Ricerc@Sapienza

Electric Solar sail (ESAIL) tethers may be subjected to barrage of incident charged particles, high energy photons and strong vibrations, depending on their working mechanism. Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) technique can produce light-weight, conformal and defect-free coatings that can protect the metallic tethers from many anticipated harsh space effects. In addition to this, the coatings may be used to steer the equilibrium temperature of the tethers, especially when used in the deep solar system.

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) with photoanodes composed of chirality selected single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have been fabricated and tested for first time. Single chirality SWCNTs separation (93% purity) have been achieved by modifying standard size exclusion gel chromatography. Chirality selection has allowed for “tuning” of the energy barrier at the TiO2/SWNT/FTO interface, electronic conductivity enhancement, and reduced SWCNTs-ruthenium dye competition for light absorption resulting in a 81% energy conversion efficiency improvement compared to mixed chirality cells.

In the field of restoration of cultural heritage, it has been developed coatings containing nanoparticles having multifunctional features, to protect stone materials against environmental degrading agents. Detecting such nanoparticle concentration within the coating, can represent a challenging issue because its monitoring over time can provide insights about the treatment durability. This paper deals with a theoretical basis to develop an instrumental method to fulfil this requirement.