Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) system has been regarded as one promising means to alleviate current energy demand because it can directly generate electricity from radiation heat via photons. However, the presently availa...Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) system has been regarded as one promising means to alleviate current energy demand because it can directly generate electricity from radiation heat via photons. However, the presently available TPV systems suffer from low conversion efficiency and low throughput. A viable solution to increase their efficiency is to apply micro/nanoscale radiation principles in the design of different components to utilize the characteristics ~f thermal radiation at small distances and in microstructures. Several critical issues are reviewed, such as photovoltaic effect, quantum efficiency and efficiency of TPV system. Emphasis is given to the development of wavelength-selective emitters and filters and the aspects of micro/nanoscale heat transfer. Recent progress, along with the challenges and opportunities for future development of TPV systems are also outlined.展开更多
Conventional thermoacoustic engines have a stack pore radius that is almost constant in the axial direction. Hence, a thermoacoustic engine is expected to improve the energy conversion efficiency using a multistage st...Conventional thermoacoustic engines have a stack pore radius that is almost constant in the axial direction. Hence, a thermoacoustic engine is expected to improve the energy conversion efficiency using a multistage stack with multiple pore radii. The stack comprises several bundles of numerous narrow tubes with specified pore radii. The optimum pore radius of the stack is determined by the oscillation frequency and the temperature in the stack. Consequently, the suitable pore radius changes in the axial direction, because the temperature gradient exists along the stack axis. Therefore, a multistage stack with multiple pore radii is introduced, which achieves a desired optimum pore radius everywhere in the stack. The energy conversion efficiency of the multistage stack, which was studied experimentally for a straight-tube type thermoacoustic engine, was compared with that of a conventional single-stage stack. In these experiments, the improvement of the energy conversion efficiency was confirmed. A numerical method with the transmittance matrix to include the effect of a multistage stack was used, and good agreement between experimental and numerical results was obtained. The results make a future possibilities for stack design intended to higher thermoacoustic engine efficiency expect.展开更多
A new solution-processable small-molecule donor material, named DRBDT3, comprised of oligobenzo[l,2-b:4,5-b'] dithio- phene as the backbone and 3-ethyl-rhodanine as the end-capped group has been designed and synthes...A new solution-processable small-molecule donor material, named DRBDT3, comprised of oligobenzo[l,2-b:4,5-b'] dithio- phene as the backbone and 3-ethyl-rhodanine as the end-capped group has been designed and synthesized for application in organic photovoltaic cells. The oligobenzodithiophene derivative exhibits an absorption band from 300 to 640 nm. The film of DRBDT3 shows highly long-range ordering assembly and high mobility of 1.21×10^-4 cm^2 V^-1 s^-1. The new molecule shows a deep highest-occupied molecular orbital energy level. The device based on DRBDT3 as the donor and PC71BM as the acceptor exhibits a power conversion efficiency of 4.09% with a high open-circuit voltage of 0.99 V under AM. 1.5G illumination (100 mW cm^-2).展开更多
A new kind of photoactive electrodes with nanocrystalline TiO2(nano-TiO2)secondary structure is successfully prepared via a simple method of adding a small amount of TiCl4 2-propanol solution in conventional nano-TiO2...A new kind of photoactive electrodes with nanocrystalline TiO2(nano-TiO2)secondary structure is successfully prepared via a simple method of adding a small amount of TiCl4 2-propanol solution in conventional nano-TiO2 paste to form micro-sized nano-TiO2 aggregates.The benefits of this special structure include improved optical absorption,increased light scattering ability,and enhanced electron transport and collection efficiency.Dye-sensitized solar cells(DSCs)based on these photoactive electrodes show improved performance.The power conversion efficiency of the cells can be increased from 5.03%to 7.30%by substituting 6μm conventional nano-TiO2 thin film with the same thickness of as-prepared nano-TiO2 aggregates film in the photoactive electrodes.A higher power conversion efficiency of the cells can be obtained by further increasing the thickness of the nano-TiO2 aggregates film.展开更多
The white upconversion luminescence (UCL) of upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) is mainly made up of the color red, green and blue. Interestingly, the white-light-emitting UCNPs can be obtained via a complex metho...The white upconversion luminescence (UCL) of upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) is mainly made up of the color red, green and blue. Interestingly, the white-light-emitting UCNPs can be obtained via a complex method of tridoping lanthanide ions such as Yb^3+, Er^3+, and Tm^3+. We herein report that an excellent white UCL can be obtained from Yb/Tm double-doped ZnO. In this system, the blue and red UCL-emissions around 475 and 652 nm originate from ^1G4→^3H6 and ^1G4→^3F4 transition of Tm^3+, respectively, and the green one can be attributed to the defect states (oxygen va- cancies) luminescence (DSL) of the ZnO host. Meanwhile, the fine nanostructure of ZnO:Yb/Tm is prepared by adjusting the concentration of OH-. Particularly, the one dimentional pencil-shaped nanorods with high aspect ratio achieve a strong green DSL emission due to the high concentration of oxygen vacancy. The oxygen vacancy defects play an irreplaceable role in affecting the intensities of blue and red UCL by acting as the intermediate state in the energy transfer process. More importantly, we demonstrate that the DSL and UCL can be combined into systems, paving a new road for obtaining the white UCL emission.展开更多
