| 1. |
- Guo, Y., et al.
(författare)
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Reversible Structural Isomerization of Nature's Water Oxidation Catalyst Prior to O-O Bond Formation
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of the American Chemical Society. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0002-7863 .- 1520-5126. ; 144:26, s. 11736-11747
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Photosynthetic water oxidation is catalyzed by a manganese-calcium oxide cluster, which experiences five "S-states" during a light-driven reaction cycle. The unique "distorted chair"-like geometry of the Mn4CaO5(6)cluster shows structural flexibility that has been frequently proposed to involve "open" and "closed"-cubane forms from the S1 to S3states. The isomers are interconvertible in the S1 and S2states, while in the S3state, the open-cubane structure is observed to dominate inThermosynechococcus elongatus (cyanobacteria) samples. In this work, using density functional theory calculations, we go beyond the S3+Yzstate to the S3nYz•→ S4+Yzstep, and report for the first time that the reversible isomerism, which is suppressed in the S3+Yzstate, is fully recovered in the ensuing S3nYz•state due to the proton release from a manganese-bound water ligand. The altered coordination strength of the manganese-ligand facilitates formation of the closed-cubane form, in a dynamic equilibrium with the open-cubane form. This tautomerism immediately preceding dioxygen formation may constitute the rate limiting step for O2formation, and exert a significant influence on the water oxidation mechanism in photosystem II.
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| 2. |
- Gao, Jiajia, et al.
(författare)
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Light-induced electrolyte improvement in cobalt tris(bipyridine)-mediated dye-sensitized solar cells
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Materials Chemistry A. - : Royal Society of Chemistry. - 2050-7488 .- 2050-7496. ; 7:33, s. 19495-19505
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Lithium-ion-free tris(2,2′-bipyridine) Co(ii/iii)-mediated electrolytes have previously been proposed for long-term stable dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Such redox systems also offer an impressive DSSC performance improvement under light soaking exposure, manifested by an increase in photocurrent and fill factor without the expense of decreasing photovoltage. Kinetic studies show that charge transfer and ion diffusion at the electrode/electrolyte interface are improved due to the light exposure. Control experiments reveal that the light effect is unambiguously associated with electrolyte components, [Co(bpy)3]3+ and the Lewis-base additive tert-butylpyridine (TBP). Electrochemical and spectroscopic investigation of the [Co(bpy)3]3+/TBP mixtures points out that the presence of TBP, which retards the electrolyte diffusion, however causes an irreversible redox reaction of [Co(bpy)3]3+ upon light exposure that improves the overall conductivity. This discovery not only provides a new strategy to mitigate the typical Jsc-Voc trade-off in Co(ii/iii)-mediated DSSCs but also highlights the importance of investigating the photochemistry of a photoelectrochemical system.
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| 3. |
- Gao, Jiajia, et al.
(författare)
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Light-Induced Interfacial Dynamics Dramatically Improve the Photocurrent in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells : An Electrolyte Effect
- 2018
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Ingår i: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. - : AMER CHEMICAL SOC. - 1944-8244 .- 1944-8252. ; 10:31, s. 26241-26247
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A significant increase in the photocurrent generation during light soaking for solar cells sensitized by the triphenylamine-based D-pi-A organic dyes (PD2 and LEG1) and mediated by cobalt bipyridine redox complexes has been observed and investigated. The crucial role of the electrolyte has been identified in the performance improvement. Control experiments based on a pretreatment strategy reveals TBP as the origin. The increase in the current and IPCE has been interpreted by the interfacial charge-transfer kinetics studies. A slow component in the injection kinetics was exposed for this system. This change explains the increase in the electron lifetime and collection efficiency. Photoelectron spectroscopic measurements show energy shifts at the dye/TiO2 interface, leading us to formulate a hypothesis with respect to an electrolyte induced dye reorganization at the surface.
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| 4. |
- Tot, Aleksandar, et al.
