An Extension of the Method of TiO2 Nanorod

hydrothermal synthesis for use in Gratzal Cell Based

Water Splittin
!o"ert !hodes
Student EE department #CSC
$at %i
Ad&isor and resear'her in %a" of Nanomaterials #CSC
Gonmin Wan
Graduate student (ith %i resear'h roup
$i'huan
Graduate student (ith %i resear'h roup
Su"mitted as partial 'ompletion of the re)uirements for finishin
*
underraduate 'ourse (or+,
Contents
A"stra't------------,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
.art *
/ntrodu'tion------------,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
.art2
Methods------------,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Method *
Materials and setup------------,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Experiments------------,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
2
Method 2
Materials and setup------------,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Experiments------------,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
0ariation of Temperature and data------------,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
0ariation of pre'ursor 'on'entration and data-----------
0ariation of NaCl 'on'entration and data------------,,,,,
.reparation and modifi'ation of 'ondu'ti&e lass su"strate
11 nanorod measurement te'hni)ue11
.art 2
Cir'uit Model3 Assem"ly of 4ye Sensitized Cell3 and Test
results------------,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,
Con'lusion and 4is'ussion------------,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Bi"lioraphy------------,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
/ndex------------,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
2
%ist of fiures
5iure 67 setup for method *,-----------,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
5iure *7 setup for method 2,-----------,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
5iure 27 S,E,M imae of Temperature trial------------,,,,
5iure 27 S,E,M imae of NaCl trial------------,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
5iure 87 9uantum Effi'ien'y &s, (a&elenth of End .rodu't "efore TiCl8
treatment------------,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
5iure :7 9E &s, (a&elenth after treatment------------,
8
A"stra't
This paper details the de&elopment of a TiO2 nano(ire film suita"le for use in a
photo ele'tro'hemi'al 'ell,
.art *
/ntrodu'tion
The sear'h for alternati&e sour'es of enery to run our modern 'i&ilization has
"een a tryin one, /t has spanned a reat deal of the last 'entury and (ill no dou"t ta+e up
a ood deal3 at least the first half3 of the 'urrent one, With e&er ro(in 'on'erns o&er
the detrimental fis'al and en&ironmental effe'ts of our 'urrent main enery sour'e3 the
(orld has as of no( de'ided to shift the load of its enery demand onto a 'om"ination of
&arious resour'eful and inno&ati&e sour'es (or+in in 'on'ert, E&ery method for
eneration of po(er is "ein tried in this ex'itin resuren'e of zeal to de&elop rid
parity (ith fossil fuels; te'hnoloies rane from "iomass te'hni)ues to tidal po(er and
e&en re&isit lon time 'hampions of the arena su'h as thermo<photo &oltai' 'ells
= in'ludin 'om"inations su'h as thermo photo &oltai' te'hnoloy (hi'h relies on the
eneration of ele'tromaneti' radiation &ia heat from radio isotopes, The enery is then
in'ident upon a photo &oltai' de&i'e of some sort, This te'hnoloy is thouht to "e
parti'ularly useful for extra'tin the surplus enery of radio isotopes or if fusion "e'omes
a 'ommer'ially a&aila"le option3 it miht "e a means of more dire'tly 'ouplin the
:
radiation produ'ed &ia the rea'tion (ithout the need to (astin &alua"le and expensi&e
(ater resour'es &ia 'on&entional thermal 'ouplin,>1'ite /EEE spe'trum issue (here
(ater as resour'e is dis'ussed,
Althouh purely 'ell "ased te'hnoloy persists as a prominent fiure in the realm
of enery te'hnoloies3 it has yet to pro&ide satisfa'tory 'on&ersion effi'ien'y, Other
promisin approa'hes su'h as hydroen 'om"ustion ha&e "e'ome more popular in liht
of the 'urrent short 'omins of 'ell "ased te'hnoloy, /n the past ho(e&er3 hydroen
eneration has posed a serious 'onundrum for proponents of 'leaner enery sour'es, The
relian'e on fossil fuels for its eneration offset its intended purpose of alle&iatin
en&ironmental "urdens, .ure hydroen 3(hile still 'om"usti"le3 pro&ides a less
de&astatin alternati&e to its hydro'ar"on "ased prede'essors and thus 'ontinued interest
in de&elopin ne( eneration s'hemes resulted in (ater splittin as a &ia"le stratey,
The (ater splittin pro'ess des'ri"ed "y the o&erall rea'tion7
> * , = 2 8 2
2 2 2
Eq O H O H + +

