| 1. |
- Bandara, Tmwj, et al.
(författare)
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Efficiency enhancement and chrono-photoelectron generation in dye-sensitized solar cells based on spin-coated TiO2 nanoparticle multilayer photoanodes and a ternary iodide gel polymer electrolyte
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Materials Science-Materials in Electronics. - 0957-4522. ; 34:28
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The effect of the thickness of a multilayer TiO2 photoanode on the performance of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) made with a polyethylene oxide-based gel polymer electrolyte containing ternary iodides and performance enhancer 4-tert-butylpyridine is studied. Multilayer photoanodes consisting of up to seven layers of TiO2 nano-particles (13 nm and 21 nm) are prepared by spin coating of successive layers. XRD results confirm the predominant presence of the anatase phase of TiO2 in the multilayer structure after sintering. The SEM images reveal the formation of a single TiO2 film upon sintering due to merging of individually deposited layers. The photocurrent density (J(SC)) and the efficiency increase with the number of TiO2 layers exhibiting the maximum efficiency and J(SC) of 5.5% and 12.5 mA cm(-2), respectively, for the 5-layered electrode of total thickness 4.0 mu m with a 9.66 x 10(-8) mol cm(-2) surface dye concentration. The present study introduces a method of determining the rate of effective photoelectron generation and the average time gap between two successive photon absorptions where the respective results are 1.34 molecule(-1) s(-1) and 0.74 s for the most efficient cell studied in this work.
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| 2. |
- Bandara, T M W J, 1968, et al.
(författare)
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Transport parameters of charge carriers in PEO-LiTf-based, plasticized, composite, and plasticized-composite electrolytes intended for Li-ion batteries
- 2022
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Ingår i: Ionics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0947-7047 .- 1862-0760. ; 28:6, s. 2701-2714
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Solid polymer electrolytes are a key component in many electrochemical devices such as dye-sensitized solar cells, batteries, and supercapacitors. In this study, three electrolytes based on polyethylene oxide (PEO) host polymer, ethylene carbonate (EC) plasticizer, and Al2O3 filler were investigated. The polymer electrolytes (PEO)9(EC)9(LiCF3SO3)2, (PEO)9(LiCF3SO3)2(Al2O3)0.75, and (PEO)9(EC)9(LiCF3SO3)2(Al2O3)0.75 were characterized by analyzing DC conductivity, the frequency dependence of AC conductivity, and complex dielectric function. The conductivities of the plasticized, composite, and plasticized-composite electrolytes at 26 °C increase from 6.25, 0.009, and 2.96 mS cm-1 to 21.5, 0.12, and 11.4 mS cm-1, respectively, when the temperature increased to 70 °C. For the in-depth analysis of electrolytes, dielectric analysis was used to determine the charge carrier density (n), mobility (μ), and diffusion coefficient (D) using a newly developed method. Further, the investigation extended to study the temperature dependence of n, D, and μ. The study reveals that EC can increase the ionic conductivity by increasing n, and conversely, filler contributes by increasing μ, respectively. At 26 °C, (PEO)9(EC)9(LiCF3SO3)2(Al2O3)0.75 shows D, μ, and n of 3.8×10-11 m2 s-1, 1.5×10-9 m2 V-1 s-1, and 1.3×1027 m-3, respectively. The values obtained for D, μ, and n parameters of the plasticized electrolytes agree with those available for similar electrolytes, while the composite electrolyte showed considerably lower values for n. The complex impedance analysis can be used to determine transport parameters of all the types (plasticized, composite, and plasticized composite) of polymer electrolytes.
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| 3. |
- Bandara, Tmwj, et al.
