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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Heat Of Fusion Of Primary Alcohol Confined In Nanopores, Harrisonn Griffin Jun 2016

Heat Of Fusion Of Primary Alcohol Confined In Nanopores, Harrisonn Griffin

Honors Theses

Melting behavior of physically confined 1-decanol in nano porous silica was probed using a Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC). In agreement with the Gibbs-Thomson prediction, we observe that the melting temperature of the confined 1-decanol scales inversely with the physical size of the pores. Contrary to the assumption used in developing the Gibbs-Thomson equation, however, the apparent heat of fusion decreases as the pore size decreases. Previously, several models have been proposed where interfacial layers of molecules do not participate in the phase transition and thereby would not contribute to the heat of fusion. While these could reconcile the seeming contradiction, …


Studies On Controlling The Morphology Of An Organic Bulk-Heterojunction Photovoltaic Device To Improve Its Efficiency, Kelly R. Mcleod May 2013

Studies On Controlling The Morphology Of An Organic Bulk-Heterojunction Photovoltaic Device To Improve Its Efficiency, Kelly R. Mcleod

Honors Theses

A systematic study of the effects of alteration of processing parameters in combination with incorporation of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) molecules on the properties and structure of bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaic cells made from P3HT:PCBM blends was undertaken. On implementing the correct processing protocol, incorporation of POSS molecules with specific structures resulted in considerable enhancement in cell efficiencies. Octaaminophenyl POSS incorporation resulted in a 20% increase in cell efficiency over the control and caused the formation of crystalline, fiber-like structures in the active layer of the photovoltaic cell.