Amorphous (lysine)PbI layer enhanced perovskite photovoltaics.

Passivation materials play a crucial role in a wide range of high-efficiency, high-stability photovoltaic applications based on crystalline silicon and state-of-the-art perovskite materials. Currently, for perovskite photovoltaic, the mainstream passivation strategies routinely rely on crystalline materials. Herein, we have invented a new amorphous (lysine)PbI layer-enhanced halide perovskite.

Engineering Spatially Adjacent Redox Sites with Synergistic Spin Polarization Effect to Boost Photocatalytic CO Methanation.

The integration of oxidation and reduction half-reactions to amplify their synergy presents a considerable challenge in CO photoconversion. Addressing this challenge requires the construction of spatially adjacent redox sites while suppressing charge recombination at these sites. This study introduces an innovative approach that utilizes spatial synergy to enable synergistic redox reactions within atomic proximity and employs spin polarization to inhibit charge recombination.

Unraveling and tuning the linear correlation between CH and C production rates in CO electroreduction.

Although many catalysts have been reported for the CO electroreduction to C or C chemicals, the insufficient understanding of fundamental correlations among different products still hinders the development of universal catalyst design strategies. Herein, we first discover that the surface *CO coverage is stable over a wide potential range and reveal a linear correlation between the partial current densities of CH and C products in this potential range, also supported by the theoretical kinetic analysis. Based on the mechanism that *CHO is the common intermediate in the formation of both CH (*CHO → CH) and C (*CHO + *CO → C), we then unravel that this linear correlation is universal and the slope can be varied by tuning the surface *H or *CO coverage to promote the selectivity of CH or C products, respectively.

Electrocatalytic CO Upgrading to Triethanolamine by Bromine-Assisted C H Oxidation.

The electrocatalytic carbon dioxide (CO ) reduction is a promising approach for converting this greenhouse gas into value-added chemicals, while the capability of producing products with longer carbon chains (C >3) is limited. Herein, we demonstrate the Br-assisted electrocatalytic oxidation of ethylene (C H ), a major CO electroreduction product, into 2-bromoethanol by electro-generated bromine on metal phthalocyanine catalysts. Due to the preferential formation of Br over *O or Cl to activate the C=C bond, a high partial current density of producing 2-bromoethanol (46.

Photocatalytic CO conversion: from C1 products to multi-carbon oxygenates.

Photocatalytic CO conversion into high-value chemicals has been emerging as an attractive research direction in achieving carbon resource sustainability. The chemical products can be categorized into C1 and multi-carbon (C) products. In this review, we describe the recent research progress in photocatalytic CO conversion systems from C1 products to multi-carbon oxygenates, and analyze the reasons related to their catalytic mechanisms, as the production of multi-carbon oxygenates is generally more difficult than that of C1 products.

Solution chemistry quasi-epitaxial growth of atomic CaTiO perovskite layers to stabilize and passivate TiO photoelectrodes for efficient water splitting.

Perovskite oxides with unique crystal structures and high defect tolerance are promising as atomic surface passivation layers for photoelectrodes for efficient and stable water splitting. However, controllably depositing and crystalizing perovskite-type metal oxides at the atomic level remains challenging, as they usually crystalize at higher temperatures than regular metal oxides. Here, we report a mild solution chemistry approach for the quasi-epitaxial growth of an atomic CaTiO perovskite layer on rutile TiO nanorod arrays.

MA Cation-Induced Diffusional Growth of Low-Bandgap FA-Cs Perovskites Driven by Natural Gradient Annealing.

Low-bandgap formamidinium-cesium (FA-Cs) perovskites of FA Cs PbI ( < 0.1) are promising candidates for efficient and robust perovskite solar cells, but their black-phase crystallization is very sensitive to annealing temperature. Unfortunately, the low heat conductivity of the glass substrate builds up a temperature gradient within from bottom to top and makes the initial annealing temperature of the perovskite film lower than the black-phase crystallization point (~150°C).

Binderless and Oxygen Vacancies Rich FeNi/Graphitized Mesoporous Carbon/Ni Foam for Electrocatalytic Reduction of Nitrate.

Energy consumption and long-term stability of a cathode are two important aspects of great concern in electrocatalytic nitrate reduction. This work studied a binderless FeNi/graphitized mesoporous carbon directly formed on Ni Foam (FeNi/g-mesoC/NF, 7.3 wt % of Fe) and evaluated its electrocatalytic nitrate reduction performance.

2-Aminobenzenethiol-Functionalized Silver-Decorated Nanoporous Silicon Photoelectrodes for Selective CO Reduction.

A molecularly thin layer of 2-aminobenzenethiol (2-ABT) was adsorbed onto nanoporous p-type silicon (b-Si) photocathodes decorated with Ag nanoparticles (Ag NPs). The addition of 2-ABT alters the balance of the CO reduction and hydrogen evolution reactions, resulting in more selective and efficient reduction of CO to CO. The 2-ABT adsorbate layer was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and modeled by density functional theory calculations.

The Role of Dimethylammonium Iodide in CsPbI Perovskite Fabrication: Additive or Dopant?

The controllable growth of CsPbI perovskite thin films with desired crystal phase and morphology is crucial for the development of high efficiency inorganic perovskite solar cells (PSCs). The role of dimethylammonium iodide (DMAI) used in CsPbI perovskite fabrication was carefully investigated. We demonstrated that the DMAI is an effective volatile additive to manipulate the crystallization process of CsPbI inorganic perovskite films with different crystal phases and morphologies.

Thermodynamically stabilized β-CsPbI-based perovskite solar cells with efficiencies >18.

Although β-CsPbI has a bandgap favorable for application in tandem solar cells, depositing and stabilizing β-CsPbI experimentally has remained a challenge. We obtained highly crystalline β-CsPbI films with an extended spectral response and enhanced phase stability. Synchrotron-based x-ray scattering revealed the presence of highly oriented β-CsPbI grains, and sensitive elemental analyses-including inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry-confirmed their all-inorganic composition.

Brand new 1D branched CuO nanowire arrays for efficient photoelectrochemical water reduction.

Developing high surface area nanostructured electrodes with fast charge separation is one of the main challenges for exploring cupric oxide (CuO)-based photocathodes in solar-driven hydrogen production applications. Herein, brand new 1D branched CuO nanowire arrays have been achieved on fluorine-doped tin oxide-coated glass (FTO) through a two-step wet chemical redox reaction. X-ray diffraction patterns, Raman spectra and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirm the pure phase characteristic of the resulting branched CuO.

Bifunctional Stabilization of All-Inorganic α-CsPbI Perovskite for 17% Efficiency Photovoltaics.

The all-inorganic α-CsPbI perovskite with the most suitable band gap faces serious challenges of low phase stability and high moisture sensitivity. We discover that a simple phenyltrimethylammonium bromide (PTABr) post-treatment could achieve a bifunctional stabilization including both gradient Br doping (or alloying) and surface passivation. The PTABr treatment on CsPbI only induces less than 5 nm blue shift in UV-vis absorbance but significantly stabilize the perovskite phase with much better stability.