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In this work, a unique carbon-doped NiO nanostructure (denoted as C/NiO) was synthesized via a facile precipitation/reduction reaction, followed by a subsequent oxidation process. The successful in...

A room temperature based environmentally friendly aqueous solution synthesis route was developed to fabricate highly dispersed small SnO2 nanoparticles (3–5 nm) without the application of any pressurized reaction vessel or organic solvents. The subsequent treatments, that is, dialyzing and freezing, allow for the acquision of dual-function nanostructures with sheet-like feature and large aspect ratio except for the ordinary irregular aggregates. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) constructed with the resultant multifunctional SnO2 showed an outstanding photovoltaic conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.92% and an unexpected JSC of 19.5 mA cm–2 at an optimized thickness of 14.1 μm. The excellent performance can be ascribed to the effective coordination of the favorable features (i.e., strong light scattering, large dye loading capability, and fast electron transport) via rational film thickness control as indicated by diffused reflectance spectra, UV–vis absorption spectra, and electrochemical impedance spectros...

Multishell, stable, porous metal-oxide microspheres (Ni–Co oxides, Co3O4 and NiO) have been synthesized through the amorphous coordination polymer-based self-templated method. Both oxides of Ni and Co show poor selectivity to xylene, but the composite phase has substantial selectivity (e.g., Sxylene/Sethanol = 2.69) and remarkable sensitivity (11.5–5 ppm xylene at 255 °C). The short response and recovery times (6 and 9 s), excellent humidity-resistance performance (with coefficient of variation = 11.4%), good cyclability, and long-term stability (sensitivity attenuation of ∼9.5% after 30 days and stable sensitivity thereafter) all show that this composite is a competitive solution to the problem of xylene sensing. The sensing performances are evidently due to the high specific surface area and the nano-heterostructure in the composite phase.

We report the rational surface engineering of ZnO photoanode films by strict control of the TiO2 precursors for the facile design of hybrid structures and dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) with increased energy conversion efficiencies. The effects of typical Ti sources [i.e., tetrabutyl titanate (TBOT), titanium isopropoxide (TTIP), and titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4)] on the ZnO film morphology, charge transfer, and DSSC performance were investigated systematically. The testing results revealed that TBOT-treated ZnO film exhibited the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) and short circuit current density (Jsc) of 4.92% and 12.49 mA/cm2, respectively, which were largely improved compared with those of TTIP- and TiCl4-treated ZnO films under the same conditions. The excellent performance of TBOT-treated ZnO is mainly ascribed to improved light harvesting and increased charge-recombination resistance. Therefore, TBOT can be considered as a promising alternative for constructing TiO2/ZnO hybrid structur...