Electrocatalytic behaviour of Ni and NiCu alloy modified glassy carbon electrode in electro-oxidation of contraflam

The electrocatalytic oxidation of contraflam was investigated in alkaline solution on nickel and nickel–copper alloy modified glassy carbon electrodes(GC/Ni and GC/NiCu). We prepared these electrodes by galvanostatic deposition and the surface morphologies and compositions of electrodes were determined by energy-dispersive X-ray(EDX) and scanning electron microscopy(SEM). Cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometric methods were employed to characterize the oxidation process and its kinetics. Voltammetric studies exhibit one pair of well-defined redox peaks, which is ascribed to the redox process of the nickel and followed by the greatly enhanced current response of the anodic peak in the presence of contraflam and a decrease in the corresponding cathodic current peak. This indicates that the immobilized redox mediator on the electrode surface was oxidized contraflam via an electrocatalytic mechanism. The catalytic currents increased linearly with the concentration of contraflam in the range of 0.25– 1.5 mmol/L. The anodic peak currents were linearly proportional to the square root of scan rate. This behaviour is the characteristic of a diffusion-controlled process. The determination of contraflam in capsules is applied satisfactorily by modified electrode.

Interfacial engineering of printable bottom back metal electrodes for full-solution processed flexible organic solar cells

Printing of metal bottom back electrodes of flexible organic solar cells（FOSCs） at low temperature is of great significance to realize the full-solution fabrication technology. However, this has been difficult to achieve because often the interfacial properties of those printed electrodes, including conductivity, roughness, work function,optical and mechanical flexibility, cannot meet the device requirement at the same time. In this work, we fabricate printed Ag and Cu bottom back cathodes by a low-temperature solution technique named polymer-assisted metal deposition（PAMD） on flexible PET substrates. Branched polyethylenimine（PEI） and ZnO thin films are used as the interface modification layers（IMLs） of these cathodes. Detailed experimental studies on the electrical, mechanical, and morphological properties, and simulation study on the optical properties of these IMLs are carried out to understand and optimize the interface of printed cathodes. We demonstrate that the highest power conversion efficiency over 3.0% can be achieved from a full-solution processed OFSC with the device structure being PAMDAg/PEI/P3 HT：PC61BM/PH1000. This device also acquires remarkable stability upon repeating bending tests.