(författare)
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Nano structured diatom frustules incorporated into TiO2 photoelectrodes to enhance performance of quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells
- 2023
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Ingår i: Optical Materials. - 0925-3467. ; 146
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Diatom frustules are incorporated into multilayer photoelectrodes intending to enhance efficiency in dyesensitized solar cells utilizing their light interaction properties. A specific, but ubiquitous in all oceans, pennate-type diatom frustules were used to form the composite layers. Single, double, and triple-layer photoelectrodes were constructed with pure TiO2 (control measurements) as well as with a TiO2/diatom frustule composite. The electrodes were prepared using TiO2 nanoparticles of two sizes (13 and 21 nm) and were analyzed using UV visible absorption and XRD spectra. The morphology of frustules and electrodes were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy. The performance for each photoanode configuration was measured by assembling photoelectrochemical solar cells fabricated with a Pt counter electrode and a gel polymer electrolyte that excludes volatile solvents. The efficiency of the control cell is 3.37%. After replacing the topmost TiO2 layer with a TiO2/diatom frustule composite layer, efficiency increases to 6.78%. This is an impressive efficiency enhancement of 101%. The short circuit current density of frustule-incorporated threelayer cells is 18.1 mA cm-1 while for the control cell it is 8.98 mA cm-1. The enhanced efficiency of cells made with TiO2/diatom frustule composite electrodes and a polyethylene oxide-based gel polymer electrolyte can be attributed to the improved light absorption by the photoanode due to optical scattering and light-trapping effects caused by the presence of diatom frustules. Frustules also can assist in enhancing dye adsorption by increasing the effective specific surface area of the composite photoelectrode due to their nanoporous structure.
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| 4. |
- Bandara, T M W J, 1968, et al.
(författare)
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Activated carbon synthesized from Jack wood biochar for high performing biomass derived composite double layer supercapacitors
- 2024
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Ingår i: Carbon Trends. - 2667-0569. ; 15
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this study, the electrochemical properties of bioderived activated carbon-based electrodes for supercapacitors formed using a sintered ceramic binder were investigated. Activated carbon derived from Jack wood tree (Artocarpus heterophyllus) with variable amounts of TiO2 nanoparticles as a binder, were used as electrodes in order to get good, activated carbon films on FTO substrates. No other binders were used in this study since most conventional binders devastate the electrical conductivity in the films. Furthermore, TiO2 has higher temperature tolerance compared to polymeric binders thus the electrode prepared can be used in wider applications. A series of electrochemical double-layer capacitors were fabricated and characterized by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge measurements. The supercapacitors prepared showed double-layer capacitive behavior. The electrodes that contain 90 % activated carbon and 10 % TiO2 show optimum performance along with an impressive specific capacitance of 147 F g−1 at 2 mV s−1 scan rate. This supercapacitor exhibits a power density of 68.5 W kg−1 while the energy density is 8.02 Wh kg−1. When the power density is as high as 1186.51 W kg−1 the energy density drops to 5.71 Wh kg−1. According to cyclic voltammetry measurements taken for 1000 cycles, the supercapacitor shows excellent cycle stability without any traces of capacitance drop.
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| 5. |
- Bandara, T M W J, 1968, et al.
