Nanomaterials for photocatalysis and applications in environmental remediation and renewable energy

• Viet Van Pham and
• Wee-Jun Ong

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 722–724, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.58

• with various morphologies demonstrated many preeminent features in the above applications. In detail, the MoS2 with a honeycomb-like structure was first synthesized by an electrochemical route and applied in dye-sensitized solar cells [19], which expressed a higher applicability than that of other

Influence of thickness and morphology of MoS₂ on the performance of counter electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells

• Lam Thuy Thi Mai,
• Hai Viet Le,
• Ngan Kim Thi Nguyen,
• Van La Tran Pham,
• Thu Anh Thi Nguyen,
• Nguyen Thanh Le Huynh and
• Hoang Thai Nguyen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 528–537, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.44

• disulfide (MoS2) was prepared on substrates coated with fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) to substitute the platinum counter electrode (CE) for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Herein, we synthesized layered and honeycomb-like MoS2 thin films via the cyclic voltammetry (CV) route. Thickness and morphology

• : cyclic voltammetry (CV); dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs); electrocatalytic activity; honeycomb-like; molybdenum disulfide (MoS2); thin film; Introduction Since Grätzel’s first report in 1991, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have been the subject of much research due to the easy fabrication process

Zinc oxide nanostructures for fluorescence and Raman signal enhancement: a review

• Ioana Marica,
• Fran Nekvapil,
• Maria Ștefan,
• Cosmin Farcău and
• Alexandra Falamaș

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 472–490, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.40

• -sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Au–ZnO plasmonic nanoparticles were studied for DSSCs application and their enhancement capabilities were assigned to the SPR effect [91]. Hence, the ZnO PL is of great interest and its enhancement is also important in order to develop efficient optoelectronic devices

• applications for optoelectronic devices, namely light-emitting diodes for both UV and visible light [89]. Also, the combination with metallic nanoparticles has been proposed for enhanced UV light-emitting diodes [90]. Another significant application of ZnO-based substrates is to boost the performance of dye

Interface interaction of transition metal phthalocyanines with strontium titanate (100)

• Reimer Karstens,
• Thomas Chassé and
• Heiko Peisert

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 485–496, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.39

• at interfaces; strontium titanate; transition metal phthalocyanines; Introduction Interfaces between organic semiconductors and oxides are of increasing fundamental interest. Such interfaces determine key properties of a broad variety of electronic devices. Common examples are dye-sensitized solar

• cells, field-effect transistors (FETs), and sensors [1][2]. Possibly, one of the most extensively studied oxide material in this context is rutile titanium dioxide [3]. However, also interfaces between SrTiO3 (STO) and organic molecules are studied increasingly using both experimental [4][5] and

Atomic layer deposited films of Al₂O₃ on fluorine-doped tin oxide electrodes: stability and barrier properties

• Hana Krýsová,
• Michael Neumann-Spallart,
• Hana Tarábková,
• Pavel Janda,
• Ladislav Kavan and
• Josef Krýsa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 24–34, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.2

• [18]. Promising properties of Al2O3 blocking layers for dye-sensitized solar cells were first reported by Palomares at al. [22]. The CVs in Figure 2 demonstrate the blocking behaviour of Al2O3 films on FTO. Increasing numbers of ALD cycles led to an increasing suppression of the peak heights in the

Polyvinylpyrrolidone as additive for perovskite solar cells with water and isopropanol as solvents

• Chen Du,
• Shuo Wang,
• Xu Miao,
• Wenhai Sun,
• Yu Zhu,
• Chengyan Wang and
• Ruixin Ma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2374–2382, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.228

• photoanode and CH3NH3PbX3 (X = I, Br) as light absorbing material to derive perovskite dye-sensitized solar cells with conversion efficiencies of 3.81% (X = I) and 3.13% (X = Br). However, the corrosion of the perovskite material used in the electrolyte results in a poor stability of the devices [5]. In July

Nontoxic pyrite iron sulfide nanocrystals as second electron acceptor in PTB7:PC₇₁BM-based organic photovoltaic cells

• Olivia Amargós-Reyes,
• José-Luis Maldonado,
• Omar Martínez-Alvarez,
• María-Elena Nicho,
• José Santos-Cruz,
• Juan Nicasio-Collazo,
• Irving Caballero-Quintana and
• Concepción Arenas-Arrocena

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2238–2250, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.216

• electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) [9][12][13], as electron acceptors or donors in inorganic or hybrid solar cells [10][14][15][16][17] and as second electron acceptors in organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) [18]. An iron pyrite thin film used as a counter electrode showed a conversion efficiency

Comparing a porphyrin- and a coumarin-based dye adsorbed on NiO(001)

