(405h) Novel Columnar Liquid Crystals Functionalized Reduced Graphene Oxide Based Electrodes for Photocapacitor Applications

Columnar liquid crystals (CLCs) are known to be photosensitive materials given their Ï?-stacked column arrangements formed by the self-assembly of aromatic molecules which permits to alternate electron donor-acceptor molecules. By taking advantages of such CLCs arrangement properties, it is then possible to harvest and store solar energy through the development of electrochemical capacitors. Our research group has focused on growing these CLCs stacks over a reduced graphene oxide-based electrode for charge storage enhancement and capacitor device fabrication. This approach, and in comparison with single-molecule light harvesting, offers broad light absorption (which enhances the efficiency) and a simpler fabrication path. Also, based on the utilized approach, molecule stability and material self-healing capabilities are among the obtained benefits which, ultimately, addresses several drawbacks of opto-electronic materials. Preliminary results have shown that these CLCs materials exhibit faradaic charge transfer photoactive behavior given differences in capacitance measurements observed under â??darkâ? and illuminated conditions. Materials physicochemical properties have been studied by X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Finally, electrochemical studies were conducted by means of cyclic voltammetry (CV) in a 3-electrode configuration.