Browsing by Subject "Gelation"
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Item Open Access Lithium salt-nonionic surfactant lyotropic liquid crystalline gel-electrolytes with redox couple for dye sensitized solar cells(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016) Yılmaz, E.; Olutaş, E. B.; Barım, G.; Bandara, J.; Dag, Ö.Lithium salt (LiCl, LiBr, LiI, or LiNO3) and a non-ionic surfactant (such as 10-lauryl ether, C12E10) form lyotropic liquid crystalline (LLC) mesophases in the presence of a small amount of water. The mesophases can be prepared as gels by mixing all the ingredients in one pot or in the solution phase that they can be prepared by coating over any substrate where the LLC phase is formed by evaporating excess solvent. The second method is easier and produces the same mesophase as the first method. A typical composition of the LLC phases consists of 2-3 water per salt species depending on the counter anion. The LiI-C12E10 mesophases can also be prepared by adding I2 to the media to introduce an I-/I3 - redox couple that may be used as a gel-electrolyte in a dye-sensitized solar cell. Even though the mesophases contain a large amount of water in the media, this does not affect the cell performance. The water molecules in the mesophase are in the hydration sphere of the ions and do not act like bulk water, which is harmful to the anode of the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). There are two major drawbacks of the salt-surfactant LLC mesophases in the DSSCs; one is the diffusion of the gels into the pores of the anode electrode and the other is the low ionic conductivity. The first issue was partially overcome by introducing the gel content as a solution and the gelation was carried in/over the pores of the dye modified titania films. To increase the ionic conductivity of the gels, other salts (such as LiCl, LiBr, and LiNO3) with better ionic conductivity were added to the media, however, those gels behave less effectively than pure LiI/I2 systems. Overall, the DSSCs constructed using the LLC electrolyte display high short circuit current (Isc of around 10 mA), high open circuit voltage (Voc of 0.81 V) and good fill factor (0.69) and good efficiency (3.3%). There is still room for improvement in addressing the above issues in order to enhance the cell efficiency by developing new methods of introducing the gel-electrolytes into the mesopores of the anode electrode.Item Open Access Nature of the Ti-Ba interactions on the BaO/TiO2/Al 2O3 NOx storage system(2009) Andonova, S. M.; Şentürk, G. S.; Kayhan, E.; Ozensoy, E.A ternary oxide-based NO* storage material in the form of BaOZTiO2Zy-Al2O3 was synthesized and characterized. Thermally induced structural changes occurring on the surfaces of the TiO2Zy-Al2O3 and BaOZ TiO 2Zy-Al2O3 systems were studied in a comparative manner within 300-1273 K via X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, and BET surface area analysis. The surface acidity of the studied oxide systems was also investigated via pyridine adsorption monitored by in-situ Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. BaO/TiO2γ-Al 2O3 ternary oxide was synthesized by incorporating different loadings of (8-20 wt %) BaO onto the TiO2/γ Al 2O3 support material, which was originally prepared using the sol-gel method. In the TiO2Zy-Al2O3 binary oxide support material, anatase phase exhibited a relatively high thermal stability at T < 1073 K. The presence of TiO2 domains on the surface of the alumina particles was found to alter the surface acidity of alumina by providing new medium-strength Lewis acid sites. SEMZEDX results indicate that in the BaO/TiO2γ-Al2O3 system, TiO2 domains present a significant affinity toward BaO and/or Ba(NO3) 2 resulting in a strong Ti-Ba interaction and the formation of overlapping domains on the surface. The presence of TiO2 also leads to a decrease in the decomposition temperature of the Ba(N03) 2 phase with respect to the Ti-free Ba(N03) 2ZyAl2O3 system. Such a destabilization is likely to occur due to a weaker interaction between Ba(N03) 2 and y-Al203 domains in the ternary oxide as well as due to the change in the surface acidity in the presence of TiO 2. At relatively high temperatures (e.g., 873-1273 K) formation of complex structures in the form of BaTiO3, Ba1.23Al 2.46Ti5.54O16, BaTiO5, andor Ba x:AlyTizOn., were also observed. © 2009 American Chemical Society.Item Open Access Template-free synthesis of organically modified silica mesoporous thin films for TNT sensing(American Chemical Society, 2010) Yildirim, A.; Budunoglu, H.; Deniz, H.; Güler, Mustafa O.; Bayındır, MehmetIn this paper, we present a facile, template-free sol−gel method to produce fluorescent and highly mesoporous organically modified silica (ORMOSIL) thin films for vapor phase sensing of TNT. An alkyltrifunctional, methyltrimethoxysilane MTMS precursor was used to impart hydrophobic behavior to gel network in order to form the spring back effect. In this way, porous films (up to 74% porosity) are obtained at ambient conditions. Fluorescent molecules are physically encapsulated in the ORMOSIL network during gelation. Fluorescence of the films was found to be stable even after 3 months, proving the successful fixing of the dye into the ORMOSIL network. The functional ORMOSIL thin films exhibited high fluorescence quenching upon exposition to TNT and DNT vapor. Fluorescence quenching responses of the films are thickness-dependent and higher fluorescence quenching efficiency was observed for the thinnest film (8.6% in 10 s). The prepared mesoporous ORMOSIL thin films have great potential in new sensor and catalysis applications.