Nanowire morphology control in Sb metal-derived antimony selenide photocathodes for solar water splitting.

We report a facile method to enhance the photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance of SbSe photocathodes by controlling the growth of bilayer SbSe consisting of vertically oriented nanorods on a compact SbSe layer. SbSe thin films with controllable nanorod diameters were achieved by manipulating the substrate temperatures during metallic Sb thin film deposition. The lower temperature-derived SbSe photocathode, with a larger nanorod diameter (202 ± 48 nm), demonstrated a photocurrent density of -15.

Ultrastable supported oxygen evolution electrocatalyst formed by ripening-induced embedding.

The future deployment of terawatt-scale proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer (PEMWE) technology necessitates development of an efficient oxygen evolution catalyst with low cost and long lifetime. Currently, the stability of the most active iridium (Ir) catalysts is impaired by dissolution, redeposition, detachment, and agglomeration of Ir species. Here we present a ripening-induced embedding strategy that securely embeds the Ir catalyst in a cerium oxide support.

Amino-functionalization enhanced CO reduction reaction in pure water.

The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CORR) to carbon monoxide represents a cost-effective pathway towards realizing carbon neutrality. To suppress the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), the presence of alkali cations is critical, which can however lead to precipitate formation on the electrode, adversely impacting the device stability. Employing pure water as the electrolyte in zero-gap CO electrolyzers can address this challenge, albeit at the cost of diminished catalyst performance due to the absence of alkali cations.

High-efficiency C electrosynthesis on a lattice-strain-stabilized nitrogen-doped Cu surface.

The synthesis of multi-carbon (C) fuels via electrocatalytic reduction of CO, HO using renewable electricity, represents a significant stride in sustainable energy storage and carbon recycling. The foremost challenge in this field is the production of extended-chain carbon compounds (C, n ≥ 3), wherein elevated CO coverage (θ) and its subsequent multiple-step coupling are both critical. Notwithstanding, there exists a "seesaw" dynamic between intensifying CO adsorption to augment θ and surmounting the C-C coupling barrier, which have not been simultaneously realized within a singular catalyst yet.

Tailored Supramolecular Interactions in Host-Guest Complexation for Efficient and Stable Perovskite Solar Cells and Modules.

Host-guest complexation offers a promising approach for mitigating surface defects in perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Crown ethers are the most widely used macrocyclic hosts for complexing perovskite surfaces, yet their supramolecular interactions and functional implications require further understanding. Here we show that the dipole moment of crown ethers serves as an indicator of supramolecular interactions with both perovskites and precursor salts.

One-Step Hydrothermal Synthesis of Sn-Doped SbSe for Solar Hydrogen Production.

Antimony selenide (SbSe) has recently been intensively investigated and has achieved significant advancement in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. In this work, a facile one-step hydrothermal method for the preparation of Sn-doped SbSe photocathodes with improved PEC performance was investigated. We present an in-depth study of the performance enhancement in Sn-doped SbSe photocathodes using capacitance-voltage (CV), drive-level capacitance profiling (DLCP), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques.

High carrier mobility along the [111] orientation in CuO photoelectrodes.

Solar fuels offer a promising approach to provide sustainable fuels by harnessing sunlight. Following a decade of advancement, CuO photocathodes are capable of delivering a performance comparable to that of photoelectrodes with established photovoltaic materials. However, considerable bulk charge carrier recombination that is poorly understood still limits further advances in performance.

Chromium-Induced High Covalent Co-O Bonds for Efficient Anodic Catalysts in PEM Electrolyzer.

The proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer (PEMWE), crucial for green hydrogen production, is challenged by the scarcity and high cost of iridium-based materials. Cobalt oxides, as ideal electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER), have not been extensively applied in PEMWE, due to extremely high voltage and poor stability at large current density, caused by complicated structural variations of cobalt compounds during the OER process. Thus, the authors sought to introduce chromium into a cobalt spinel (CoO) catalyst to regulate the electronic structure of cobalt, exhibiting a higher oxidation state and increased Co-O covalency with a stable structure.

Polypyrrole regulates Active Sites in Co-based Catalyst in Direct Borohydride Fuel Cells.