/n e)uation *3 in'ident photons lead to the eneration of hydroen at one ele'trode= often
made of platinum> and oxyen at another= for the purposes of this paper this ele'trode is
of TiO2 > in an ele'tro'hemi'al rea'tion, Of the different oxide semi'ondu'tors elii"le
for said rea'tion3 TiO2 pro&ides for one of the more effi'ient<simpler photo 'atalysts, A
dyed TiO2 a'hie&es the result of e)uation * &ia the follo(in series of rea'tions7
2
2 2
2
2 2
8 8 2
H e H
H O h O H
h e TiO
+
+ +
+ +
+
+ +
+

To "e more a''urate3 the photons intera't (ith the dye 'oatin the (ires and the
enerated ele'trons are e?e'ted into the (ires after (hi'h the rea'tion pro'eeds as
des'ri"ed a"o&e so that the (ires seem to "e a sour'e of photo enerated ele'trons, The
first rea'tion o''urs at the TiO2 ele'trode (hile the se'ond ta+es pla'e at the se'ond
ele'trode =made of platinum or in some 'ases 'ar"on>, The desired effe't is to ensure that
the @ ions at the .t ele'trode are redu'ed to hydroen as (ithout the need of an
external potential, /n order to indu'e the redu'tion rea'tion at the pt ele'trode thusly3 the
A
enery of 'ondu'tion "and ele'trons in the oxide semi'ondu'tor ele'trode =TiO2 > must
meet or ex'eed the potential for @2 formation =refer to fiure *,>, This situation sets
'onditions on the "and ap of the desired material =*,22B*,2: e0> as the (a&elenth of
operation for the photoBeneratin ele'trode (ill fall (ithin the spe'trum of #0
radiation, Smaller "and aps lead to more enery a&aila"le for eneratin hiher enery
'ondu'tion ele'trons ho(e&er smaller "and ap materials that ha&e thus far "een
in&estiated ha&e suffered from 'orrosion (hen pla'ed into the a)ueous solution setup
that ma+es TiO2 photo 'atalysts useful,
*
4ye sensitization to pull the operatin spe'trum
to &isi"le liht = (a&elenths not so reatly attenuated near Earth surfa'e> as in the
Gratzel Cell3 'urrently represents the most pra'ti'al step in the riht dire'tion, The
Gratzel "ased photo 'atalyti' enery 'ell relies on a photo ele'trode "ased on a TiO2
4SSC = dye sensitized solar 'ell7 the Gratzel 'ell is a type of dss'>, The 5TO =flourine
doped tin oxide> su"strate upon (hi'h the nanorods of the Gratzel 'ell are ro(n also
ser&es as a transparent prote'tion for the relati&ely fraile rods (hi'h fa'e the interior of
the 'ell and (hi'h lie inside of the ele'trolyte as pi'tured in the fiure "elo(,

