New devices for energy harvesting and storage: integrated third generation photovoltaic solar cells and electrochemical double layer capacitors

A worldwide conversion towards renewable energy sources has to be implemented in order to hopefully avoid the irreversible consequences of the global temperature increment caused by the greenhouse gases production. In addition, the current need to benefit from electricity in every moment of daily life, mainly in case of limited access to the electric grid, is forcing the scientific community to an intensive effort towards the production of integrated energy harvesting and storage devices. The topic of this PhD thesis is to investigate and propose innovative solutions for the integration of third generation photovoltaic (PV) cells and electrochemical double layer capacitors (EDLCs), the so-called photo-capacitors. Different photo-capacitor structures have been studied and experimentally fabricated. At first, flexibility was explored, as it is a mandatory requirement to cover non-planar or bendable surfaces, which are more and more common in nowadays portable electronics. Easily scalable fabrication processes have been used for both the harvester and the storage units, employing photopolymer membranes as electrolytes and metallic grids as current collectors and electrodes substrates. For this configuration, the best overall conversion and storage efficiency ever reported for a flexible Dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC)-based photo-capacitor was demonstrated. Subsequently, observing in the literature an evident lack in the exploitation of high voltage photo-capacitors, EDLC electrolytes with broad voltage windows have been examined. These electrolytes allowed to fabricate stable and reliable devices integrating the EDLC with a PV module and not only with a single solar cell, as normally is done. High voltage values, up to 2.5 V, have been obtained employing an ionic liquid electrolyte (Pyr14TFSI) or –alternatively- a solid state electrolyte (PEO-Pyr14TFSI) for storage section fabrication. Moreover, novel electrolyte mixtures of organic solvents and ionic liquids with good physical and electrochemical properties have been employed with the aim to increase energy density and voltage with respect to commercial EDLCs. Finally, a novel polymer-based platform has been suggested for the fabrication of an innovative “two-electrodes” self-powered device. The multifunctional polymeric layer, made of two poly(ethylene glycol)-based sections separated by a perfluorinated barrier, was obtained by oxygen-inhibited UV-light crosslinking procedure. For the energy harvesting section, one side of the polymeric layer was adapted to enable iodide/triiodide diffusion in a DSSC, while the other side empowered sodium/chloride ions diffusion and was used for on-board charge storage. The resulting photo-capacitor results in a planar architecture appreciably simplified with respect to other recently proposed solutions and is definitely more easily exploitable in low power electronics

Portable High Voltage Integrated Harvesting-Storage Device Employing Dye-Sensitized Solar Module and All-Solid-State Electrochemical Double Layer Capacitor

A dye-sensitized solar module (DSSM) and a high voltage all-solid-state electrochemical double layer capacitor (EDLC) are, for the first time, implemented in a compact Harvesting-Storage (HS) device. Conductive glass is employed as current collecting substrate for both DSSM and EDLC, leading to a robust and portable final structure. The photovoltaic section is constituted by a 4 series cells W-type module, while in the storage section an EDLC employing an ionic liquid-based polymeric electrolyte (a mixture of polyethylene oxide and N-butyl-N-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide, PEO-Pyr14TFSI) and activated carbon electrodes is used. The solid state EDLC is first characterized individually to determine its electrochemical performance before successfully proving the integration with the DSSM. The harvesting-storage properties of the integrated photo-capacitor are evaluated through photo-charge and subsequent discharge protocols performed at two different discharge currents, showing that in this configuration the EDLC unit can be effectively charged up to 2.45 V

Pouch-sealing as an effective way to fabricate flexible dye-sensitized solar cells and their integration with supercapacitors

The scientific interest in integrated energy harvesting and storage (HS) devices has increased exponentially in the last decade since they represent an optimal solution to power portable electronic devices and low consuming Internet of Thing (IoT) sensor nodes. The integration of energy storage devices with photovoltaics can allow to avoid problems such as continuous battery replacement and periodic maintenance, reducing overall costs. In this context, dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) integrated with a supercapacitor represent the best choice in terms of lifetime, charge-discharge efficiency, and simplicity of connection avoiding electrical signal conditioning between the two devices. DSSCs have many similarities with supercapacitors, with the only aspect that remains uncovered being the sealing of the device. Herein we propose a common vacuum sealing technology for the integration of a supercapacitor and a DSSC made with shared current collectors, to maximize the integration between the two technologies. The HS device showed a maximum overall photon to electrical conversion and storage efficiency (OPECSE) of 6.10% under only 0.1 SUN illumination, thanks to the high photoconversion efficiency showed by the pouch sealed DSSC, equal to 6.62%. The HS device showed a high stability under bending condition and repeated photo-charge/discharge cycling