• Sara Freund,
• Antoine Hinaut,
• Nathalie Marinakis,
• Edwin C. Constable,
• Ernst Meyer,
• Catherine E. Housecroft and
• Thilo Glatzel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 874–881, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.88

• technologies such as dye-sensitized solar cells. A key optimization parameter for such devices is the choice of the compounds in order to control the direction and the intensity of charge transfer across the interface. Here, the deposition of two different molecular dyes, porphyrin and coumarin, as single

• Kelvin probe force microscopy measurements. Keywords: coumarin; Kelvin probe force microscopy; metal oxide; molecular resolution; nickel oxide (NiO); non-contact atomic force microscopy; porphyrin; Introduction With regard to its use in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), the wide-bandgap n-type

Electrolyte tuning in dye-sensitized solar cells with N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) iron(II) sensitizers

• Mariia Karpacheva,
• Catherine E. Housecroft and
• Edwin C. Constable

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 3069–3078, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.285

• Mariia Karpacheva Catherine E. Housecroft Edwin C. Constable Department of Chemistry, University Basel, BPR 1096, Mattenstrasse 24a, CH-4058 Basel, Switzerland 10.3762/bjnano.9.285 Abstract We demonstrate that the performances of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) sensitized with a previously

• ; N-heterocyclic carbene iron(II) complex; solar energy conversion; sustainable energy; Introduction The field of dye sensitized solar cells (DSCs) has developed significantly [1][2][3] since the pioneering publication of O’Regan and Grätzel [4]. Photoconversion efficiencies (η) of ≈11–14% have been

Oriented zinc oxide nanorods: A novel saturable absorber for lasers in the near-infrared

• Pavel Loiko,
• Tanujjal Bora,
• Josep Maria Serres,
• Haohai Yu,
• Magdalena Aguiló,
• Francesc Díaz,
• Uwe Griebner,
• Valentin Petrov,
• Xavier Mateos and
• Joydeep Dutta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2730–2740, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.255

• due to the high sensitivity of ZnO to chemical environments [6], for light-emitting diodes due to the compatibility with the GaN technology and random lasing [7] (in the blue, around 0.390 µm), and in dye-sensitized solar cells [8]. The absorption and emission properties of the ZnO nanomaterials are

Lead-free hybrid perovskites for photovoltaics

• Oleksandr Stroyuk

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2209–2235, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.207

• have been employed as nanometer-thin-film light harvesters, such as Cu(Ga)InS(Se)2 or CdTe, showing a light conversion efficiency of up to 21% [1][2]. Progress in dye-sensitized solar cells (reaching ≈12% efficiency [1][2]) has stimulated attempts in using metal chalcogenide nanocrystals (NCs) as

• distinguish the most promising venues and materials and to suggest outlines of further exploration [28][29][30][42][50][53][54][57][59][60][61][64][65]. Historically, the first HP cell was built basing on a “classic” design of the dye-sensitized solar cells with the HP layer acting as a sensitizer of a

• solar cell displaying PCEs of up to 0.55% [109]. The mixed CsSnI2.95F0.05 was successfully tested as an efficient HTL for dye-sensitized solar cells operating with PCEs of up to ≈10% [138]. Other M2+-based hybrid perovskites Germanium(II) forms a series of perovskites isostructural to MAPI with a

Spin-coated planar Sb₂S₃ hybrid solar cells approaching 5% efficiency

• Pascal Kaienburg,
• Benjamin Klingebiel and
• Thomas Kirchartz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2114–2124, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.200

• thin absorber (ETA) architecture, which is similar to that of dye-sensitized solar cells [21]. A thin absorber layer of around 10 nm [22] is deposited on a mesoporous TiO2 scaffold and the pores are subsequently filled with a hole transport material (HTM). Progress in terms of device efficiency can be

A scanning probe microscopy study of nanostructured TiO₂/poly(3-hexylthiophene) hybrid heterojunctions for photovoltaic applications

• Laurie Letertre,
• Roland Roche,
• Olivier Douhéret,
• Hailu G. Kassa,
• Denis Mariolle,
• Nicolas Chevalier,
• Łukasz Borowik,
• Philippe Dumas,
• Benjamin Grévin,
• Roberto Lazzaroni and
• Philippe Leclère

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2087–2096, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.197

• other hand. Hybrid PV devices include various technologies such as perovskite cells, dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC), with power efficiencies up to 13% [5] and hybrid bulk heterojunctions (HBHJ), which combine an organic matrix and inorganic semiconducting nanostructures such as quantum dots. Among

Metal-free catalysis based on nitrogen-doped carbon nanomaterials: a photoelectron spectroscopy point of view

