virtually no information is available on particle number size distribution (PNSD).

Inter-annual variability of source contributions to PM, PM, and oxidative potential in an urban background site in the central mediterranean.

Airborne particulate matter (PM) is studied because of its effects on human health and climate change. PM long-term characterisation allows identifying trends and evaluating the outcomes of environmental protection policies. This work is aimed to study the inter-annual variability of PM and PM concentrations and chemical composition in an urban background site (Italy).

Chemical characterization of red cells from the black sea urchin by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

Red spherula cells (RSC) from sea urchin coelomic fluid have attracted great interest for their specific and intriguing properties, such as for example antimicrobial activities and immune response, that probably tie in with their red characteristic pigments. Although to date different studies have been reported aimed to chemically characterize their pigments extracted from the cells, few data are available about the chemical characterization of the cell surface. In this work, a systematic chemical characterization of the RSC surface by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis is described.

Development and characterization of a gold nanoparticles glassy carbon modified electrode for dithiotreitol (DTT) detection suitable to be applied for determination of atmospheric particulate oxidative potential.

A gold nanostructured electrochemical sensor based on modified GC electrode for thiols' detection is described and characterized. This sensor is a suitable device for the measurement of the oxidative potential (OP) of the atmospheric particulate matter (PM), considered a global indicator of adverse health effects of PM, as an alternative to the classic spectrophotometric methods. The operating principle is the determination of the OP, through the measurement of the consumption of DTT content.

Nanocellulose/Fullerene Hybrid Films Assembled at the Air/Water Interface as Promising Functional Materials for Photo-electrocatalysis.

Cellulose nanomaterials have been widely investigated in the last decade, unveiling attractive properties for emerging applications. The ability of sulfated cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) to guide the supramolecular organization of amphiphilic fullerene derivatives at the air/water interface has been recently highlighted. Here, we further investigated the assembly of Langmuir hybrid films that are based on the electrostatic interaction between cationic fulleropyrrolidines deposited at the air/water interface and anionic CNCs dispersed in the subphase, assessing the influence of additional negatively charged species that are dissolved in the water phase.

Inter-comparison of carbon content in PM and PM measured with two thermo-optical protocols on samples collected in a Mediterranean site.

Scientific interest is focusing on different approaches for characterising organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC) and equivalent black carbon (eBC), although EUSAAR2 protocol has been established and frequently used in EU for regulatory purposes. Discrepancies are observed due to thermal protocols used for OC/EC determinations and the effect of the chemical-physical properties of aerosol using optical measurements for eBC. In this work, a long-term inter-comparison of carbon measurements with two widely used protocols (EUSAAR2 and NIOSH870) was performed on PM and PM samples.

Phosphate Modified Screen Printed Electrodes by LIFT Treatment for Glucose Detection.

The design of new materials as active layers is important for electrochemical sensor and biosensor development. Among the techniques for the modification and functionalization of electrodes, the laser induced forward transfer (LIFT) has emerged as a powerful physisorption method for the deposition of various materials (even labile materials like enzymes) that results in intimate and stable contact with target surface. In this work, Pt, Au, and glassy carbon screen printed electrodes (SPEs) treated by LIFT with phosphate buffer have been characterized by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy to reveal a flattening effect of all surfaces.

Characterization of hierarchical α-MoO plates toward resistive heating synthesis: electrochemical activity of α-MoO/Pt modified electrode toward methanol oxidation at neutral pH.

The growth of MoO hierarchical plates was obtained by direct resistive heating of molybdenum foils at ambient pressure in the absence of any catalysts and templates. Plates synthesized after 60 min resistive heating typically grow in an single-crystalline orthorhombic structure that develop preferentially in the [001] direction, and are characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy, selected area diffraction pattern and Raman-scattering measurements. They are about 100-200 nm in thickness and a few tens of micrometers in length.

Modeling the microscopic electrical properties of thrombin binding aptamer (TBA) for label-free biosensors.

Aptamers are chemically produced oligonucleotides, able to bind a variety of targets such as drugs, proteins and pathogens with high sensitivity and selectivity. Therefore, aptamers are largely employed for producing label-free biosensors (aptasensors), with significant applications in diagnostics and drug delivery. In particular, the anti-thrombin aptamers are biomolecules of high interest for clinical use, because of their ability to recognize and bind the thrombin enzyme.

