2020 NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Dr. Mannix P. Balanay talked about the Bachelor of Science in Chemistry program, its current research activities, and internship opportunities.

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We would like to congratulate Enoch Adotey, Ph.D. student in Science, Engineering and Technology who is co-supervised by Dr. Mehdi Amouie Torkmahalleh (SEDS) and Dr. Balanay for publishing a paper in Methods and Applications in Fluorescence (IOP) entitled "Zinc metal–organic framework with 3-pyridinecarboxaldehyde and trimesic acid as co-ligands for selective detection of Cr (VI) ions in aqueous solution". In this paper, they synthesized a luminescent Zn-MOF with 3-pyridinecarboxaldehyde and trimesic acid as ligand to act as a sensor to detect chromium ions in aqueous solution. They attained detection limits of 0.67 µM as CrO₄^2- anion (35 ppb Cr(VI)) and 1.91µM as Cr₂O₇^2- anion (198 ppb Cr(VI)). It also has a very good selectivity when exposed to different cations and anions with a wide pH range of 2 to 10. This shows that their MOF could serve as a good luminescent sensor for CrO₄^2- and Cr₂O₇^2- species.

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We published an article in Chemical Communications (RSC) entitled "Nanostructured flower-shaped CuCo₂S₄ as a Pt-free counter-electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells". They demonstrated a solvothermally prepared cost-effective, mesoporous, and high surface area nanostructured flower-shaped CuCo₂S₄ counter-electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells. The new counter electrode exhibited comparable results with a traditional Pt-based counter electrode, 7.56% vs. 7.42%, respectively. The electrochemical analysis demonstrated superior electrocatalytic activity of the product, which was stable even after 6 months of aging.

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We published an article in the Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry (Elsevier) entitled "Surface modification of TiO₂ photoanodes with In³⁺ using a simple soaking technique for enhancing the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells". In this paper, we applied a simple approach in the enhancement of the photovoltaic conversion efficiency using sol-gel method with InCl₃ as the precursor. Different characterization techniques were utilized such as ultra-high-resolution field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and high-resolution X-ray diffractometer to analyze the properties observed. Photovoltage decay analysis showed prolonged charge carrier lifetimes of In coated cells compared to bare electrode thus demonstrating the energy barrier effect of the In blocking layer. Photovoltaic measurements revealed 17.9 % improvement in cell efficiency for In coated cell relative to pristine TiO₂ cell.

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