Two novel open-chain carboxyethyltin decorated sandwich-type germanotungstates have been successfully synthesized. They could markedly increase the electrocatalytic activity of single-walled carbon nanotubes toward triiodide reduction when assembled into composite electrodes, which have shown a conversion efficiency of 6.32% that is comparable to that of Pt electrodes (6.29%) when used as count...

We demonstrated the replacement of the Pt catalyst normally used in the counter electrode of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) by a nanocomposite of dry spun carbon multi-walled nanotube (MWNT) sheets with graphene flakes (Gr-F). The effectiveness of this counter electrode on the reduction of the triiodide in the iodide/triiodide redox (I(-)/I(3)(-)) redox reaction was studied in parallel wit...

The highly reduced graphene oxide using solvated electrons as reductive agents shows low defects and well dispersion that are vital as the support of Pt nanoparticles in direct methanol electro-oxidation. The electrochemical experiments demonstrate that the Pt/RGO composites not only greatly enhance the catalytic activity but also dramatically improve the durability of the catalyst.

A polypodal ligand based on an aromatic ring decorated by four dppa-type diphosphine moieties has been used to prepare Pt(II) complexes and to assemble four tricobalt or tetracobalt carbonyl clusters, leading to centrosymmetric Co12 and Co16 "clusters of clusters" which were characterized by X-ray diffraction.

We fabricated a variety of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanoring arrays using Au@Pt nanoplates as a pattern mask. RGO nanoflakes were assembled into a 2-dimensional assembly at the water-oil interface, and then various shapes of Au@Pt nanoplates were utilized as a pattern mask in order to convert the RGO into circular, triangular, and hexagonal RGO nanorings.

We report CVD-grown p-doped three-dimensional graphene nano-networks (3D-GNs) that provide superior performance to Pt as a counter electrode material in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The 3D-GN based DSSC exhibits a maximum photoconversion efficiency of 8.46%, which is 6.01% greater than that exhibited by Pt based DSSCs.

Highly meso-porous Pt contained γ-Al2O3 nanostructure was prepared by a combined sol gel-pyrolysis method in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone and Pluronic p123 as surfactant. The surface of the prepared nanostructure was decorated with 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([BMM]PF6) ionic liquid to enhance the sorption capacity and prevent the poisoning of the catalytic active si...

Graphene was prepared by reduction of graphite oxide (GO), which was obtained from oxidation of graphite powder by Hummers′ method. The graphite and graphene were detected preliminary by X-ray diffraction(XRD)、transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and scanning electron microscopy(SEM). The graphene electrode was prapared by graphene and Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). The electro-catalytic char...

In this study, we synthesized a powder consisting of core-shell-structured Ni/NiO nanocluster-decorated graphene (Ni/NiO-graphene) by a simple process for use as an anodic material for lithium-ion batteries. First, a crumpled graphene powder consisting of uniformly distributed Ni nanoclusters was prepared by one-pot spray pyrolysis. This powder was subsequently transformed into the Ni/NiO-graph...

State-of-the-art catalysts are often created via deposition of monolayers, sub-monolayers or nanoparticles of the catalytic material over supports, aiming to increase the surface area and decrease the loading of the catalytic material and therefore the overall cost. Here, we employ large-scale DFT calculations to simulate platinum clusters with up to 309 atoms interacting with single layer grap...