CuZnSn(S,Se) (CZTSSe) solar cells with low cost and eco-friendly characteristics are attractive as future sources of electricity generation, but low conversion efficiency remains an issue. To improve conversion efficiency, a method of inserting intermediate layers between the CZTSSe absorber film and the Mo back contact is used to suppress the formation of MoSe and decomposition of CZTSSe. Among the candidates for the intermediate layer, graphene oxide (GO) and reduced GO have excellent properties, including high-charge mobility and low processing cost. Depending on the type of GO, the solar cell parameters, such as fill factor (FF), were enhanced. Thus, the conversion efficiency of 6.3% was achieved using the chemically reduced GO intermediate layer with significantly improved FF.
Nanofluidics is a system of fluid transport limited to a nano-confined space, including the transport of ions and molecules. The use of intelligent nanofluidics has shown great potential in energy conversion. However, ion transport is hindered by homogeneous membranes with uniform charge distribution and concentration polarization, which often leads to an undesirable power conversion performance.
Graphene and its derivatives are widely used in various fields due to their unique two-dimensional lamellar structure. This study aims to synthesize ultra-large graphene oxide (GO) sheets from natural flake graphite and investigate the factors influencing their size. Using a two-intercalation method based on the modified Hummers' method, we address the challenge of intercalating large-diameter graphene oxide by employing a secondary intercalation technique.
Piezoelectric resonance sensors are essential to many diverse applications associated with chemical and biological sensing. In general, they rely on continuously detecting the resonant frequency shift of piezoelectric resonators due to analytes accreting on their surfaces in vacuum, gas or fluid. Resolving the small analyte changes requires the resonators with a high quality factor.
To advance the industrialization of flexible strain sensors, an innovative flexible sensing fiber was developed through a sophisticated wet spinning process. Silver trifluoroacetate (C2AgF3O2) and graphene oxide (GO) were combined with thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) to prepare the fibers via wet spinning. Ascorbic acid (L-AA) was used to in situ reduce the silver trifluoroacetate and graphene oxide within the polyurethane, causing the growth of silver nanoparticles to bond with reduced graphene oxide, forming a dual conductive pathway.
Thermal batteries are a type of thermally activated reserve batteries, where the cathode material significantly influences the operating voltage and specific capacity of the battery. In this work, VS-VO has been synthesized through the hydrothermal method and used as the cathode material for thermal batteries. Firstly, the material with the VS crystallinity is obtained at 170 °C and the mass percentages of VS/VO are 63.
