Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) have achieved impressive conversion efficiencies for solar energy of over 11% with an electrolyte that contains triiodide/iodide as a redox couple. Although triiodide/iodide redox couples work efficiently in DSCs, they suffer from two major disadvantages: electrolytes that contain triiodide/iodide corrode electrical contacts made of silver (which reduces the options for the scale up of DSCs to module size) and triiodide partially absorbs visible light. Here, we present a new disulfide/thiolate redox couple that has negligible absorption in the visible spectral range, a very attractive feature for flexible DSCs that use transparent conductors as current collectors. Using this novel, iodide-free redox electrolyte in conjunction with a sensitized heterojunction, we achieved an unprecedented efficiency of 6.4% under standard illumination test conditions. This novel redox couple offers a viable pathway to develop efficient DSCs with attractive properties for scale up and practical applications. Since the beginning of the 1990s much attention has been paid to alternative energy sources, in particular to photovoltaic solar energy 1,2 . DSCs (or Grätzel cells) currently attract considerable interest because of their high light-to-electricity conversion efficiencies, relatively easy fabrication procedures and low production cost 3 . The most common electrolyte in high-performance DSCs uses the triiodide/iodide (I 3 2 /I 2 ) redox couple 4-6 . Even though this redox couple works efficiently, it has disadvantages, such as the corrosion of silver-based current collectors and the partial absorption of visible light around 430 nm by the triiodide species 7 . Therefore, it is important to study alternative redox couples [8][9][10][11] , including p-type semiconductors 12 and solid-state, hole-transporting materials 13 . Electrolytes composed of a high molecular weight poly(ethylene oxide)-based copolymer in complex with an alkali metal polysulfide (M 2 S n ; redox couple S n 22 /S nþ1 22) or a caesium thiolate salt (redox couple disulfide/thiolate) are used successfully in all solid-state, electrochemical photovoltaic cells (n-CdSe|polymer redox electrolyte|ITO, where ITO represents the indium-tin-oxide conductive layer on the glass electrode) 14,15 . These studies encouraged us to introduce disulfide/thiolate (T 2 /T 2 ) molecules (instead of I 3 2 /I 2 ones) as redox mediators in DSC electrolytes. Results and discussionCharacterization of the DSC redox couple. The redox couple T 2 /T 2 , where T 2 represents the 5-mercapto-1-methyltetrazole ion and T 2 stands for its dimer (Fig. 1), was characterized electrochemically (Supplementary Fig. S1) and studied as an electrolyte for DSCs. The redox potential for T 2 /T 2 was found to be 0.485 V against a normal hydrogen electrode (NHE, Supplementary Fig. S1), which is close to that of the I 3 2 /I 2 redox couple (reported values range from 0.4 V to 0.53 V against NHE in organic solvents 16,17 ) used in a DSC. Delocalization of the negative charge fo...
Background The use of electronic health records (EHR) has revolutionized medical practice by improving the quality of care. Childhood obesity (CO) increases the risk of developing other chronic diseases and has a serious psychosocial impact on children. Using EHR may improve this clinical condition since early diagnosis is a crucial means of preventing its negative impacts. Objectives The aim of the study was to assess the diagnosis and management of CO in a Canadian academic family medicine group unit (FMG‐U) that uses EHR with an integrated CO diagnosis tool. Methods This is a retrospective study conducted in an FMG‐U in the province of Quebec. The clinical practice guidelines established by the World Health Organization (WHO) were used to assess diagnosis and management of CO. EHR of every patient from 5 to 12 years old who had a medical appointment at the FMG‐U in 2017 ( n = 618) were analyzed. EHR use by clinicians was assessed by a closed‐ended online survey sent to clinicians who provided pediatric care at that clinic in 2017. Results We identified 69 patients as obese according to the WHO, of whom 40 had been diagnosed by health professionals at the clinic. Of these, 33 received nutritional counseling; 33 received physical activity counseling; 13 received parent involvement counseling; 19 were referred to another health professional; and 12 were followed up within 6 months. Ten out of 15 clinicians responded to the survey. They all used the EHR integrated CO diagnosis tool but only 20% were truly familiar with it. Conclusions This study shows that CO is still underdiagnosed in primary care, notwithstanding the use of EHR with integrated tools. This affects the quality of care. Moreover, even if CO were correctly diagnosed, its management remains incomplete. Knowledge translation by medical organizations plays an important role in addressing this problem.
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