On the left side3 hydroen is enerated "y redu'tion at the anode end (hile on the riht
oxyen is redu'ed as the ele'tron 'urrent flo(s throuh the resister under &oltmeter C0D,
To dri&e the rea'tion des'ri"ed a"o&e the fiure3 a photon of enery h& is transmitted
throuh the plate on the riht side of the 'ell and stri+es the nano(ires = (hi'h a't as
"oth as ele'tro 'atalyst and anode, @oles are 'reated in the anode and these are for'ed
to(ards the exterior of this ele'trode =to(ards the "order "et(een the ele'trode and the
E
surroundin li)uid "ein split> Essentially3 holes flo( into the riht side (here oxyen
results from oxidation =&ia hole ele'tron re'om"ination>at the nBtype TiO2 (hereas the
ex'ess ele'trons inside the nBtype material flo( throuh the external resistor as ele'tron
'urrent and redu'e positi&e hydroen 'ores to produ'e hydroen at the other ele'trode
Water splittin &ia 'on&ertin of solar enery into the redox potential ne'essary
for splittin mole'ules has indeed pro&en to "e a dauntin tas+, /n'reased re)uirements
on po(er and spatial 'onstraints of enery systems desin 'all for relia"le3 lo( 'ost3
'ompa't methods of eneratin the re)uired potential to dri&e rea'tions ne'essary for the
eneration of hydroen &ia solar methods; thus another road "lo'+ lay ahead of
resear'hers, With the need to redu'e size3 fine tune material properties3 and refine
performan'e in mind3 many resear'hers and de&elopers ha&e turned to nano stru'tured
materials as a solution, 5or the purposes of hydroen eneration3 this has led to the use of
nano rod films as the 'atalyst for the rea'tion 'on&ertin (ater to hydroen and
a''ompanyin extraneous produ'ts, One of the suita"le materials for this purpose3 as
pre&iously mentioned3 is titanium dioxide usually o"tained &ia a rea'tion in&ol&in some
other titanium pre'ursor su'h as the one used for the experiments des'ri"ed in this paper
(here titanium "ut oxide solution is hydrolyzed in an @C%<@2O solution, The pro'ess
must "e run multiple times to a'hie&e optimal results (hen retainin the default
parameters,
This paper deals (ith impro&in = in this 'ase further in'reasin lenth F sin'e it
is dire'tly proportional to )uantum effi'ien'yG and minimizin ne'essary ro(th time> a
nano rod film to "e used in a dye sensitized 'ell, The method 'onsists of examinin some
of the ro(th parameters and determinin (hi'h of them are most sinifi'ant in
aumentin the existin method there"y in'reasin the effe'ti&e surfa'e area of the photo
ele'trode, /n addition to this3 / experimented (ith an aspe't of the nanorod ro(th left
larely nele'ted "y Adyl and %iu; / modified the texture of the 'oatin on the
'ondu'ti&e lass so that the (ires (ould ha&e a more le&el surfa'e upon (hi'h to
nu'leate and ro( thus de'reasin the 'han'es of (ires ro(in at anles to the
su"strate3 'ollidin3 and "rea+in "efore rea'hin a sinifi'ant heiht, / also ma+e use of
a ne( and far less expensi&e more &olatile pre'ursor to ser&e as the 'rystal ro(th
H
material, #ltimately / produ'ed a 'ell ro(n in 26I less time (ith HI hiher pea+
effi'ien'y than that des'ri"ed "y %iu et al,
.art 2
Methods
The first synthesis te'hni)ue employed for rod eneration (as a 'hemi'al &apor
deposition method = C04>, A '&d rea'tor (as fashioned from a lass tu"e atta'hed to a
as line on one end and a &a'uum pump system on the other, A old doped sili'on (afer
ser&ed as the ro(th area, The use of old parti'les on the surfa'e 'atalyzed 'rystal
nu'leation on the su"strate, The as flo( ser&ed as the transport me'hanism from the
small 'erami' &essel (here the pre'ursor (as held inside of the tu"e to the taret point on
the (afer further do(n in the tu"e, Sin'e no other asses (ere a&aila"le3 hydroen as
had to "e used at near &a'uum pressure =and the a"sen'e of oxyen (hi'h (as espe'ially
important sin'e the method 'alled for temperatures of :66J> @eatin allo(ed the
pre'ursor to su"limate and tra&el to the taret point (ith the rest of the stream, The main
'onditions to "e ad?usted (here the distan'e "et(een the pre'ursor and taret = due to an
existin temperature radient a'ross the lenth of the tu"e sin'e the heater had the heat
sour'e set dead 'enter>, Althouh this te'hni)ue pro&ed unsu''essful3 a "rief dis'ussion is
still merited,
2,*,* Material properties and setup

