Tetrahedrites for Low Cost and Sustainable Thermoelectrics

Sustainable development is the way to ensure the Human progress within the bounds of the ecological possible. In this context thermoelectric systems can play an important role. However, the price of most high-performance thermoelectric devices is high, mainly due to the use of expensive elements, which raised the interest for cheap thermoelectric materials. It is also clear that the production of competitive thermoelectric devices critically depends on other factors, like the manufacturing costs, and that the materials fabrication simplicity, reproducibility, and use of easy scale-up processes will also play a fundamental role.Tetrahedrites, with generic formula Cu10M2Sb4S13 (M = Cu, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn), are world spread sulfosalt minerals that crystallize in the cubic Cu12Sb4S13-type structure. They are environment friendly materials mainly formed by non-expensive elements. Recently, mineral based and synthetic tetrahedrites were considered as promising thermoelectric materials, with zT ~ 1 at T ~ 700 K. Though, tetrahedrite melts incongruently, the preparation of appropriate tetrahedrite samples usually requiring long-term annealing procedures. Here we present a set of systematic studies on the use of tetrahedrites as low-cost and sustainable thermoelectric materials. The raw material prices evaluation, the feasibility of rapid, scalable, cheap tetrahedrite preparation and their long term stability and resistance to oxidation under working conditions are highlighted.

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A Novel, Nontoxic and Scalable Process to Produce Lipidic Vehicles

Materials ◽

10.3390/ma13215035 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (21) ◽

pp. 5035

Author(s):

Nikolaos Naziris ◽

Natassa Pippa ◽

Costas Demetzos

Keyword(s):

Self Assembly ◽

Room Temperature ◽

Low Cost ◽

Scale Up ◽

Bioactive Molecules ◽

Second Step ◽

Long Term Stability ◽

Prior Art ◽

Good Homogeneity

Lipidic vehicles are novel industrial products, utilized as components for pharmaceutical, cosmeceutical and nutraceutical formulations. The present study concerns a newly invented method to produce lipidic vehicles in the nanoscale that is simple, nontoxic, versatile, time-efficient, low-cost and easy to scale up. The process is a modification of the heating method (MHM) and comprises (i) providing a mixture of an amphiphilic lipid and a charged lipid and/or a fluidity regulator in a liquid medium composed of water and a liquid polyol, (ii) stirring and heating the mixture in two heating steps, wherein the temperature of the second step is higher than the temperature of the first step and (iii) allowing the mixture to cool down to room temperature. The process leads to the self-assembly of nanoparticles of small size and good homogeneity, compared with conventional approaches that require additional size reduction steps. In addition, the incorporation of bioactive molecules, such as drugs, inside the nanoparticles is possible, while lyophilization of the products provides long-term stability. Most importantly, the absence of toxic solvents and the simplicity guarantee the safety and scalability of the process, distinguishing it from most prior art processes to produce lipidic vehicles.

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Triple-Mesoscopic Carbon Perovskite Solar Cells: Materials, Processing and Applications

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14020386 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 386

Author(s):

Simone M. P. Meroni ◽

Carys Worsley ◽

Dimitrios Raptis ◽

Trystan M. Watson

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

High Performance ◽

Low Cost ◽

Perovskite Solar Cells ◽

Future Research ◽

Large Area ◽

Long Term Stability ◽

Comparable Performance ◽

Indoor And Outdoor

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have already achieved comparable performance to industrially established silicon technologies. However, high performance and stability must be also be achieved at large area and low cost to be truly commercially viable. The fully printable triple-mesoscopic carbon perovskite solar cell (mCPSC) has demonstrated unprecedented stability and can be produced at low capital cost with inexpensive materials. These devices are inherently scalable, and large-area modules have already been fabricated using low-cost screen printing. As a uniquely stable, scalable and low-cost architecture, mCPSC research has advanced significantly in recent years. This review provides a detailed overview of advancements in the materials and processing of each individual stack layer as well as in-depth coverage of work on perovskite formulations, with the view of highlighting potential areas for future research. Long term stability studies will also be discussed, to emphasise the impressive achievements of mCPSCs for both indoor and outdoor applications.

