The group covalently modified the surfaces of alumina nanoparticles with an ionic liquid to improve their miscibility with ionic liquids, such as MPII. They used a hybrid gel composite of MPII and the surface-modified nanoparticles as the electrolyte in quasi-solid-state DSSCs. The energy conversion efficiencies were greater when using their modified nanoparticles than when using pristine alumina.
Read this HOT article today:
Hybrid electrolytes prepared from ionic liquid-grafted alumina for high-efficiency quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells
Won Seok Chi, Dong Kyu Roh, Sang Jin Kim, Sung Yeon Heo and Jong Hak Kim
DOI: 10.1039/C3NR00291H
Scientists from Tsinghua University in China have found a way to synthesis water soluble nanocrystals with sizes smaller than 10nm using a formamide solvent-system.
A novel zinc oxide microwire optical resonator with parallelogram-shaped cross section has been made by chemists based in China and Taiwan. The material can effectively control light in two dimensions, and could play the part of a building block in the development of optoelectronic devices.
The State Administration for Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA) is a division of the Chinese Government with which RSC has a cooperation agreement. Under this agreement the RSC and SAFEA will jointly fund researchers from the UK to visit Chinese Universities. The purpose of the visits is to stimulate collaboration between UK and Chinese institutions. They will allow the visitor to contribute their experience towards the development of excellent emerging science and build links with the Chinese Chemistry community.
Collaborators in the US and China have demonstrated that by