K
5iure6 illustrates the experimental setup for the first method used
The pre'ursorLs thermal and me'hani'al =&is'osity3 effusion relati&e to transport
as3 i,e properties as a fluid> (ere 'ru'ial to o"tainin any ood results, So findin the
su"limation 'onditions and resultin &apor pressure for the pre'ursor (as the first step in
the pro'edure, Continuin (ith the pro'ess of findin a "en'h mar+ set of 'onditions3 /
ran a trial heatin of the tu"e to esta"lish a 'rude temperature profile of the radient alon
the tu"e, After ta+in the temperature at &arious points from the 'enter of the tu"e to the
far end usin an /,!, thermometer3 / 'hose positions for the pre'ursor and (afer "oth of
(hi'h seemed suita"le i&en the hih temperature re)uirements for
su"limation<deposition; The pre 'onditions for lo( pressure (ere met (ith the &a'uum
system, / hypothesized that the denser pre'ursor as "ein mu'h slo(er than the
*6
transport as (ould ha&e plenty of time to 'ool do(n 'omplete the deposition pro'ess
upon rea'hin the taret thus in the interest of time the flo( and pressure settins on the
mass flo( 'ontroller (ere ad?usted to speed deposition (ith little or no loss of &aporized
pre'ursor out of the rea'tor, With the initial 'onditions 'hosen3 the experiments pro'eeded
as follo(s,
2,*,2 Experiments
#pon examinin the (afer from the first run under S,E,M3 it appeared to me that
most of the pre'ursor had "een s(ept into the &a'uum system and exhausted to the
outside= &ia fume hood,>, Examination of the 'erami' "oat 'onfirmed that redu'in the
flo(, #sin some )ui'+ estimation and GrahamLs la(3 / de'ided that the first parameter to
&ary should "e amount of pre'ursor, @al&in the amount of pre'ursor pro&ed to "e
helpful,
4oin this produ'ed a mu'h reater 'on'entration of rods on the surfa'e al"eit not
enouh to ?ustify the oals of redu'ed lateral dimensions follo(ed "y in'reased density,
We had hoped to "e a"le to in'rease the density of rods on the su"strate (hile pre&entin
the rods from 'ro(din toether to form a 'ontinuous film thus off settin the ained
surfa'e area of the prisms<rods, No su'h in'reased density (as realized, The pre'ursor
did ha&e more time to deposit no( "ut the 'on'entration on the su"strate and thus the
nano rod 'on'entration still suffered the effe'ts of pre'ursor loss to the outside,
So next the taret (afer lo'ation (as &aried to find optimal temperature &s, distan'e
'onditions for deposition, / ad?usted the tu"eLs position (ithin the heater to pro&ide as
mu'h room as possi"le for a sort of temperature Dlandin stripM (ithout usin the spa'e
too 'lose to the &a'uum pump openin, /nstead of &aryin the flo( parameters too mu'h3
/ de'ided it (ould "e "etter to ad?ust the distan'e "et(een destination and sour'e as (ell
as destination and sin+ instead,
2,2,6 Se'ond method
**
5iure * illustratin experimental setup
The se'ond te'hni)ue (as a hydrothermal synthesis method similar to the method
employed "y %iu and Aydil
2
, Titanium "ut oxide pre'ursor (as hydrolyzed in an h'l<h2o
solution (hi'h (as then pla'ed in an small Teflon lined stainless steel auto'la&e, A
sample of fluorine doped tin oxide ='ondu'ti&e on a sinle side of the pie'e of lass> (as
pla'ed inside the auto'la&e and the (hole assem"ly (as thorouhly se'ured3 sealed and
pla'ed inside of the la"oratory o&en, The ro(th 'onditions =spe'ifi'ally temperature3
ro(th time3 pre'ursor 'on'entration3 and NaCl7@C%7 @2O ratio,> /n the a"sen'e of
&ariation of parameters pro'ess (as simply run until ?ust "efore the rea'tion rea'hed
e)uili"rium then the fto su"strate (as pla'ed into a freshly mixed solution so that another
iteration of the pro'ess miht o''ur until a limitin lenth (as a'hie&ed = H mi'rometers
if fto (as repla'ed e&ery 8 hours for 26 hours>, The purpose of the experiments in this
paper (as to find those &ariations of parameters (hi'h further aumented the results of
this iterati&e pro'ess,
The default ro(th 'onditions7
*2
Temp,B*:6 derees Celsius
.re'ursorB,: ml
TimeB: hours
NaCl7@C%7 @2O ratioB*7*76
26 ml total @C%<@2O=*: ml @C%=a)>3*: ml @2O>
2,2,* 0ariation of temperature
2,2,2 @ypothesis7
The intended result (as the rapid ro(th in the dire'tion perpendi'ular to the
su"strate, The most desira"le effe't (ould ha&e "een for the &erti'al ro(th to ha&e
drasti'ally surpassed the ro(th rate of the 'ross se'tion at suffi'iently hih temperature
= thus pre&entin 'lumpin toether
*
,> Maintainin the strenth of the rods = aainst the
shear and 'ompressi&e stress as the rod heiht in'reased> re)uired a reater amount of
pre'ursor ho(e&er in order to find the proper amount3 the heiht limit under default
'onditions for pre'ursor 'om"ined (ith the 'onditions for a sta"le rod (ould determine
the ne'essary deree of re enfor'ement and thus amount of TiO2, , The temperature had to
remain "elo( 266 C to pre&ent destru'tion of the Teflon linin of the auto'la&e, Also3
too hih a temperature leads to premature peelin of the film off of the 5TO su"strate,
2,2,2 O"ser&ation and results7
The film re( to ?ust under * um (ithin : hours at *H6 C "ut the film peeled off
due to the fa't that the rea'tion rea'hed e)uili"rium (ithin the ro(th time at that
temperature, After experimentin (ith the temperature / found that *A6B*A:C made for
ro(th at a more tra'ta"le rate, Also3 'lumpin of (ires (as sinifi'ant as seen in fiure
*,