Thermoelectric materials(TMs)can uniquely convert waste heat into electricity,which provides a potential solution for the global energy crisis that is increasingly severe.Bulk Cu2Se,with ionic conductivity of Cu ions,...Thermoelectric materials(TMs)can uniquely convert waste heat into electricity,which provides a potential solution for the global energy crisis that is increasingly severe.Bulk Cu2Se,with ionic conductivity of Cu ions,exhibits a significant enhancement of its thermoelectric figure of merit z T by a factor of^3 near its structural transition around 400 K.Here,we show a systematic study of the electronic structure of Cu2Se and its temperature evolution using high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy.Upon heating across the structural transition,the electronic states near the corner of the Brillouin zone gradually disappear,while the bands near the centre of Brillouin zone shift abruptly towards high binding energies and develop an energy gap.Interestingly,the observed band reconstruction well reproduces the temperature evolution of the Seebeck coefficient of Cu2 Se,providing an electronic origin for the drastic enhancement of the thermoelectric performance near 400 K.The current results not only bridge among structural phase transition,electronic structures and thermoelectric properties in a condensed matter system,but also provide valuable insights into the search and design of new generation of thermoelectric materials.展开更多
Atomically thin solid-state channels enabling selective molecular transport could potentially be used in a variety of separation and energy conversion applications.The density of channels,their height,distance and edg...Atomically thin solid-state channels enabling selective molecular transport could potentially be used in a variety of separation and energy conversion applications.The density of channels,their height,distance and edge structure are the key factors that dramatically impact the selective transport performance.However,such channels with small constrictions and atomic precision have been limited to proof-ofconcept demonstrations based on microscale two-dimensional(2D)crystal stripes.Here,we report the engineering of highly ordered,scalable monolayer graphene crystallite arrays by chemical vapor deposition(CVD)method with a modified anisotropic etching approach.The size,shape,distance and edge structure of the graphene crystallite arrays in a large area could be delicately controlled through tailoring the synthetic parameters.This array structure can act as pillars to prop up a smooth single-crystal graphene film,and the fabricated integrated angstrom-size(3.4A)channels allow water transport but exclude hydrated ions,demonstrating potential in selective ionic sieving and nanofiltration practice.展开更多
基金Project(2009AA05Z215) supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China
文摘Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) system has been regarded as one promising means to alleviate current energy demand because it can directly generate electricity from radiation heat via photons. However, the presently available TPV systems suffer from low conversion efficiency and low throughput. A viable solution to increase their efficiency is to apply micro/nanoscale radiation principles in the design of different components to utilize the characteristics ~f thermal radiation at small distances and in microstructures. Several critical issues are reviewed, such as photovoltaic effect, quantum efficiency and efficiency of TPV system. Emphasis is given to the development of wavelength-selective emitters and filters and the aspects of micro/nanoscale heat transfer. Recent progress, along with the challenges and opportunities for future development of TPV systems are also outlined.
文摘Conventional thermoacoustic engines have a stack pore radius that is almost constant in the axial direction. Hence, a thermoacoustic engine is expected to improve the energy conversion efficiency using a multistage stack with multiple pore radii. The stack comprises several bundles of numerous narrow tubes with specified pore radii. The optimum pore radius of the stack is determined by the oscillation frequency and the temperature in the stack. Consequently, the suitable pore radius changes in the axial direction, because the temperature gradient exists along the stack axis. Therefore, a multistage stack with multiple pore radii is introduced, which achieves a desired optimum pore radius everywhere in the stack. The energy conversion efficiency of the multistage stack, which was studied experimentally for a straight-tube type thermoacoustic engine, was compared with that of a conventional single-stage stack. In these experiments, the improvement of the energy conversion efficiency was confirmed. A numerical method with the transmittance matrix to include the effect of a multistage stack was used, and good agreement between experimental and numerical results was obtained. The results make a future possibilities for stack design intended to higher thermoacoustic engine efficiency expect.
基金supported by the National Basic Research Program of China(2014CB643502)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(51373078)the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University(IRT1257)
文摘A new solution-processable small-molecule donor material, named DRBDT3, comprised of oligobenzo[l,2-b:4,5-b'] dithio- phene as the backbone and 3-ethyl-rhodanine as the end-capped group has been designed and synthesized for application in organic photovoltaic cells. The oligobenzodithiophene derivative exhibits an absorption band from 300 to 640 nm. The film of DRBDT3 shows highly long-range ordering assembly and high mobility of 1.21×10^-4 cm^2 V^-1 s^-1. The new molecule shows a deep highest-occupied molecular orbital energy level. The device based on DRBDT3 as the donor and PC71BM as the acceptor exhibits a power conversion efficiency of 4.09% with a high open-circuit voltage of 0.99 V under AM. 1.5G illumination (100 mW cm^-2).
