Στην εργασία αυτή πραγματοποιήθηκε μια βιβλιογραφική ανασκόπηση σχετικά με τις ευαισθητοποιημένες ηλεκτροχημικές κυψελίδες και τα οργανικά φ/β, τις αρχές λειτουργίας τους,τα υλικά τους και τους τρόπους παρασκευής τους. Παρασκευάσαμε ηλεκτροχημικές κυψελίδες χρησιμοποιώντας διαφορετικές χρωστικές και αντιηλεκτρόδια. Όλες οι κυψελίδες δοκιμάστηκαν κάτω από διαφορετικές συνθήκες για την εύρεση των παραγόντων που επηρεάζουν την απόδοσή τους. Παράγοντες όπως το πάχος και η τραχύτητα του υμενίου, διαφορετικές χρωστικές και αντιηλεκτρόδια κτλ βελτιστοποιήθηκαν για την αύξηση τησ απόδοσης. Επίσης εξετάστηκε η σταθερότητα των κυψελίδων αυτών με το χρόνο. Τέλος εξετάστηκαν και εξηγήθηκαν οι παράγοντες για τη χαμηλή απόδοση των κυψελίδων. / In this study we make a comprehensive literature review on dye-sensitized nanostructured and organic solar cells, their operating principles, materials as well as their manufacturing methods. We have fabricated dye – sensitized electrochemical solar cells using different dyes and counter electrodes. All solar cells were tested under different conditions in order to find the factors limiting their efficiency. Factors like film thickness and roughness, different dyes and counter electrodes etc were changed in order to improve efficiency. The stability of these solar cells were also evaluated for different time intervals. The efficiency was rather low and the reasons for this are examined and explained thorougηly.

The polymer light-emitting electrochemical cell (LEC) is an alternative method for producing electroluminescence (EL) from conjugated luminescent polymers. The in situ electrochemical doping process that leads to a dynamic p-n junction makes the devices highly insensitive to device thickness and relatively insensitive to electrode materials. These characteristics make an extremely large planar configuration accessible for observing the cross-section of the device and watching it turn on dynamically. By cooling the device to freeze ionic motion, the junction can be stabilized and photovoltaic (PV) characteristics investigated. In the planar configuration, the p-n junction was found to make up a small fraction of the inter-electrode spacing. Enabled by the insensitivity to electrode materials, small metallic particles embedded in the LEC film led to a large number of p-n junctions that could be turned on in series and parallel. This alleviates the issue of low specific emitting area suffered by planar devices and leads to improved EL effciency as well as a high open circuit voltage (Voc) when operated as a PV cell. The bulk homojunction fabrication process has been optimized by segregating the metallic particles to eliminate large aggregates. A new technique to achieve highly uniform EL from large planar LECs is also presented here. By the evaporation of a thin gold or silver film on top of an LEC, independent islands form that act as doping initiation sites across the device width. A bulk homojunction is turned on in the top layer of the LEC with a high applied bias. Island diameters and spacings are several orders of magnitude smaller than the particles in previously-reported bulk homojunction devices. Both island and particle devices had their interelectrode spacings scaled down by at least a factor of 10. The successful scaling is a promising result for the possibility of a sandwich configuration bulk homojunction device. In the case of silver island devices, cooling a 50-micron wide device after turn-on resulted in a PV cell with an open circuit voltage of 8.3 V, several times the band gap of the luminescent polymer used. / Thesis (Master, Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy) -- Queen's University, 2008-09-12 12:21:12.949

