Colloid TiO(2) nanorods are used for solution-processable poly(3-hexyl thiophene): TiO(2) hybrid solar cell. The nanorods were covered by insulating ligand of oleic acid (OA) after sol-gel synthesis. Three more conducting pyridine type ligands: pyridine, 2,6-lutidine (Lut) and 4-tert-butylpyridine (tBP) were investigated respectively to replace OA. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the solar cell was increased because the electronic mobility of pyridine-type ligand-modified TiO(2) is higher than that of TiO(2)-OA. The enhancement of PCE is in the descending order of Lut > pyridine > tBP because of the effective replacement of OA by Lut. The PCE of solar cell can be further enhanced by ligand exchange of pyridine type ligand with conjugating molecule of 2-cyano-3-(5-(7-(thiophen-2-yl)-benzothiadiazol-4-yl) thiophen-2-yl) acrylic acid (W4) on TiO(2) nanorods because W4 has aligned bandgap with P3HT and TiO(2) to facilitate charge separation and transport. The electronic mobility of two-stage ligand exchanged TiO(2) is improved furthermore except Lut, because it adheres well and difficult to be replaced by W4. The amount of W4 on TiO(2)-tBP is 3 times more than that of TiO(2)-Lut (0.20 mol % vs. 0.06 mol %). Thus, the increased extent of PCE of solar cell is in the decreasing order of tBP > pyridine > Lut. The TiO(2)-tBP-W4 device has the best performance with 1.4 and 2.6 times more than TiO(2)-pyridine-W4 and TiO(2)-Lut-W4 devices, respectively. The pKa of the pyridine derivatives plays the major role to determine the ease of ligand exchange on TiO(2) which is the key factor mandating the PCE of P3HT:TiO(2) hybrid solar cell. The results of this study provide new insights of the significance of acid-base reaction on the TiO(2) surface for TiO(2)-based solar cells. The obtained knowledge can be extended to other hybrid solar cell systems.

Direct growth of tungsten carbide and sulfide on vertically aligned CNTs is demonstrated for a facile construction of three-dimensional electrocatalyst nanostructures.

In this work, we demonstrate the solution processing of optical and electrochemical dye sensors based on 4-(dioctylamino)-4 0 -(trifluoroacetyl)azobenzene and its application in sensing different amine compounds.Distinct optical response of the sensors exposed to ammonia, tetramethylammonium hydroxide, ethylamine, cadaverine and putrescine (typical compounds upon the decomposition of proteins) is observed. Incorporation of inkjet deposited thin films of the dye as sensors in food packages of ground meat and salmon is found as a feasible route to detect the appearance of biogenic amines produced by the degrading food products. Furthermore, we demonstrate an electrochemical amine sensor based on (trifluoroacetyl)azobenzene dye added in carbon nanotube-Nafion® composites. The electrochemical sensor exploits the reaction between the dye and amines to detect amines in electrolytes, while the carbon nanotubes provide large surface for adsorption and also provide a percolating electrical network for allowing efficient charge transfer at the electrode electrolyte interface. Scheme 1 Bonding reaction of 4-(dioctylamino)-4 0 -(trifluoroacetyl)azobenzene and amine. 4688 | J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015, 3, 4687-4694 This journal is