Solvent-vapor treatment induced performance enhancement of poly(3-hexylthiophene): methanofullerene bulk-heterojunction photovoltaic cells

The authors report enhanced poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT):methanofullerene (PCBM) bulk-heterojunction photovoltaic cells via 1,2-dichlorobenzene (DCB) vapor treatment and thermal annealing. DCB vapor treatment can induce P3HT self-organizing into ordered structure leading to enhanced absorption and high hole mobility. Further annealing the device at a high temperature, PCBM molecules begin to diffuse into aggregates and together with the ordered P3HT phase form bicontinuous pathways in the entire layer for efficient charge separation and transport. Compared to the control device that is merely annealed, optical absorption, short-circuit current, and power conversion efficiency are increased for the DCB vapor-treated cell.

Toward high-performance polymer solar cells: The importance of morphology control

Polymer solar cells have the potential to become a major electrical power generating tool in the 21st century. R&D endeavors are focusing on continuous roll-to-roll printing of polymeric or organic compounds from solution-like newspapers-to produce flexible and lightweight devices at low cost. It is recognized, though, that besides the functional properties of the compounds the organization of structures on the nanometer level-forced and controlled mainly by the processing conditions applied-determines the performance of state-of-the-art polymer solar cells. In such devices the photoactive layer is composed of at least two functional materials that form nanoscale interpenetrating phases with specific functionalities, a so-called bulk heterojunction. In this perspective article, our current knowledge on the main factors determining the morphology formation and evolution is introduced, and gaps of our understanding on nanoscale structure-property relations in the field of high-performance polymer solar cells are addressed. Finally, promising routes toward formation of tailored morphologies are presented.

Improved performance and stability by an Al/Ni bilayer cathode in organic light-emitting diodes

Al/Ni bilayer cathode was used to improve the electroluminescent (EL) efficiency and stability in N,N'-bis(1-naphthyl)-N,N'-diphenyl-1,1' biphenyl 4,4'-dimaine (NPB)/tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq(3))-based organic light-emitting diodes. The device with LiF/Al/Ni cathode achieved a maximum power efficiency of 2.8 lm/W at current density of 1.2 mA/cm(2), which is 1.4 times the efficiency of device with the state-of-the-art LiF/Al cathode. Importantly, the device stability was significantly enhanced due to the utilization of LiF/Al/Ni cathode. The lifetime at 30% decay in luminance for LiF/Al/Ni cathode was extrapolated to 400 It at an initial luminance of 100 cd/m(2), which is 10 times better than the LiF/Al cathode.

COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF KALMAN FILTERING, SYNCHRONOUS EXCITATION AND NUMERICAL DERIVATIVE TECHNIQUES IN FLUOROMETRY

The performance of Kalman filtering, synchronous excitation and numerical derivative techniques for the resolution of overlapping emission spectra in spectrofluorimetry was studied. The extent of spectrum overlap was quantitatively described by the separation degree D(s), defined as the ratio of the peak separation to the full width at half-maximum of the emission spectrum of the interferent. For the system of Rhodamine B and Rhodamine 6G with a large D(s) of about 0.4, both Kalman filtering and synchronous techniques are able to resolve the overlapping spectra well and to give satisfactory results while the derivative spectra are still overlapped with each other. Moreover, the sensitivities are greatly decreased in derivative techniques. For more closely spaced spectra emitted by the complexes of Al and Zn with 7-iodo-8-hydroxyquinoline-5-sulphonic acid (Ferron)-hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide, the synchronous excitation technique cannot completely separate the overlapping peaks, although it increases the separation degree from 0.25 in the conventional spectra to 0.37 in the synchronous spectra. On the other hand, Kalman filtering is capable of resolving this system. When the Al/Zn intensity ratio at the central wavelength of Al was > 1, however, the accuracy and precision of the estimates for Zn concentration produced by the Kalman filter became worse. In this event, the combination of synchronous excitation and Kalman filtering can much improve the analytical results.

