Self-supported metal sulphide nanocrystals-assembled nanosheets on carbon paper as efficient counter electrodes for quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells

Developing efficient counter electrodes (CEs) and quantum dots made of earth-abundant and non-toxic elements is essential but still challenging for quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs). Here, we report a facile strategy to prepare self-supported and robust CoS₂ and NiS nanocrystals-assembled nanosheets directly grown on carbon paper (MSx NS@CP) as efficient counter electrodes for QDSSCs. Such CEs integrate the merits of fast electron transfer from interconnected conductive scaffold, efficient mass transfer from hierarchically vertical nanosheet on 3D open substrate, as well as abundant highly active catalytic sites from metal sulphide nanocrystal units. As a result, QDDSCs based on such CoS₂ NS@CP and NiS NS@CP CEs achieve a PCE of 8.88% and 7.53%, respectively. The detailed analyses suggest that CoS₂ NS@CP has the highest catalytic activity and shows the lowest charger transfer resistance, leading to the highest PCE. These findings may inspire the design and exploration of other self-supported efficient CEs by integrating highly active catalysts onto 3D conductive networks for efficient QDSSCs.     

Advantageous Interfacial Effects of AgPd/g-C3N4 for Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution: Electronic Structure and H2O Dissociation

Bimetallic AgPd nanoparticles have been synthesized before, but the interfacial electronic effects of AgPd on the photocatalytic performance have been investigated less. In this work, the results of hydrogen evolution suggest that the bimetallic AgPd/g-C₃N₄ sample has superior activity to Ag/g-C₃N₄ and Pd/g-C₃N₄ photocatalysts. The UV/Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, CO adsorption diffuse reflectance FTIR spectroscopy, and FTIR results demonstrate that in the AgPd/g-C₃N₄, the surface electronic structures of Pd and Ag are changed, which is beneficial for faster photogenerated electron transfer and greater H₂O molecule adsorption. In situ ESR spectra suggest that, under visible light irradiation, there is more H₂O dissociation to radical species on the AgPd/g-C₃N₄ photocatalyst. Furthermore, DFT calculations confirm the interfacial electronic effects of AgPd/g-C₃N₄, that is, Pd^δ−⋅⋅⋅Ag^δ+, and the activation energy of H₂O molecule dissociation on AgPd/g-C₃N₄ is the lowest, which is the main contributor to the enhanced photocatalytic H₂ evolution.     

Surface modification of hollow microsphere Li1.2Ni1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 cathode by coating with CoAl2O4

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - Li1.2Ni1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 was synthesized as a cathode material for lithium-ion batteries and coated with various amounts of CoAl2O4 (0–5 wt%)...     

A new MnxOy/carbon nanorods derived from bimetallic Zn/Mn metal–organic framework as an efficient oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalyst for alkaline Zn-Air batteries

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - In this work, nanorods like bimetallic Zn/Mn metal–organic-frameworks (MOFs) are proposed as the precursor for preparing MnxOy/porous carbon...     

Structure and Mechanical Stability of Epoxy Modified Polyurethane Foam Under Heat and Stress

A series of phenolic epoxy resin (PEP) modified polyurethane foams (PUF) were prepared via an in-situ polymerization, one step process. It was found that the epoxy modified PUF foam exhibited a perforated network structure with larger cell size, higher open cell porosity and enhanced ovality compared with pure PUF. With increasing content of PEP, the tensile strength, elongation at break and low temperature modulus of PUF decreased. A single T_g was observed for PEP modified PUF, indicating that the two component phases of the polyurethane-epoxy were miscible. With increasing PEP content, the T_g of PUF shifted slightly to higher temperature, tan δ_max dropped to lower values, and the retention value of the storage modulus at ?20 and ?10?°C increased. For pure PUF, the cell walls degraded and the structure became disordered after aging under heat and stress, while for PUF/20wt%PEP, the degradation degree was obviously reduced, and an orientation of the cells along the stress direction and a density increase was observed. During aging at 200?°C, the retention of the mechanical properties of PUF/20wt% PEP was much higher than that of pure PUF, and it showed superior stability under heat and stress, attributed to incorporation of the thermally resistant oxazolidone rings and benzene rings in the PU backbones, the highly cross-linked networks of the polyurethane-epoxy systems and the obvious orientation of the cells under stress.     

Lipase‐Supported Metal–Organic Framework Bioreactor Catalyzes Warfarin Synthesis

A green and sustainable strategy synthesizes clinical medicine warfarin anticoagulant by using lipase‐supported metal–organic framework (MOF) bioreactors (see scheme). These findings may be beneficial for future studies in the industrial production of chemical, pharmaceutical, and agrochemical precursors.     

Synthesis and Herbicidal Activities of 3‐(4‐Chloro‐2‐fluoro‐5‐substituted phenyl)benzo[d][1,2,3]triazin‐4(3H)‐one Derivatives

A series of 3‐phenyl benzo[d][1,2,3]triazin‐4(3H)‐one derivatives were synthesized through the condensation of phenol E and alkyl (alkenyl, alkynyl) chlorides (bromides, iodide) or alkyl chloroacetates or N‐alkyl chloroacetamides using K₂CO₃ as the acid acceptor in N,N‐dimethylformamide. Phenol E was prepared from starting material, 5‐amino‐2‐chloro‐4‐fluorophenyl ethyl carbonate, in four steps involving in amidation, reduction, diazotization, and deprotecting‐group reaction. The herbicidal activities of the title compounds were tested against two dicotyledonous plants and two monocotyledonous plants, in which some of them exhibited high herbicidal activities against two dicotyledonous plants in preemergence and postemergence treatments. Moreover, when the dosage was decreased to 180 and 90 g/ha, compounds F1 , F8 , and F9 showed highly selective inhibitory activities against amaranth pigweed, alfalfa, asteraceae, field sowthistle, morning glory, purslane, and velvetleaf in postemergence treatment but had no herbicidal efficacy on rape except F1 , suggesting that it be possible to find a kind of herbicides to inhibit dicotyledonous weeds in the field of dicotyledonous crops with the same genus as aforementioned weeds.