Research Index

Bio-inspired Materials for Electrochemical Devices

Pawlicka, A. Firmino, F. Sentanin, R. C. Sabadini, D.E.Q. Jimenez, C.C. Jayme, M. Mindroiu, R.G. Zgarian, G.T. Tihan, I. Rau, M.M. Silva, A.F. Nogueira, J. Kanicki, F. Kajzar

DNA is very promising natural macromolecules that can be used in modern technology including security and defense. It is abundant in nature, easy to extract and possess biocompatibility and biodegradability properties. It can be also modified throughout chemical or physical processes, and can be doped with Prussian Blue (PB), poly(ethylene dioxythiophene) (PEDOT), europium and erbium triflate and organic dyes such as Nile Blue (NB), Disperse Red 1 (DR1) and Disperse Orange 3 (DO3). The colored or colorless membranes were characterized by ionic conductivity properties, as shown in the graph aside, ande applied in electrochromic devices (ECDs) or dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC). AS shown in picture below ECDs change the color under applied potential, so they can modulate the intensity of transmitted light of 15 to 35%. The DNA-based samples as HTM were also applied in small DSSCs revealing a solar energy conversion efficiency of 0.56%. Polymer electrolytes of DNA-CTMA and DNA-DODA, both with 10 wt% of LiI/I2, applied in small DSSC, exhibited the efficiencies of 0.18 and 0.66%, respectively. The obtained results show that natural macromolecules-based membranes are not only environmentally friendly but are also promising materials to be investigated for several electrochemical devices. However, to obtain better performances more research is still needed.

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