NiO-decorated mesoporous TiO2 flowers for an improved photovoltaic dye sensitized solar cell.

Reducing light-induced e-h recombination is important for a dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC); the p-type NiO component in TiO2-NiO nanoparticles was reported to significantly decrease charge recombination, but its photovoltaic efficiency remains below 4% owing to a small surface area. In this work, we used a one-pot self-assembly process to fabricate flower-like mesoporous TiO2 decorated by NiO oxides, employing a pluronic polymer P123 as a structure directing and pore forming agent. The flower-like porous TiO2-NiO nanoparticles (F-TiO2-NiO NPs), possessing a high BET surface of 130 m(2) g(-1), are first used as a photoanode in DSSCs. These hybrid nanoparticles, decorated with NiO islands, are beneficial for improving photocurrent by increasing dye absorption and suppressing electron-hole recombination. The optimized F-TiO2-NiO NP anode (10 µm thick) achieved a power conversion efficiency of 8.20%, which is 26% and 47% higher than pristine flower-like TiO2 and commercially available P25 anodes, respectively. This efficiency is the highest among the reported TiO2-NiO hybrid anodes.

Preparation of monodispersed CuInS2 nanopompons and nanoflake films and application in dye-sensitized solar cells.

Monodispersed nanopompons and thin films of CuInS2 with hierarchical nanostructure are obtained via a solvothermal method. The hierarchical thin film of CuInS2 has been reported for the first time to display excellent catalytic activity as a counter electrode in dye-sensitized solar cells, and a power conversion efficiency of 4.8% is achieved.

Gray Ta2O5 Nanowires with Greatly Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance.

Black TiO2, with enhanced solar absorption and photocatalytic activity, has gained extensive attention, inspiring us to investigate the reduction of other wide-bandgap semiconductors for improved performance. Herein, we report the preparation of gray Ta2O5 nanowires with disordered shells and abundant defects via aluminum reduction. Its water decontamination is 2.5 times faster and hydrogen production is 2.3-fold higher over pristine Ta2O5. The reduced Ta2O5 also delivers significantly enhanced photoelectrochemical performance compared with the pristine Ta2O5 nanowires, including much higher carrier concentration, easier electron-hole separation and 11 times larger photocurrent. Our results demonstrate that Ta2O5 will have great potentials in photocatalysis and solar energy utilization after proper modification.

Flexible all solid state supercapacitor with high energy density employing black titania nanoparticles as a conductive agent.

Increasing the electrical conductivity of pseudocapacitive materials without changing their morphology is an ideal structural solution to realize both high electrochemical performance and superior flexibility for an all solid state supercapacitor (ASSSC). Herein, we fabricate a flexible ASSSC device employing black titania (TiO2-x:N) decorated two-dimensional (2D) NiO nanosheets as the positive electrode and mesoporous graphene as the negative electrode. In this unique design, NiO nanosheets are used as pseudocapacitive materials and TiO2-x:N nanoparticles serve as the conductive agent. Owing to the excellent electrical conductivity of TiO2-x:N and well defined "particle on sheet" planar structure of NiO/TiO2-x:N composites, the 2D morphology of the decorated NiO nanosheets is completely retained, which efficiently reinforces the pseudocapacitive activity and flexibility of the whole all solid state device. The maximum specific capacitance of fabricated the NiO/TiO2-x:N//mesoporous graphene supercapacitor can reach 133 F g(-1), which is 2 and 4 times larger than the values of the NiO based ASSSC employing graphene and carbon black as the conductive agent, respectively. In addition, the optimized ASSSC displays intriguing performances with an energy density of 47 W h kg(-1) in a voltage region of 0-1.6 V, which is, to the best of our knowledge, the highest value for flexible ASSSC devices. The impressive results presented here may pave the way for promising applications of black titania in high energy density flexible storage systems.

Niobium Nitride Nb4N5 as a New High-Performance Electrode Material for Supercapacitors.

Supercapacitors suffer either from low capacitance for carbon or derivate electrodes or from poor electrical conductivity and electrochemical stability for metal oxide or conducting polymer electrodes. Transition metal nitrides possess fair electrical conductivity but superior chemical stability, which may be desirable candidates for supercapacitors. Herein, niobium nitride, Nb4N5, is explored to be an excellent capacitive material for the first time. An areal capacitance of 225.8 mF cm-2, with a reasonable rate capability (60.8% retention from 0.5 to 10 mA cm-2) and cycling stability (70.9% retention after 2000 cycles), is achieved in Nb4N5 nanochannels electrode with prominent electrical conductivity and electrochemical activity. Faradaic pseudocapacitance is confirmed by the mechanistic studies, deriving from the proton incorporation/chemisorption reaction owing to the copious +5 valence Nb ions in Nb4N5. Moreover, this Nb4N5 nanochannels electrode with an ultrathin carbon coating exhibits nearly 100% capacitance retention after 2000 CV cycles, which is an excellent cycling stability for metal nitride materials. Thus, the Nb4N5 nanochannels are qualified for a candidate for supercapacitors and other energy storage applications.

In situ growth of a MoSe2/Mo counter electrode for high efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells.

A facile and economical MoSe2/Mo structure was in situ prepared to replace the currently preferred expensive Pt and FTO counter electrode (CE) in dye-sensitized solar cells. A power conversion efficiency of 8.13% was achieved, which is comparable to that with Pt-sputtered FTO electrode (8.06%).