16 research outputs found

    High Energy Efficiency and Stability for Photoassisted Aqueous Lithium–Iodine Redox Batteries

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    We demonstrated photoassisted lithium–iodine (Li–I<sub>2</sub>) redox cells integrated with a hematite photoelectrode that are applicable to energy storage systems (ESSs). The hematite photoelectrode presents low cost, light absorption in the visible light region, and inertness to aqueous electrolytes, which allow for stable production of photocurrent under illumination. In the aqueous Li–I<sub>2</sub> redox cells, the harnessing of photoenergy generates photocarriers that promote the I<sup>–</sup> oxidation process without electrolysis of the aqueous solution. The energy efficiency for the photoassisted charge process is ∼95.4%, which is ∼20% higher than that in the absence of illumination at a current rate of 0.075 mA cm<sup>–2</sup>. The hematite is profoundly stable in aqueous I<sup>–</sup>/I<sub>3</sub><sup>–</sup> catholyte and exhibits over 600 h of cycling without noticeable performance decay and photocorrosion. This achievement highlights photoinduced ESSs with improved energy efficiency

    Controlled Synthesis of Fullerene-Attached Poly(3-alkylthiophene)-Based Copolymers for Rational Morphological Design in Polymer Photovoltaic Devices

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    Poly­(3-alkylthiophene)-based diblock copolymers with controllable block lengths were synthesized by combining the Grignard metathesis method, Ni-catalyzed quasi-living polymerization, and a subsequent azide–alkyne click reaction to introduce a fullerene functionality into the side chains of one of the blocks. The fullerene-attached copolymers had good solubility (>30 g L<sup>–1</sup> in chlorobenzene) with high molecular weights (<i>M</i><sub>n</sub> > 20 000). The diblock copolymer films formed clear nanostructures with sizes of ca. 20 nm, driven by crystallization of the poly­(3-hexylthiophene) block and aggregation of the fullerene groups, as observed in AFM phase images. The copolymer-based photovoltaic device showed a power conversion efficiency of 2.5%, with a much higher fill factor of 0.63 in comparison to the previously reported single component devices. These results indicate that rational material designs enable the construction of suitable donor–acceptor nanostructures for photovoltaic applications, without relying on the mixing of materials

    Effects of Chain Orientation in Self-Organized Buffer Layers Based on Poly(3-alkylthiophene)s for Organic Photovoltaics

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    Surface-segregated monolayers (SSMs) based on two poly­(3-alkylthiophene)­s with semifluoroalkyl groups at either the side chains (P3DDFT) or one end of the main chain (P3BT-F<sub>17</sub>) were used as self-organized buffer layers at the electrode interfaces in bulk heterojunction (BHJ) organic photovoltaic devices. Both of the SSMs greatly shifted the vacuum levels of the BHJ films at the surface due to the aligned permanent dipole moments of the semifluoroalkyl chains. Hole extraction in the BHJ of poly­(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT):[6,6]-phenyl C<sub>61</sub>-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) became more efficient in the presence of the P3DDFT buffer layer, resulting in an improved power conversion efficiency. In contrast, the SSM of P3BT-F<sub>17</sub> induced changes in the chain orientation of P3HT and the morphology of the BHJ films, resulting in decreased performance. These results indicate that the molecular design of polymer-based SSMs can affect not only the energy structure at the interface but also the morphology and the molecular orientations in the BHJs
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