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U1205112,51002053)the Key Project of the Chinese Ministry of Education (212206)+1 种基金the Programs for Prominent Young Talents and New Century Excellent Talents in Fujian Province Universitythe Promotion Program for Yong and Middle-aged Teacher in Science and Technology Research of Huaqiao University (ZQN- YX102)
文摘A new kind of photoactive electrodes with nanocrystalline TiO2(nano-TiO2)secondary structure is successfully prepared via a simple method of adding a small amount of TiCl4 2-propanol solution in conventional nano-TiO2 paste to form micro-sized nano-TiO2 aggregates.The benefits of this special structure include improved optical absorption,increased light scattering ability,and enhanced electron transport and collection efficiency.Dye-sensitized solar cells(DSCs)based on these photoactive electrodes show improved performance.The power conversion efficiency of the cells can be increased from 5.03%to 7.30%by substituting 6μm conventional nano-TiO2 thin film with the same thickness of as-prepared nano-TiO2 aggregates film in the photoactive electrodes.A higher power conversion efficiency of the cells can be obtained by further increasing the thickness of the nano-TiO2 aggregates film.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11374080)
文摘The white upconversion luminescence (UCL) of upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) is mainly made up of the color red, green and blue. Interestingly, the white-light-emitting UCNPs can be obtained via a complex method of tridoping lanthanide ions such as Yb^3+, Er^3+, and Tm^3+. We herein report that an excellent white UCL can be obtained from Yb/Tm double-doped ZnO. In this system, the blue and red UCL-emissions around 475 and 652 nm originate from ^1G4→^3H6 and ^1G4→^3F4 transition of Tm^3+, respectively, and the green one can be attributed to the defect states (oxygen va- cancies) luminescence (DSL) of the ZnO host. Meanwhile, the fine nanostructure of ZnO:Yb/Tm is prepared by adjusting the concentration of OH-. Particularly, the one dimentional pencil-shaped nanorods with high aspect ratio achieve a strong green DSL emission due to the high concentration of oxygen vacancy. The oxygen vacancy defects play an irreplaceable role in affecting the intensities of blue and red UCL by acting as the intermediate state in the energy transfer process. More importantly, we demonstrate that the DSL and UCL can be combined into systems, paving a new road for obtaining the white UCL emission.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(11774190,11674229,11634009 and 11874264)the National Key R&D Program of China(2017YFA0304600,2017YFA0305400 and 2017YFA0402900)+2 种基金EPSRC Platform Grant(EP/M020517/1)the support from the Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai(17ZR1443300)the support from Tsinghua University Initiative Scientific Research Program。
文摘Thermoelectric materials(TMs)can uniquely convert waste heat into electricity,which provides a potential solution for the global energy crisis that is increasingly severe.Bulk Cu2Se,with ionic conductivity of Cu ions,exhibits a significant enhancement of its thermoelectric figure of merit z T by a factor of^3 near its structural transition around 400 K.Here,we show a systematic study of the electronic structure of Cu2Se and its temperature evolution using high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy.Upon heating across the structural transition,the electronic states near the corner of the Brillouin zone gradually disappear,while the bands near the centre of Brillouin zone shift abruptly towards high binding energies and develop an energy gap.Interestingly,the observed band reconstruction well reproduces the temperature evolution of the Seebeck coefficient of Cu2 Se,providing an electronic origin for the drastic enhancement of the thermoelectric performance near 400 K.The current results not only bridge among structural phase transition,electronic structures and thermoelectric properties in a condensed matter system,but also provide valuable insights into the search and design of new generation of thermoelectric materials.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(51772110,61890940)。
文摘Atomically thin solid-state channels enabling selective molecular transport could potentially be used in a variety of separation and energy conversion applications.The density of channels,their height,distance and edge structure are the key factors that dramatically impact the selective transport performance.However,such channels with small constrictions and atomic precision have been limited to proof-ofconcept demonstrations based on microscale two-dimensional(2D)crystal stripes.Here,we report the engineering of highly ordered,scalable monolayer graphene crystallite arrays by chemical vapor deposition(CVD)method with a modified anisotropic etching approach.The size,shape,distance and edge structure of the graphene crystallite arrays in a large area could be delicately controlled through tailoring the synthetic parameters.This array structure can act as pillars to prop up a smooth single-crystal graphene film,and the fabricated integrated angstrom-size(3.4A)channels allow water transport but exclude hydrated ions,demonstrating potential in selective ionic sieving and nanofiltration practice.