G. R. Berdiyorov

Efficient Antibacterial Membrane based on Two-Dimensional Ti3C2Tx (MXene) Nanosheets

Advanced membranes that enable ultrafast water flux while demonstrating anti-biofouling characteristics can facilitate sustainable water/wastewater treatment processes. MXenes, two-dimensional (2D) metal carbides and nitrides, have attracted attention for applications in water/wastewater treatment. In this work, we reported the antibacterial properties of micrometer-thick titanium carbide (Ti3C2Tx) MXene membranes prepared by filtration on a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) support. The bactericidal properties of Ti3C2Tx modified membranes were tested against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) by bacterial growth on the membrane surface and its exposure to bacterial suspensions. The antibacterial rate of fresh Ti3C2Tx MXene membranes reaches more than 73% against B. subtilis and 67% against E. coli as compared with that of control PVDF, while aged Ti3C2Tx membrane showed over 99% growth inhibition of both bacteria under same conditions. Flow cytometry showed about 70% population of dead and compromised cells after 24u2009h of exposure of both bacterial strains. The damage of the cell surfaces was also revealed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis, respectively. The demonstrated antibacterial activity of MXene coated membranes against common waterborne bacteria, promotes their potential application as anti-biofouling membrane in water and wastewater treatment processes.

Electronic transport in organometallic perovskite CH3NH3PbI3: The role of organic cation orientations

Density functional theory in combination with the nonequilibrium Greens function formalism is used to study the electronic transport properties of methylammonium lead-iodide perovskite CH3NH3PbI3. Electronic transport in homogeneous ferroelectric and antiferroelectric phases, both of which do not contain any charged domain walls, is quite similar. The presence of charged domain wall drastically (by about an order of magnitude) enhances the electronic transport in the lateral direction. The increase of the transmission originates from the smaller variation of the electrostatic potential profile along the charged domain walls. This fact may provide a tool for tuning transport properties of such hybrid materials by manipulating molecular cations having dipole moment.

Ionic sieving through Ti3C2(OH)2 MXene: First-principles calculations

Recent experiments revealed a great potential of MXene nanosheets for water desalination applications as ultrathin, high-flux, and size/charge-selective sieving membranes. Here, we conduct first-principles density functional theory calculations to explore possible mechanisms for the charge-selective ionic transport through Ti3C2(OH)2 MXene. We find that the charge selectivity originates from the charged nature of the MXene layers. For example, due to the electrostatic interactions, ions of different charge states have different energy barriers for the intercalation between the MXene layers. In addition, the system shows dynamic response to the intercalating ions, even in their hydrated states, by changing the interlayer spacing. Our findings highlight the importance of membrane surface charges on the ion sieving performance.

First-principles study of electronic transport and optical properties of penta-graphene, penta-SiC2 and penta-CN2

Using density functional theory in combination with the nonequilibrium Greens function formalism we study the electronic transport properties, optical properties and atomic partial charges of the recently proposed isostructural materials: penta-graphene (PG), pentagonal silicon dicarbide (p-SiC2) and pentagonal carbon nitride (p-CN2). Enhanced electronic transport is obtained in p-SiC2 as compared to PG due to the delocalization of the electronic states and smaller variations of the electrostatic potential. This enhancement occurs despite a smaller contribution of Si atoms to the density of states of the system. Penta-SiC2 also displays improved dielectric and optical properties as compared to its all-carbon analogue. For example, larger absorption is obtained in both the visible and the ultraviolet spectral ranges. Strong variation in the atomic partial charge distribution was found in p-SiC2. On the contrary, p-CN2 was not found to exhibit improved optoelectronic properties compared to PG, except for larger partial charges on the surface of the sample. Our findings demonstrate the potential of p-SiC2 in optoelectronic applications.

Effect of pinning on the response of superconducting strips to an external pulsed current

Using the anisotropic time-dependent Ginzburg–Landau theory we study the effect of ordered and disordered pinning on the time response of superconducting strips to an external current that switched on abruptly. The pinning centers result in a considerable delay of the response time of the system to such abrupt switching on of the current, whereas the output voltage is always larger when pinning is present. The resistive state in both cases are characterized either by dynamically stable phase-slip centers/lines or expanding in-time hot-spots, which are the main mechanisms for dissipation in current-carrying superconductors. We find that hot-spots are always initiated by the phase-slip state. However, the range of the applied current for the phase-slip state increases significantly when pinning is introduced. Qualitative changes are observed in the dynamics of the superconducting condensate in the presence of pinning.