(författare)
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Tuning of Molecular Water Organization in Water-in-Salt Electrolytes by Addition of Chaotropic Ionic Liquids
- 2023
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Ingår i: The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. - : American Chemical Society. - 1932-7447 .- 1932-7455. ; 127:50, s. 24065-24076
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Water-in-salt electrolytes (WISEs) have expanded the useful electrochemical stability of water, making the development of functional aqueous lithium-ion batteries more accessible. The implementation of additives in the formulation of WISEs can further improve the electrochemical stability of water and avoid potential lithium-ion salt solubility issues. Here, we have used Gemini-type ionic liquids to suppress water activity by designing the structure of ionic-liquid cations. The different water-organizing effects of ionic-liquid cations have been investigated and correlated to battery performance in LTO/LMO full cells. The champion device, containing the most chaotropic ionic liquid, retained at least 99% of its Coulombic efficiency after 500 charging cycles, associated with a final specific discharge capacity of 85 mA h·g-1. These results indicated that water-rich Li+ solvation shells significantly contribute to the excellent device performance and long-term stability of the LTO/LMO-based full battery cells. This work shows that the fine-tuning of the Li+ solvation shell and water structure by the addition of chaotropic cations represents a promising strategy for generating more stable and effective lithium-ion-containing rechargeable aqueous batteries.
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| 5. |
- Tot, Aleksandar, et al.
(författare)
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Water-in-salt electrolytes made saltier by Gemini ionic liquids for highly efficient Li-ion batteries
- 2023
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Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Nature. - 2045-2322. ; 13:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The water-in-salt electrolytes have promoted aqueous Li-ion batteries to become one of the most promising candidates to overcome safety concerns/issues of traditional Li-ion batteries. A simple increase of Li-salt concentration in electrolytes can successfully expand the electrochemical stability window of aqueous electrolytes beyond 2 V. However, necessary stability improvements require an increase in complexity of the ternary electrolytes. Here, we have explored the effects of novel, Gemini-type ionic liquids (GILs) as a co-solvent systems in aqueous Li[TFSI] mixtures and investigated the transport properties of the resulting electrolytes, as well as their electrochemical performance. The devices containing pyrrolidinium-based GILs show superior cycling stability and promising specific capacity in the cells based on the commonly used electrode materials LTO (Li4Ti5O12) and LMO (LiMn2O4).
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| 6. |
- Liu, Peng, et al.
(författare)
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Molecular Engineering of D-pi-A Type of Blue-Colored Dyes for Highly Efficient Solid-State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells through Co-Sensitization
- 2018
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Ingår i: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. - : AMER CHEMICAL SOC. - 1944-8244 .- 1944-8252. ; 10:42, s. 35946-35952
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A novel blue-colored organic donor-pi-acceptor sensitizer, the so-called MKA16 dye, has been employed to construct solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (ssDSSCs). Using 2,2',7-,7'-tetrakis(N,N-di-p-methoxyphenyl-amine) 9,9'-spirobifuorene (Spiro-OMeTAD) as hole-transport material, a good conversion efficiency of 5.8% was recorded for cells based on the MKA16 dye and a high photovoltage of 840 mV in comparison with 5.6% efficiency using the known (Dyenamo Blue) dye. By co-sensitization using the orange-colored D35 dye and MKA16 together, the solid-state solar cells showed an excellent efficiency of 7.5%, with a high photocurrent of 12.41 mA cm(-2) and open-circuit voltage of 850 mV. The results show that the photocurrent of ssDSSCs can be significantly improved by co-sensitization mainly attributed to the wider light absorption range contributing to the photocurrent. In addition, results from photo-induced absorption spectroscopy show that the dye regeneration is efficient in co-sensitized solar cells. The current results possible routes of improving the design of aesthetic and highly efficient ssDSSCs.
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| 7. |
- Safdari, Majid, et al.
(författare)
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Impact of synthetic routes on the structural and physical properties of butyl-1,4-diammonium lead iodide semiconductors
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Materials Chemistry A. - : Royal Society of Chemistry. - 2050-7488 .- 2050-7496. ; 5:23, s. 11730-11738
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report the significant role of synthetic routes and the importance of solvents in the synthesis of organic-inorganic lead iodide materials. Through one route, the intercalation of dimethylformamide in the crystal structure was observed leading to a one-dimensional (1D) [NH3(CH2)4NH3]Pb2I6 structure of the product. This product was compared with the two-dimensional (2D) [NH3(CH2)4NH3]PbI4 recovered from aqueous solvent based synthesis with the same precursors. UV-visible absorption spectroscopy showed a red-shift of 0.1 eV for the band gap of the 1D network in relation to the 2D system. This shift primarily originates from a shift in the valence band edge as determined from photoelectron-and X-ray spectroscopy results. These findings also suggest the iodide 5p orbital as the principal component in the density of states in the valence band edge. Single crystal data show a change in the local coordination around iodide, while in both materials, lead atoms are surrounded by iodide atoms in octahedral units. The conductivity of the one-dimensional material ([NH3(CH2)4NH3]Pb2I6) was 50% of the two-dimensional material ([NH3(CH2)4NH3]PbI4). The fabricated solar cells reflect these changes in the chemical and electronic structure of both materials, although the total light conversion efficiencies of solar cells based on both products were similar.
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| 8. |
- Wang, Linqin, et al.
(författare)
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Design and synthesis of dopant-free organic hole-transport materials for perovskite solar cells
- 2018
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Ingår i: Chemical Communications. - : ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY. - 1359-7345 .- 1364-548X. ; 54:69, s. 9571-9574
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Two novel dopant-free hole-transport materials (HTMs) with spiro[dibenzo[c,h]xanthene-7,9-fluorene] (SDBXF) skeletons were prepared via facile synthesis routes. A power conversion efficiency of 15.9% in perovskite solar cells is attained by using one HTM without dopants, which is much higher than undoped Spiro-OMeTAD-based devices (10.8%). The crystal structures of both new HTMs were systematically investigated to reveal the reasons behind such differences in performance and to indicate the design principles of more advanced HTMs.
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| 9. |
- Guo, Yu, et al.
(författare)
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Closing Kok’s cycle of nature’s water oxidation catalysis
- 2024
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Nature. - 2041-1723. ; 15:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Mn4CaO5(6) cluster in photosystem II catalyzes water splitting through the Si state cycle (i = 0–4). Molecular O2 is formed and the natural catalyst is reset during the final S3 → (S4) → S0 transition. Only recently experimental breakthroughs have emerged for this transition but without explicit information on the S0-state reconstitution, thus the progression after O2 release remains elusive. In this report, our molecular dynamics simulations combined with density functional calculations suggest a likely missing link for closing the cycle, i.e., restoring the first catalytic state. Specifically, the formation of closed-cubane intermediates with all hexa-coordinate Mn is observed, which would undergo proton release, water dissociation, and ligand transfer to produce the open-cubane structure of the S0 state. Thereby, we theoretically identify the previously unknown structural isomerism in the S0 state that acts as the origin of the proposed structural flexibility prevailing in the cycle, which may be functionally important for nature’s water oxidation catalysis.
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| 10. |
- Hao, Yan, et al.
(författare)
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Efficient Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells with Voltages Exceeding 1 V through Exploring Tris(4-alkoxyphenyl)amine Mediators in Combination with the Tris(bipyridine) Cobalt Redox System
- 2018
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Ingår i: ACS Energy Letters. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 2380-8195. ; 3:8, s. 1929-1937
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tandem redox electrolytes, prepared by the addition of a tris(p-anisyl)amine mediator into classic tris(bipyridine)cobalt-based electrolytes, demonstrate favorable electron transfer and reduced energy loss in dye-sensitized solar cells. Here, we have successfully explored three tris(4-alkoxyphenyl)-amine mediators with bulky molecular structures and generated more effective tandem redox systems. This series of tandem redox electrolytes rendered solar cells with very high photovoltages exceeding 1 V, which approaches the theoretical voltage limit of tris(bipyridine)cobalt-based electrolytes. Solar cells with power conversion efficiencies of 9.7-11.0% under 1 sun illumination were manufactured. This corresponds to an efficiency improvement of up to 50% as compared to solar cells based on pure tris(bipyridine)cobalt-based electrolytes. The photovoltage increases with increasing steric effects of the tris(4-alkoxyphenyl)amine mediators, which is attributed to a retarded recombination kinetics. These results highlight the importance of structural design for optimized charge transfer at the sensitized semiconductor/electrolyte interface and provide insights for the future development of efficient dye-sensitized solar cells.
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