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Nanoforest: Polyaniline Nanotubes Modified with Carbon Nano-Onions as a Nanocomposite Material for Easy-to-Miniaturize High-Performance Solid-State Supercapacitors

Polymers ◽

10.3390/polym10121408 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (12) ◽

pp. 1408 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Piotr Olejnik ◽

Marianna Gniadek ◽

Luis Echegoyen ◽

Marta Plonska-Brzezinska

Keyword(s):

Solid State ◽

High Performance ◽

Low Cost ◽

Electron Microscopic ◽

Thin Gold Film ◽

Long Term Stability ◽

Developed Surface ◽

Scanning Electron Microscopic ◽

Sem Analyses

This article describes a facile low-cost synthesis of polyaniline nanotube (PANINT)–carbon nano-onion (CNO) composites for solid-state supercapacitors. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) analyses indicate a uniform and ordered composition for the conducting polymer nanotubes immobilized on a thin gold film. The obtained nanocomposites exhibit a brush-like architecture with a specific capacitance of 946 F g−1 at a scan rate of 1 mV s−1. In addition, the nanocomposites offer high conductivity and a porous and well-developed surface area. The PANINT–CNO nanocomposites were tested as electrodes with high potential and long-term stability for use in easy-to-miniaturize high-performance supercapacitor devices.

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Advances in carbon‐based thermoelectric materials for high‐performance, flexible thermoelectric devices

Carbon Energy ◽

10.1002/cey2.121 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jeong‐Seob Yun ◽

Seongyun Choi ◽

Sang Hyuk Im

Keyword(s):

Thermoelectric Materials ◽

High Performance ◽

Thermoelectric Devices ◽

Flexible Thermoelectric ◽

Carbon Based

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Wittichenite semiconductor of Cu3BiS3 films for efficient hydrogen evolution from solar driven photoelectrochemical water splitting

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-24060-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Dingwang Huang ◽

Lintao Li ◽

Kang Wang ◽

Yan Li ◽

Kuang Feng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hydrogen Evolution ◽

Water Splitting ◽

Low Cost ◽

Solar Hydrogen ◽

Onset Potential ◽

Term Stability ◽

Long Term Stability ◽

Solar Water Splitting ◽

Current Densities

AbstractA highly efficient, low-cost and environmentally friendly photocathode with long-term stability is the goal of practical solar hydrogen evolution applications. Here, we found that the Cu3BiS3 film-based photocathode meets the abovementioned requirements. The Cu3BiS3-based photocathode presents a remarkable onset potential over 0.9 VRHE with excellent photoelectrochemical current densities (~7 mA/cm2 under 0 VRHE) and appreciable 10-hour long-term stability in neutral water solutions. This high onset potential of the Cu3BiS3-based photocathode directly results in a good unbiased operating photocurrent of ~1.6 mA/cm2 assisted by the BiVO4 photoanode. A tandem device of Cu3BiS3-BiVO4 with an unbiased solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 2.04% is presented. This tandem device also presents high stability over 20 hours. Ultimately, a 5 × 5 cm2 large Cu3BiS3-BiVO4 tandem device module is fabricated for standalone overall solar water splitting with a long-term stability of 60 hours.