Histopathology of Skeletal Muscle in a Distal Motor Neuropathy Associated with a Mutant CCT5 Subunit: Clues for Future Developments to Improve Differential Diagnosis and Personalized Therapy

Genetic chaperonopathies are rare but, because of misdiagnosis, there are probably more cases than those that are recorded in the literature and databases. This occurs because practitioners are generally unaware of the existence and/or the symptoms and signs of chaperonopathies. It is necessary to educate the medical community about these diseases and, with research, to unveil their mechanisms. The structure and functions of various chaperones in vitro have been studied, but information on the impact of mutant chaperones in humans, in vivo, is scarce. Here, we present a succinct review of the most salient abnormalities of skeletal muscle, based on our earlier report of a patient who carried a mutation in the chaperonin CCT5 subunit and suffered from a distal motor neuropathy of early onset. We discuss our results in relation to the very few other published pertinent reports we were able to find. A complex picture of multiple muscle-tissue abnormalities was evident, with signs of atrophy, apoptosis, and abnormally low levels and atypical distribution patterns of some components of muscle and the chaperone system. In-silico analysis predicts that the mutation affects CCT5 in a way that could interfere with the recognition and handling of substrate. Thus, it is possible that some of the abnormalities are the direct consequence of defective chaperoning, but others may be indirectly related to defective chaperoning or caused by other different pathogenic pathways. Biochemical, and molecular biologic and genetic analyses should now help in understanding the mechanisms underpinning the histologic abnormalities and, thus, provide clues to facilitate diagnosis and guide the development of therapeutic tools

Flexible and Floating Photovoltaics

We present our results on dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) for flexible or floating photovoltaic devices. In these works, we used polymer electrolyte membranes and metal grids as electrodes substrates in order to preserve the flexibility of the entire structure. These cells aim to be competitive in the near future solar market due to the extremely low cost and easiness of processing. Moreover, they evidently improve their conversion efficiency under low illumination conditions. This feature makes flexible DSSCs extremely interesting to be exploited in particular applications. In addition, we also introduce a smart integration of a DSSC with an electrical double layer capacitor (EDLC) which employs graphene nanoplatelets as active material in a completely flexible architecture. To the best of our knowledge this harvesting-storage (HS) device has the best overall photon-to-electrical conversion and storage efficiency ever attained to date for a flexible DSSC-based non-wired integrated HS device. Noteworthy, this value increases lowering the radiation intensity, thus showing optimal performances in real operation or indoor conditions

Tragacanth Gum as Green Binder for Sustainable Water-Processable Electrochemical Capacitor

Enabling green fabrication processes for energy storage devices is becoming a key aspect in order to achieve a sustainable fabrication cycle. Here, the focus was on the exploitation of the tragacanth gum, an exudated gum like arabic and karaya gums, as green binder for the preparation of carbon‐based materials for electrochemical capacitors. The electrochemical performance of tragacanth (TRGC)‐based electrodes was thoroughly investigated and compared with another water‐soluble binder largely used in this field, sodium‐carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). Apart from the higher sustainability both in production and processing, TRGC exhibited a lower impact on the obstruction of pores in the final active material film with respect to CMC, allowing for more available surface area. This directly impacted the electrochemical performance, resulting in a higher specific capacitance and better rate capability. Moreover, the TRGC‐based supercapacitor showed a superior thermal stability compared with CMC, with a capacity retention of about 80 % after 10000 cycles at 70 °C

