Experiments aimed at studying the mechanisms of agglomerate breakup due to the application of a simple shear flow field were performed in a cone and plate transparent device. Spherical compacts of carbon black (diameters 1-2 mm) in a range of different porosites were used in the experiments. Two distinct breakup mechanisms, denoted as "rupture" and "erosion", were observed. The critical stress for erosion was found to be smaller than that for rupture. Once erosion starts, it continues for very long times. Rupture occurs shortly after reaching a critical stress and concludes abruptly. For this analysis of rupture, the dimensionless group a = (V.Y/K'@~), which is the ratio of applied stress to cohesive strength, was found to be a significant parameter for determining the final particle size distribution. The size analysis of fragments produced by shearing pellets for 1 minute showed a lognormal distribution function.
BACKGROUNDarbon black is one of the most important rein-
The heterojunction of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and TiO 2 in hybrid solar cells is systematically engineered with four cyanoacrylic acid-containing conjugated molecules with various lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) levels, WL-1 to WL-4, which are prepared by the formylation of thiophene derivatives in a Vilsmeier-Haack reaction, followed by treatment with cyanoacetic acid. The optical characteristics, redox properties, and intrinsic dipole moments of these interfacial modifiers (IMs) are examined using UV-vis spectrophotometry, cyclic voltammetry, and density functional theory calculations. Using cyanoacrylic acid as a terminal anchoring group in IMs increases the electron affinity in regions close to the titania surface and forms a molecular dipole that is orientated away from the TiO 2 surface, enabling both open-circuit voltage (V OC ) and short-circuit current density to be increased simultaneously. Photovoltaic measurements demonstrate that V OC increases with the dipole moment of IMs along the molecular backbone. Moreover, the external quantum efficiency (EQE) spectra display a bimodal distribution, revealing that both IMs and P3HT contribute to the photocurrent. The EQE at 570 nm is identified as characteristic of P3HT. More importantly, the LUMO of the IMs decisively determines the dissociation efficiency of P3HT excitons. The device based on P3HT/WL-4/TiO 2 exhibits the highest power conversion efficiency of 2.87%.
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