• Mattia Scardamaglia and
• Carla Bittencourt

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2015–2031, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.191

• splitting of water to molecular hydrogen via hydrogen and oxygen evolution reaction (HER and OER, respectively) are fundamental working mechanisms at the cathode of fuel cells, metal–air batteries and dye-sensitized solar cells [2]. However, the current working catalysts are based on expensive metals, such

• -sensitized solar cells [67]. A high-performance anode material for lithium-ion batteries was obtained using graphene co-doped with nitrogen and fluorine, which was prepared by a hydrothermal reaction of an aqueous dispersion of graphene oxide with trimethylamine trihydrofluoride [68]. In nitrogen-doped

• ]. In 2015, Zhang and co-workers synthesized a carbon foam co-doped with nitrogen and phosphorous, which was the first bifunctional electrocatalyst for both ORR and OER [49] for high-performance rechargeable zinc-air batteries. The same material was used by Xue et al. as a counter electrode in dye

Semi-automatic spray pyrolysis deposition of thin, transparent, titania films as blocking layers for dye-sensitized and perovskite solar cells

• Hana Krýsová,
• Josef Krýsa and
• Ladislav Kavan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1135–1145, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.105

• properties that were not influenced by post-calcination. These results will surely find use in the fabrication of large-scale dye-sensitized and perovskite solar cells. Keywords: blocking films; FTO; solar cells; spray pyrolysis deposition; titanium dioxide; Introduction Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs

• ), solid state dye-sensitized solar cells (SSDSSCs) and perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are attractive alternatives to solid state photovoltaics at competitive cost. The general concept of a DSSC is based on a liquid junction photo-electrochemical cell with a nanocrystalline TiO2 photoanode that is

Review on nanoparticles and nanostructured materials: history, sources, toxicity and regulations

• Jaison Jeevanandam,
• Ahmed Barhoum,
• Yen S. Chan,
• Alain Dufresne and
• Michael K. Danquah

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1050–1074, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.98

• powered by light on the market, representing the first major commercial use of dye-sensitized solar cells. In 2005, Abraxane™, which is a human serum albumin NP material containing paclitaxel, was manufactured, commercialized and released in the pharmaceutical market [41]. In 2014, there were about 1814

Synthesis and characterization of two new TiO₂-containing benzothiazole-based imine composites for organic device applications

• Anna Różycka,
• Agnieszka Iwan,
• Krzysztof Artur Bogdanowicz,
• Michal Filapek,
• Natalia Górska,
• Damian Pociecha,
• Marek Malinowski,
• Patryk Fryń,
• Agnieszka Hreniak,
• Jakub Rysz,
• Paweł Dąbczyński and
• Monika Marzec

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 721–739, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.67

• makes it a good substitute for expensive Spiro-OMeTAD [28]. Recently, asymmetrical azomethine with porphiryne moieties was tested in dye-sensitized solar cells and a PCE of 1.75% was achieved [24], while azomethine with triphenylamine, thiophene and thiazolo moieties showed a PCE of 2.2% [30]. Titanium

Anchoring of a dye precursor on NiO(001) studied by non-contact atomic force microscopy

• Sara Freund,
• Antoine Hinaut,
• Nathalie Marinakis,
• Edwin C. Constable,
• Ernst Meyer,
• Catherine E. Housecroft and
• Thilo Glatzel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 242–249, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.26

• hybrid devices such as dye-sensitized solar cells. However, a key parameter for optimized interfaces is not only the choice of the compounds but also the properties of adsorption. Here, we investigated the deposition of an organic dye precursor molecule on a NiO(001) single crystal surface by means of

• photovoltaics such as dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) [1][2][3][4]. In the latter field, the wide band gap n-type semiconductor TiO2 has become one of the most common metal oxides for the design of classical n-type DSSCs, and is therefore a widely studied material, in particular in the field of scanning

Dielectric properties of a bisimidazolium salt with dodecyl sulfate anion doped with carbon nanotubes

• Doina Manaila Maximean,
• Viorel Cîrcu and
• Constantin Paul Ganea

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 164–174, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.19

• -sensitized solar cells, battery materials, electrochemical sensors or energy storage devices. Their interesting properties result from the combination of liquid crystal (LC) and ionic liquid (IL) properties. The recent progress and development in the field of ILCs were reviewed in several publications [1][2

• low frequencies confirm the presence of EP. Keywords: activation energy; carbon nanotubes; dielectric spectroscopy; ionic liquid crystal; relaxation time; Introduction Ionic liquid crystals (ILCs) represent a very appealing class of materials that has found various recent applications in dye

Evaluating the toxicity of TiO₂-based nanoparticles to Chinese hamster ovary cells and Escherichia coli: a complementary experimental and computational approach