Direct borohydride fuel cells (DBFCs) convert borohydride (NaBH) chemical energy into clean electricity. However, catalytic active site deactivation in NaBH solution limits their performance and stability. We propose a strategy to regulate active sites in Co-based catalysts using polypyrrole modification (Co-PX catalyst) to enhance electrochemical borohydride oxidation reaction (eBOR).

Pb-rich Cu grain boundary sites for selective CO-to-n-propanol electroconversion.

Electrochemical carbon monoxide (CO) reduction to high-energy-density fuels provides a potential way for chemical production and intermittent energy storage. As a valuable C species, n-propanol still suffers from a relatively low Faradaic efficiency (FE), sluggish conversion rate and poor stability. Herein, we introduce an "atomic size misfit" strategy to modulate active sites, and report a facile synthesis of a Pb-doped Cu catalyst with numerous atomic Pb-concentrated grain boundaries.

Solution-Processed CuS Nanostructures for Solar Hydrogen Production.

CuS is a promising solar energy conversion material due to its suitable optical properties, high elemental earth abundance, and nontoxicity. In addition to the challenge of multiple stable secondary phases, the short minority carrier diffusion length poses an obstacle to its practical application. This work addresses the issue by synthesizing nanostructured CuS thin films, which enables increased charge carrier collection.

β-Caryophyllene ameliorates the Mycoplasmal pneumonia through the inhibition of NF-κB signal transduction in mice.

Background: Pneumonia is a frequent infectious disease that mainly affects the children and the global death rate is nearly 19% among children at the below 5 age. β-caryophyllene is an active compound, mainly occurs in the spices and it possesses immense biological activities.

Objective: This investigation deliberated to scrutinize the beneficial actions of β-caryophyllene against the induced pneumonia.

Thiol-Amine-Based Solution Processing of Cu S Thin Films for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting.

Cu S is a promising solar energy conversion material owing to its good optical properties, elemental earth abundance, and low cost. However, simple and cheap methods to prepare phase-pure and photo-active Cu S thin films are lacking. This study concerns the development of a cost-effective and high-throughput method that consists of dissolving high-purity commercial Cu S powder in a thiol-amine solvent mixture followed by spin coating and low-temperature annealing to obtain phase-pure crystalline low chalcocite Cu S thin films.

deconvolution of photovoltaic and electrocatalytic performance in ALD TiO protected water splitting photocathodes.

In this work, we demonstrate that buried junction photocathodes featuring an ALD TiO protective overlayer can be readily characterized using a variation of the dual working electrode (DWE) technique, where the second working electrode (WE2) is spatially isolated from the hydrogen-evolving active area. The measurement of the surface potential during operation enables the deconvolution of the photovoltaic and electrocatalytic performance of these photocathodes, by reconstructing -Δ curves (reminiscent of photovoltaic - curves) from the 3-electrode water splitting data. Our method provides a clearer understanding of the photocathode degradation mechanism during stability tests, including loss of the catalyst from the surface, which is only possible in our isolated WE2 configuration.

Improving the photovoltaic performance of the all-solid-state TiO NR/CuInS solar cell by hydrogen plasma treatment.

The interfacial properties of the heterojunction between p-type and n-type materials play an important role in the performance of the solar cell. In this paper, a p-type CuInS film was deposited on TiO nanorod arrays by spin coating to fabricate an all-solid-state solar cell and the TiO nanorod arrays were treated with hydrogen plasma(H:TiO) to ameliorate the interfacial properties. The influence of the hydrogen plasma treatment on the performance of the solar cell was investigated.

Optimization of photoelectrochemical performance in Pt-modified p-CuO/n-CuO nanocomposite.

As it is expected to be one of the most promising materials for utilizing solar energy, CuO has attracted considerable attention with respect to the achievement of solar energy conversion. Until now, the photocurrent densities of all planar structure of the CuO photocathode have not even come close to the theoretical value of -14.7 mA cm due to the incompatible light absorption and charge carrier diffusion lengths.

The effect of sulfur on the electrical properties of S and N co-doped ZnO thin films: experiment and first-principles calculations.

P-type sulphur-nitrogen (S-N) co-doped ZnO thin films are deposited and the effect of sulphur on the electrical properties is discussed. First-principles calculations indicate that the structure is most stable when the S atom is close to the N atom in the (0002) plane, implying that dual-doped ZnO is relatively feasible to approach. The partial density of states of S-N co-doped ZnO shows that the S impurity plays a vital role in forming the p-type conductivity.