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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 505 records · Page 28
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2011

Decay kinetics of the excited S{sub 1} state of the cyanine dye Cy{sup +}I{sup -} (thiacarbocyanine iodide): The computation of quantum yields for different pathways

This work explains the unordinary solvent effect which was observed in the photochemical decay kinetics for the cyanine dye thiacarbocyanine iodide (Cy{sup +}I{sup -}) in binary solvent mixtures toluene/dimethylsulfoxide. The interpretation is formulated in terms of the probability density F(R) describing the distribution of interionic distances R in the ion pair Cy{sup +}I{sup -} and depending on the solvent composition. The proper normalization of this distribution is expressed via the degree of association {alpha} for the ion pair in a given solvent mixture. The {alpha} values are, in turn, extracted by means of the mass action law from the ionic association constants computed in a separate publication. The detailed kinetic scheme includes the empirical parametrization of the R-dependent kinetic constants for different decay channels. The multiparameter fitting procedure represents, with the reasonable parameter values, the dependence of the observed quantum yields on the solvent composition.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2012

Stark spectroscopy of a probe lithium beam excited with two dye lasers as a technique to study a high-power ion-beam diode

A non-disturbing measurement of electric field distributions is a subject of special interest in plasma physics and high-voltage devices. In this paper we describe a diagnostic technique for remote sensing of electric fields via injection of a probe beam of lithium atoms and cascade excitation of resonance fluorescence with two broadband dye lasers. The fluorescence spectrum was recorded using a monochromator equipped with an optical multi-channel analyser. The magnitude of the local electric field was retrieved from the Stark-shifted components of the 3d-2plithium spectral line. The technique was applied to measurements of the electric field in the applied-B-field high-voltage diode of the 1 TW KALIF ion-beam accelerator.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2012

Study on the use of TiO{sub 2} passivation layer to reduce recombination losses in dye sensitized solar cells

A lot of research on various aspects of dye solar cells (DSC) has been carried out in order to improve efficiency. This paper analyzes the utilization of TiO{sub 2} passivation layers of different thicknesses by improving the electron transport properties. Four different thicknesses of passivation layers namely 10, 20, 50 and 100 nm were deposited onto the working electrode using r.f sputtering. The electrodes were assembled into TiO{sub 2} based DSC with active area of 1 cm{sup 2}. The solar performance was investigated using 100 mW/cm{sup 2} of AM 1.5 simulated sunlight from solar simulator. The kinetics of the solar cells was investigated using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) measurement and the spectral response was measured using Incident Photon to Electron Conversion (IPCE) measurement system. The highest efficiency was found for DSC with 20 nm passivation layer. DSCs with the passivation layer have open circuit voltage, V{sub OC} increased by 57 mV, their current density, J{sub SC} increased by 0.774 mA cm{sup -2} compared to the one without the passivation layer. The quantum efficiency of the 20 nm passivation layer is the highest, peaking at the wavelength of 534 nm, resulting in the highest performance. All DSCs with the passivation layer recorded higher ratio of R{sub BR}/R{sub T} where R{sub T} is the diffusion resistance of the TiO{sub 2} particles in the mesoscopic layer and R{sub BR} is the recombination resistance of the electron to the electrolyte. This implies that the recombination of the electrolyte I{sup -}{sub 3}/3I{sup -} couple at the substrate/electrolyte interface has been effectively reduced resulting in an enhanced efficiency.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2012

Optical phase conjugation in azo-dye doped chiral liquid crystal

We report on optical phase conjugation phenomenon observed in chiral nematic liquid crystal showing band gap type Bragg reflection. The phase conjugate to the signal beam is observable only in the small temperature interval when the Bragg condition is fulfilled and only for circularly polarized light. The optical phase conjugation signals were observed at low cw laser light intensities (<100 mW/cm{sup 2}, {lambda} = 532 nm). Estimated value of third order optical susceptibility {chi}{sup (3)} = 2.8 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -17} m{sup 2}/V{sup 2} is attributed to enhancement due to photoisomerisation of azo-dye (disperse red 1) inducing molecular reorientation process of liquid crystal molecules.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2013