*2

5i 2 nanorods at *A6 C
2,2,* 0ariation of 'on'entration
/ +ept the default 'onditions "ut &aried the pre'ursor 'on'entration "et(een ,: ml and
* ml (ith the hopes of extrapolatin a more exa't relationship "et(een the titanium "ut
oxide pre'ursor 'on'entration and the aspe't ratio

2,2,2 O"ser&ation and results7

2,8,* 0ariation of NaCl 'on'entration
2,8,2 @ypothesis7
The (ires are "uilt from Ti /0 units in any &ia"le pre'ursor ?oinin toether and
in'reasin the diameter and heiht of the stru'ture as more units ?oin, At appropriate
'on'entrations3 Cl ions (ould inhi"it the in'lusion of Ti /0 units into the stru'ture of the
(ire alon the radial dire'tion (hile allo(in further ro(th alon the heiht (ith Cl
ions en'apsulatin ea'h thin sement of rod alon the z dire'tion
*8
2,8,2 a O"ser&ation and results7
The first run (ith ,62 <ml led to the entire su"strate and TiO2 film "ein o&er'ome
"y a film of salt, After rinsin a(ay the salt layer a layer of TiO2 (as &isi"le "ut (as
mu'h less thi'+ than in pre&ious experiments implyin reatly foreshortened (ires, Most
li+ely the salt layer isolated the underlyin film from 'onta'tin the @C%7@2O7 pre'ursor
solution thus haltin the rea'tion,, !edu'tion to half that 'on'entration led to only
marinally fa&ora"le results as the film resem"led that (hi'h (as produ'ed at *A6 C in
the first experiment "ut (ith areas of redu'ed 'lumpin sporadi'ally distri"uted a'ross
the su"strate,
5i 2 after addin ,62 <ml of NaCl
2,:,* MO4/5/CAT/ON O5 CON4#CT/0E S#BST!ATE
Seein as thouh &ariation of the pre&ious parameters led to modest in'rease in rod
lenth3 / de'ided to in&estiate a sixth Dro(th 'onditionM mentioned "y %iu "ut not
a'tually modified "y that roup, / 'reated a ne( 'ondu'ti&e su"trate ta+in 'are to add as
many layers as slo(ly as tolera"le so as to reap a layer of 5TO seed 'rystals nearly
alined (ith the su"strate axis, This (ould mitiate the effe'ts of the non 'rystalline
nature of the lass sin'e the "ottom layers of 5TO suffer more from the amorphous
*:
stru'ture of the lass (hile ea'h su''essi&e layer (ould suffer less from this pro"lem,
/ used a spray pyro lysis method to apply a 'ondu'ti&e layer to 'ommon lass, /
dissol&ed SnCl8 in ethanol (hile heatin a fe( lass slides to a"out 2:6 C, /mmediately
after remo&in the slides from the o&en3 / sprayed them (ith a mist of the solution and
then returned them to the o&en, /n the interest of hastenin time to testin of the effe'ts
of impro&ed texture of the su"strate on )uantum effi'ien'y3 / stopped (hen the resistan'e
of the slides (as a mea ohm, This is (hat lead to the de'reased o&erall effi'ien'y
relati&e to %iu "ut (ith more time and sprayin the pro'ess (ould yield lo(er 'onta't
resistan'e and in'reased o&erall effi'ien'y, My ma?or 'on'ern (as the effe't on E9E and