(författare)
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Binary counter ion effects and dielectric behavior of iodide ion conducting gel-polymer electrolytes for high-efficiency quasi-solid-state solar cells
- 2020
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Ingår i: Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1463-9076 .- 1463-9084. ; 22:22, s. 12532-12543
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A series of highly efficient quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) is prepared by harnessing the binary cation effect and positive effects of the selected performance enhancers of gel-polymer electrolytes. The new electrolyte is composed of polyacrylonitrile polymer, tetra-hexylammonium iodide (Hex(4)NI) and KI binary salts as well as 4-tertbutylpyridine and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium iodide performance enhancers. The charge transport in the series of electrolytes is thermally activated and, accordingly, the temperature dependence of conductivity follows the VTF behavior. The enhancement of conductivity is observed with an increasing mass fraction of KI and decreasing mass fraction of Hex(4)NI, while the total mass fraction of salts in the electrolyte is kept unchanged. The highest conductivity of 3.74 mS cm(-1)at ambient temperature is shown by the sample containing KI only (without Hex(4)NI) at all the temperatures. The effects of dielectric polarization of the electrolytes are studied by analyzing the frequency dependence of the real and the imaginary parts of the AC conductivity in detail. Appropriate and reproducible cell construction are assured by efficiencies of above 5% exhibited by all the quasi-solid-state DSCs assembled using double-layered TiO(2)photo-electrodes and the new electrolyte series. Besides, highlighting the mixed cation effect, the cells with mixed salts exhibited efficiencies greater than 6%. An impressively high efficiency of 7.36% was shown by the DSC prepared with electrolyte containing 75 wt% KI and 25 wt% Hex(4)NI. This study reveals that the salt combination of KI and Hex(4)NI, which has not been reported before, is a suitable binary iodide salt mixture to prepare highly efficient DSCs. The replacement of tetra-hexylammonium ions by K(+)ions improves the charge transport in the electrolyte; however, the best solar cell performance is shown by the mixed salt system with 75 wt% KI and 25 wt% Hex(4)NI, which is not the highest conductivity composition. Therefore, the exhibited high efficiency of 7.36% is evidently due to the binary cation effect.
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| 6. |
- Dissanayake, M. A. K. L., et al.
(författare)
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High-efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells fabricated with electrospun PVdF-HFP polymer nanofibre-based gel electrolytes
- 2023
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Ingår i: Bulletin of Materials Science. - 0973-7669 .- 0250-4707. ; 46:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-HFP) electrospun polymer nanofibre-based quasi-solid or gel electrolytes were successfully fabricated by incorporating a liquid electrolyte within the nanofibre membrane. The dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) fabricated with gel and with liquid electrolyte were characterized by photocurrent–voltage measurements and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements. The maximum efficiency (η) of 6.79% was observed for the DSSC fabricated with optimized nanofibre membrane thickness, corresponding to 4 min of electrospinning time. The optimized PVdF-HFP nanofibre gel electrolyte shows an ionic conductivity of 7.16 × 10−3 S cm–1 at 25°C, while the corresponding liquid electrolyte exhibits an ionic conductivity of 11.69 × 10–3 S cm–1 at the same temperature. The open circuit voltage (Voc), short circuit current density (Jsc) and fill factor were recorded as 801.40 mV, 12.70 mA cm–2, and 66.67%, respectively, at an incident light intensity of 100 mW cm–2 with a 1.5 AM filter. The nanofibre gel electrolyte-based cell showed an efficiency of 6.79%, whereas the efficiency of the conventional liquid electrolyte-based cell was 7.28% under the same conditions. Furthermore, nanofibre gel electrolyte-based cells exhibited better stability, maintaining 85.40% of initial efficiency after 120 h. These results show that the optimized, polymer nanofibre-based gel electrolyte can be used successfully to replace the liquid electrolyte in DSSCs without much loss of efficiency but improving the stability while minimizing most of the drawbacks associated with liquid electrolytes.
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| 7. |
- Salve, Maruti V., et al.
(författare)
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Highly Crystalline and Stoichiometric Growth of CdTe by Cost-Effective Hydrothermal Technique
- 2024
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Ingår i: JOURNAL OF ELECTRONIC MATERIALS. - 0361-5235 .- 1543-186X.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- CdTe powder samples have been synthesized using a hydrothermal approach, employing cadmium acetate and tellurium dioxides as sources of Cd and Te, respectively. NaBH4 was utilized as the reducing agent, and double-distilled water was used as the solvent in the synthesis process. The effect of annealing on the synthesized samples was investigated. The samples have been characterized by x-ray powder diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The electrical properties (current-voltage and capacitance-voltage) of the as-prepared and annealed CdTe pellets were investigated. These findings indicate that annealing can lead to improvements in crystallinity, crystallite size, and electrical conductance. This paper presents a simple, cost-effective, and versatile method for producing significant amounts of CdTe nanostructure powders with properties suitable for use in the fabrication of CdS/CdTe solar cells.
