Publications

Abstract Dopant‐free hole transporting materials (HTMs) is significant to the stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Here, we developed a novel star‐shape arylamine HTM, termed Py‐DB, with a pyrene core and carbon‐carbon double bonds as the bridge units. Compared to the reference HTM (termed Py‐C), the extension of the planar conjugation backbone endows Py‐DB with typical intermolecular π–π stacking interactions and excellent solubility, resulting in improved hole mobility and film morphology. In addition, the lower HOMO energy level of the Py‐DB HTM provides efficient hole extraction with reduced energy loss at the perovskite/HTM interface. Consequently, an impressive power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 24.33 % was achieved for dopant‐free Py‐DB‐based PSCs, which is the highest PCE for dopant‐free small molecular HTMs in n‐i‐p configured PSCs. The dopant‐free Py‐DB‐based device also exhibits improved long‐term stability, retaining over 90 % of its initial efficiency after 1000 h exposure to 25 % humidity at 60 °C. These findings provide valuable insights and approaches for the further development of dopant‐free HTMs for efficient and reliable PSCs.

An entry from the Cambridge Structural Database, the world’s repository for small molecule crystal structures. The entry contains experimental data from a crystal diffraction study. The deposited dataset for this entry is freely available from the CCDC and typically includes 3D coordinates, cell parameters, space group, experimental conditions and quality measures.

Polyethersulfone has been widely used as a promising material in medical applications and waste-treatment membranes since it provides excellent mechanical and thermal properties. Hydrophobicity of polyethersulfone is considered one main disadvantage of using this material because hydrophobic surface causes biofouling effects to the membrane which is always thought to be a serious limitation to the use of polyethersulfone in membrane technology. Chemical modification to the material is a promising solution to this problem. More specifically surface modification is an excellent technique to introduce hydrophilic properties and functional groups to the polyethersulfone membrane surface. This review covers chemical modifications of the polyethersulfone and covers different methods used to enhance the hydrophilicity of polyethersulfone membrane. In particular, the addition of amino functional groups to polyethersulfone is used as a fundamental method either to introduce hydrophilic properties or introduce nanomaterials to the surface of polyethersulfone membrane. This work reviews also previous research reports explored the use of amino functionalized polyethersulfone with different nanomaterials to induce biological activity and reduce fouling effects of the fabricated membrane.

Organic pollutants in domestic sewage, agricultural runoff, industrial wastewater, and contaminated land pose a serious threat to human beings as well as to ecosystems. Anodic oxidation is one of the technologies most commonly used for the degradation of organic pollutants. In this review, we present the current status of promising anodic oxidation technologies for the degradation of organic pollutants, with fundamental insights into anode materials, operating conditions and mechanisms. Firstly, anodes based on metallic Pt, metal oxides (RuO2, IrO2, PbO2 and SnO2), and carbon (BDD and others) are critically reviewed. Secondly, strategies for the effective removal of organic pollutants in wastewater under appropriate operating conditions are systematically investigated. Thirdly, the anodic oxidation mechanism is comprehensively summarized with illustrations of how the organic pollutants can be broken down into small molecules of low or zero toxicity. Finally, we conclude with some future perspectives for application of anodic oxidation.

Amino-functionalized zirconium-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have shown unprecedented catalytic activity compared to non-functionalized analogues for hydrolysis of organophosphonate-based toxic chemicals. Importantly, the effect of the amino group on the catalytic activity is significantly higher in the case of UiO-66-NH₂ , where the amino groups reside near the node, compared to UiO-67-m-NH₂ , where they are directed away from the node. Herein, we show that the proximity of the amino group is crucial for fast catalytic activity towards hydrolysis of organophosphonate-based nerve agents. The generality of the observed amine-proximity-dictated catalytic activity has been tested on two different MOF systems which have different topology. DFT calculations reveal that amino groups on all the MOFs studied are not acting as Brønsted bases; instead they control the microsolvation environment at the Zr₆ -node active site and therefore increase the overall catalytic rates.

Abstract Water contamination by toxic organic dyes represents a significant global challenge necessitating effective remediation strategies. Due to their high catalytic activity, considerable attention has been gained to metal-based nanocatalysts. Cellulose acetate sheets supported by gold nanoparticles through a reduction method were synthesized. The composite synthesized material presents a compelling platform for catalytic reduction in the remediation of toxic organic pollutants, ensuring controlled particle size and stability. In this study, the prepared cellulose acetate sheet (CA sheet ) was dipped in a 0.001 M aqueous chloroauric acid (HAuCl 4 ) solution and reduced by immersion in a 0.1 M sodium borohydride (NaBH 4 ) aqueous solution. After the successful preparation of virgin cellulose acetate sheet (CA sheet ) and gold-supported cellulose acetate sheet (Au-CA sheet ) samples were assessed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray crystallography (XRD), energy dispersive X-rays spectroscopy (EDX), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. The catalytic reduction reaction of toxic compounds i.e. reduction of 4-nitroaniline (4-NA), Congo red (CR), and reactive yellow (RY-42) by using NaBH 4 . The catalytic activity of the Au-CA sheet was exhibited by the reaction rate constant ( k app ) values 0.3189, 0.1596, and 0.1593 min −1 for CR, 4-NA, and RY-42 respectively. This kind of procedure for Au-CA sheet synthesis may be valid for different applications in catalysis, sensing, and environmental application.

Electrochemical reduction of CO₂ into various chemicals and fuels provides an attractive pathway for environmental and energy sustainability. It is now shown that a FeP nanoarray on Ti mesh (FeP NA/TM) acts as an efficient 3D catalyst electrode for the CO₂ reduction reaction to convert CO₂ into alcohols with high selectivity. In 0.5 m KHCO₃ , such FeP NA/TM is capable of achieving a high Faradaic efficiency (FE <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:msub><mml:mrow></mml:mrow> <mml:mrow><mml:mi>CH</mml:mi> <mml:msub><mml:mrow></mml:mrow> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:msub> <mml:mi>OH</mml:mi></mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:math> ) up to 80.2 %, with a total FE <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:msub><mml:mrow></mml:mrow> <mml:mrow><mml:mi>CH</mml:mi> <mml:msub><mml:mrow></mml:mrow> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:msub> <mml:mi>OH</mml:mi> <mml:mo>+</mml:mo> <mml:mi>C</mml:mi> <mml:msub><mml:mrow></mml:mrow> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msub> <mml:mi>H</mml:mi> <mml:msub><mml:mrow></mml:mrow> <mml:mn>5</mml:mn></mml:msub> <mml:mi>OH</mml:mi></mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:math> of 94.3 % at -0.20 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the FeP(211) surface significantly promotes the adsorption and reduction of CO₂ toward CH₃ OH owing to the synergistic effect of two adjacent Fe atoms, and the potential-determining step is the hydrogenation process of *CO.