Flame spray pyrolysis for the one-step fabrication of transition metal oxide films: Recent progress in electrochemical and photoelectrochemical water splitting

Developing large scale deposition techniques to fabricate thin porous films with suitable opto-electro nic properties for water catalysis is a necessity to mitigate climate change and have a sustainable environment.In this review,flame spray pyrolysis(FSP)technique,a rapid and scalable methodology to synthesize nanostructured transitional metal oxide films with designed functionalities,is firstly introduced.Furthermore,applications in electrochemical(EC)and photoelectrochemical(PEC)water splitting for the production of hydrogen fuel is also presented.The high combustion temperature and the aggregation of flame aerosol ensure that the FSP-made films possess high crystallinity,tunable porosity and high surface areas,making this method suitable either as catalysts for EC water splitting or as efficient semiconductor materials for PEC water splitting.Finally,a perspective on the next generation FSP engineered films with potential applications in energy storage and conversion is described.     

Solution processed transition metal sulfides: application as counter electrodes in dye sensitized solar cells (DSCs)

A solution processed method for fabricating transition metal sulfides on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) as efficient counter electrodes in iodine/iodide based solar cells has been demonstrated. Conversion efficiencies of 7.01% and 6.50% were obtained for nickel and cobalt sulfides, respectively, comparable to the conventional thermally platinised FTO electrodes (7.32%). A comparable charge transfer resistance of Ni(3)S(2) and Co(8.4)S(8) to conventional Pt was found to be a key factor for such high efficiencies. Cyclic voltammetry, Kelvin probe microscopy, Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy, and Tafel polarization were performed to study the underlying reasons behind such efficient counter electrode performance.     

Metal/metal sulfide functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes: FTO-free counter electrodes for dye sensitized solar cells

The use of single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT) thin films to replace conventional fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) and both FTO and platinum (Pt) as the counter electrode in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC) requires surface modification due to high sheet resistance and charge transfer resistance. In this paper, we report a simple, solution-based method of preparing FTO-free counter electrodes based on metal (Pt) or metal sulfide (Co(8.4)S(8), Ni(3)S(2)) nanoparticles/CNT composite films to improve device performance. Based on electrochemical studies, the relative catalytic activity of the composite films was Pt > Co(8.4)S(8) > Ni(3)S(2). We achieved a maximum efficiency of 3.76% for the device with an FTO-free counter electrode (Pt/CNT). The device with an FTO- and Pt-free (CoS/CNT) counter electrode gives 3.13% efficiency.     

ChemInform Abstract: Boron Occupied Condensed Clusters in Ta5Ge3By (y ≈ 0.7).

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