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| 8. |
- Sorelius, Karl, et al.
(författare)
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The Microbiology of Infective Native Aortic Aneurysms in a Population-Based Setting
- 2022
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Ingår i: Annals of Vascular Surgery. - : Elsevier. - 0890-5096 .- 1615-5947. ; 78, s. 112-122
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: The aim was to describe the microbiology of surgically treated infective native (mycotic) aortic aneurysms (INAAs), and associated survival and development of infection-related complications (IRCs). Methods: Data were pooled from 2 nationwide studies on surgically treated patients with INAAs in Sweden, between 1994 - 2016. Patients were grouped and analyzed according to culture results: 1) Staphylococcus aureus, 2) Streptococcus species (sp.), 3) Salmonella sp., 4) Enterococcus sp., 5) Gram-negative intestinal bacteria, 6) Other sp. (all other species found in culture), and 7) Negative cultures. Results: A sum of 182 patients were included, mean age 71 years (standard deviation; SD: 8.9). The median follow-up was 50.3 months (range 0 - 360). 128 (70.3%) patients had positive blood and/or tissue culture; Staphylococcus aureus n = 38 (20.9%), Streptococcus sp. n = 37 (20.3%), Salmonella sp. n = 19 (10.4%), Enterococcus sp. n = 16 (8.8%), Gram-negative intestinal bacteria n = 6, (3.3%), Other sp. n = 12 (6.6%) and Negative cultures n = 54 (29.7%). The estimated survival for the largest groups at 2-years after surgery was: Staphylococcus aureus 62% (95% Confidence interval 53.9 - 70.1), Streptococcus sp. 74.7% (67.4 - 82.0), Salmonella sp. 73.7% (63.6 - 83.8), Enterococcus sp. 61.9% (49.6 - 74.2), and Negative cultures 89.8% (85.5 - 94.1), P =.051. There were 37 IRCs (20.3%), and 19 (51.4%) were fatal, the frequency was insignificant between the groups. The majority of IRCs, 30/37 (81%), developed during the first postoperative year. Conclusion: In this assessment of microbiological findings of INAAs in Sweden, 50% of the pathogens were Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus sp., or Salmonella sp.. The overall 20%-frequency of IRCs, and its association with high mortality, motivates long-term antibiotic treatment regardless of microbial findings.
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| 9. |
- Öhman, Annika, et al.
(författare)
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Transplantation-free survival after Norwood surgery for hypoplastic left heart syndrome with aortic atresia: A Swedish national cohort study
- 2020
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Ingår i: Cardiology in the Young. - : Cambridge University Press (CUP). - 1047-9511 .- 1467-1107. ; 30:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Norwood surgery has been available in Sweden since 1993. In this national cohort study, we analysed transplantation-free survival after Norwood surgery for hypoplastic left heart syndrome with aortic atresia. Methods: Patients were identified from the complete national cohort of live-born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome/aortic atresia 1993-2010. Analysis of survival after surgery was performed using Cox proportional hazards models for the total cohort and for birth period and gender separately. Thirty-day mortality and inter-stage mortality were analysed. Patients were followed until September 2016. Results: The 1993-2010 cohort consisted of 208 live-born infants. Norwood surgery was performed in 121/208 (58%). The overall transplantation-free survival was 61/121 (50%). The survival was higher in the late period (10-year survival 63%) than in the early period (10-year survival 40%) (p = 0.010) and lower for female (10-year survival 34%) than for male patients (10-year survival 59%) (p = 0.002). Inter-stage mortality between stages I and II decreased from 23 to 8% (p = 0.008). For male patients, low birthweight in relation to gestational age was a factor associated with poor outcome. Conclusion: The survival after Norwood surgery for hypoplastic left heart syndrome/aortic atresia improved by era of surgery, mainly explained by improved survival between stages I and II. Female gender was a significant risk factor for death or transplantation. For male patients, there was an increased risk of death when birthweight was lower than expected in relation to gestational age.
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