The introduction of artificial illumination has brought extensive benefits to mankind, and during the last years we have seen a tremendous progress in this field with the introduction of the energy-efficient light-emitting diode (LED) and the high-contrast organic LED display. These high-end technologies are, however, produced using costly and complex processes, and it is anticipated that the next big thing in the field will be the advent of a low-cost and “green” illumination technology, which can be fabricated in a cost- and material-efficient manner using non-toxic and abundant raw materials, and which features attractive form factors such as flexibility, robustness and light-weight. The light-emitting electrochemical cell (LEC) is a newly invented illumination technology, and in this thesis we present results that imply that it can turn the above vision into reality. The thin-film LEC comprises an active material sandwiched between a cathode and an anode as its key constituent parts. With the aid of a handheld air-brush, we show that functional large-area LECs can be fabricated by simply spraying three layers of solution -- forming the anode, active material, and cathode -- on top of a substrate. We also demonstrate that such “spray-sintered” LECs can feature multicolored emission patterns, and be fabricated directly on complex-shaped surfaces, with one notable example being the realization of a light-emission fork! Almost all LECs up-to-date have been fabricated on glass substrates, but for a flexible and light-weight emissive device, it is obviously relevant to identify more appropriate substrate materials. For this end, we show that it is possible to spray-coat the entire LEC directly on conventional copy paper, and that such paper-LECs feature uniform light-emission even under heavy bending and flexing. We have further looked into the fundamental aspects of the LEC operation and demonstrated that the in-situ doping formation, which is a characteristic and heralded feature of LECs, can bring problems in the form of doping-induced self-absorption. By quantitatively analyzing this phenomenon, we provided straightforward guidelines on how future efficiency-optimized LEC devices should be designed. The in-situ doping formation process brings the important advantage that LECs can be fabricated from solely air-stabile materials, but during light emission the device needs to be protected from the ambient air. We have therefore developed a functional glass/epoxy encapsulation procedure for the attainment of LEC devices that feature a record-long ambient-air operational lifetime of 5600 h. For the light-emission device of the future, it is however critical that the encapsulation is flexible, and in our last study, we show that the use of multi-layer barrier can result in high-performance flexible LECs.

abstract: Microbial electrochemical cells (MXCs) serve as an alternative anaerobic technology to anaerobic digestion for efficient energy recovery from high-strength organic wastes such as primary sludge (PS). The overarching goal of my research was to address energy conversion from PS to useful resources (e.g. hydrogen or hydrogen peroxide) through bio- and electro-chemical anaerobic conversion processes in MXCs. First, a new flat-pate microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) was designed with high surface area anodes using carbon fibers, but without creating a large distance between the anode and the cathode (<0.5 cm) to reduce Ohmic overpotential. Through the improved design, operation, and electrochemical characterization, the applied voltages were reduced from 1.1 to ~0.85 V, at 10 A m-2. Second, PS conversion was examined through hydrolysis, fermentation, methanogenesis, and/or anode respiration. Since pretreatment often is required to accelerate hydrolysis of organic solids, I evaluated pulsed electric field technology on PS showing a modest improvement of energy conversion through methanogenesis and fermentation, as compared to the conversion from waste activated sludge (WAS) or WAS+PS. Then, a two-stage system (prefermented PS-fed MEC) yielded successful performance in terms of Coulombic efficiency (95%), Coulombic recovery (CR, 80%), and COD-removal efficiency (85%). However, overall PS conversion to electrical current (or CR) through pre-fermentation and MEC, was just ~16%. Next, a single-stage system (direct PS-fed MEC) with semi-continuous operation showed 34% CR at a 9-day hydraulic retention time. The PS-fed MEC also showed an important pH dependency, in which high pH (> 8) in the anode chamber improved anode respiration along with methanogen inhibition. Finally, H2O2 was produced in a PS-fed microbial electrochemical cell with a low energy requirement (~0.87 kWh per kg H2O2). These research developments will provide groundbreaking knowledge for MXC design, commercial application, and anaerobic energy conversion from other high-strength organic wastes to resources. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Civil and Environmental Engineering 2016

