Dye-sensitized solar cells based on a single layer deposition of TiO 2 from a new formulation paste and their photovoltaic performance

A new strategy for enhancing the efficiency and reducing the production cost of TiO 2 solar cells by design of a new formulated TiO 2 paste with tailored crystal structure and morphology is reported. The conventional three- or four-fold layer deposition process was eliminated and replaced by a single layer deposition of TiO 2 compound. Different TiO 2 pastes with various crystal structures, morphologies and crystallite sizes were prepared by an aqueous particulate sol-gel process. Based on simultaneous differential thermal (SDT) analysis the minimum annealing temperature to obtain organic-free TiO 2 paste was determined at 400°C, being one of the lowest crystallization temperatures of TiO 2 photoanode electrodes for solar cell application. Photovoltaic measurements showed that TiO 2 solar cell with pure anatase crystal structure had higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) than that made of pure rutile-TiO 2. However, the PCE of solar cells depends on the anatase to rutile weight ratio, reaching a maximum at a specific value due to the synergic effect between anatase and rutile TiO 2 nanoparticles. Moreover, it was found that the PCE of solar cells made of crystalline TiO 2 powders was much higher, increasing in the range 32-84% depending on anatase to rutile weight ratio, than that of prepared by amorphous powders. TiO 2 solar cell with the morphology of mixtures of nanoparticles and microparticles had higher PCE than the solar cell with the same phase composition containing TiO 2 nanoparticles due to the role of TiO 2 microparticles as light scattering particles. The presented strategy would open up new insight into fabrication and structural design of low-cost TiO 2 solar cells with high power conversion efficiency. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

Calculation of point defects in rutile TiO 2 by the screened-exchange hybrid functional

The formation energies of the oxygen vacancy and titanium interstitial in rutile TiO 2 were calculated by the screened-exchange (sX) hybrid density functional method, which gives a band gap of 3.1 eV, close to the experimental value. The oxygen vacancy gives rise to a gap state lying 0.7 eV below the conduction band edge, whose charge density is localized around the two of three Ti atoms next to the vacancy. The Ti interstitial (Ti int) generates four defect states in the gap, whose unpaired electrons lie on the interstitial and the adjacent Ti 3d orbitals. The formation energy for the neutral oxygen vacancy is 1.9 eV for the O-poor chemical potential. The neutral Ti interstitial has a lower formation energy than the O vacancy under O-poor conditions. This indicates that both the O vacancy and Ti int are relevant for oxygen deficiency in rutile TiO 2 but the O vacancy will dominate under O-rich conditions. This resolves questions about defect localization and defect predominance in the literature. © 2012 American Physical Society.

Electron spin resonance signature of the oxygen vacancy in HfO 2

The oxygen vacancy has been inferred to be the critical defect in HfO 2, responsible for charge trapping, gate threshold voltage instability, and Fermi level pinning for high work function gates, but it has never been conclusively identified. Here, the electron spin resonance g tensor parameters of the oxygen vacancy are calculated, using methods that do not over-estimate the delocalization of the defect wave function, to be g xx = 1.918, g yy = 1.926, g zz = 1.944, and are consistent with an observed spectrum. The defect undergoes a symmetry lowering polaron distortion to be localized mainly on a single adjacent Hf ion. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.

Attenuated Salmonella Typhimurium lacking the pathogenicity island-2 type 3 secretion system grow to high bacterial numbers inside phagocytes in mice.

Intracellular replication within specialized vacuoles and cell-to-cell spread in the tissue are essential for the virulence of Salmonella enterica. By observing infection dynamics at the single-cell level in vivo, we have discovered that the Salmonella pathogenicity island 2 (SPI-2) type 3 secretory system (T3SS) is dispensable for growth to high intracellular densities. This challenges the concept that intracellular replication absolutely requires proteins delivered by SPI-2 T3SS, which has been derived largely by inference from in vitro cell experiments and from unrefined measurement of net growth in mouse organs. Furthermore, we infer from our data that the SPI-2 T3SS mediates exit from infected cells, with consequent formation of new infection foci resulting in bacterial spread in the tissues. This suggests a new role for SPI-2 in vivo as a mediator of bacterial spread in the body. In addition, we demonstrate that very similar net growth rates of attenuated salmonellae in organs can be derived from very different underlying intracellular growth dynamics.

Mode-locking by nanotubes of a Raman laser based on a highly doped GeO 2 fiber

A mode-locked Raman laser, using 25 m of a GeO2 doped fiber as the gain medium, is reported employing carbon nanotubes. The oscillator generates 850 ps chirped pulses, which are externally compressed to 185 ps. © 2012 OSA.

