EES Blog

Dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSCs) have been attracted increasing interest recently as an alternative to conventional silicon-based solar cells, owing to their relatively high conversion efficiencies and low manufacturing costs.

In DSSC devices, dye aggregation on the TiO₂ electrode is one of the most serious problems, which leads to a reduced device performance. Conventional solutions involve cumbersome optimisation processes and increased production costs, so a simple solution for the problem is required.

Scientists in Japan and China have reported an aggregation-free branch-type organic dye with a twisting pi-conjugate architecture. They compare it with an analogue dye possessing a planar molecular structure. The influences of deoxycholic acid co-adsorption are investigated, and it is found that the twisting dye has excellent potential as an aggregation-free dye.

Read the ‘HOT’ EES article hot off the press:

Aggregation-free branch-type organic dye with a twisted molecular architecture for dye-sensitized solar cells
Youhei Numata, Ashraful Islam, Han Chen and Liyuan Han
Energy Environ. Sci., 2012, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/C2EE22506A

Scientists in China and the US have demonstrated a thermoelectric material with excellent thermal and chemical stability up to high temperatures; it’s a promising material for converting wasted heat into electricity, they say.

The material is an oxyselenide – BiCuSeO. A high ZT ~1.1 at 923K in BiCuSeO system is achieved via Ba heavily doping and refining grain sizes (200~400 nm), which is higher than any thermoelectric oxides. Excellent thermal and chemical stability up to 923 K and high thermoelectric performance confirm that BiCuSeO system is promising for thermoelectric power generation applications.

Read the ‘HOT’ EES Communication:

High thermoelectric figure of merit ZT>1 in Ba heavily doped BiCuSeO oxyselenides
Li-Dong Zhao, Jing Li, Jiehe Sui, yanling pei, celine barreteau, David Berardan, Nita Dragoe, Wei Cai and Jiaqing He
Energy Environ. Sci., 2012, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/C2EE22622G

Scientists in China describe the synthesis of Ni–CaO–Al₂O₃ multifunctional catalysts from hydrotalcite-like precursors for sorption enhanced steam reforming of ethanol to produce hydrogen.

Read the EES ‘HOT’ paper hot off the press:

Sorption enhanced steam reforming of ethanol on Ni–CaO–Al₂O₃ multifunctional catalysts derived from hydrotalcite-like compounds
Gaowei Wu, Chengxi Zhang, Shuirong Li, Zhiqi Huang, Suli Yan, Shengping Wang, Xinbin Ma and Jinlong Gong
Energy Environ. Sci., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2EE21995F

Inverted polymer solar cells with 8.4% efficiency was demonstrated by using conjugated polyelectrolyte to re-engineer the electron extraction layer.

Read the full Communication in EES:

Inverted polymer solar cells with 8.4% efficiency by conjugated polyelectrolyte
Tingbin Yang, Ming Wang, Chunhui Duan, Xiaowen Hu, Lin Huang, Junbiao Peng, Fei Huang and Xiong Gong
Energy Environ. Sci., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2EE22296E

Scientists in Spain have carried out a comparative survey of different electrolytes prepared using several different solvents and in combination with different Na salts, namely NaClO₄, NaPF₆ and NaTFSI.

They found that NaPF₆ in ethylene carbonate:propylene carbonate is the best electrolyte for performance and it fulfils all present safety considerations.

With this electrolyte, the team achieved capacities of ca. 200mAh/g and over 180 cycles.

Read the EES ‘HOT’ article today:

In search of an optimized electrolyte for Na-ion batteries
Alexandre Ponrouch, Elena Marchante, Matthieu Courty, Jean-Marie Tarascon and M. Rosa Palacín
Energy Environ. Sci., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2EE22258B,