Sharif Digital Repository

Scale-up deposition methods in perovskite solar cell research, are mostly used under humidity environment outside the glove-box. Also, the as-printed absorbing layer before the post-annealing process is always wet. Thus, controlling the morphology and crystallization of perovskite thin-films in up-scaled deposition systems is difficult and strongly investigated by the researchers. In this work, we introduce an anti-solvent-free meniscus printing method in which, the absorbing perovskite film with optimal performance is achieved. To this end, we check the printing parameters to get to the optimized film characteristics. Also, a vacuum chamber (<100 Pa) is used for 30 s to remove the solvent... 

In this paper, we describe a carbon dioxide mineralization process and its associated solid products. These solid products include amorphous silica, iron hydroxides and magnesium carbonates. These products were subjected to various characterization tests, and the results are published here. It was found that the iron hydroxides from this process can have different crystalline properties, and their formation depended very much on the pH of the reaction conditions. Different forms of magnesium carbonate were also obtained, and the type of carbonate precipitated was found to be dependent on the carbonation temperature. Hydromagnesite was obtained mainly at low temperatures, while dypingite was... 

A phenolic-based ionic liquid (IL), 1-(2-hydroxyethyl)-2,3-dimethylimidazolium phenoxide has been introduced for 1.5 molar carbon dioxide (CO2) absorption at ambient conditions without using special methodologies or precautions. The structure of the IL was characterized by various methods such as FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, elemental analysis (EA) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The ability of this IL for CO2 uptake reaches to its maximum value after 2 h. The IL has been reused fr several times with constant efficiency. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations at the B3LYP/6-311++G∗∗ level of calculation have been carried out to gain more structural knowledge... 

The use of air-cooled condenser (ACC) has become very popular in erecting thermal powerplants around the world since two or three decades ago. The advantages of forced convection heat cooling system, instead of the classical natural draught convection heat transfer cooling systems, promote the thermal powerplant designers and users to benefit more from such systems in their thermodynamics cycles. However, such forced convection heat transfer mechanisms, can lose their cooling efficiency in off-design ambient conditions, i.e., in high wind velocity and high ambient temperature conditions. There have already been some efforts to analyze the reduction of ACC System performance in some critical... 

We report a study on hydrogen storage in Ca, Co, Fe, Ni, and Pd decorated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) by using two techniques: volumetric and electrochemical. The results showed that hydrogen molecules are adsorbed on the defect sites and transported to the spaces between adjacent carbon via diffusion through both defect sites and opened tips into the layers. Hydrogen storage capacity can be improved in the decorated MWCNT by Co, Fe, Ni, and Ca metals in two approaches: (i) H2 adsorption via Kubas interaction and (ii) dissociation of H2 molecules on the metal particles. The results reveal that Pd are more effective catalyst for hydrogen storage process. It was found that... 

Perovskite solar cells have been constructed under the standard procedure by employing soluble tetratriphenylamine-substituted Zn phthalocyanine as hole transporting material. Solution processed device construction was carried out under ambient conditions of 50–60% ambient humidity. Triphenylamine substitution played the double role of imparting solubility to the core metal phthalocyanine as well as to introduce electron-rich ligands, which could enhance the role of Zn phthalocyanine as hole transporter. Indeed, the obtained material was functional. The present data highlight tetratriphenylamine-substituted Zn phthalocyanine as hole transporting material but also highlight the importance of... 

In this research, inorganic copper thiocyanate (CuSCN) hole transport layer (HTL) was applied in conventional structure of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Besides, mixed halides perovskite (Cs0.05(MA0.17FA0.83)0.95Pb(I0.83Br0.17)3) was utilized as the light absorbing layer and deposited on FTO/compact TiO2 substrates through a one-step coating method in ambient condition. The mentioned perovskite is more stable against high temperature, high irradiation and humidity compared to commonly applied MAPbI3 perovskite. Nevertheless, the CuSCN could not be well dissolved in usual dipropyl sulfide solution and should be deposited for several times to achieve suitable thickness, this could reduce the... 