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Using MoS2/Fe3O4 as Ion-Electron Transduction Layer to Manufacture All-Solid-State Ion-Selective Electrode for Determination of Serum Potassium

Chemosensors ◽

10.3390/chemosensors9070155 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (7) ◽

pp. 155

Author(s):

Yan Su ◽

Ting Liu ◽

Caiqiao Song ◽

Aiqiao Fan ◽

Nan Zhu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Performance ◽

Accurate Determination ◽

Water Layer ◽

Ion Selective Electrode ◽

Potential Response ◽

Selective Electrode ◽

Response Measurement ◽

Long Term Stability

As an essential electrolyte for the human body, the potassium ion (K+) plays many physiological roles in living cells, so the rapid and accurate determination of serum K+ is of great significance. In this work, we developed a solid-contact ion-selective electrode (SC-ISE) using MoS2/Fe3O4 composites as the ion-to-electron transducer to determine serum K+. The potential response measurement of MoS2/Fe3O4/K+-ISE shows a Nernst response by a slope of 55.2 ± 0.1 mV/decade and a low detection limit of 6.3 × 10−6 M. The proposed electrode exhibits outstanding resistance to the interference of O2, CO2, light, and water layer formation. Remarkably, it also presents a high performance in potential reproducibility and long-term stability.

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High-performance humidity sensors from Ni(SO4)0.3(OH)1.4 nanobelts

Nanoscale ◽

10.1039/c4nr00277f ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 6 (12) ◽

pp. 6521-6525 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Ming Zhuo ◽

Yuejiao Chen ◽

Tao Fu ◽

Haonan Zhang ◽

Zhi Xu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Performance ◽

Humidity Sensor ◽

High Sensitivity ◽

Fast Response ◽

Humidity Sensors ◽

Term Stability ◽

Long Term Stability

Ni(SO4)0.3(OH)1.4 nanobelts are utilized in a humidity sensor by a facile method. The nanobelt based sensor shows a high sensitivity, fast response and long-term stability in the sensing process.

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High-performance hole conductor-free perovskite solar cell using a carbon nanotube counter electrode

RSC Advances ◽

10.1039/d0ra05975g ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (59) ◽

pp. 35831-35839 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Mustafa K. A. Mohammed

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Carbon Nanotube ◽

High Performance ◽

Counter Electrode ◽

Perovskite Solar Cells ◽

Perovskite Solar Cell ◽

Manufacturing Cost ◽

Long Term Stability

Carbon-based perovskite solar cells (C-PSCs) are the most promising photovoltaic (PV) due to their low material and manufacturing cost and superior long-term stability.

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Bioinspired nano-ordered liquid membrane for precise molecular separation

10.21203/rs.3.rs-87445/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Haozhen Dou ◽

Mi Xu ◽

Baoyu Wang ◽

Zhen Zhang ◽

Guobin Wen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Self Assembly ◽

High Performance ◽

Liquid Membrane ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Cellular Membrane ◽

Liquid Structure ◽

Long Term Stability ◽

Separation Membranes ◽

Molecular Separation

Abstract Cellular membranes provide ideal archetypes for molecule or ion separations with sub-angstrom scale precision, which are featured with both extremely high permeability and selectivity due to the well-defined membrane protein channels. However, the development of bioinspired membranes with artificial channels for sub-angstrom scale ethylene/ethane (0.416 nm / 0.443 nm) separation remains an uncharted territory and a significant challenge. Herein, a bioinspired nano-ordered liquid membrane is constructed by a facile ion/molecule self-assembly strategy for highly efficient ethylene/ethane separation, which mimics the structure of cellular membrane elegantly and possesses plenty of three-dimensional (3D) nanochannels. The elaborate regulation of non-covalent interactions by optimizing the ion/molecule compositions within membrane confers the nano-ordered liquid structure with interpenetrating and bi-continuous apolar domains and polar domains, which results in the formation of regular carrier wires and enormous 3D interconnected ethylene transport nanochannels. By virtue of these 3D nanochannels, the bioinspired nano-ordered liquid membrane manifests simultaneously super-high selectivity, excellent permeance and long-term stability, which exceeds previously reported ethylene/ethane separation membranes. This methodology in this work for construction of bioinspired membrane with tunable 3D nanochannels through ion/molecule self-assembly will enlighten the design and development of high-performance separation membranes for angstrom/sub-angstrom scale ion or molecule separations.

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