Influence of electrode structure on the performance of a direct methanol fuel cell

Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) consisting of multi-layer electrodes provide higher performance than those with the traditional electrode. The new electrode structure includes a hydrophilic thin film and a traditional catalyst layer. A decal transfer method was used to apply the thin film to the Nafion(R) membrane. Results show that the performance of a cell with the hydrophilic thin film is obviously enhanced. A cell with the optimal thin film electrode structure operating at I M CH3OH, 2 atm oxygen and 90degreesC yields a current density of 100 mA/cm(2) at 0.53 V cell voltage. The peak power density is 120 mW/cm(2). The performance stability of a cell in a short-term life operation was also increased when the hydrophilic thin film was employed. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Electrochemical performance of mixed ionic-electronic conducting oxides as anodes for solid oxide fuel cell

Mixed ionic-electronic conducting (MIEC) oxides, SrFeCo0.5Ox, SrCo0.8Fe0.2O3-delta and La0.6Sr0.4Fe0.8Co0.2O3-delta have been synthesized and prepared on yttria-stabilized zirconia as anodes for solid oxide fuel cells. Power output measurements show that the anodes composed of such kinds of oxides exhibit modest electrochemical activities to both H-2 and CH4 fuels, giving maximum power densities of around 0.1 W/cm(2) at 950 degrees C. Polarization and AC impedance measurements found that large activation overpotentials and ohmic resistance drops were the main causes for the relative inferior performance to the Ni-YSZ anode. While interlayered with an Ni-YSZ anode, a significant improvement in the electrochemical performance was observed. in particular, for the SrFeCo0.5Ox oxide interlayered Ni-YSZ anode, the maximum power output reaches 0.25 W/cm2 on CH,, exceeding those of both SrFeCo0.5Ox and the Ni-YSZ, as anodes alone. A synergetic effect of SrFeCo0.5Ox and the Ni-YSZ has been observed. Future work is needed to examine the long-term stability of MIEC oxide electrodes under a very reducing environment. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Ethanol crossover phenomena and its influence on the performance of DEFC

In the present work, Nafion (R) membrane porosity changes were determined in aqueous ethanol solutions with different concentrations by weighing vacuum-dried and ethanol aqueous solution equilibrated membranes at room temperature. The ethanol crossover rate through Nafion (R)-115 membrane at different temperatures and different concentrations had been investigated in a fuel cell test apparatus by using membrane gets higher as ethanol solution gas chromatography analysis. The experimental results show that the swelling degree of Nafion (R) concentration increases. The ethanol crossover rate increases with ethanol concentration and temperature increment. The single direct ethanol fuel cell (DEFC) tests were carried out to investigate the effect of ethanol concentration on ethanol crossover and consequently, on the open circuit voltage and the cell performance of DEFC. It can be found that ethanol crossover presented a negative effect on the OCV and the cell performance of DEFC. It can also be found that an improved DEFC performance was obtained as temperature increased although the ethanol crossover rate increased with temperature increment. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Improvement of direct methanol fuel cell performance by modifying catalyst coated membrane structure

A five-layer catalyst coated membrane (CCM) based upon Nation 115 membrane for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) was designed and fabricated by introducing a modified Nafion layer between the membrane and the catalyst layer. The properties of the CCM were determined by SEM, cyclic voltammetry, impedance spectroscopy, ruinous test and I-V curves. The characterizations show that the modified Nation layers provide increased interface contact area and enhanced interaction between the membrane and the catalyst layer. As a result, higher Pt utilization, lower contact resistance and superior durability of membrane electrode assembly was achieved. A 75% Pt utilization efficiency was obtained by using the novel CCM structure, whereas the conventional structure gave 60% efficiency. All these features greatly contribute to the increase in DMFC performance. The DMFC with new CCM structure presented a maximum power density of 260 MW cm(-2), but the DMFC with conventional structure gave only 200 mW cm(-2) under the same operation condition. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.