Study of nonlinear refraction of organic dye by Z-scan technique using He-Ne laser

Laser induced third-order nonlinear optical responses of Brilliant Green solution has been investigated by utilizing single beam Z-scan technique with a continuous-wave He-Ne laser radiation at 632.8 nm. It was observed that the material exhibits self-defocusing type optical nonlinearity. The measurements of nonlinear refraction were carried out at different dye concentrations and found that the increase in solution concentration leads to the linear increase of the nonlinear refractive index. The experimental results confirm great potential of the Brilliant Green for the application in nonlinear optical devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Surface InP/In{sub 0.48}Ga{sub 0.52}P quantum dots: Carrier recombination dynamics and their interaction with fluorescent dyes

We describe the properties and carrier dynamics of surface InP quantum dots (QDs) on In{sub 0.48}Ga{sub 0.52}P, lattice-matched to GaAs (100). The structures were grown using gas-source molecular beam epitaxy. The average height and lateral size of the dots are in the range of 2–6 and 30–50 nm, respectively. The photoluminescence of the surface dots peaks between 750 and 830 nm, depending on the growth conditions, and is red-shifted compared to the emission of the capped QDs grown under similar conditions. The integrated photoluminescence intensity is comparable to that of the capped QDs. The decay time of both surface and capped QDs is around 1 ns at 15 K. The strong luminescence of surface QDs is explained by the effect of acting vacuum/air as an effective barrier and saturated surface states. Enhancement of the QDs luminescence is observed for the samples coated with a fluorescent dye.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Enhanced efficiency of the dye-sensitized solar cells by excimer laser irradiated carbon nanotube network counter electrode

The carbon nanotube network decorated with Pt nanoparticles (PtCNT) irradiated by excimer laser as counter electrode (CE) of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) has been systematically demonstrated. The conversion efficiency would be improved from 7.12% to 9.28% with respect to conventional Pt-film one. It was attributed to the enhanced catalytic surface from Pt nanoparticles and the improved conductivity due to the adjoining phenomenon of PtCNTs irradiated by laser. Moreover, the laser annealing could also promote the interface contact between CE and conductive glass. Therefore, such a simple laser-irradiated PtCNT network is promising for the future flexible DSSCs applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Inhibition of beta-amyloid aggregation by fluorescent dye labels

The fluorescence decay of beta-amyloid's (Aβ) intrinsic fluorophore tyrosine has been used for sensing the oligomer formation of dye-labelled Aβ monomers and the results compared with previously studied oligomerization of the non-labelled Aβ peptides. It has been demonstrated that two different sized, covalently bound probes 7-diethylaminocoumarin-3-carbonyl and Hilyte Fluor 488 (HLF), alter the rate and character of oligomerization to different extents. The ability of HLF to inhibit formation of highly ordered structures containing beta-sheets was also shown. The implications of our findings for using fluorescence methods in amyloidosis research are discussed and the advantages of this auto-fluorescence approach highlighted.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Charge transport through split photoelectrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells

Charge transport and recombination are relatively ignored parameters while upscaling dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). Enhanced photovoltaic parameters are anticipated by merely widening the devices physical dimensions, viz., thickness and area as evident from the device design adopted in reported large area DSCs. These strip designs lead to ≤50% loss in photocurrent compared to the high efficiency lab scale devices. Herein, we report that the key to achieving higher current density (J{sub SC}) is optimized diffusion volume rather than the increased photoelectrode area because kinetics of the devices is strongly influenced by the varied choices of diffusion pathways upon increasing the electrode area. For a given electrode area and thickness, we altered the photoelectrode design by splitting the electrode into multiple fractions to restrict the electron diffusion pathways. We observed a correlation between the device physical dimensions and its charge collection efficiency via current-voltage and impedance spectroscopy measurements. The modified electrode designs showed >50% increased J{sub SC} due to shorter transport time, higher recombination resistance and enhanced charge collection efficiency compared to the conventional ones despite their similar active volume (∼3.36 × 10{sup −4} cm{sup 3}). A detailed charge transport characteristic of the split devices and their comparison with single electrode configuration is described in this article.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