Enhanced photovoltaic performance with co-sensitization of a ruthenium(II) sensitizer and an organic dye in dye-sensitized solar cells

Co-sensitization is demonstrated to be an effective technique to enhance the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells, where an efficiency of 9.23% is achieved by mixing N3 and RK-1 dyes. The assembled solar cells are characterized by UV-vis absorption measurements, current–voltage characteristics, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The co-sensitized solar cell shows an enhanced photovoltaic performance as compared to the devices sensitized by individual dyes. Upon optimization, the device made of 0.3 mM N3 + 0.2 mM RK-1 yielded Jsc = 18.1 mA cm2, Voc = 888 mV, FF = 57.44, and η = 9.23%. This performance is superior to that of solar cells sensitized with either N3 (6.10%) or RK-1 (5.82%) fabricated under the same conditions. The enhanced efficiency can be attributed to the decrease of the competitive light absorption by I−/I3−, dye aggregation, and charge recombination.

Atomic partial charges on CH3NH3PbI3 from first-principles electronic structure calculations

We calculated the partial charges in methylammonium (MA) lead-iodide perovskite CH3NH3PbI3 in its different crystalline phases using different first-principles electronic charge partitioning approaches, including the Bader, ChelpG, and density-derived electrostatic and chemical (DDEC) schemes. Among the three charge partitioning methods, the DDEC approach provides chemically intuitive and reliable atomic charges for this material, which consists of a mixture of transition metals, halide ions, and organic molecules. The DDEC charges are also found to be robust against the use of hybrid functionals and/or upon inclusion of spin–orbit coupling or dispersive interactions. We calculated explicitly the atomic charges with a special focus on the dipole moment of the MA molecules within the perovskite structure. The value of the dipole moment of the MA is reduced with respect to the isolated molecule due to charge redistribution involving the inorganic cage. DDEC charges and dipole moment of the organic part rema...

Effect of straining graphene on nanopore creation using Si cluster bombardment: A reactive atomistic investigation

Graphene nanosheets have recently received a revival of interest as a new class of ultrathin, high-flux, and energy-efficient sieving membranes because of their unique two-dimensional and atomically thin structure, good flexibility, and outstanding mechanical properties. However, for practical applications of graphene for advanced water purification and desalination technologies, the creation of well controlled, high-density, and subnanometer diameter pores becomes a key factor. Here, we conduct reactive force-field molecular dynamics simulations to study the effect of external strain on nanopore creation in the suspended graphene by bombardment with Si clusters. Depending on the size and energy of the clusters, different kinds of topography were observed in the graphene sheet. In all the considered conditions, tensile strain results in the creation of nanopores with regular shape and smooth edges. On the contrary, compressive strain increases the elastic response of graphene to irradiation that leads to ...

Cation Effect on Hot Carrier Cooling in Halide Perovskite Materials

Organic-inorganic lead-halide perovskites have received a revival of interest in the past few years as a promising class of materials for photovoltaic applications. Despite recent extensive research, the role of cations in defining the high photovoltaic performance of these materials is not fully understood. Here, we conduct nonadiabatic molecular dynamics simulations to study and compare nonradiative hot carrier relaxation in three lead-halide perovskite materials: CH3NH3PbI3, HC(NH2)2PbI3, and CsPbI3. It is found that the relaxation of hot carriers to the band edges occurs on the ultrafast time scale and displays a strong quantitative dependence on the nature of the cations. The obtained results are explained in terms of electron-phonon couplings, which are strongly affected by the atomic displacements in the Pb-I framework triggered by the cation dynamics.

Solar Cell Materials by Design: Hybrid Pyroxene Corner-Sharing VO4 Tetrahedral Chains

Hybrid organic-inorganic frameworks provide numerous combinations of materials with a wide range of structural and electronic properties, which enable their use in various applications. In recent years, some of these hybrid materials-especially lead-based halide perovskites-have been successfully used for the development of highly efficient solar cells. The large variety of possible hybrid materials has inspired the search for other organic-inorganic frameworks that may exhibit enhanced performance over conventional lead halide perovskites. In this study, a new class of low-dimensional hybrid oxides for photovoltaic applications was developed by using electronic structure calculations in combination with analysis from existing materials databases, with a focus on vanadium oxide pyroxenes (tetrahedron-based frameworks), mainly due to their high stability and nontoxicity. Pyroxenes were screened with different cations [A] and detailed computational studies of their structural, electronic, optical and transport properties were performed. Low-dimensional hybrid vanadate pyroxenes [A]VO3 (with molecular cations [A] and corner-sharing VO4 tetrahedral chains) were found to satisfy all physical requirements needed to develop an efficient solar cell (a band gap of 1.0-1.7u2005eV, strong light absorption and good electron-transport properties).