• Alicja Mikolajczyk,
• Natalia Sizochenko,
• Ewa Mulkiewicz,
• Anna Malankowska,
• Michal Nischk,
• Przemyslaw Jurczak,
• Seishiro Hirano,
• Grzegorz Nowaczyk,
• Adriana Zaleska-Medynska,
• Jerzy Leszczynski,
• Agnieszka Gajewicz and
• Tomasz Puzyn

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2171–2180, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.216

• alters the rate of chemical reactions, when exposed to light (photocatalyst) [1]. TiO2-based NPs have already found wide applications as efficient photocatalysts for sterilization, sanitation, air and water purification systems, hydrogen production by water splitting, and dye-sensitized solar cells [1

Synthesis and characterization of noble metal–titania core–shell nanostructures with tunable shell thickness

• Bartosz Bartosewicz,
• Marta Michalska-Domańska,
• Malwina Liszewska,
• Dariusz Zasada and
• Bartłomiej J. Jankiewicz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2083–2093, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.208

• interesting materials for application in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and photocatalysis. In fact, it has been shown that plasmonic nanostructures can enhance the efficiency of DSSCs by four possible mechanisms [66]. The far-field coupling of scattered light and the near-field coupling of

Three-in-one approach towards efficient organic dye-sensitized solar cells: aggregation suppression, panchromatic absorption and resonance energy transfer

• Jayita Patwari,
• Samim Sardar,
• Bo Liu,
• Peter Lemmens and
• Samir Kumar Pal

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1705–1713, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.171

• . Keywords: anti-aggregation; co-sensitization; dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC); Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET); NIR harvesting; panchromatic absorption; Introduction The increasing demand for fossil-fuel energy sources and the intensifying environmental pollution have promoted an extensive

• research for the development of efficient conversion technologies of clean and renewable energy sources. Solar energy has been considered to be the most promising sustainable and renewable energy source because of its quasi-unlimited supply. In the last decade, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have drawn

• being used to sensitize the photoanodes [13]. Organic dyes are attractive as a photosensitizer because of their high molar extinction coefficient, tunable absorption wavelength, and easy design and synthesis strategies. Still, the efficiency of organic dye-sensitized solar cells is not comparable to

Fabrication of hierarchically porous TiO₂ nanofibers by microemulsion electrospinning and their application as anode material for lithium-ion batteries

• Jin Zhang,
• Yibing Cai,
• Xuebin Hou,
• Xiaofei Song,
• Pengfei Lv,
• Huimin Zhou and
• Qufu Wei

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1297–1306, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.131

• et al. reported the fabrication of hierarchical TiO2 nanorods via ME-ES and the application as photoanode material for dye-sensitized solar cells [25]. According to Shi et al., highly porous SnO2/TiO2 composite nanofibers were prepared successfully by ME-ES and subsequent calcination [28]. There are

Performance of natural-dye-sensitized solar cells by ZnO nanorod and nanowall enhanced photoelectrodes

• Saif Saadaoui,
• Mohamed Aziz Ben Youssef,
• Moufida Ben Karoui,
• Rached Gharbi,
• Emanuele Smecca,
• Vincenzina Strano,
• Salvo Mirabella,
• Alessandra Alberti and
• Rosaria A. Puglisi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 287–295, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.31

• promising green industry for the future power demand. Among these technological resources, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have shown good performance since their first demonstration by O'Regan and Grätzel in 1991 [2]. Figure 1a shows the standard structure of DSSC: The first part of this structure

• Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Catania, via S. Sofia 64, Catania, Italy 10.3762/bjnano.8.31 Abstract In this work, two natural dyes extracted from henna and mallow plants with a maximum absorbance at 665 nm were studied and used as sensitizers in the fabrication of dye-sensitized solar

• cells (DSSCs). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of the extract revealed the presence of anchoring groups and coloring constituents. Two different structures were prepared by chemical bath deposition (CBD) using zinc oxide (ZnO) layers to obtain ZnO nanowall (NW) or nanorod (NR) layers employed

Photocatalysis applications of some hybrid polymeric composites incorporating TiO₂ nanoparticles and their combinations with SiO₂/Fe₂O₃

• Andreea Laura Chibac,
• Tinca Buruiana,
• Violeta Melinte and
• Emil C. Buruiana

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 272–286, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.30

• nanocatalysts. Keywords: hybrid polymer composites; maghemite nanoparticles; photocatalysis; TiO2 nanoparticles; UV–visible irradiation; Introduction Over the last years, titania nanomaterials have attracted a lot of attention as they have found numerous applications in the field of dye-sensitized solar cells