Unveiling the charge storage mechanism of vanadium nitride to defy the limits of on-chip micro-supercapacitors.

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International audienceTitania nanoparticles are widely studied for photoconversion processes where combining high surface area, charge transport properties, and chemical stability is meaningful. To enhance the conversion efficiency, new compounds with reduced band gap are actively researched to utilize the visible part of the solar spectrum. Some narrowing of the gap can be observed when doping titania with nitrogen, leading to suboxide species. Using laser pyrolysis, we have synthesized for the first time true titanium monoxide TiO nanoparticles with a rock-salt crystallographic structure. The as-formed nanoparticles of black color contain carbon which can be removed by soft annealing under air while maintaining the presence of the TiO phase. These nanoparticles exhibit a very large shift of the light absorption threshold, up to 1.2 eV toward visible range, compared to the anatase form of titania. XPS analysis allows discussion of the role of nitrogen in the formation of this phase and its optical properties. First results indicate efficient photoactivity under UV and visible irradiation

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International audienceThe grafting of biocompatible poly(hydroxyethyl) methacrylate (PHEMA) by a very simple method onto titanium dioxide nanoparticles is reported. The selected grafting process is based on the chemical reduction of diazonium salts by reducing agents in presence of the vinylic monomer. As previously demonstrated on flat surfaces, it leads to strongly grafted and stable polymer films and has many advantages residing in a short one-step reaction occurring at atmospheric pressure, ambient air and room temperature in water. TiO(2) nanoparticles were synthesized by laser pyrolysis, giving nanoparticles with controlled size and composition. The coating, the composition, the chemical structure, and the grafted PHEMA quantities of the resulting products were investigated by Transmission electron microscopy, Infrared-attenuated total reflection, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Thermogravimetric analysis. It was demonstrated that the PHEMA shell was successfully chemically grafted onto the surface of the TiO(2) core without any significant influence on the morphology of the nanoparticles

A crucial issue regarding emerging nanotechnologies remains the up‐scaling of new functional nanostructured materials towards their implementation in high performance applications on a large scale. In this context, we demonstrate high efficiency solid‐state dye‐sensitized solar cells prepared from new porous TiO2 photoanodes based on laser pyrolysis nanocrystals. This strategy exploits a reduced number of processing steps as well as non‐toxic chemical compounds to demonstrate highly porous TiO2 films. The possibility to easily tune the TiO2 nanocrystal physical properties allows us to demonstrate all solid‐state dye‐sensitized devices based on a commercial benchmark materials (organic indoline dye and molecular hole transporter) presenting state‐of‐the‐art performance comparable with reference devices based on a commercial TiO2 paste. In particular, a drastic improvement in pore infiltration, which is found to balance a relatively lower surface area compared to the reference electrode, is evidenced using laser‐synthesized nanocrystals resulting in an improved short‐circuit current density under full sunlight. Transient photovoltage decay measurements suggest that charge recombination kinetics still limit device performance. However, the proposed strategy emphasizes the potentialities of the laser pyrolysis technique for up‐scaling nanoporous TiO2 electrodes for various applications, especially for solar energy conversion.

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