Hole-transporter-free perovskite solar cells carrying a carbon back contact electrode provide the possibility of making full printable low cost and stable devices, even though their efficiency is substantially lower than those made in the standard configuration. The present work searched for simple and easy routes for constructing such devices, demonstrating that organic components do enhance device efficiency but only to a level that is not worth the trouble nor the cost. Devices based on a triple mesoporous layer of titania/zirconia/carbon with perovskite infiltration gave an efficiency of 10.7%. After 180 days of storing under ambient conditions, a small loss of efficiency has been... 

The transformation of gibbsite to α-alumina occurs in the range 1100 to 1300°C. The higher the calcination temperature, the larger the crystallites and this leads to abnormal grain growth. The main goal of this research was to reduce the transformation temperature of gibbsite to α-alumina by reducing the gibbsite particles size. The sodium content of the gibbsite used in the study was reduced to less than 0.1% by washing it in HCl solution. It was then ground in a fast mill at ambient conditions for different times then calcined at different temperatures. The microstructure, particles size and thermal behaviour of the samples were examined with SEM, XRD, XRF, PSA and STA, respectively. In a... 

The transformation of gibbsite to α-alumina occurs in the range 1100 to 1300°C. The higher the calcination temperature, the larger the crystallites and this leads to abnormal grain growth. The main goal of this research was to reduce the transformation temperature of gibbsite to α-alumina by reducing the gibbsite particles size. The sodium content of the gibbsite used in the study was reduced to less than 0.1% by washing it in HCl solution. It was then ground in a fast mill at ambient conditions for different times then calcined at different temperatures. The microstructure, particles size and thermal behaviour of the samples were examined with SEM, XRD, XRF, PSA and STA, respectively. In a... 

In this paper we present experimental results describing electrical readout of the mechanical vibratory response of graphene-doped fibers by employing electrical actuation. For a fiber resonator with an approximate radius of 850 nm and length of 100 m, we observed a resonance frequency around 580 kHz with a quality factor (Q) of about 2511 in air at ambient conditions. Through the use of finite element simulations, we show that the reported frequency of resonance is relevant. We also show that the resonance frequency of the fiber resonators decreases as the bias potential is increased due to the electrostatic spring-softening effect  

In this study, we have investigated the bioleaching potential of a native strain of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans isolated from zinc and lead sulfide mines under varied ambient conditions of growth and substrate consumption. The effects of intermittent irrigation, type of agglomeration, feed formulation in terms of acid, enriched salt solution, initial number of microorganism, and their interactions on the bioleaching of low-grade zinc sulfide ores (containing 5.78% zinc) on growth and biooxidation efficiency of the bacteria have been evaluated. Bioleaching capacities of the isolate were optimized by the utilization the Taguchi method (e-qualitic-4) for design of experiments. As a result,... 

Perovskite solar cells have been constructed under ambient conditions by using 2,2',7,7'-Tetrakis-(N,N-di-4-methoxyphenylamino)-9,9'-spirobifluorene (spiro-OMeTAD) mixed with a small quantity of soluble tetra-n-butyl substituted copper phthalocyanine as hole transporting material. The introduction of the phthalocyanine derivative resulted in an impressive increase of cell efficiency, which changed from 10.4% in the absence to 15.4% in the presence of phthalocyanine. This effect is related to the creation of deep traps in the hole transporting phase which block back-travelling electrons as well as to the improvement of the structural quality of the spiro-OMeTAD film in the presence of... 

Perovskite solar cells have been constructed under ambient conditions by using 2,2',7,7'-Tetrakis-(N,N-di-4-methoxyphenylamino)-9,9'-spirobifluorene (spiro-OMeTAD) mixed with a small quantity of soluble tetra-n-butyl substituted copper phthalocyanine as hole transporting material. The introduction of the phthalocyanine derivative resulted in an impressive increase of cell efficiency, which changed from 10.4% in the absence to 15.4% in the presence of phthalocyanine. This effect is related to the creation of deep traps in the hole transporting phase which block back-travelling electrons as well as to the improvement of the structural quality of the spiro-OMeTAD film in the presence of... 

Boiling of water/triethyleneglycol (TEG) binary solution has a wide-ranging application in the gas processing engineering. Design, operation and optimization of the involved boilers require accurate prediction of boiling heat transfer coefficient between surface and solution. In this investigation, nucleate pool boiling heat transfer coefficient has been experimentally measured on a horizontal rod heater in water/TEG binary solutions in a wide range of concentrations and heat fluxes under ambient condition. The present experimental data are correlated using major existing correlations. In addition a correlation is presented for prediction of pool boiling heat transfer for the system in which... 

Superstrate configuration CuInS2 (CIS) solar cells are fabricated using a spray pyrolysis method. We avoided selenization process, cyanide etching and CdS buffer layer, to keep the process 'green'. CIS layers are formed by spray pyrolysis of an aqueous precursor ink containing metal chloride salts and thiourea at 350 °C. We investigated the effect of intentional Zn doping on structural, morphological and photovoltaic response of the fabricated CIS films by dissolving ZnCl2 in aqueous precursor solution. At a zinc doping level ranging between 0.25 and 1.00 mol%, Zn doping is found to improve the CIS crystal growth and surface morphology of CIS films. Compared with the performance of the... 

Organometal halide perovskite solar cells have been constructed using soluble tetra-n-butyl-copper phthalocyanine as hole transporting material. Devices were constructed and characterized under ambient conditions of 50–60% ambient humidity. Soluble copper phthalocyanine gave a modest PCE of 7.3% but when a buffer layer of either Al2O3 or graphene oxide was introduced between the perovskite and the hole transporting layer the cell efficiency extensively increased and reached 14.4% in the presence of graphene oxide. Corresponding data obtained by employing the standard spiro-OMeTAD as hole transporter gave equivalent performance. Combination then of tetra-n-butyl-copper phthalocyanine with... 

Photovoltaic (PV) arrays are composed of PV cells which have a nonlinear power-voltage characteristic. To extract maximum amount of energy from a PV array, it is essential to track maximum power point (MPP). When all PV cells are subject to the same solar energy, MPP is found easily. However, in some ambient conditions, PV cells are partially or completely shadowed. Under partial shading conditions (PSCs), overall power-voltage curve will have several peaks. This paper presents a novel approach for MPP tracking, utilizing configuration of PV cells in series and parallel that may deliver maximum power in shading conditions. As such, instead of blindly searching for the global MPP among local... 

Carbon based perovskite solar cells have been constructed by screen-printing three subsequent mesoporous layers of Titania, Zirconia and Carbon without a hole transporting layer and by infiltration of perovskite liquid precursor through the layers. Cell efficiency was optimized by varying the thickness of the three layers and the composition of the inks employed for screen printing. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was employed as a guide in the search for layer thickness optimization. All cell construction and testing was carried out under ambient conditions of 20–30% humidity. The cells were not encapsulated. The best cell gave an efficiency of 10.7%. All cells demonstrated a... 

Inverted organometal halide perovskite solar cells of p-i-n architecture allow for the employment of inorganic components that ensure longer time stability than organic charge transporters. This has been demonstrated in the present work where devices were made by employing NiO/GO and Li-modified GO/TiOx as hole and electron transporters, respectively, in comparison with popular organic components, such as PEDOT:PSS and PCBM. Cells made in the FTO/PEDOT:PSS/Perovskite/PCBM/Al composition were 25% more efficient than cells made in the FTO/NiO/GO/Perovskite/GO-Li/TiOx/Al composition but the latter was markedly more stable than the former. Emphasis has been presently given to the...