An applied light-beam induced current study of dye-sensitised solar cells: Photocurrent uniformity mapping and true photoactive area evaluation

The conditions for light-beam induced current (LBIC) measurement were experimentally optimised for dye-sensitised solar cells. The impacts of too fast a laser diode modulation frequency (f) and too short a dwell time (t{sub 0}) were investigated for their distortions, artefacts, and noise on the overall photocurrent map image. Optimised mapping conditions for fastest measurement were obtained at a f = 15 Hz and t{sub 0} = 900 ms. Whole device maps (nominal area 4 × 4 mm{sup 2}) were obtained on devices in which fabrication defects were intentionally induced. The defects were readily resolved with the LBIC setup and conditions. The inclusion of defects had the effect of broadening the photocurrent distribution and producing a sub-optimal tail to photocurrent histograms. Photoactive areas were derived from LBIC maps and were larger than those predicted by the projected screen printing pattern by up to 25%, which has obvious implications for efficiency measurements made on nominal projected active area.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Application of 3A molecular sieve layer in dye-sensitized solar cells

3A molecular sieve layer was used as dehydration and electronic-insulation layer on the TiO{sub 2} electrode of dye-sensitized solar cells. This layer diminished the effect of water in electrolyte efficiently and enhanced the performance of cells. The conversion efficiency increased from 9.58% to 10.2%. The good moisture resistance of cells was attributed to the three-dimensional interconnecting structure of 3A molecular sieve with strong adsorption of water molecule. While the performance enhancement benefited from the suppression of the charge recombination of electronic-insulation layer and scattering effect of large particles.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Synthesis and spectral study of new azo dye and its iron complexes derived from 2-naphthol and 2-amino-3-hydroxypyridine

An azodye C{sub 5}H{sub 12}N{sub 3}O{sub 2} [LH] is synthesised by coupling diazotised 2-amino-3-hydroxy pyridine with 2-naphthol in ice cold condition. The Fe(II)and Fe(III) complexes were prepared by mixing ethanol solution of metal salt and azodye in 1:2 molar ratio. The dye and metal complexes are structurally characterised by elemental analysis, molar conductance, magnetic susceptibility measurements and spectral techniques like IR, UV-Vis, and Mössbauer analysis. Analytical data suggests the stoichiometry as [FeL{sub 2}Cl(H{sub 2}O)] for Fe(III) complex and [FeL{sub 2}(H{sub 2}O)] for Fe(II) complex. The IR spectral data suggests that [L{sup −}] is acting as a uninegative bidentate ligand. A high spin octahedral geometry is tentatively proposed for both the complexes with respect to the above studies.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Superior optical nonlinearity of an exceptional fluorescent stilbene dye

Strong multiphoton absorption and harmonic generation in organic fluorescent chromophores are, respectively, significant in many fields of research. However, most of fluorescent chromophores fall short of the full potential due to the absence of the combination of such different nonlinear upconversion behaviors. Here, we demonstrate that an exceptional fluorescent stilbene dye could exhibit efficient two- and three-photon absorption under the excitation of femtosecond pulses in solution phase. Benefiting from its biocompatibility and strong excited state absorption behavior, in vitro two-photon bioimaging and superior optical limiting have been exploited, respectively. Simultaneously, the chromophore could generate efficient three-photon excited fluorescence and third-harmonic generation (THG) when dispersed into PMMA film, circumventing the limitations of classical fluorescent chromophores. Such chromophore may find application in the production of coherent light sources of higher photon energy. Moreover, the combination of three-photon excited fluorescence and THG can be used in tandem to provide complementary information in biomedical studies.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Vanadium oxide (VO) based low cost counter electrode in dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) applications