any remainin time (ould "e used to 'reate slides of hiher 'ondu'ti&ity,
.art 2
Assem"ly and Testin of Cell
After 'ompletin the nano(ire<rod array / assem"led the 'ell "y su"merin the
array in a &ial of an antho'yanin "ased orani' dye for H hours, After(ards3 the array (as
remo&ed and pressed array side up to 'ondu'ti&e side of another 'ondu'ti&e slide (hi'h
had "een 'oated (ith 'ar"on on that side, After me'hani'ally se'urin the assem"ly3 /
applied a fe( drops of an iodide solution to one side of the 'ell and let 'apillary for'es
dra( it into the spa'e "et(een the t(o ele'trodes, / me'hani'ally se'ured the assem"ly
and added some ma+eshift ele'tri'al 'onta'ts to the exposed 'ondu'ti&e lass, 4urin the
ro(th pro'ess3 part of the (ire 'o&ered lass (as prote'ted "y an adhesi&e (hi'h
inhi"ited (ire ro(th on that part of the surfa'e,
#sin (eather ser&i'e data3 a photo sensor of +no(n spe'tral response3 a
flashtu"e3 and a multimeter3 / exposed the 'ell to sunliht = 'hara'terized "y (eather
ser&i'e and 'orro"orated "y photo sensor > and the flashtu"e = used in solar simulators>
and too+ measurements ne'essary to 'al'ulate 9E7
> =
> =

P
I I
q
hc
QE
dark

=
E) 2
Where hN plan+ 'onstant
'N speed of liht
*A
)N 'hare of an ele'tron
/ is the 'urrent at the (a&elenth of interest
/ dar+ is the 'urrent under no illumination and
. is the in'ident po(er at the (a&elenth of interest
quantum efficiency vs wavelength
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 900
q
u
a
n
t
u
m

e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

(
%
)
absorbed wae!en"t# in nanometers
The a"o&e 'hart refle'ts the "eha&ior of the 'ell "efore treatment (ith TiCl8
(hose effe't is found to nearly dou"le the )uantum effi'ien'y resultin in7
*E
The treatment 'onsists of su"merin the nanorod array =prior to dyin it > and
then remo&in the array from the solution and heatin the array for at least *: min at 866
C, After treatment3 the pea+ effi'ien'y is a"out HI hiher in the 8:6nm reion than the
:6I o"tained "y %iu et al,
Con'lusion7
/ impro&ed the effi'ien'y of the 'ell in ma?or part "y modifyin the su"strate
upon (hi'h it (as ro(n, 5uture plans in'lude in'reasin the size s'ale of the array so as
to use it to enerate the 'hemi'al enery storae medium for po(erin other pro?e'ts,
A'+no(ledements7 On'e aain / than+ .rof, $at %i for super&isin this pro?e't
(hi'h allo(ed me to "oth impro&e my +no(lede of 'hemistry (hile applyin my
enineerin s+ills to de&elopin a handy produ't, / also than+ his raduate students Gon
Min and $i'huan for trainin me in the use of e)uipment, 5inally3 "ut not least3 / than+
.rof, Oo"ayashi for pro&idin my an opportunity to ain some "a'+round in
nanos'ien'e prior to my transfer to the %i la" and for his referrin me to .rof, %i,
*H