Pseudomyxoma Peritonei: An Incidental Diagnosis With Atypical Intraoperative Findings Discovered During a Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy.

Although pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) classically presents with profuse mucinous ascites within the peritoneal cavity, the physical manifestations of this disease exist on a spectrum, with the possibility of milder forms that lack typical findings. The authors report an indolent case of PMP diagnosed incidentally during workup and treatment for chronic cholecystitis in a 43-year-old male. This presentation of PMP was atypical due to a lack of discernible symptoms as well as uncharacteristic intraoperative findings consisting of numerous omental and pelvic adhesions with only sparse mucinous deposits.

Tuning Film Stresses for Open-Air Processing of Stable Metal Halide Perovskites.

Challenges to upscaling metal halide perovskites (MHPs) include mechanical film stresses that accelerate degradation, dominate at the module scale, and can lead to delamination or fracture. In this work, we demonstrate open-air blade coating of single-step coated perovskite as a scalable method to control residual film stress after processing and introduce beneficial compression in the thin film with the use of polymer additives such as gellan gum and corn starch. The optoelectronic properties of MHP films with compression are improved with higher photoluminescence yields.

Reducing nonradiative recombination in perovskite solar cells with a porous insulator contact.

Inserting an ultrathin low-conductivity interlayer between the absorber and transport layer has emerged as an important strategy for reducing surface recombination in the best perovskite solar cells. However, a challenge with this approach is a trade-off between the open-circuit voltage () and the fill factor (FF). Here, we overcame this challenge by introducing a thick (about 100 nanometers) insulator layer with random nanoscale openings.

Investigating Formate, Sulfate, and Halide Anions in Reversible Zinc Electrodeposition Dynamic Windows.

Reversible metal electrodeposition (RME) is an emerging and promising method for designing dynamic windows with electrically controllable transmission, excellent color neutrality, and wide dynamic range. Zn is a viable option for metal-based dynamic windows due to its fast switching kinetics and reversibility despite its very negative deposition voltage. In this manuscript, we study the effect of the supporting electrolyte anions for Zn electrodeposition on transparent tin-doped indium oxide.

Cross-linkable carbazole-based hole transporting materials for perovskite solar cells.

Carbazole-based molecules V1205 and V1206 capable of cross-linking three vinyl groups were synthesized by a simple process and applied as hole-transporting materials (HTMs) in inverted perovskite solar cells (PSC). Novel HTMs were thermally polymerized to provide films resistant to organic solvents. A PSC with V1205 exhibited a photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 16.

Temperature Coefficients of Perovskite Photovoltaics for Energy Yield Calculations.

Temperature coefficients for maximum power ( ), open circuit voltage ( ), and short circuit current ( ) are standard specifications included in data sheets for any commercially available photovoltaic module. To date, there has been little work on determining the for perovskite photovoltaics (PV). We fabricate perovskite solar cells with a of -0.

Choose Your Own Adventure: Fabrication of Monolithic All-Perovskite Tandem Photovoltaics.

Metal halide perovskites (MHPs) have transfixed the photovoltaic (PV) community due to their outstanding and tunable optoelectronic properties coupled to demonstrations of high-power conversion efficiencies (PCE) at a range of bandgaps. This has motivated the field to push perovskites to reach the highest possible performance. One way to increase the efficiency is by fabricating multijunction solar cells, which can split the solar spectrum, reducing thermalization loss.

Triple-halide wide-band gap perovskites with suppressed phase segregation for efficient tandems.

Wide-band gap metal halide perovskites are promising semiconductors to pair with silicon in tandem solar cells to pursue the goal of achieving power conversion efficiency (PCE) greater than 30% at low cost. However, wide-band gap perovskite solar cells have been fundamentally limited by photoinduced phase segregation and low open-circuit voltage. We report efficient 1.

Optical modeling of wide-bandgap perovskite and perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells using complex refractive indices for arbitrary-bandgap perovskite absorbers.

Wide-bandgap perovskites are attractive top-cell materials for tandem photovoltaic applications. Comprehensive optical modeling is essential to minimize the optical losses of state-of-the-art perovskite/perovskite, perovskite/CIGS, and perovskite/silicon tandems. Such models require accurate optical constants of wide-bandgap perovskites.

Understanding Degradation Mechanisms and Improving Stability of Perovskite Photovoltaics.

This review article examines the current state of understanding in how metal halide perovskite solar cells can degrade when exposed to moisture, oxygen, heat, light, mechanical stress, and reverse bias. It also highlights strategies for improving stability, such as tuning the composition of the perovskite, introducing hydrophobic coatings, replacing metal electrodes with carbon or transparent conducting oxides, and packaging. The article concludes with recommendations on how accelerated testing should be performed to rapidly develop solar cells that are both extraordinarily efficient and stable.

Challenges for commercializing perovskite solar cells.

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have witnessed rapidly rising power conversion efficiencies, together with advances in stability and upscaling. Despite these advances, their limited stability and need to prove upscaling remain crucial hurdles on the path to commercialization. We summarize recent advances toward commercially viable PSCs and discuss challenges that remain.

In Situ Measurement of Electric-Field Screening in Hysteresis-Free PTAA/FACsPb(IBr)/C60 Perovskite Solar Cells Gives an Ion Mobility of ∼3 × 10 cm/(V s), 2 Orders of Magnitude Faster than Reported for Metal-Oxide-Contacted Perovskite Cells with Hysteresis.

We apply a series of transient measurements to operational perovskite solar cells of the architecture ITO/PTAA/FACsPb(IBr)/C60/BCP/Ag, and similar cells with FAMA. The cells show no detectable JV hysteresis. Using photocurrent transients at applied bias we find a ∼1 ms time scale for the electric field screening by mobile ions in these cells.

Transformation from crystalline precursor to perovskite in PbCl-derived MAPbI.

Understanding the formation chemistry of metal halide perovskites is key to optimizing processing conditions and realizing enhanced optoelectronic properties. Here, we reveal the structure of the crystalline precursor in the formation of methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI) from the single-step deposition of lead chloride and three equivalents of methylammonium iodide (PbCl + 3MAI) (MA = CHNH). The as-spun film consists of crystalline MAPbICl, which is composed of one-dimensional chains of lead halide octahedra, coexisting with disordered MACl.

Macroscopic Structural Compositions of π-Conjugated Polymers: Combined Insights from Solid-State NMR and Molecular Dynamics Simulations.

Molecular dynamics simulations are combined with solid-state NMR measurements to gain insight into the macroscopic structural composition of the π-conjugated polymer poly(2,5-bis(3-tetradecyl-thiophen-2-yl)thieno[3,2-b]thiophene) (PBTTT). The structural and dynamical properties, as established by the NMR analyses, were used to test the local structure of three constitutient mesophases with (i) crystalline backbones and side chains, (ii) lamellar backbones and disordered side chains, or (iii) amorphous backbones and side chains. The relative compositions of these mesophases were then determined from the deconvolution of the H and C solid-state NMR spectra and dynamic order parameters.

Band Gap Tuning via Lattice Contraction and Octahedral Tilting in Perovskite Materials for Photovoltaics.

Tin and lead iodide perovskite semiconductors of the composition AMX, where M is a metal and X is a halide, are leading candidates for high efficiency low cost tandem photovoltaics, in part because they have band gaps that can be tuned over a wide range by compositional substitution. We experimentally identify two competing mechanisms through which the A-site cation influences the band gap of 3D metal halide perovskites. Using a smaller A-site cation can distort the perovskite lattice in two distinct ways: by tilting the MX octahedra or by simply contracting the lattice isotropically.

Progress in Understanding Degradation Mechanisms and Improving Stability in Organic Photovoltaics.

Understanding the degradation mechanisms of organic photovoltaics is particularly important, as they tend to degrade faster than their inorganic counterparts, such as silicon and cadmium telluride. An overview is provided here of the main degradation mechanisms that researchers have identified so far that cause extrinsic degradation from oxygen and water, intrinsic degradation in the dark, and photo-induced burn-in. In addition, it provides methods for researchers to identify these mechanisms in new materials and device structures to screen them more quickly for promising long-term performance.

Perovskite-perovskite tandem photovoltaics with optimized band gaps.

We demonstrate four- and two-terminal perovskite-perovskite tandem solar cells with ideally matched band gaps. We develop an infrared-absorbing 1.2-electron volt band-gap perovskite, FACsSnPbI, that can deliver 14.

Cross-Linkable, Solvent-Resistant Fullerene Contacts for Robust and Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells with Increased J and V.

The active layers of perovskite solar cells are also structural layers and are central to ensuring that the structural integrity of the device is maintained over its operational lifetime. Our work evaluating the fracture energies of conventional and inverted solution-processed MAPbI perovskite solar cells has revealed that the MAPbI perovskite exhibits a fracture resistance of only ∼0.5 J/m, while solar cells containing fullerene electron transport layers fracture at even lower values, below ∼0.

Thermal and Environmental Stability of Semi-Transparent Perovskite Solar Cells for Tandems Enabled by a Solution-Processed Nanoparticle Buffer Layer and Sputtered ITO Electrode.

A sputtered oxide layer enabled by a solution-processed oxide nanoparticle buffer layer to protect underlying layers is used to make semi-transparent perovskite solar cells. Single-junction semi-transparent cells are 12.3% efficient, and mechanically stacked tandems on silicon solar cells are 18.

Cesium Lead Halide Perovskites with Improved Stability for Tandem Solar Cells.

A semiconductor that can be processed on a large scale with a bandgap around 1.8 eV could enable the manufacture of highly efficient low cost double-junction solar cells on crystalline Si. Solution-processable organic-inorganic halide perovskites have recently generated considerable excitement as absorbers in single-junction solar cells, and though it is possible to tune the bandgap of (CH3NH3)Pb(BrxI1-x)3 between 2.

The impact of donor-acceptor phase separation on the charge carrier dynamics in pBTTT:PCBM photovoltaic blends.

The effect of donor-acceptor phase separation, controlled by the donor-acceptor mixing ratio, on the charge generation and recombination dynamics in pBTTT-C14:PC70 BM bulk heterojunction photovoltaic blends is presented. Transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy spanning the dynamic range from pico- to microseconds in the visible and near-infrared spectral regions reveals that in a 1:1 blend exciton dissociation is ultrafast; however, charges cannot entirely escape their mutual Coulomb attraction and thus predominantly recombine geminately on a sub-ns timescale. In contrast, a polymer:fullerene mixing ratio of 1:4 facilitates the formation of spatially separated, that is free, charges and reduces substantially the fraction of geminate charge recombination, in turn leading to much more efficient photovoltaic devices.