Optimized TiO2 blocking layers for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC)

In recent years much attention has been paid to dye-sensitized solar cells due to their low cost and wide applicability. The modest efficiencies achieved by these devices are caused by several phenomena including electronic losses due to parasitic electronic reactions. One of the most common way to reduce the electronic losses is to introduce a compact layer of conductive material (blocking layer) between the transparent conductive substrate and the sensitized semiconductor film. Aim of this work was to asses the correlation between the most common deposition processes and the final properties of the blocking layers produced by them. The blocking layer of TiO2 was prepared on FTO glass using two of the most commonly used colloidal deposition processes: dip and spin coating. The results obtained with the conventional dip coating were compared with the ones coming from spin coating of two different solutions of TiCl4 (50 mM). These solutions were characterized in terms of viscosity, surface tension and contact angle. The spin coating parameters were optimized on the basis of these analysis. The influence of subsequent cycles of deposition (2,4,6) was also evaluated. The TiO2 films obtained were deeply characterized (AFM, SEM, UV-vis and electrochemical measurement) in order to assess the best conditions needed to obtain an efficient blocking layer (BL)

Supported Gold Nanoparticles for Alcohols Oxidation in Continuous-Flow Heterogeneous Systems

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were anchored on alkynyl carbamate-functionalized support materials having the suitable features for application as catalysts in continuous-flow packed bed reactors. The functionalization step was carried out by grafting with the di-functional organosilane [3-(2-propynylcarbamate)propyl]triethoxysilane (PPTEOS) three commercial micrometer-sized oxide supports, i.e. silica, alumina, and titania. The alkynyl-carbamate moieties were capable to straightforwardly reduce the gold precursor HAuCl4 yielding the supported AuNPs systems Au/SiO2@Yne, Au/Al2O3@Yne, and Au/TiO2@Yne. A comparison among the three materials revealed that silica allowed the highest organic functionalization (12 wt%) as well as the highest gold loading (3.7 wt%). Moreover, TEM investigation showed only for Au/SiO2@Yne the presence of homogeneously distributed, spherically shaped AuNPs (av. diameter 15 nm). Au/SiO2@Yne is an efficient catalyst, both in batch and flow conditions, in the oxidation of a large variety of alcohols, using H2O2 as oxidizing agent, at a temperature of 90 \ub0C. Furthermore, under flow conditions, the catalyst worked for over 50 h without any significant decrease in the catalytic activity. The catalytic activity of the three catalysts was evaluated and compared in the oxidation of 1-phenylethanol as a model substrate. We found that the flow approach plays a strategic role in preserving the physical and chemical integrity of the solid catalysts during its use, with remarkable consequences for the reaction conversion (from 2% in batch to 80 % in flow) in the case of Au/TiO2@Yne

Morphological and electrochemical characterization of TiO2 blocking layers in Dye Sensitized Solar Cells

In recent years much attention has been paid to dye-sensitized solar cells due to their low cost and wide applicability. The modest efficiencies achieved by these devices are caused by several phenomena, including electronic losses due to parasitic electronic reactions. One of the most common way to reduce the electronic losses is to introduce a compact layer of conductive material (blocking layer) between the transparent conductive substrate and the sensitized semiconductor film. Aim of this work was to asses the correlation between the most common deposition processes (spin coating and dip coating) and the morphological and electrochemical properties of the blocking layers produced by them. The blocking layer of TiO2 was prepared on FTO glass, and the results obtained with the conventional dip coating were compared with the ones coming from spin coating of two different solutions of TiCl4 (50 mM). The TiO2 films obtained were deeply characterized in particular from the electrochemical point of view in order to assess the best conditions needed to obtain an efficient blocking layer. Cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used to understand the electrochemical behavior of the blocking layer (BL

The genetic architecture of membranous nephropathy and its potential to improve non-invasive diagnosis

Membranous Nephropathy (MN) is a rare autoimmune cause of kidney failure. Here we report a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for primary MN in 3,782 cases and 9,038 controls of East Asian and European ancestries. We discover two previously unreported loci, NFKB1 (rs230540, OR = 1.25, P = 3.4 × 10-12) and IRF4 (rs9405192, OR = 1.29, P = 1.4 × 10-14), fine-map the PLA2R1 locus (rs17831251, OR = 2.25, P = 4.7 × 10-103) and report ancestry-specific effects of three classical HLA alleles: DRB1*1501 in East Asians (OR = 3.81, P = 2.0 × 10-49), DQA1*0501 in Europeans (OR = 2.88, P = 5.7 × 10-93), and DRB1*0301 in both ethnicities (OR = 3.50, P = 9.2 × 10-23 and OR = 3.39, P = 5.2 × 10-82, respectively). GWAS loci explain 32% of disease risk in East Asians and 25% in Europeans, and correctly re-classify 20-37% of the cases in validation cohorts that are antibody-negative by the serum anti-PLA2R ELISA diagnostic test. Our findings highlight an unusual genetic architecture of MN, with four loci and their interactions accounting for nearly one-third of the disease risk

A multi-element psychosocial intervention for early psychosis (GET UP PIANO TRIAL) conducted in a catchment area of 10 million inhabitants: study protocol for a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial

Multi-element interventions for first-episode psychosis (FEP) are promising, but have mostly been conducted in non-epidemiologically representative samples, thereby raising the risk of underestimating the complexities involved in treating FEP in 'real-world' services

Novel rhamnose-binding lectins from the colonial ascidian Botryllus schlosseri

In a full-length cDNA library from the compound ascidian Botryllus schlosseri, we identified, by BLAST search against UniProt database, five transcripts, each with complete coding sequence, homologous to known rhamnose-binding lectins (RBLs). Comparisons of the predicted amino acid sequences suggest that they represent different isoforms of a novel RBL, called BsRBL-1\u20135. Four of these isolectins were found in Botryllus homogenate after purification by affinity chromatography on acid-treated Sepharose, analysis by reverse-phase HPLC and mass spectrometry. Analysis of both molecular masses and tryptic digests of BsRBLs indicated that the N-terminal sequence of the purified proteins starts from residue 22 of the putative amino acid sequence, and residues 1\u201321 represent a signal peptide. Analysis by mass spectrometry of V8-protease digests confirmed the presence and alignments of the eight cysteines involved in the disulphide bridges that characterise RBLs. Functional studies proved the enhancing effect on phagocytosis of the affinity-purified material. Results are discussed in terms of phylogenetic relationships of BsRBLs with orthologous molecules from protostomes and deuterostomes

A novel rhamnose-binding lectin from the colonial ascidian Botryllus schlosseri

none4noneFRANCHI N; GASPARINI F; SPOLAORE B; BALLARIN LFranchi, Nicola; Gasparini, Fabio; Spolaore, Barbara; Ballarin, Lorian