Tracing the assembly history of NGC 1395 through its Globular Cluster System

We used deep Gemini-South/GMOS g'r'i'z' images to study the globular cluster (GC) system of the massive elliptical galaxy NGC1395, located in the Eridanus supergroup. The photometric analysis of the GC candidates reveals a clear colour bimodality distribution, indicating the presence of 'blue' and 'red' GC subpopulations. While a negative radial colour gradient is detected in the projected spatial distribution of the red GCs, the blue GCs display a shallow colour gradient. The blue GCs also display a remarkable shallow and extended surface density profile, suggesting a significant accretion of low-mass satellites in the outer halo of the galaxy. In addition, the slope of the projected spatial distribution of the blue GCs in the outer regions of the galaxy, is similar to that of the X-ray halo emission. Integrating up to 165 kpc the profile of the projected spatial distribution of the GCs, we estimated a total GC population and specific frequency of 6000 ± 1100 and S N = 7.4 ± 1.4, respectively. Regarding NGC1395 itself, the analysis of the deep Gemini/GMOS images shows a low surface brightness umbrella-like structure indicating, at least, one recent merger event. Through relations recently published in the literature, we obtained global parameters, such as M stellar = 9.32 × 10 11 M⊙ and M h = 6.46 × 10 13 M⊙. Using public spectroscopic data, we derive stellar population parameters of the central region of the galaxy by the full spectral fitting technique. We have found that this region seems to be dominated for an old stellar population, in contrast to findings of young stellar populations from the literature.Instituto de Astrofísica de La PlataFacultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísica

Tracing the assembly history of NGC 1395 through its Globular Cluster System

We used deep Gemini-South/GMOS g'r'i'z' images to study the globular cluster (GC) system of the massive elliptical galaxy NGC1395, located in the Eridanus supergroup. The photometric analysis of the GC candidates reveals a clear colour bimodality distribution, indicating the presence of 'blue' and 'red' GC subpopulations. While a negative radial colour gradient is detected in the projected spatial distribution of the red GCs, the blue GCs display a shallow colour gradient. The blue GCs also display a remarkable shallow and extended surface density profile, suggesting a significant accretion of low-mass satellites in the outer halo of the galaxy. In addition, the slope of the projected spatial distribution of the blue GCs in the outer regions of the galaxy, is similar to that of the X-ray halo emission. Integrating up to 165 kpc the profile of the projected spatial distribution of the GCs, we estimated a total GC population and specific frequency of 6000 ± 1100 and S N = 7.4 ± 1.4, respectively. Regarding NGC1395 itself, the analysis of the deep Gemini/GMOS images shows a low surface brightness umbrella-like structure indicating, at least, one recent merger event. Through relations recently published in the literature, we obtained global parameters, such as M stellar = 9.32 × 10 11 M⊙ and M h = 6.46 × 10 13 M⊙. Using public spectroscopic data, we derive stellar population parameters of the central region of the galaxy by the full spectral fitting technique. We have found that this region seems to be dominated for an old stellar population, in contrast to findings of young stellar populations from the literature.Instituto de Astrofísica de La PlataFacultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísica

La primera enana ultra-compacta confirmada en el grupo de NGC5044

En el siguiente trabajo confirmamos como miembro del grupo NGC5044, un objeto que por sus propiedades fotométricas constituye la primer Enana ultra-compacta “UCD” (por sus siglas en inglés) detectada en dicho grupo. La misma se encuentra asociada a la galaxia masiva NGC5044 y fue identificada empleando datos Gemini+GMOS. Se presentan los resultados preliminares de un análisis de poblaciones estelares, basado en espectros obtenidos mediante el mismo instrumento. Dicho análisis indica que se trata de un objeto masivo (MV ∼ -12.3 mag), con una edad mayor a 10×109 años, con metalicidades y abundancias [Z/H] ∼ -1 y [α/Fe] ∼ 0.3, respectivamente.In the present work we confirm as a member of the group NGC5044, an object which due to its photometric properties constitutes the first UCD detected in this group. It is associated with the massive galaxy NGC5044 and was identified using Gemini+GMOS data. We present the preliminary results of an analysis of stellar populations, based on spectra obtained by the same instrument. This analysis indicates that this is a massive object (MV ∼ -12.3 mag), older than 10×109 years, with metallicity and abundances [Z/H] ∼ -1 and [α/Fe]∼ 0.3, respectively.Trabajo publicado en Actas de las Terceras Jornadas de Astrofísica Estelar. La Plata, Asociación Argentina de Astronomía, 2018.Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísica