| 1. |
- Wrede, Sina, 1995-
(författare)
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Interfaces in Dye-Sensitized Electrodes : From Fundamental Understanding to Devices
- 2024
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Renewable energy solutions are vital in realising a more equitable and sustainable future. Among several solar light harvesting and storage technologies, dye-sensitized electrodes offer a cost-effective and flexible solution for solar cells or solar fuel devices. In order to enhance their solar conversion efficiency, however, the understanding of charge transfer pathways, particularly at the dye-sensitized surface, is crucial. Surface properties and interfacial processes have a great effect on the final device and are the overarching theme of this thesis.Firstly, intermolecular charge transfer across dye-sensitized surfaces was investigated, which play a role in both facilitating charge accumulation and affecting recombination rates and are therefore pivotal factors influencing solar cell efficiencies. Specifically, investigations on nickel oxide (NiO) and ZrO2 surfaces elucidate charge transfer mechanisms across the surface and their dependence on solvent properties, offering possible pathways for optimizing device performance.Due to their significance on dye-sensitized photocathodes, the chemical nature of NiO surface states was explored as they are known to affect charge recombination and the dye-regeneration processes. Spectroscopic insights during controlled atmosphere experiments highlight the influence of surface species generated by oxygen and water molecules on the electronic properties of NiO, particularly of hydroxide and oxygen-related species.Thirdly, the design and characterization of the first reported solid-state p-n tandem dye-sensitized solar cell was demonstrated. Such a cell can surpass the voltage limitations observed in liquid tandem cells and could achieve an open-circuit voltage of 1.4 V. These tandem cells hold promise for applications in solar fuel production, where high potential differences are essential for driving chemical reactions.
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| 2. |
- Axelsson, Martin, 1993-
(författare)
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Illuminating Benzothiadiazole : Mechanistic Insights into its Role in Fuel-Forming Reactions
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Development and understanding of catalytic reactions involved in fuel formation are crucial to be able to make the energy transition into a sustainable future. One intriguing type of catalyst for these types of reactions is organic material catalysts, which combine some of the tunable nature of molecular catalysts with the scalability and robust nature of material catalysts. The understanding of the catalytic mechanisms in these types of materials is still a work in progress. In the last decade D-A type polymers have gotten a lot of attention as potential photocatalysts for fuel-forming reactions but currently, the mechanisms in which these reactions take place are very limited.This thesis focuses on the molecular unit benzothiadiazole (BT) and its role in catalytic fuel-forming reactions across various molecules and polymers. In paper I: The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is investigated on the small molecule 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole-4,7dicarbonitrile (BT). The study reveals that BTDN serves as an electrocatalyst for the HER. Some catalytic intermediates were identified spectroscopically and a catalytic mechanism was proposed.In papers II and III: Polymeric nanoparticles (Pdots) based on the polymer poly(9,9- dioctylfluorene-alt-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (PFBT) were investigated for photocatalytic fuel-forming reactions. First, the HER was explored and it emphasised the significance of proton binding to the BT unit as a catalytic intermediate. It also showed that changing to basic conditions can quench the HER and make place for CO2 reduction to CO and that PFBT Pdots exhibit good selectivity in catalyzing this reaction.Finally, in Paper IV, the binding and reduction of CO2 on the molecule BTDN were investigated. It was shown that BTDN can bind CO2 in multiple reduced states and reduce it to CO and oxalate in a third reduction, albeit with seemingly low efficiencies.
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| 3. |
- Dürr, Robin N., et al.
(författare)
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From NiMoO4 to γ-NiOOH : Detecting the Active Catalyst Phase by Time Resolved in Situ and Operando Raman Spectroscopy
- 2021
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Ingår i: ACS Nano. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1936-0851 .- 1936-086X. ; 15:8, s. 13504-13515
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Water electrolysis powered by renewable energies is a promising technology to produce sustainable fossil free fuels. The development and evaluation of effective catalysts are here imperative; however, due to the inclusion of elements with different redox properties and reactivity, these materials undergo dynamical changes and phase transformations during the reaction conditions. NiMoO4 is currently investigated among other metal oxides as a promising noble metal free catalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction. Here we show that at applied bias, NiMoO4·H2O transforms into γ-NiOOH. Time resolved operando Raman spectroscopy is utilized to follow the potential dependent phase transformation and is collaborated with elemental analysis of the electrolyte, confirming that molybdenum leaches out from the as-synthesized NiMoO4·H2O. Molybdenum leaching increases the surface coverage of exposed nickel sites, and this in combination with the formation of γ-NiOOH enlarges the amount of active sites of the catalyst, leading to high current densities. Additionally, we discovered different NiMoO4 nanostructures, nanoflowers, and nanorods, for which the relative ratio can be influenced by the heating ramp during the synthesis. With selective molybdenum etching we were able to assign the varying X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern as well as Raman vibrations unambiguously to the two nanostructures, which were revealed to exhibit different stabilities in alkaline media by time-resolved in situ and operando Raman spectroscopy. We advocate that a similar approach can beneficially be applied to many other catalysts, unveiling their structural integrity, characterize the dynamic surface reformulation, and resolve any ambiguities in interpretations of the active catalyst phase.
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| 4. |
- Dürr, Robin N.
(författare)
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Potential Electrocatalysts for Water Splitting Devices : A Journey Through the Opportunities and Challenges of Catalyst Classes
- 2022
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Konstnärligt arbete (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this thesis work, different classes of catalysts and their suitability for integration into an electrolyzer cell has been investigated.Ruthenium based molecular catalysts have shown high activities and stabilities towards water oxidation in neutral pH. Especially the oligomeric catalysts exhibited a superior performance. The electrical conductivity of the electrode and the low loading of catalyst might impose limitations on reaching high current densities at reasonable potentials.Among the tested transition metal single atom catalysts, synthesized by pyrolyzing transition metal doped ZIF-8 structures, cobalt has shown the highest activity towards hydrogen evolution and a stable behaviour in acidic pH. The enhanced stability of single atomic sites compared to the corresponding nanoparticles was proposed. However, also for this class of catalyst, the low number of active sites seems to present a difficulty need to be overcome.With the novel method presented to fabricate a membrane electrode assembly, the usage of commonly used expensive membranes could possibly be avoided.Both nickel molybdate hydrate nanoparticle shapes have been proposed to transform in an electrochemical activation step into γ-NiOOH as active phase for the oxygen evolution reaction in alkaline pH. With the removal of molybdenum, a high electrochemical surface area with a large number of exposed nickel sites was indicated to be the origin behind the high catalytic activity of the nanoparticles. Molybdenum was suggested to only serve as structure and pore forming agent. Preliminary results indicated a higher activity for the rod structure towards the oxygen evolution reaction. An essential outcome is that it is uncertain if rods can be isolated synthesized on a nickel foam and hence the absence of the sheet structure should be verified, which could be done for example by selective molybdenum leaching combined with Raman spectroscopy. Furthermore, the two nanostructures are fundamentally different materials and characterized by various techniques.Among all different classes of catalysts investigated, the nanoparticle catalysts seem to be the most promising for a successful integration in a large scale electrolyzer cell for widespread use.
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| 5. |
- Rahman, Mohammad, et al.
(författare)
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Revisiting the Limiting Factors for Overall Water-Splitting on Organic Photocatalysts
- 2020
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Ingår i: Angewandte Chemie International Edition. - : Wiley. - 1433-7851 .- 1521-3773. ; 59:38, s. 16278-16293
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- In pursuit of inexpensive and earth abundant photocatalysts for solar hydrogen production from water, conjugated polymers have shown potential to be a viable alternative to widely used inorganic counterparts. The photocatalytic performance of polymeric photocatalysts, however, is very poor in comparison to that of inorganic photocatalysts. Most of the organic photocatalysts are active in hydrogen production only when a sacrificial electron donor (SED) is added into the solution, and their high performances often rely on presence of noble metal co-catalyst (e.g. Pt). For pursuing a carbon neutral and cost-effective green hydrogen production, unassisted hydrogen production solely from water is one of the critical requirements to translate a mere bench-top research interest into the real world applications. Although this is a generic problem for both inorganic and organic types of photocatalysts, organic photocatalysts are mostly investigated in the half-reaction, and have so far shown limited success in hydrogen production from overall water-splitting. To make progress, this article exclusively discusses critical factors that are limiting the overall water-splitting in organic photocatalysts. Additionally, we also have extended the discussion to issues related to stability, accurate reporting of the hydrogen production as well as challenges to be resolved to reach 10 % STH (solar-to-hydrogen) conversion efficiency.
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