Thermally Stable Mesoporous Perovskite Solar Cells Incorporating Low-Temperature Processed Graphene/Polymer Electron Transporting Layer

In the short time since its discovery, perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have attained high power conversion efficiency but their lack of thermal stability remains a barrier to commercialization. Among the experimentally accessible parameter spaces for optimizing performance, identifying an electron transport layer (ETL) that forms a thermally stable interface with perovskite and which is solution-processable at low-temperature will certainly be advantageous. Herein, we developed a mesoporous graphene/polymer composite with these advantages when used as ETL in CH₃NH₃PbI₃ PSCs, and a high efficiency of 13.8% under AM 1.5G solar illumination could be obtained. Due to the high heat transmission coefficient and low isoelectric point of mesoporous graphene-based ETL, the PSC device enjoys good chemical and thermal stability. Our work demonstrates that the mesoporous graphene-based scaffold is a promising ETL candidate for high performance and thermally stable PSCs

Thermally Stable Mesoporous Perovskite Solar Cells Incorporating Low-Temperature Processed Graphene/Polymer Electron Transporting Layer

In the short time since its discovery, perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have attained high power conversion efficiency but their lack of thermal stability remains a barrier to commercialization. Among the experimentally accessible parameter spaces for optimizing performance, identifying an electron transport layer (ETL) that forms a thermally stable interface with perovskite and which is solution-processable at low-temperature will certainly be advantageous. Herein, we developed a mesoporous graphene/polymer composite with these advantages when used as ETL in CH₃NH₃PbI₃ PSCs, and a high efficiency of 13.8% under AM 1.5G solar illumination could be obtained. Due to the high heat transmission coefficient and low isoelectric point of mesoporous graphene-based ETL, the PSC device enjoys good chemical and thermal stability. Our work demonstrates that the mesoporous graphene-based scaffold is a promising ETL candidate for high performance and thermally stable PSCs

Photoactive PDI–Cobalt Complex Immobilized on Reduced Graphene Oxide for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

We report the synthesis of a perylene derivative (perylene tetracarboxylic di­(propyl imidazole), abbreviated as PDI) that is coordinated with Co­(II) ions to form a coordination polymer [PDI–Co­(Cl)₂(H₂O)₂]_<i>n</i> (abbreviated as PDI-Co). The PDI-Co complex combines the photoactivity of the perylene dye with the electrocatalytic activity of the “Co­(II)” center for photoelectrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). To improve charge transfer interactions, the PDI-Co complex is immobilized on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) via noncovalent interactions to form the rGO–PDI-Co complex. The composite shows good performance in multiple cycle testing and the turnover number (TON vs Co^II) of this hybrid material for hydrogen evolution reaction (754 after 5 h) is considerably higher than previously reported dye-sensitized cobalt-based catalysts

Tandem Catalysis of Amines Using Porous Graphene Oxide

Porous graphene oxide can be used as a metal-free catalyst in the presence of air for oxidative coupling of primary amines. Herein, we explore a GO-catalyzed carbon–carbon or/and carbon–heteroatom bond formation strategy to functionalize primary amines in tandem to produce a series of valuable products, i.e., α-aminophosphonates, α-aminonitriles, and polycyclic heterocompounds. Furthermore, when decorated with nano-Pd, the Pd-coated porous graphene oxide can be used as a bifunctional catalyst for tandem oxidation and hydrogenation reactions in the <i>N</i>-alkylation of primary amines, achieving good to excellent yields under mild conditions