When high voltage is applied to distilled water filled into two glass beakers which are in contact, a stable water connection forms spontaneously, giving the impression of a floating water bridge. A detailed experimental analysis reveals static and dynamic structures as well as heat and mass transfer through this bridge.

A large number of flexible polymer solar modules comprising 16 serially connected individual cells was prepared at the experimental workshop at Risø DTU. The photoactive layer was prepared from several varieties of P3HT (Merck, Plextronics, BASF and Risø DTU) and two varieties of ZnO (nanoparticulate, thin film) were employed as electron transport layers. The devices were all tested at Risø DTU and the functional devices were subjected to an inter-laboratory study involving the performance and the stability of modules over time in the dark, under light soaking and outdoor conditions. 24 laboratories from 10 countries and across four different continents were involved in the studies. The reported results allowed for analysis of the variability between different groups in performing lifetime studies as well as performing a comparison of different testing procedures. These studies constitute the first steps toward establishing standard procedures for an OPV lifetime charac terization

When high voltage is applied to distilled water filled into two beakers close to each other, a water connection forms spontaneously, giving the impression of a floating water bridge (Fuchs et al 2007 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 40 6112–4, 2008 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 41 185502). This phenomenon is of special interest, since it comprises a number of phenomena currently tackled in modern water science. In this work, the first data on neutron scattering of a floating heavy water bridge are presented and possible interpretations are discussed. D2O was measured instead of H2O because of the very strong incoherent scattering of H. The obtained data support the ‘bubble hypothesis’ suggested earlier (Fuchs et al 2008).

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The formation of copper indium disulfide nanoparticles via the oleylamine route using copper iodide, indium chloride, and elemental sulfur has been investigated by applying conventional thermal heating as well as microwave irradiation. Oleylamine thereby acts as a capping ligand as well as a solvent. In an initial set of experiments, the onset of the reaction was determined to be around 115 °C by an in situ X-ray study using Synchrotron radiation. Using comparatively low synthesis temperatures of 120 °C, it is already possible to obtain nanoparticles of 2-4 nm with both heating methods but with irregular shape and size distribution. By applying higher temperatures of 220 °C, more crystalline and larger nanoparticles were obtained with slight differences in crystallite size and size distribution depending on the synthesis route. The size of the nanoparticles is in the range of 3-10 nm depending on the heating time. Using microwave irradiation, it is possible to obtain nanoparticles in only 90 s of total synthesis time. Control experiments to probe a nonthermal microwave effect were carried out ensuring an identical experimental setup, including the heating profile, the stirring rate, and the volume and concentration of the solutions. These experiments clearly demonstrate that for the preparation of CuInS(2) nanoparticles described herein no differences between conventional and microwave heating could be observed when performed at the same temperature. The nanoparticles obtained by microwave and thermal methods have the same crystal phase, primary crystallite size, shape, and size distribution. In addition, they show no significant differences concerning their optical properties.