A novel nonenzymatic amperometric hydrogen peroxide sensor based on CuO@Cu2O nanowires embedded into poly(vinyl alcohol).

A new, very simple, rapid and inexpensive nonenzymatic amperometric sensor for hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) detection is proposed. It is based on the immobilization of cupric/cuprous oxide core shell nanowires (CuO@Cu2O-NWs) in a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) matrix directly drop casted on a glassy carbon electrode surface to make a CuO@Cu2O core shell like NWs PVA embedded (CuO@Cu2O-NWs/PVA) sensor. CuO nanowires with mean diameters of 120-170nm and length in the range 2-5μm were grown by a simple catalyst-free thermal oxidation process based on resistive heating of pure copper wires at ambient conditions.

Te oxide nanowires as advanced materials for amperometric nonenzymatic hydrogen peroxide sensing.

A new nonenzymatic platinum Te oxide nanowires modified electrode (Pt/TeO2-NWs) for amperometric detection of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is proposed. The modified electrode has been developed by direct drop casting, with TeO2 nanowires (TeO2-NWs), synthesized by thermal evaporation of Te(0) in an oxygen atmosphere. The morphological and spectroscopic characterization of the TeO2-NWs as synthesized on Pt foil was performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis.

Development and characterization of a novel bioactive polymer with antibacterial and lysozyme-like activity.

The development and characterization of a novel bioactive polymer based on the immobilization of glucose oxidase enzyme (GOx) in a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) film showing antibacterial activity is presented. The PVA-GOx composite material was extensively characterized by UV-vis, X-ray Photoelectron (XPS) spectroscopy and by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to verify the preservation of enzyme structural integrity and activity. The antimicrobial activity of this composite material against Escherichia coli and Vibrio alginolyticus was assessed.

Mediator-free amperometric glucose biosensor based on glucose oxidase entrapped in poly(vinyl alcohol) matrix.

A simple and novel amperometric biosensor for glucose detection is proposed. It is based on the immobilization of glucose oxidase (GOx) in a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) matrix directly drop casted on a platinum electrode surface (Pt/GOx-PVA). Glucose was determined in the absence of a mediator used to transfer electrons between the electrode and the enzyme.

Electrochemical and spectroscopic behavior of iron(III) porphyrazines in Langmuir-Schafer films.

Thin films of a newly synthesized iron(III) porphyrazine, LFeOESPz ( L = ClEtO, OESPz = ethylsulfanylporphyrazine), have been deposited by the Langmuir-Schafer (LS) technique (horizontal lifting) on ITO or gold substrates. Before deposition, the floating films have been investigated at the air-water interface by pressure/area per molecule (pi/ A) experiments, Brewster angle microscopy (BAM) and UV-vis reflection spectroscopy (RefSpec). The complex reacts with water subphase (pH 6.

TRMC, XPS, and EPR characterizations of polycrystalline TiO2 porphyrin impregnated powders and their catalytic activity for 4-nitrophenol photodegradation in aqueous suspension.

Characterization of polycrystalline TiO(2) bare or porphyrin impregnated powders, used as photocatalysts for the degradation of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) in aqueous suspension, was performed by time-resolved microwave conductivity (TRMC) measurements and electronic paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and X-ray photoelectron (XPS) spectroscopies. The presence of porphyrin sensitizers, as the metal-free or Cu [5,10,15,20-tetra (4-tert-butylphenyl)] porphyrin, impregnated onto the TiO(2) surface improved the photocatalytic activity of the bare TiO(2). TRMC measurements indicate that the number and lifetime of the photoinduced excess charge carriers increase in the presence of the macrocycles, and EPR and XPS spectroscopies support the mechanistic hypotheses based on the photoreactivity experiments.

New insights from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy into the chemistry of covalent enzyme immobilization, with glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) on silicon dioxide as an example.

A three-step process for immobilization of glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) on the surface of silicon dioxide has been studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The enzyme layer was deposited on the silicon dioxide surface after first exposing the surface to 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (3-APTS) and reacting the silylated surface with glutaraldehyde (GA). Fine XPS analysis, performed after each step of the chemical procedure, revealed unknown details of the step-by-step construction of the enzyme layer under different experimental conditions.