Hg~(2+)、Cd~(2+)及其复合胁迫对苦草的毒害

利用微宇宙系统研究了不同浓度的Hg2+、Cd2+单一及复合处理下,苦草对这三种胁迫的响应。三种胁迫下,3d内苦草现存量增加百分比与金属离子浓度间显著负相关,其中在[Hg2+]或[Hg2++Cd2+]([Hg2+]/[Cd2+]=1)>5μmol/L时,2～3d可致死;总生产力、净生产力、呼吸强度以及叶绿素含量均随着金属离子浓度的增加而下降,同时叶绿素含量还随着胁迫时间的延长而降低,但上述四个指标在低浓度胁迫时常略有升高;可溶性蛋白含量在[Hg2+]或[Hg2++Cd2+]≤2.5μmol/L、以及[Cd2

Zn~(2+)、Co~(2+)和Mn~(2+)对人工湿地基质生物膜的影响

研究了金属离子Zn2+,Co2+和Mn2+对复合垂直流人工湿地基质生物膜脱氢酶活性和多糖含量的影响.结果表明,在生物膜混合液中添加Zn2+能在短时间内(6h)迅速提高生物膜的酶活性,增加多糖含量,浓度为2mg/L的Zn2+可以在较长时间(72h)内保持生物膜的酶活性并且促进多糖的积累.Co2+和Mn2+对生物膜脱氢酶活性及多糖含量的影响较为相似.当Co2+浓度<1mg/L、Mn2+浓度<2mg/L条件下,6h时,对脱氢酶活性呈现了不同程度的促进作用,但随着Co2+和Mn2+离子浓度的增加,对脱氢酶活性的影

Discovery of a new 2.3 s isomer in neutron-rich 174Tm

A new program of K-isomer research has been initiated with the 8π spectrometer sited at the ISAC facility of TRIUMF. We discuss in this paper the identification of a new 2.3 s isomer in 174Tm and its implications. © Società Italiana di Fisica / Springer-Verlag 2005.

Cd~(2+)和Cu~(2+)对美人蕉的氧化胁迫及抗性机理研究

通过测定植物的丙二醛(MDA)含量、酸溶性SH含量以及两种抗氧化酶(超氧化物歧化酶SOD和愈创木酚过氧化物酶GPX)的酶活,研究了重金属镉(Cd)和铜(Cu)对美人蕉(Cannaindica Linn.)的氧化胁迫。结果表明,20μmol·L~(-1)和100μmol·L~(-1)的Cd~(2+)和Cu~(2+)均使其根部MDA含量显著增加,但除了100μmol·L~(-1)的Cd~(2+),叶部MDA含量无明显变化。与Cu~(2+)相比,Cd~(2+)能引起植物根部GSH的明显提高,并能诱导PCs的产生

Ventilation effectiveness measures based on heat removal: Part 2. Application to natural ventilation flows

The three effectiveness measures based on the ability of a flow to flush buoyancy from a ventilated space proposed by Coffey and Hunt [Ventilation effectiveness measures based on heat removal-part 1. Definitions. Building and Environment, in press, doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2006.03.016.] are applied to assess and compare two fundamental natural ventilation flows. We focus on the limiting cases of passive displacement and passive mixing ventilation flows during transient conditions. These transient flows occur when, for example, heat is purged from a building at night. Whilst it is widely recognised that mixing flows are less efficient at purging heat than displacement flows, our results indicate that, when a particular zone of a room is considered, displacement ventilation can result in lower effectiveness than mixing ventilation. When a room is considered as a whole, displacement ventilation yields higher effectiveness than mixing ventilation and we quantify these differences in terms of the geometry of the space and opening area. The proposed theoretical predictions are compared with effectiveness deduced from measurements made during laboratory experiments and show good agreement. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pb~(2+)胁迫对绿球藻(Chlorococcum sp.)的影响研究

研究了不同Pb2+浓度(0.1、1、10、50、100、200、400 mg/L)处理对绿球藻(Chlorococcum sp.)生长、形态结构及生理特性的影响。与对照BG11培养的绿球藻比较,Pb2+浓度≤50 mg/L条件下培养的绿球藻细胞壁无明显增厚,色素变化不大;而暴露到Pb2+浓度>50 mg/L条件下培养,绿球藻细胞壁明显增厚,蛋白核消失。低浓度Pb2+(0.1~10 mg/L)对绿球藻生长基本没有影响;浓度在50 mg/L时,绿球藻仍能维持一定的生长速率;但当Pb2+浓度≥100 mg/L时