Materials Science Forum Vol. 1135

Abstract: Due to the importance of environmentally friendly solvents, deep eutectic solvents (DES) have gained the attention of many. They have physical properties almost similar to ionic liquids, but DES is less toxic. In this study, several DESs have been produced using urea as a hydrogen bond donor (HBD). These DESs include choline chloride - urea, betaine - urea and magnesium chloride hexahydrate - urea. Infrared analysis results indicate the presence of hydrogen bonding between the hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA) and HBD, confirming the formation of DES. The absorption of these hydrogen bonds occurs in the range of 3600 - 2800 cm^-1, causing the absorption bands to broaden. The DESs produced can be used in various extraction and separation processes.

Abstract: Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) hold promises for replacing fossil fuels in energy production through the conversion of solar light energy. However, the use of platinum (Pt) in the fabrication of counter electrodes (CEs) for DSSCs contributes to high production costs. Developing efficient, platinum-free CEs has become a focus point for advancing DSSC technology due to drawbacks including low efficiency, high electron recombination, and stability issues that limit their performance. To address this, our innovation involves replacing Pt with a promising polyaniline/graphene oxide (PANI/GO) composite for the CE in DSSC systems. Results demonstrated that the formation of PANI/GO as the CE exhibits excellent properties, including good electrochemical performance, high conductivity, and exceptional mechanical stability, as evidenced by Raman spectra showing the formation of GO. Furthermore, modifying the CE to be Pt-free in DSSCs not only reduces costs but also simplifies the fabrication process of the DSSC system.

Abstract: The mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN) is a material with easily controllable pore size and excellent surface area to develop into a corrosion inhibitor nanocarrier, a protective coating specially produced by a nanocomposite layer to keep or release anticorrosive active compounds. Nonetheless, the MSN is not weakness-free, which cannot impede corrosion propagation actively. Special treatment for overcoming is developing the benzotriazole-silver (BTA-Ag)-based capping system, with advantages that can exploit the double anticorrosive mechanism by adjusting anticorrosive active compound release while capturing chloride ions, leading to active self-healing. Therefore, this work identifies the effect of developing a capping system based on BTA-Ag on the porosity properties of MSN as an initial step in preparing corrosion inhibitor nanocarrier. Rice husks were chosen as eco-friendly materials to replace commercial precursors because of their abundance, the same orthosilicate structure, and the high purity of silica. With excellent levels of safety and uniformity, this work uses the sol-gel method to reduce the synthesis energy or cost. The outcome indicates that the porosity characteristics of these nanoparticles are significantly impacted by the BTA-Ag-based capping method. The pore size shrank to 2.5 nm from 2.6 nm. Additionally, the surface area decreased dramatically from 653.149 to 41.725 m²/g. Moreover, the pore volume dropped from 0.9 to 0.1 cm³/g. However, it had a comparable morphology, varied in size, and a specific aggregation level, indicating the presence of densely packed rod-like micelles during the MSN synthesis. The sample was confirmed to be porous since the isotherm graph was of type IV. It was highly reactive due to silanol and siloxane groups, signaling bonds with the silica matrix being the main component.