As células eletroquímicas emissoras de luz são dispositivos eletroluminescentes cuja camada ativa é uma mistura de um material eletroluminescente e um eletrólito sólido a base de sais de metais alcalinos, geralmente lítio. A presença dos íons na camada ativa modificam o mecanismo de funcionamento das células quando comparadas ao diodos emissores de luz. Nas células, a concentração de íons nas interfaces eletródicas forma uma dupla camada elétrica que auxilia a injeção de cargas na camada ativa, por sua vez e na presença dos íons, o material eletroluminescente sofre dopagem se tornando condutor, os portadores injetados irão se encontrar numa região da camada ativa recombinando-se e emitindo luz. Compreender as interações dos diversos materiais que formam a camada ativa é fundamental para otimizar o desempenho do dispositivo. Neste trabalho estudamos a interação do ADS108GE, um polímero luminescente, e um eletrólito sólido a base de poli (óxido de etileno) (PEO) e LiCF3SO3 ou LiB(C2O4)2. O LiB(C2O4)2 foi sintetizado neste trabalho para estudar a viabilidade de se substituir o LiCF3SO3 que é o sal tipicamente utilizado nas células. Foram utilizadas técnicas de Análise Dinâmico-Mecânica (DMA), Espectroscopia Vibracional no Infravermelho (FTIR), Microscopia de Força Atômica (AFM), Difração de Raios-X (DRX), Microscopia Óptica de Varredura no Campo Próximo (IR-SNOM), Impedância Elétrica e Voltametria Cíclica. Os resultados de DMA em conjunto com DRX e AFM, permitiram estabelecer que o aumento da concentração de sal contribui para mudanças morfológicas que se relacionam com o aumento da fração de fase amorfa e independem do ânion, demonstrando que estes efeitos estão ligados à interação PEO-Lítio. Por outro lado, os espectros de FTIR e resultados de impedância elétrica mostram que o aumento da concentração de LiCF3SO3 gera agregação do sal diminuindo a condutividade, a mobilidade iônica e o número de portadores efetivos, enquanto para o LiB(C2O4)2 não se observa tal efeito. O IR-SNOM permitiu identificar nas misturas utilizadas como camada ativa que o ADS108GE forma estruturas globulares embebidas numa matriz de PEO. Do ponto de vista operacional, as células a base de LiB(C2O4)2 possuem uma eficiência maior do que as a base LiCF3SO3 e maior estabilidade. / Light-emitting electrochemical cells are electroluminescent devices whose active layer is a mixture of an electroluminescent material and a solid electrolyte based on alkaline salts, usually a lithium salt. The ions within thea ctive layer change the devices working mechanism when compared to light emitting diodes. In the cells, there is an ion build up at electrodic interfaces creating an electric double layer allowing charge injection in the active layer. The electroluminescent material is doped by these injected charges becoming conductive. These injected charges recombine emitting light. In order to optimize devices performance, it is fundamental to study materials interactions when mixed as an active layer. In this work, we studied the interactions between ADS108GE, a luminescent polymer, and a solid electrolyte based on polyethylene oxide and LiCF3SO3 or LiB(C2O4)2. LiB(C2O4)2 was prepared in this work to assess its feasibility as LiCF3SO3 substitution which is the typical choice. We used the following techniques in this work: Dynamical Mechanical Analysis (DMA), Infrared Vibration Spectroscopy (FTIR), Atomic Force Microscopy AFM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Infrared Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy (IRSNOM), Electrical Impedance and Cyclic Voltammetry. From DMA, XRD and AFM results, it is possible to conclude that as we increase salt concentration, the active layer has morphological changes related to an increasing fraction of an amorphous phase. These effects are anion independent showing that PEO-Li interactions are the responsible ones. On the other hand, FITR and electrical impedance experiments show that increasing LiCF3SO3 concentration leads to salt aggregation decreasing conductivity, ionic mobility and the effective number of carriers, moreover, we do not see this effect with LiB(C2O4)2. IR-SNOM identified that ADS108GE were organized as globular structures embedded in a PEO matrix. The cells made with LiB(C2O4)2 were more efficient than those based on LiCF3SO3 and were even more stable.

