Should photovoltaics stay at home? Comparative life cycle environmental assessment on roof-mounted and ground-mounted photovoltaics

Renewable energy technologies like photovoltaics may be considered an indispensable component of a low-carbon electricity mix, but social acceptance should not be taken for granted. For instance, in Greece there are still claims, especially in rural areas, regarding the land use and the competition against more traditional economic activities such as grazing. An argument in favor of confining to roof-mounted photovoltaic installations is the additional infrastructure requirements for ground-mounted larger-scale photovoltaics. These requirements reduce and could potentially negate their environmental benefits. The aim of this study is to investigate the life cycle environmental impacts of commercial ground-mounted photovoltaic farms and compare them against residential roof-mounted photovoltaic installations. Data were gathered for a 500 kW ground-mounted photovoltaic installation and for five roof-mounted installations of 10 kW capacity, each from the same area at the prefecture of Pella in Northern Greece. An LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) was performed and results show that panel production is the main contributor for both types and that ground-mounted photovoltaics—when no transmission/distribution infrastructure is considered—have lower impacts than the roof-mounted residential photovoltaic installations for all impact categories except terrestrial ecotoxicity. However, when located further than 10.22 km from grid connection, ground-mounted photovoltaics have higher impacts for almost all environmental impact categories

Laccase-Functionalized Graphene Oxide Assemblies as Efficient Nanobiocatalysts for Oxidation Reactions

Multi-layer graphene oxide-enzyme nanoassemblies were prepared through the multi-point covalent immobilization of laccase from Trametes versicolor (TvL) on functionalized graphene oxide (fGO). The catalytic properties of the fGO-TvL nanoassemblies were found to depend on the number of the graphene oxide-enzyme layers present in the nanostructure. The fGO-TvL nanoassemblies exhibit an enhanced thermal stability at 60 degrees C, as demonstrated by a 4.7-fold higher activity as compared to the free enzyme. The multi-layer graphene oxide-enzyme nanoassemblies can efficiently catalyze the oxidation of anthracene, as well as the decolorization of an industrial dye, pinacyanol chloride. These materials retained almost completely their decolorization activity after five reaction cycles, proving their potential as efficient nano- biocatalysts for various applications

Germanane Monolayer Films as Antibacterial Coatings

Germanane (GeH), a graphane analogue, has attracted significant interest because of its optoelectronic properties; however, the environmental and biological effects of GeH have scarcely been investigated so far. Here we report a facile approach based on the Langmuir-Schaefer deposition to produce homogeneous and dense GeH monolayer films on various substrates. In view of possible applications and to extend the use of GeH to unexplored fields, we investigated its antibacterial activity for the first time and found that this promising 2D structure exhibits remarkable antibacterial activity against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial strains

Layer-by-Layer Assembly of Clay-Carbon Nanotube Hybrid Superstructures

Much of the research effort concerning layered materials is directed toward their use as building blocks for the development of hybrid nanostructures with well-defined dimensions and behavior. Here, we report the fabrication through layer-by-layer deposition and intercalation chemistry of a new type of clay-based hybrid film, where functionalized carbon nanotubes are sandwiched between nanometer-sized smectite clay platelets. Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were covalently functionalized in a single step with phenol groups, via 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition, to allow for stable dispersion in polar solvents. For the production of hybrid thin films, a bottom-up approach combining self-assembly with Langmuir-Schaefer deposition was applied. Smectite clay nanoplatelets act as a structure-directing interface and reaction media for grafting functionalized carbon nanotubes in a bidimensional array, allowing for a controllable layer-by-layer growth at a nanoscale. Hybrid clay/SWCNT multilayer films deposited on various substrates were characterized by X-ray reflectivity, Raman, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies, as well as atomic force microscopy

Hybrid Nanomaterials of Magnetic Iron Nanoparticles and Graphene Oxide as Matrices for the Immobilization of beta-Glucosidase:Synthesis, Characterization, and Biocatalytic Properties

Hybrid nanostructures of magnetic iron nanoparticles and graphene oxide were synthesized and used as nanosupports for the covalent immobilization of β-glucosidase. This study revealed that the immobilization efficiency depends on the structure and the surface chemistry of nanostructures employed. The hybrid nanostructure-based biocatalysts formed exhibited a two to four-fold higher thermostability as compared to the free enzyme, as well as an enhanced performance at higher temperatures (up to 70°C) and in a wider pH range. Moreover, these biocatalysts retained a significant part of their bioactivity (up to 40%) after 12 repeated reaction cycles

Synthesis, characterization and assessment of hydrophilic oxidized carbon nanodiscs in bio-related applications

Oxidation of industrially prepared carbon nanodiscs using a simple, versatile, and reproducible approach based on the Staudenmaier method yields a new hydrophilic form of nanocarbon. As a result of the strong acid treatment, which also enables the separation of carbon nanodiscs from the mixed starting material, the graphene planes detach from the discs, while the surface of the carbon nanodiscs is decorated with various oxygen-containing functional polar groups. Thus, the completely insoluble carbon nanodiscs are converted to a hydrophilic derivative dispersable in many polar solvents, including water. The new carbon structure is expected to have a wide range of applications in several fields including bioapplications. To this end, the functionalized carbon nanodiscs exhibit very low cytotoxicity, while they achieve high drug loadings, enabling their application as an effective drug nanocarrier. Furthermore, the carbon disks were evaluated as supports in nanobiocatalytic applications, increasing significantly the stability of the systems, due to carbon disks' nano-sized dimensions

Synthesis of 2D Germanane (GeH):a New, Fast, and Facile Approach

Germanane (GeH), a germanium analogue of graphane, has recently attracted considerable interest because its remarkable combination of properties makes it an extremely suitable candidate to be used as 2D material for field effect devices, photovoltaics, and photocatalysis. Up to now, the synthesis of GeH has been conducted by substituting Ca by H in a beta-CaGe2 layered Zintl phase through topochemical deintercalation in aqueous HCl. This reaction is generally slow and takes place over 6 to 14 days. The new and facile protocol presented here allows to synthesize GeH at room temperature in a significantly shorter time (a few minutes), which renders this method highly attractive for technological applications. The GeH produced with this method is highly pure and has a band gap (E-g) close to 1.4 eV, a lower value than that reported for germanane synthesized using HCl, which is promising for incorporation of GeH in solar cells

Development and study of low-dimensional hybrid and nanocomposite materials based on layered nanostructures

De buitengewone fysisch-chemische eigenschappen en het grote specifieke oppervlak van 2D materialen maken een overvloed aan applicaties mogelijk; ze kunnen gebruikt worden als platform voor de integratie van verschillende eenheden, clusters, moleculen of nanomaterialen in hybriden, wat kan leiden tot composieten met nieuwe en verbeterde eigenschappen. Anderzijds is de mate van controle over de architectuur, dikte en functionaliteit van de gevormde nanostructuren van groot belang voor het bereiden van laag-bij-laag hybride films. Het doel van dit proefschrift concentreert zich op de ontwikkeling en het bestuderen van nieuwe laag-dimensionale films en hybrides gebaseerd op gelaagde nanomaterialen, zoals grafeen en germanaan, geassembleerd met behulp van de Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) techniek