Electrochemical UV Sensor Using Carbon Quantum Dots

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020006588-A1
Application number	US-201816481567-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 30, 2018
Priority date	Jan 30, 2017
Publication date	Jan 2, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

A photoelectrode (12) for use in a photocell (10) comprises a graphene substrate (22) functionalized with carbon quantum dots (CQDs) (20). A photocell (10) comprises a photoelectrode (12), a counter electrode (14), and an electrolyte (26). The electrolyte (26) may be a solid polymer electrolyte. The photocell (10) may be an electrochemical UV sensor. A method for sensing UV radiation comprises quantifying a power density of UV radiation using an electrochemical UV (10) sensor comprising CQDs (20) as a photoactive material. The CQDs (20) may be nitrogen-doped CQDs.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A photoelectrode for use in a photocell comprising:
a graphene substrate functionalized with carbon quantum dots (CQDs).

2 . The photoelectrode of claim 1 , wherein the graphene substrate comprises carbon paper and graphene oxide deposited thereon.

3 . A photocell comprising:
the photoelectrode of claim 1 ; a counter electrode; and an electrolyte.

4 . The photocell of claim 3 , wherein the electrolyte is a solid polymer electrolyte.

5 . The photocell of claim 3 , wherein the photocell is flexible.

6 . The photocell of claim 3 , wherein the photocell is an electrochemical UV sensor.

7 . The photocell of claim 6 , wherein the sensor is able to quantify the intensity of UV radiation.

8 . The photocell of claim 6 , wherein the CQDs are nitrogen-doped CQDs (N-CQDs).

9 . The photocell of claim 6 , wherein the electrolyte is a solid, flexible polymer electrolyte.

10 . A method for harvesting and storing energy comprising:
absorbing light using a photocell comprising the photoelectrode of claim 1 ; and storing energy produced from the light in the photocell.

11 . A method for sensing UV radiation comprising:
quantifying a power density of UV radiation using an electrochemical UV sensor comprising carbon quantum dots (CQDs) as a photoactive material.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein quantifying comprises measuring a rate at which a cell voltage of the electrochemical UV sensor changes.

13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the CQDs are nitrogen-doped CQDs (N-CQDs).

14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the electrochemical UV sensor comprises a photoelectrode including the CQDs, a counter electrode and an electrolyte.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the electrolyte is a solid, flexible polymer electrolyte.

16 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the electrochemical UV sensor is flexible.

Assignees

• Univ Ohio

Inventors

• Staser John Adams

Classifications

• B82Y15/00

  Nanotechnology for interacting, sensing or actuating, e.g. quantum dots as markers in protein assays or molecular motors · CPC title

• B82Y20/00

  Nanooptics, e.g. quantum optics or photonic crystals · CPC title

• B82Y30/00

  Nanotechnology for materials or surface science, e.g. nanocomposites · CPC title

• B82Y40/00

  Manufacture or treatment of nanostructures · CPC title

• H02S50/10

  Testing of PV devices, e.g. of PV modules or single PV cells (testing of semiconductor devices during manufacturing {H10P74/00}) · CPC title