Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Thiophene pi Bridge Effect on Bulky Side-Chained Benzodithiophene-Based Photovoltaic Polymers
No full textRecently, we have used terthiophene side chain to modify benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene (BDT) to form novel building block for BDT polymers. In this paper, this building block is used to copolymerized with thieno[3,4-c]pyrrole-4,6-dione (TPD) and thieno[3,4-b]thiophene (TT). This building block and TPD- or TT-based polymers (P1 and P3) show high open circuit voltage (V-OC) (ca. 0.9-0.95 V) and low energy loss (E-g-eV(OC)) in solar cells devices compared with similar polymers without bulky side chain. We further introduce thiophene pi bridge into these polymers backbone to form two other polymers (P2 and P4). We find this thiophene pi bridge does contribute to this bulky side chained benzodithiophene polymer photovoltaic performances, especially for power conversion efficiencies (PCEs). The polymer solar cells (PSCs) performances are moderate in this article due to the serious aggregation in the PSCs active layer. (C) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc
Functional conservation and divergence of Miscanthus lutarioriparius GT43 gene family in xylan biosynthesis
No full textBackground: Xylan is the most abundant un-cellulosic polysaccharides of plant cell walls. Much progress in xylan biosynthesis has been gained in the model plant species Arabidopsis. Two homologous pairs Irregular Xylem 9 (IRX9)/9L and IRX14/14L from glycosyltransferase (GT) family 43 have been proved to play crucial roles in xylan backbone biosynthesis. However, xylan biosynthesis in grass such as Miscanthus remains poorly understood
Highly selective hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol over Pt nanoparticles supported on g-C3N4 nanosheets catalysts in water
No full textGraphitic carbon nitride nanosheets were investigated for developing effective Pt catalyst supports for selective hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol in water. The nanosheets with an average thickness of about 3 nm were synthesized by a simple and green method through thermal oxidation etching of bulk g-C3N4 in air. Combined with the unique feature of nitrogen richness and locally conjugated structure, the g-C3N4 nanosheets with a high surface area of 142 m(2) g(-1) were demonstrated to be an excellent supports for loading small-size Pt nanoparticles. Superior furfural hydrogenation activity in water with complete conversion of furfural and high selectivity of furfuryl alcohol (> 99%) was observed for g-C3N4 nanosheets supported Pt catalysts. The large specific surface area, uniform dispersion of Pt nanoparticles and the stronger furfural adsorption ability of nanosheets contributed to the considerable catalytic performance. The reusability tests showed that the novel Pt catalyst could maintain high activity and stability in the furfural hydrogenation reaction
Incorporating a vertical BDT unit in conjugated polymers for drastically improving the open-circuit voltage of polymer solar cells
No full textIn order to search for new wide band gap materials, vertical benzodithiophene (BDT) is designed as an electron donating unit to construct D-A type conjugated polymers. Two polymers PVB1 and PVB2 were synthesized by the Stille coupling reaction with benzothiadiazole (BT) and thieno[3,4-c]pyrrole-4,6-dione (TPD) as the accepting moieties, respectively. These polymers show wide optical band gaps of over 2.0 eV and low HOMO energy levels of below -5.5 eV. Polymer solar cell (PSC) devices were fabricated using the above polymers as donors and fullerene derivatives as acceptors. PSCs based on PVB1 and PC71BM showed a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 2.84% with a V-oc of 1.00 V, a J(sc) of 6.80 mA cm(-2) and a FF of 0.42. And PSCs based on PVB2 and PC71BM showed a PCE of 2.05% with a V-oc of 1.09 V, a J(sc) of 5.33 mA cm(-2) and a FF of 0.35. Both polymers showed a high V-oc of over 1.0 V, which should be attributed to the deep-lying HOMO levels of the polymers. They would be potential candidates as wide band gap components to construct tandem solar cells
Enhanced methane production via repeated batch bioaugmentation pattern of enriched microbial consortia
No full textUsing batch and repeated batch cultivations, this study investigated the effects of bioaugmentation with enriched microbial consortia ( named as EMC) on methane production from effluents of hydrogen-producing stage of potato slurry, as well as on the indigenous bacterial community. The results demonstrated that the improved methane production and shift of the indigenous bacterial community structure were dependent on the EMC/sludge ratio and bioaugmentation patterns. The methane yield and production rate in repeated batch bioaugmentation pattern of EMC were, respectively, average 15% and 10% higher than in one-time bioaugmentation pattern of EMC. DNA-sequencing approach showed that the enhanced methane production in the repeated batch bioaugmentation pattern of EMC mainly resulted from the enriched iron-reducing bacteria and the persistence of the introduced Syntrophomonas, which led to a rapid degradation of individual VFAs to methane. The findings contributed to understanding the correlation between the bioaugmentation of microbial consortia, community shift, and methane production. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Growth and palmitoleic acid accumulation of filamentous oleaginous microalgae Tribonema minus at varying temperatures and light regimes