Vanadium oxide nanostars were synthesized by chemical method. The prepared Vanadium oxide nanostars are introduced into dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) as counter electrode (CE) catalyst to replace the expensive platinum (Pt). The products were characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method. The photovoltaic performance of the VO as counter electrode based DSSC was evaluated under simulated standard global AM 1.5G sunlight (100 mW/cm{sup 2}). The solar to electrical energy conversion efficiency (η) of the DSSC was found to be 0.38%.This work expands the Counter electrode catalyst, which can help to reduce the cost of DSSC and thereby encourage their fundamental research and commercial application.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Hetero-atom doped carbon nanotubes for dye degradation and oxygen reduction reaction

We report the synthesis of nitrogen doped vertically aligned multi-walled (MWNCNTs) carbon nanotubes by pyrolysis and its catalytic performance for degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye & oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The degradation of MB was monitored spectrophotometrically with time. Kinetic studies show the degradation of MB follows a first order kinetic with rate constant k=0.0178 min{sup −1}. The present rate constant is better than that reported for various supported/non-supported semiconducting nanomaterials. Further ORR performance in alkaline media makes MWNCNTs a promising cost-effective, fuel crossover tolerance, metal-free, eco-friendly cathode catalyst for direct alcohol fuel cell.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Resonance energy transfer: Dye to metal nanoparticles

In the present study, surface energy transfer (SET) from Coumarin 540A (C540 A) to Gold nanoparticle (Au) is demonstrated. The observed results show pronounced effect on the photoluminescence intensity and shortening of the lifetime of Coumarin 540A upon interaction with the spherical gold nanoparticle, also there are measured effects on radiative rate of the dye. Experimental results are analyzed with fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and SET theories. The results obtained from distance-dependent quenching provide experimental evidence that the efficiency curve slope and distance of quenching is best modeled by surface energy transfer process.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Microscopy of hierarchically organized TiO{sub 2} photoelectrode for dye solar cells

Research on improving the performance of dye solar cells has various aspects of the device being investigated. This paper analyzes the deliberately hierarchized photoelectrode configuration for DSC applications to improve the performance of DSCs. Multiple layers of differently composed TiO{sub 2} particle types namely aggregates and nanoparticles were deposited to form a photoelectrode with thickness of about 12 µm. The photoelectrodes were assembled into working DSCs with an active area of 1 cm{sup 2}. Measurement for solar power conversion performance was measured under 1 sun at AM1.5 spectrum simulated sunlight. Electron microscopy for photoelectrode analysis was conducted using Field Emission Scattering Electron Microscopy with enhanced resolution. External Quantum Efficiency was measured using a purpose built instrument. Kinetics were investigated using the Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) measurement with a potentiostat. The best performing DSC is of the hierarchically organized photoelectrode with a photoconversion efficiency of 4.58%, an increase of 14% in comparison to the reference samples with fully aggregates configuration. Short circuit current density, Jsc increases by about 2.223 mA cm{sup −2} relative to the blanks. The electron microscopy confirmed expected thickness at around 10 µm and layers forming the photoelectrode being hierarchically deposited with ∼20 nm TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles and 450 nm TiO{sub 2} aggregates mixture composition. EQE improved especially for visible region of 500-550 nm light wavelengths with 12 % increase in the response of in that region. Improvement to the diffusion coefficient as measured by the EIS contributed to the performance increase of the photoelectrode configuration under investigation.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Dye aggregation identified by vibrational coupling using 2D IR spectroscopy

We report that a model dye, Re(CO){sub 3}(bypy)CO{sub 2}H, aggregates into clusters on TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles regardless of our preparation conditions. Using two-dimensional infrared (2D IR) spectroscopy, we have identified characteristic frequencies of monomers, dimers, and trimers. A comparison of 2D IR spectra in solution versus those deposited on TiO{sub 2} shows that the propensity to dimerize in solution leads to higher dimer formation on TiO{sub 2}, but that dimers are formed even if there are only monomers in solution. Aggregates cannot be washed off with standard protocols and are present even at submonolayer coverages. We observe cross peaks between aggregates of different sizes, primarily dimers and trimers, indicating that clusters consist of microdomains in close proximity. 2D IR spectroscopy is used to draw these conclusions from measurements of vibrational couplings, but if molecules are close enough to be vibrationally coupled, then they are also likely to be electronically coupled, which could alter charge transfer.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