Hierarchical Graphene-Based Material for Over 4.0 Wt % Physisorption Hydrogen Storage Capacity

A hierarchical graphene material composed of micropore (∼0.8 nm), mesopore (∼4 nm), and macropore (>50 nm) and with a specific surface area up to 1305 m² g^–1 is fabricated for physisorption hydrogen storage at atmospheric air pressure, showing a capacity over 4.0 wt %, which is significantly higher than reported graphene materials and all other kinds of carbon materials

Layered V₂O₅/PEDOT Nanowires and Ultrathin Nanobelts Fabricated with a Silk Reelinglike Process

For the first time, a method resembling a cocoon-to-silk fiber reeling process is developed to fabricate layered V₂O₅/PEDOT nanowires (VP NWs) by stirring V₂O₅ powder in an aqueous solution of 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT). A mechanistic study indicates that the growth of VP NWs started from the intercalation/polymerization of EDOT within a few V₂O₅ surface layers, which were then peeled off to produce nanowires. The resulting VP NWs were further exfoliated to form 3.8 nm ultrathin V₂O₅/PEDOT nanobelts (VP NBs) consisting of V₂O₅ atomic bilayers intercalated with PEDOT. These VP NBs can be dispersed well in various solvents including water, ethanol, DMF, and acetonitrile for the preparation of transparent thin films as the hole extraction layer (HEL) to replace PEDOT:PSS in solution-processed inverted planar perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Cell efficiency tests over 7 days revealed that PSCs fabricated with VP NBs as HEL retained the initial power conversion efficiency (PCE), while those with PEDOT:PSS as HEL suffered from an efficiency drop of more than 50%

Functionalization of SnO₂ Photoanode through Mg-Doping and TiO₂‑Coating to Synergically Boost Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Performance

Mg-doped SnO₂ with an ultrathin TiO₂ coating layer was successfully synthesized through a facile nanoengineering art. Mg-doping and TiO₂-coating constructed functionally multi-interfaced SnO₂ photoanode for blocking charge recombination and enhancing charge transfer in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSC). The designed nanostructure might play a synergistic effect on the reducing recombination and prolonging the lifetime in DSC device. Consequently, a maximum power conversion efficiency of 4.15% was obtained for solar cells fabricated with the SnO₂-based photoelectrode, exhibiting beyond 5-fold improvement in comparison with pure SnO₂ nanomterials photoelectrode DSC (0.85%)