The removal process of P_org by the periphyton. P_total means total phosphorus content and P_inorg means inorganic phosphorus content.

<p>The removal process of P_org by the periphyton. P_total means total phosphorus content and P_inorg means inorganic phosphorus content.</p

Adsorption kinetic analysis, (a d) the pseudo first-order kinetic and (b e) the pseudo second-order kinetic and (c f) the intra-particle diffusion kinetic of the periphyton biofilm for the P_org with different biomass content at different temperatures.

<p>Adsorption kinetic analysis, (a d) the pseudo first-order kinetic and (b e) the pseudo second-order kinetic and (c f) the intra-particle diffusion kinetic of the periphyton biofilm for the P_org with different biomass content at different temperatures.</p

Phosphatase activity of the periphyton under different P_org concentrations.

<p>Phosphatase activity of the periphyton under different P_org concentrations.</p

The kinetic parameters of P_org transformation by the periphyton.

<p>The kinetic parameters of P_org transformation by the periphyton.</p

Kinetic parameters for P_org removal by the periphyton.

<p>Kinetic parameters for P_org removal by the periphyton.</p

The P_org removal rate under different treatments.

<p>The P_org removal rate under different treatments.</p

Characteristics of the the periphyton.

<p>The photo of the periphyton employed for the experiments (a), the periphyton observed under OM (b, ×2000), CLSM (c, ×2000), and SEM (d, ×2000); the microbial community diversities of the periphyton based on Biolog analyses (e).</p

The conversion process of P_org (a) the change of the P_total and P_inorg over the time (b) the change of q_c over the time (experiment conditions: light intensity = 12000 Lux, temperature = 25°C).

<p>The conversion process of P_org (a) the change of the P_total and P_inorg over the time (b) the change of q_c over the time (experiment conditions: light intensity  = 12000 Lux, temperature  = 25°C).</p

High-Performance TiO₂ Photoanode with an Efficient Electron Transport Network for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

A titanium organic sol was synthesized for the modification of conventional porous TiO2 photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). As a result, a compact thin TiO2 film was superimposed on the porous TiO2 structure as an efficient electron transport network, covering bare conducting substrate surface (FTO) and bridging gaps between TiO2 nanoparticles, which was confirmed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). Dark current measurement suggested that the sol modified photoanode had a remarkably slower recombination rate of the photoelectrons due to the reduced bare FTO surface in comparison with the porous photoanode. The network facilitates the electron transfer in the DSSC process by removing the dead ends of electron pathways, connecting gaps along the electron pathways, and physically enlarging electron pathways, which can be demonstrated by the performance improvement of photocurrent and open-circuit potential. Consequently, the overall energy conversion efficiency of the DSSC was significantly enhanced by 28% after this simple and low-cost organic sol modification. The significant performance improvements observed from the organic sol modified DSSCs suggest that the proposed modification method is a promising alternative to the traditional TiCl4 modification method