No full textPalmitoleic acid (C16:1 Delta 9), contributes greatly to human health, industrial chemicals and biodiesel. The filamentous oleaginous microalgae Tribonema sp. has been identified as a highly efficient producer of palmitoleic acid. Temperature and light regime were adapted to regulate the palmitoleic acid content in this study. Strain T. minus was able to grow well at all the tested temperatures, even at 5 A degrees C. The optimum temperature for palmitoleic acid accumulation (54.25 % of total fatty acid) was 25 A degrees C. Moreover, both light intensity and photoperiod affect the growth, lipid content and fatty acid files of T. minus. The culture exposed to 240 mu mol photons m(-2) s(-1) with a photoperiod of 24:0 showed the highest biomass (6.87 g L-1) and biggest lipid content (61.27 % of dry weight), whereas the most amount of palmitoleic acid (50.47 % of total fatty acid) was detected at 120 mu mol photons m(-2) s(-1). These findings make tangible contributions to culture T. minus for commercial production of lipid or palmitoleic acid
Effect of Rare-Earth Ionic Radius on Microstructure and Electrical Property of Rare-Earth Zirconate Ceramics
No full textThe microstructure and electrical conductivity of A(2)Zr(2)O(7) ceramic have been investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) coupled with selected area electron diffraction (SAED), Raman spectroscopy and Impedance spectroscopy. The results show that the degree of structural order of rare-earth zirconates A(2)Zr(2)O(7) ceramics gradually decreases with reducing ionic radius of rare-earth cations. The Sm2Zr2O7 and EuzZr(2)O(7) ceramics exhibit an ordered pyrochlore phase, while Gd2Zr2O7 and Dy2Zr2O7 ceramics have a disordered fluorite phase. Pyrochlore-type Eu2Zr2O7 ceramic with a relatively low structural order degree shows the maximum grain conductivity of 1.03 x 10(-2) S.cm(-1) at 1173 K, as compared with that of other rare-earth zirconates
High performance germanium-based anode materials
No full textGermanium has attracted much attention in recent decades due its intrinsic suitability for use in lithium ion batteries. It has a high capacity (1384 mA h g(-1), corresponding to Li15Ge4), excellent lithium-ion diffusivity (400 times faster than Si), and high electrical conductivity (10(4) times higher than Si). However, its range of applications is hindered by the huge volume change during the lithiation and delithiation process (similar to 250% in a lithiated state for Li15Ge4 and similar to 300% for Li22Ge5), thereby resulting in electrode pulverization and its isolation from the current collector, which finally leads to the loss of capacity and poor cycling performance. Much research has been conducted to improve the electrochemical performance of germanium materials with great success in recent years. The present review focuses on the synthetic routes and novel electrode structures used for germanium anodes to obtain electrodes with excellent performance. To present these experimental results in a systematic manner, they are categorized as follows: (i) nanostructured germanium; (ii) porous anode materials; (iii) coating or doping designs; (iv) alloyed germanium materials; (v) GeO2-based anode materials; and (vi) the future outlook is considered. Finally, our personal perspectives on germanium electrode design are presented as well as suggestions for further research into novel germanium anode materials. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V
Synthesis and characterization of novel indacenodithiophene-based narrow band-gap polymers with pendant isoindigo units for polymer solar cells
No full textTwo novel indacenodithiophene (IDT) based donor-acceptor (D-A) narrow band-gap polymers PIDTBDTID and PIDTBDT(ID)(2) were designed and synthesized, where one/two isoindigo (ID) moieties were introduced into the backbone as the acceptor unit. The optical, thermal, electrochemical and photovoltaic properties have been investigated in detail. The PIDTBDTID containing one ID unit exhibited better light-harvesting properties and charge transport properties. On the other hand, the PIDTBDT(ID)(2) with two ID units displayed lower the highest occupied molecular orbital energy levels (HOMO). Using these polymers as electron donors and (6,6)-phenyl-C-71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) as electron acceptor, polymer solar cells (PSCs) based on PIDTBDTID exhibited better photovoltaic performance with a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 2.66%, an open-circuit voltage (V-oc) of 0.87 V and an enhanced short-circuit current (J(sc)) of 7.24 mA cm(-2). While the PIDTBDT(ID)(2)-based PSCs shown a PCE of 2.50%, an improved V-oc of 0.93 V and an J(sc) of 6.34 mA cm(-2). (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Silicon Compound Decorated Photoanode for Performance Enhanced Visible Light Driven Water Splitting
No full textAn efficient dye (1) sensitized photoelectrochemical cell (DS-PEC) has been assembled with a silicon compound (3-chloropropyl) trimethoxy-silane (Si-Cl) decorated working electrode (WE) TiO2(1 + 2). The introduction of this Si-Cl molecule on photoanode leads to better performances on efficiency than untreated ones for light driven water splitting. The firm Si-O layer formed on TiO2 increased the resistance of the TiO2/catalyst interface which is assumed to decrease charge recombination from TiO2 to the oxidized catalyst 2. The work presented here provides an effective method to improve the performances of DS-PECs. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved