Article
Chemistry, Physical
M. Roshith, Abhishek Pathak, A. K. Nanda Kumar, Gopalraman Anantharaj, Vijayaraghavan Saranyan, S. Ramasubramanian, T. G. Satheesh Babu, Darbha V. Ravi Kumar
Summary: A non-metallic red phosphorus-based photocatalyst for potential continuous flow water disinfection was reported. The immobilized photocatalyst in the reactor demonstrated a 6.7 log reduction in E. coli concentration under direct sunlight within 14 minutes, showing high efficiency of the process and suggesting great potential for commercial scale-up.
APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Water Resources
Damiana A. Amatobi, Jonah C. Agunwamba
Summary: This study improves on the conventional SODIS design by using PET bottles, a heat absorber, and better sunrays' cover, resulting in higher inactivation rates and faster inactivation speed compared to the traditional method.
APPLIED WATER SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Aditi Kulkarni, Kiran Manohar, Girivyankatesh Hippargi, Pratap Reddy Maddigapu, Rita Dhodapkar, Sadhana Suresh Rayalu
Summary: Solar pasteurization is a reliable and cost-effective method for eliminating microbial pathogens in water. This study presents a nano-SODIS bottle coated with plasmonic carbon nanoparticles (CNP) that effectively kills targeted pathogens through nanophotonic-triggered thermal enhancement. The CNPs have high solar radiation harvesting efficiency and can generate powerful heating to inactivate microorganisms. The nano-SODIS bottles achieved a temperature of 65-70 degrees C within 90 minutes of solar exposure, resulting in a threefold reduction in disinfection period compared to conventional methods. The CNP-coated bottles provide a simple, durable, and user-friendly solution for providing pathogen-free drinking water in rural and slum areas.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2023)
Review
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Abdassalam A. Azamzam, Mohd Rafatullah, Esam Bashir Yahya, Mardiana Idayu Ahmad, Japareng Lalung, Sarah Alharthi, Abeer Mohammad Alosaimi, Mahmoud A. Hussein
Summary: Poor access to drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene is a major concern for humanity, with a third of the global population lacking access to safe drinking water. Solar water disinfection (SODIS) has been widely proven as an effective method for inactivating waterborne pathogens. Research is ongoing to enhance the performance of SODIS process and to discuss various water treatment methods and mechanisms for pathogen inactivation.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
B. Sawant, M. J. Abeledo-Lameiro, A. Garcia Gil, S. Couso-Perez, S. Sharma, U. Sethia, R. Marasini, L. Buck, M. I. Polo-Lopez, I. Oller Alberola, J. Marugan, H. Gomez-Couso, E. Ares-Mazas, K. Vijaya Lakshmi, S. Pal, R. Dhodapkarj, K. G. McGuigan
Summary: This study tested the efficacy of 10 L polypropylene (PP) transparent jerry cans (TJCs) to inactivate E. coli, MS2-phage, and Cryptosporidium parvum via solar water disinfection (SODIS). Despite the poorer transparency of PP TJCs compared to standard 2 L PET bottles, similar inactivation kinetics were observed for all three organisms. Therefore, container optical transparency is not as important as previously believed for effective SODIS.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Sofia Samoili, Giulio Farinelli, Jose Angel Moreno-SanSegundo, Kevin G. McGuigan, Javier Marugan, Cesar Pulgarin, Stefanos Giannakis
Summary: This study assessed the efficacy of Solar water disinfection (SODIS) in removing bacterial pathogens through experiments and simulations, proposing new theoretical models. The results indicated that most African regions are suitable for SODIS processes, but there are areas of risk correlated with climatological conditions.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Kris O'Dowd, Azahara Martinez-Garcia, Isabel Oller, Maria Inmaculada Polo-Lopez, Seila Couso-Perez, Elvira Ares-Mazas, Hipolito Gomez-Couso, Angela Garcia-Gil, Javier Marugan, Ramesh Marasini, Kevin G. McGuigan, Suresh C. Pillai
Summary: It is predicted that by 2025, over 50% of the global population will lack access to safe drinking water. Solar Disinfection (SODIS) using polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles has been identified as a suitable and low-cost method for water disinfection in rural areas. This study examines the use of polypropylene (PP) transparent jerrycans (TJC) as an alternative container for SODIS. The PP TJC demonstrated effective inactivation of microorganisms, non-toxicity to human cells, but degraded after two weeks of accelerated ageing.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Anni Juvakoski, Gaurav Singhal, Manuel A. Manzano, Miguel Angel Morinigo, Riku Vahala, Irina Levchuk
Summary: Solar disinfection (SODIS) is an affordable method for treating drinking water, and this study found that it can be effective even in colder climates. The experiments showed that in a humid continental climate, the lowest water temperature (8-11 degrees C) achieved the best disinfection results. Additionally, higher water temperatures and UV intensities increased the required disinfection doses.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Seyed Masoud Parsa, Saba Momeni, Ahmadreza Hemmat, Masoud Afrand
Summary: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic poses great challenges to water environments, with the presence of viral risks in wastewater samples, especially in areas lacking proper sanitation facilities. The widely used SODIS solar water disinfection method in developing countries may be less reliable in the current situation.
JOURNAL OF WATER PROCESS ENGINEERING
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Nuria Lopez-Vincent, Alberto Cruz-Alcalde, Gholamreza Moussavi, Isabel del Castillo Gonzalez, Aurelio Hernandez Lehmann, Jaime Gimenez, Stefanos Giannakis
Summary: The study revealed that the Fe(VI)/PMS/solar light system showed enhanced inactivation of Escherichia coli and significant removal of sulfamethoxazole in a short period of time, indicating its potential for water disinfection and decontamination.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Licheng Sang, Weiyi Yang, Shuang Gao, Suhua Li, Jian Ku Shang, Qi Li
Summary: This study discovered a new type of organic semiconductor-based photocatalyst, polyacrylonitrile (PAN), which has good light absorption and appropriate electronic band structure to degrade organic pollutants and disinfect bacteria under simulated solar illumination. The PAN photocatalyst shows good stability, reusability, and suitability for practical application in real water matrix, especially as wearable products with self-disinfection property.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2022)
Review
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Leena V. Bora, Nisha V. Bora, Gopal Koladia
Summary: This article discusses effective strategies to enhance the process of solar photocatalytic pathogen disinfection, which can improve disinfection efficiency through the use of photocatalysis and other potent techniques.
INORGANIC CHEMISTRY COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Jorge Rodriguez-Chueca, Stefanos Giannakis, Maxime Tranchant, Paula Oulego, Michael Bensimon, Cesar Pulgarin
Summary: This manuscript explores the improvement of solar disinfection (SODIS) for water treatment by utilizing iron replacements, such as calcined herbs and spices, in the photo-Fenton reaction. The study evaluates the bactericidal performance of SODIS, H2O2/light, and solar photo-Fenton in both pure and Lake Leman water. The findings demonstrate that the addition of certain spices/herbs enhances the H2O2/light process, while the use of ashes as substitutes for Fe2+ results in faster kinetics.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Jose Moreno-SanSegundo, Stefanos Giannakis, Sofia Samoili, Giulio Farinelli, Kevin G. McGuigan, Cesar Pulgarin, Javier Marugan
Summary: This study investigated the global applicability of solar water disinfection technology by introducing a novel parameter, the SODIS potential, and developing a solar calculator to estimate disinfection rates worldwide. Results indicated that latitude significantly contributes to the SODIS potential, with highest values near the equator, while temperature and cloud-cover also play important roles in the outcomes.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Angela Garcia-Gil, Rafael A. Garcia-Munoz, Azahara Martinez-Garcia, Maria Inmaculada Polo-Lopez, Araya Gebreyesus Wasihun, Mekonen Teferi, Tsehaye Asmelash, Ronan Conroy, Kevin G. McGuigan, Javier Marugan
Summary: The lack of safe drinking water is a major issue in low-to-medium-income countries. This study successfully scaled up the Solar Water Disinfection (SODIS) process from standard 2 L bottles to 25 L transparent jerrycans and implemented it in Tigray, Ethiopia for 12 months. The results demonstrated that increasing the volume of the SODIS water containers can lead to safer drinking water in a sustainable and user-friendly manner.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Bingyu Lei, Arivazhagan Valluvar Oli, Aruna Ivaturi, Neil Robertson
Summary: Mesocrystal materials with hierarchical structure and designable overall shape possess properties from nanosized building blocks and collective functions from crystallographically ordered assembly, making them high-performance candidates in various applications.
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY & FUELS
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Manufacturing
Valentin C. Menzel, Xuerui Yi, Franziska Bobl, Caroline Kirk, Neil Robertson, Ignacio Tudela
Summary: Thermal doping of polyaniline was achieved to fabricate electrodes using 3D printing technology, resulting in electrodes with high conductivity for electrochemical applications. The fabricated 3D printed electrochemical capacitors exhibited memristive behavior, suitable for applications such as artificial neural networks.
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
(2022)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Ruggero Emmanuele, Michal Maciejczyk, Ashton Smith, Xinyue Cheng, Eric Masson, David J. Gosztola, Saw Wai Hla, Neil Robertson, Xuedan Ma
Summary: Despite the long lifetimes and weak emission of rare-earth ion materials, modifying their photoluminescence properties through coupling with photonic structures can achieve a maximum enhancement factor of 30 and accelerate the decay rate up to two orders of magnitude.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Nikita S. Gudim, Ekaterina A. Knyazeva, Ludmila Mikhalchenko, Maksim S. Mikhailov, Lu Zhang, Neil Robertson, Oleg A. Rakitin
Summary: Two novel D-A-pi-A1 metal-free organic dyes of the KEA series containing benzo[d][1,2,3]thiadiazole (isoBT) internal acceptor, indoline donors fused with cyclopentane or cyclohexane rings (D), a thiophene as a pi-spacer, and a cyanoacrylate as an anchor part were synthesized. The optical and photovoltaic properties observed for the KEA dyes showed that these compounds are promising for the creation of solar cells, with KEA321 recording the best power efficiency (PCE).
Article
Energy & Fuels
Bingyu Lei, Neil Robertson
Summary: A new method for the immobilization of TiO2 mesocrystals has been developed in this study. The immobilized TiO2 possesses high dye pickup capability and optimal electron transport ability, making it suitable for dye-sensitized solar cells.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Bingyu Lei, Lisette Warren, Carole Morrison, Gwilherm Kerherve, William S. J. Skinner, David J. Payne, Neil Robertson
Summary: Ammonium fluoroxotitanates, such as NH4TiOF3 and (NH4)2TiOF4, are considered as topotactic synthetic precursors of the functional semiconductor anatase TiO2. However, their properties and potential applications have not been thoroughly studied. In this work, NH4TiOF3 and (NH4)2TiOF4 were experimentally and computationally characterized, and their electronic structures were found to be consistent. Furthermore, immobilized NH4TiOF3 exhibited promising photocatalytic activity in UV dye degradation.
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Ying Yuan, Neil Robertson
Summary: Recent studies have focused on improving the efficiency of Ag3BiI6 solar cells, but most have overlooked cost-effectiveness and scalability. This study explores the feasibility of Ag3BiI6 in fully-printable triple-mesoscopic solar cells and investigates the effect of pre-treatment and post-treatment on their performance. The results show a potential for developing all inorganic Bi-based absorbers in printable solar cells.
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY & FUELS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Bingyu Lei, Neil Robertson
Summary: The immobilised TiO2 mesocrystals were prepared on sanded glass substrates via a solution synthesis of immobilised precursor, followed by a thermal treatment triggering a topotactic conversion reaction. The obtained mesocrystals possessed anatase nanoparticles with high surface area and co-exposed {10 1}/{0 0 1} facets, as well as large overall particle size and strong binding to the substrate inherited from the immobilised precursor. These unique structural features make the material a promising candidate as a highly efficient and separable photocatalyst. The thermal treatment parameters were also shown to be crucial for adjusting the structural or surface properties and thus the photocatalytic performance of the immobilised TiO2 mesocrystals.
APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Bradley E. Cowie, Lisa Hafele, Andreas Phanopoulos, Said A. Said, Ja Kyung Lee, Anna Regoutz, Milo S. P. Shaffer, Charlotte K. Williams
Summary: This work demonstrates the use of organometallic routes for the synthesis of copper(0/I) nanoparticles and emphasizes the importance of ligand selection to achieve desired material compositions. By reacting an organo-copper precursor with hydrogen, air or hydrogen sulfide, Cu, Cu2O or Cu2S nanoparticles can be obtained. Sub-stoichiometric amounts of protonated ligands are used to avoid excess contamination, and ligand exchange reactions reveal different coordination tendencies for copper(0) nanoparticles compared to Cu2O and Cu2S. This study highlights the potential of organometallic methods for well-defined nanoparticles and underscores the significance of ligand chemistry.
CHEMISTRY-A EUROPEAN JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Electrochemistry
Franziska Bossl, Valentin C. Menzel, Karina Jeronimo, Ayushi Arora, Yishu Zhang, Tim P. Comyn, Peter Cowin, Caroline Kirk, Neil Robertson, Ignacio Tudela
Summary: The present study aims to explore the controversial debate on the "true" mechanism behind piezo-electrocatalysis, whether it is energy band theory or screening charge effects. For this purpose, piezo-electrocatalysts made of three different materials, ZnO, BaTiO3, and BF-KBT-PT, with different energy band levels and piezoelectric properties, were used to degrade Rhodamine B in aqueous solutions using combined ultrasound and mechanical agitation as the excitation method. The results suggest that both mechanisms may play an important role in the overall process, as the piezo-electrocatalyst most likely to generate radicals via both piezo-electrocatalytic mechanisms achieved the highest overall dye degradation.
ELECTROCHIMICA ACTA
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Neena Kurian Kalluvettukuzhy, Michal Robert Maciejczyk, Ian Underwood, Neil Robertson
Summary: The aesthetics of solar cells have become increasingly important in recent years, with a trend towards implementing PV modules without aesthetic constraints. However, this has had negative consequences on cost and performance. In this study, we have developed a technical approach using luminescence down shifting (LDS) materials to fabricate brightly coloured, visually appealing solar cells and panels without compromising efficiency. This cost-effective method allows for the development of customizable solar cells with artistic designs, making them easily replaceable and suitable for various applications such as product-integrated photovoltaics, communication, and automotive use.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY A
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Ellie Tanaka, Gyu Min Kim, Michal R. Maciejczyk, Ayumi Ishii, Gary S. Nichol, Tsutomu Miyasaka, Neil Robertson
Summary: Hole transport materials (HTMs) based on truxene cores have shown promising properties as candidates for use in perovskite solar cells (PSCs). In this study, a novel HTM named TrxS-2MeOTAD was synthesized and characterized for its suitability in n-i-p planar PSCs. The TrxS-2MeOTAD showed suitable properties and achieved a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 18.9% in the PSCs.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY C
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
V Arivazhagan, Fraser Gun, R. Kiran Kumar Reddy, Tianyue Li, Milan Adelt, Neil Robertson, Yu Chen, Aruna Ivaturi
Summary: In this study, highly crystalline and environmentally stable lead-free ATBiI(4) photoactive thin films were prepared using 2-aminothiazolium iodide (ATI), and integrated into solar cells. The ATBiI(4) solar cells showed improved power conversion efficiency and open-circuit voltage compared to previous devices. Additionally, the solar cells demonstrated the potential for harvesting energy from indoor white light and UV LED.
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY & FUELS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
German Soto Perez, Shyantan Dasgupta, Wiktor Zuraw, Rosinda Fuentes Pineda, Konrad Wojciechowski, Lethy Krishnan Jagadamma, Ifor Samuel, Neil Robertson
Summary: In this study, perylene diimide derivatives with different functional groups in the bay position were synthesized and their optoelectronical properties were characterized. These derivatives were applied as alternative electron transport materials in inverted perovskite solar cells, achieving competitive power conversion efficiency comparable to the commonly used PCBM.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY A
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Artit Jarusarunchai, Xuan Liu, Wenjun Wu, Neil Robertson
Summary: A new series of dyes called T-CPDT was designed and synthesized, with optimized optical and photovoltaic properties for application in DSSC devices, showing improved efficiency compared to other dyes.
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY & FUELS
(2022)
