Production of Activated Carbon in a Multi-Functional Platform Pilot Plant

Activated carbons were produced from coconut shells as  raw materials in a Multi-Functional Platform (MFP) pilot plant using the chemical activation method.. Derived activated carbon named, C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, and C6, based on the activation agent used and the heating rate employed, were compared to a commercial activated carbon based on acceptable parameters. C1, C2, C3, C4, C5 and C6 had relative hardness of 95.67%, 92.67%, 89.67, 91.6%, 90.67% and 93.33% respectively, averaging 92.26%, as compared to 95.6% relative hardness for the commercial activated carbon used. C6 the best performing activated carbon produced (using KOH and heating rate of 7.67 ºC/min) , had an adsorption rate of 188.68 mg Au/ h g, which was higher than the adsorption rate of the commercial activated carbon, which is 185.19 mg Au/ h g. This validates the possibility of activated carbon production commercially in Ghana

Nanomaterials in 2 dimensions for flexible solar cell applications a review

This review presents the progress, challenges and prospects of ultrathin flexible photovoltaic devices based on 2 dimensional 2D nanomaterials. These devices have shown very high performance in bending stabilities for up to 90 of their power conversion efficiencies PCEs after multiple bending deformations. They are thin film PVs with lightweight and mechanically robust structures that allow use in the continual advancing solar cell applications. In this paper, comprehensive assessments of 2D nanomaterials, their syntheses methods, performance, degradation, mechanical and opto electronic characterization in flexible photovoltaic PV cells are highlighted. Semi conductor materials such as conjugated donor and acceptor polymers, small donor acceptor molecules and organometal halide perovskites for use as active layers in such flexible solar cell structures are reviewed. The challenges and prospects associated with the adoption of 2D nanomaterials in flexible solar cells are presented. The review highlights the need to transition laboratory results on 2D nanomaterials based flexible solar cells into scale up and commercialized products despite the existing and also opens research areas for researchers to explore and achieve robust and high efficient solar device