abstract: Eighty-two percent of the United States population reside in urban areas. The centralized treatment of the municipal wastewater produced by this population is a huge energy expenditure, up to three percent of the entire energy budget of the country. A portion of this energy is able to be recovered through the process of anaerobic sludge digestion. Typically, this technology converts the solids separated and generated during the wastewater treatment process into methane, a combustible gas that may be burned to generate electricity. Designing and optimizing anaerobic digestion systems requires the measurement of degradation rates for waste-specific kinetic parameters. In this work, I discuss the ways these kinetic parameters are typically measured. I recommend and demonstrate improvements to these commonly used measuring techniques. I provide experimental results of batch kinetic experiments exploring the effect of sludge pretreatment, a process designed to facilitate rapid breakdown of recalcitrant solids, on energy recovery rates. I explore the use of microbial electrochemical cells, an alternative energy recovery technology able to produce electricity directly from sludge digestion, as precise reporters of degradation kinetics. Finally, I examine a fundamental kinetic limitation of microbial electrochemical cells, acidification of the anode respiring biofilm, to improve their performance as kinetic sensors or energy recovery technologies. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering 2020

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:42:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T14:02:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 05232.pdf: 6473842 bytes, checksum: 88d593005dc2c79ae422916e7fcaf0d9 (MD5) / Tese (Doutoramento) / IPEN/T / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN/CNEN-SP

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:42:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T14:02:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 05232.pdf: 6473842 bytes, checksum: 88d593005dc2c79ae422916e7fcaf0d9 (MD5) / Tese (Doutoramento) / IPEN/T / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN/CNEN-SP

Submitted by Mery Piedad Zamudio Igami (mery@ipen.br) on 2017-03-10T14:01:35Z No. of bitstreams: 1 22055.pdf: 3779679 bytes, checksum: 1767805f3b1e9fdf7bf631de29d2a79c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-10T14:01:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 22055.pdf: 3779679 bytes, checksum: 1767805f3b1e9fdf7bf631de29d2a79c (MD5) / Os eletrocatalisadores quartenários PtSnAuRh/C e PtRuAuRh/C foram preparados nas proporções 50:40:5:5, 60:30:5:5, 70:20:5:5, 80:10:5:5, 90:4:3:3 e para as composições terciárias PtSnAu/C, PtSnRh/C, PtRuAu/C, PtRuRh/C preparados na proporção atômica 50:45:5 com (20% em massa) pelo método da redução por álcool utilizando H2PtCl6.6H2O, RuCl3·xH2O, SnCl2.2H2O, HAuCl4.3H2O e RhCl3.xH2O, como fonte de metais e carbono Vulcan XC72 como suporte e, por último, etileno glicol como agente redutor. Os eletrocatalisadores obtidos foram caracterizados fisicamente por difração de raios-X (DRX), energia dispersiva de raios X (EDX) e microscopia eletrônica de transmissão (MET). As análises por EDX mostraram que as razões atômicas dos diferentes eletrocatalisadores, preparados pelo método da redução por álcool, foram similares às composições nominais de partida indicando que esta metodologia é eficiente para a preparação destes eletrocatalisadores. Em todos os difratogramas para os eletrocatalisadores preparados observa-se um pico largo em aproximadamente 2&theta; = 25°, o qual é associado ao suporte de carbono e quatro outros picos de difração em aproximadamente 2&theta; = 40°, 47°, 67° e 82°, que por sua vez são associados aos planos (111), (200), (220) e (311), respectivamente, da estrutura cúbica de face centrada (CFC) de platina. Os resultados de difração de raios X apresentaram tamanhos médios de cristalitos entre 2,0 e 5,2 nm para PtSnAuRh/C, PtSnAu/C, PtSnRh/C e 2,0 a 2,6 nm para PtRuAuRh/C, PtRuAu/C, PtRuRh/C. Os estudos para a oxidação eletroquímica do etanol em meio ácido foram realizados utilizando as técnicas de voltametria cíclica e de cronoamperometria em uma solução 0,5 mol.L-1 H2SO4, + 1,0 mol.L-1 de C2H5OH. As curvas de polarização obtidas na célula a combustível unitária, alimentada diretamente por etanol, estão de acordo com os resultados de voltametria e cronoamperometria constatando o efeito benéfico da adição do ouro e ródio na composição dos eletrocatalisadores. / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:26:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T14:06:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Tese (Doutoramento) / IPEN/T / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP