Sharif Digital Repository

Ni/SiC nanocomposite coatings were electrodeposited using Watts type bath and different SiC particle size. The electrodeposition behavior of Ni/SiC nanoelectrocomposites was studied using electrochemical techniques such as impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and voltammetry. In this study it was shown that SiC particles modify the EIS diagram and voltammograms as well as surface morphology of electrodeposited layers. Experimental results showed that SiC particles not only affect the formation of intermediate species and decrease charge transfer resistance but also increase the nucleation sites for nickel electrodeposition and thus affect the microstructure of electrodeposited Ni/SiC nanocomposites.... 

A three-dimensional (3D) graphene/Nickel oxide (ERGO/NiO) composite electrode have been fabricated directly on a Nickel foam substrate via a one-step electrochemical co-deposition in an aqueous solution containing Nickel nitrate and GO. By using this simple and one-step electrochemical deposition, it is possible to produce binder-free composite electrodes with improved electrochemical properties using a low-cost, facile and scalable technique. It is observed from FE-SEM images that graphene oxide sheets affect the electrodeposition of nickel oxide. The optimized ErGO/NiO electrode developed in this work exhibits high charge storage capacity with a specific capacitance of 1715.5 F g−1 at... 

Demand for more efficient energy storage devices stimulates efforts to search and develop new materials and composites with promising properties. In this regard, composite materials, including carbonaceous materials and metal oxides have attracted a great attention due to better electrochemical performance as compared to their single material analogues. For the first time, herein, we report a new and simple procedure for preparing porous highly oriented pyrolytic graphite/nickel hydroxide composite (P-HOPG/Ni(OH)2) via a fast and simple two-step electrochemical method including potentiostatic routes. In the first step, a low anodic potential (2 V) was applied to pristine HOPG in 0.5 M H2SO4... 

Lithium ion batteries as one of the most important energy storage equipments, have several challenges including capacity drop as number of cycles increases. Cathode particle coating is an effective approach in improvement of electrochemical performance of the batteries. In this study, TiO2-Ag coating was used to improve NCM cathode performance. The microstructure and crystal structure properties of coated NCMs were evaluated by the FE-SEM and XRD. Electrochemical behavior of the batteries was investigated by cycling performance analysis and EIS. TiO2 coating was deposited as a uniform layer and Ag coating was precipitated as dispersed nanoparticles. The results shows that using of TiO2-Ag... 

There is still an open question of how to prepare high-performance counter electrodes for dye solar cells (DSCs) at room temperature; a requirement for flexible DSCs. Here, we introduce Pt deposited cube-like chromium coating as a low-temperature highly-efficient counter electrode for DSCs. Cr is a chemically stable metal and can be easily electroplated on conductive substrates with high roughness (here ∼160 nm) and cube-like appearance. A cyclic electrochemical deposition method with optimized temperature and number of cycles is used to grow Pt nanoparticles on this surface and charge transfer resistance as low as 0.54 Ω cm2 and 0.27 Ω cm2 were obtained at 40 °C and 55 °C solution... 

PbS nanoparticles were in situ deposited on graphene sheets by a successive ionic liquid adsorption and reaction method to prepare a graphene/PbS composite counter electrode for CdS/CdSe quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSCs). Under 1 sun illumination, the cells with graphene/PbS counter electrodes (CEs) show a maximum energy conversion efficiency of 2.63%, which is remarkably higher than that of those employing PbS (1.28%) or graphene (0.23%) CEs. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analysis shows that graphene/PbS composite counter electrodes have lower charge-transfer resistance at the interface of the CE and the polysulfide redox electrolyte, compared to those cells with PbS and... 

NiO-ZnO/TiO2NTs electrodes were synthesized by the electrodeposition of Zn-Ni onto TiO2 nanotubes, dealloying in a concentrated alkaline solution and finally calcination of the resulting Zn(OH)2-Ni(OH)2/TiO2NTs at 300 C. Morphology of the electrodeposited nanostructures was studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) while their electrochemical characterizations were carried out using cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and galvanostatic charge/discharge procedures. The SEM analysis revealed the nanoporous/cracked structures of the NiO-ZnO/TiO2NTs obtained at the electroplating time of 20 min. The EIS studies showed that nanoporous/cracked structures of... 

Polyaniline fiber (PANI) was synthesized by chemical interfacial method and doped with para toluene sulfonic acid (PTSA) through a sequential doping-dedoping-redoping process resulting in PANI-PTSA. The doped material was utilized to fabricate Vulcan-polyaniline composite of C-PANI-PTSA. Next, through reduction, Pt particles were deposited on to this composite to produce a Pt/C-PANI-PTSA electrocatalyst. To investigate the PANI-PTSA interaction with the carbon support as well as, to consider its effect upon the catalytic activity of Pt/C-PANI-PTSA, electrocatalysts with different ratios of 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 wt% were synthesized and their activity was compared with the Pt/C (Electrochem).... 

PANI/Pd/TiO2NTs electrodes with highly porous structures and good capacitive characteristics were prepared by electrodeposition of polyaniline on palladium nanoparticles loaded TiO2 nanotubes. The loading of small palladium nanoparticles was carried out by sonochemical reduction of Pd+2 onto TiO2NTs and affected the ordered growth of PANI, reducing the charge transfer resistance and increasing surface area of PANI. The specific capacitance and the stability of electrode showed improvements. The results illustrated that the specific capacitance of these electrodes was around 1060 F g-1 in 1.0 M H2SO4 electrolyte as measured at a constant current of 2.0 A g-1, whereas it was 210 F g-1 for the... 

WO3 thin films were fabricated by sol-gel method using polyethylene glycol (PEG) as dispersing agent. Physical and photoelectrochemical properties of the synthesized nanocrystalline films were studied by varying weight ratio of PEG to tungsten precursor (x). Based on AFM observations and statistical modeling of the WO3 surface, the thickness of the films increased by increasing the amount of x with a nearly linear fashion while the surface roughness reached to a saturated value. However, the film synthesized with x = 4 showed a chaotic surface behavior. Optical analysis revealed that by increasing the x, transmittance of the films decreased while their band gap energies remained unchanged.... 

Discharge characteristics of nanorods (NRs), microsized and nanosized copper (II) oxide (CuO) particles prepared via thermal decomposition and thermal oxidation routes are examined as cathode materials of a Zn/CuO cell without membrane separators. The electrochemical discharge is examined galvanostatically at a current density of 500 mAg−1 and reveals that the first discharge cycles of all the CuO materials contain one potential plateau; subsequent discharge cycles involve three potential plateaus. Each potential plateau is due to an electrochemical reaction. The first, second, and third potential plateaus are attributed to Cu2O3, CuO, and Cu2O discharges,... 

A stable copper (hydr)oxide-modified electrode was prepared in 0.5 mol/L NaOH solution by cyclic voltammetry in the range of -250 to 1000 mV. It can be used for electrochemical studies in the range of -250 to 1000 mV without interfering peaks because there is no oxidation of copper. During an anodic potential sweep, the electro-oxidation of saccharose on Cu occurred by the formation of CuIII and this reaction also occurred in the early stages of the reversed cycle until it is stopped by the negative potentials. A mechanism based on the electro-chemical generation of CuIII active sites and their subsequent consumption by saccharose was proposed, and the rate law and kinetic parameters were... 

Copper sulfide deposited ZnO nanorods (ZnO NRs/CuS) have been applied as a new counter electrode material with high electrocatalytic activity towards polysulfide electrolyte, which results in the formation of a highly efficient counter electrode for QDSSCs. It was observed from the current density-voltage (J-V) characteristics that the short-circuit current density (Jsc), power conversion efficiency (PCE), and fill factor (FF) were enhanced from 7.63 mA cm-2 to 14.48 mA cm-2, 1.59% to 4.18%, and 0.29 to 0.38, respectively, when a bare CuS counter electrode was changed to a ZnO NRs/CuS counter electrode. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), Tafel polarization and cyclic voltammetry... 

This paper reports a simple, low-cost, and effective electrochemical technique for sensing and reducing CrVI based on a Au-Pd bimetallic nanoparticle (BNP)-decorated indium tin oxide (ITO) conducting glass electrode. It was observed that the Au-Pd BNP-decorated ITO electrode could significantly boost the electrochemical reduction of CrVI when compared with either Au nanoparticle- or Pd nanoparticle-decorated ITO electrodes. These BNP-decorated electrodes exhibited a wide linear concentration range of 0.001-100 μM, a very low detection limit (signal-to-noise ratio = 3) of 0.3 nM, and a high sensitivity of 1.701 μA μM-1. From electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, it was revealed that this... 

Oriented ZnO nanorods were grown directly on fluorine doped tin oxide substrates by a single bath electrodeposition process. A pulse potential at the beginning of growth improved the density and orientation of the nanorods. Pulse potential grown ZnO nanorod films showed better harvesting of visible light and enhanced the light driven water splitting performance in comparison to nanorods grown without any pulse potential. To further improve the water splitting activity, the nanorods were decorated with gold–palladium nanoparticles by sputtering. This caused visible light absorption to increase due to a plasmonic effect and the photoelectrochemical water splitting performance to further... 

Energy and environment crises motivated scientists to develop sustainable, renewable, and clean energy resources mainly based on solar hydrogen. For this purpose, one main challenge is the low cost flexible substrates for designing earth abundant efficient cocatalysts to reduce required water oxidation overpotential. Here, a systematic morphological and electrochemical study has been reported for cobalt oxide/hydroxide nanoflakes simply electrodeposited on four different commercially available substrates, titanium, copper sheet, steel mesh, and nickel foam. Remarkable dependence between the used substrate, morphology, and electrocatalytic properties of nanoflakes introduced flexible porous...