In Situ Growth of MoS Onto Co-Based MOF Derivatives Toward High-Efficiency Quantum Dot-Sensitized Solar Cells.

Quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSCs) represent a promising third-generation photovoltaic technology, boasting a high theoretical efficiency of 44% and cost efficiency. However, their practical efficiency is constrained by reduced photovoltage (V) and fill factor (FF). One primary reason is the inefficient charge transfer and elevated recombination rates at the counter electrode (CE).

Anions Regulation of 1D Perovskite Intrusion-Behavior for Efficient and Stable Perovskite Solar Cells.

Constructing a 1D/3D perovskite heterojunction has recently emerged as a prevalent approach for elevating the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), due to the excellent defect-passivation capacity and enhanced resistance to water and oxygen of 1D perovskite. However, the 1D perovskite commonly exhibits much poorer charge carrier transport ability when compared with its 3D counterpart. Tailoring the intrusion depth of a 1D perovskite into the 1D/3D heterojunction is thus of key importance for PSCs but remains a great challenge.

Phase Engineering and Dispersion Stabilization of Cobalt toward Enhanced Hydrogen Evolution.

Phase engineering is promising to increase the intrinsic activity of the catalyst toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, the polymorphism interface is unstable due to the presence of metastable phases. Herein, phase engineering and dispersion stabilization are applied simultaneously to boost the HER activity of cobalt without sacrificing the stability.

Ultraviolet-Visible-Short-Wavelength Infrared Broadband and Fast-Response Photodetectors Enabled by Individual Monocrystalline Perovskite Nanoplate.

Perovskite-based photodetectors exhibit potential applications in communication, neuromorphic chips, and biomedical imaging due to their outstanding photoelectric properties and facile manufacturability. However, few of perovskite-based photodetectors focus on ultraviolet-visible-short-wavelength infrared (UV-Vis-SWIR) broadband photodetection because of the relatively large bandgap. Moreover, such broadband photodetectors with individual nanocrystal channel featuring monolithic integration with functional electronic/optical components have hardly been explored.

Direct Surface Passivation of Perovskite Film by 4-Fluorophenethylammonium Iodide toward Stable and Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells.

Passivating the defective surface of perovskite films is becoming a particularly effective approach to further boost the efficiency and stability of their solar cells. Organic ammonium halide salts are extensively utilized as passivation agents in the form of their corresponding 2D perovskites to construct the 2D/3D perovskite bilayer architecture for superior device performance; however, this bilayer device partly suffers from the postannealing-induced destructiveness to the 3D perovskite bulk and charge transport barrier induced by the quantum confinement existing in the 2D perovskite. Hence, developing direct passivation of the perovskite layer by organic ammonium halides for high-performance devices can well address the above-mentioned issues, which has rarely been explored.

Broadband Plasmonic Enhancement of High-Efficiency Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells by Incorporating Au@Ag@SiO Core-Shell Nanocuboids.

The introduction of plasmonic additives is a promising approach to boost the efficiency of the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) since they may improve the light harvesting of a solar cell. Herein, we design broadband and strong plasmonic absorption Au@Ag@SiO nanocuboids (GSS NCs) as nanophotonic inclusions to achieve plasmon-enhanced DSSCs. These multiple-resonance absorptions arising from GSS NCs can be readily adjusted by altering their structures to complementarily match the absorption spectra of the dyes, especially in weak absorption zones.

Synthesis of Pt nanoparticles supported on a novel 2D bismuth tungstate/lanthanum titanate heterojunction for photoelectrocatalytic oxidation of methanol.

The combination of different semiconductors to form a heterojunction plays an important role for exploring new visible-light-driven electrocatalysts. Herein, a two-dimensional (2D) BiWO/LaTiO (LTO) heterojunction has been synthesized and to be as carrier of Pt nanoparticles. Subsequently, electrocatalytic activity and stability of the as-obtained Pt-BiWO/LTO has been evaluated in methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) under the action of visible light and electricity.

Highly efficient ethylene glycol electrocatalytic oxidation based on bimetallic PtNi on 2D molybdenum disulfide/reduced graphene oxide nanosheets.

In this paper, a two-dimensional (2D) hybrid material of molybdenum disulfide (MoS)/reduced graphene oxide (RGO) is facilely synthesized and used as an ideal support for the deposition of Pt nanoparticles. The as-prepared Pt/MoS/RGO composites are further worked as electrocatalysts towards ethylene glycol oxidation reaction (EGOR). In addition, when alloying with Ni, the composite shows obvious enhancement in electrocatalytic performance for EGOR.

Facile fabrication of highly efficient ETL-free perovskite solar cells with 20% efficiency by defect passivation and interface engineering.

Tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) is employed to modify the surface and electrical properties of fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) electrodes in perovskite solar cells. Synchronously, owing to the flow of unbound TMA+ ions into the perovskite, the trap density of the perovskite overlayer is largely reduced. Conductivity of the grain boundaries in the perovskite layer is also greatly increased.

One-pot fabrication of Nitrogen-doped graphene supported binary palladium-sliver nanocapsules enable efficient ethylene glycol electrocatalysis.

Fuel cells hold great potential of replacing traditional fossil fuel to alleviate the energy crisis and increasing environmental concerns. Although great progresses have been achieved over decades, the sluggish reaction kinetics and poor durability of electrocatalysts in fuel cells have been the decisive bottleneck that limited their practical applications. Herein, we focus on the design and development of cost-efficient anode electrocatalysts for fuel cells and report the successful creation of an advanced class of N-doped graphene (NG) supported binary PdAg nanocapsules (PdAg NCPs).

Transparent Indium Tin Oxide Electrodes on Muscovite Mica for High-Temperature-Processed Flexible Optoelectronic Devices.

Sn-doped InO (ITO) electrodes were deposited on transparent and flexible muscovite mica. The use of mica substrate makes a high-temperature annealing process (up to 500 °C) possible. ITO/mica retains its low electric resistivity even after continuous bending of 1000 times on account of the unique layered structure of mica.

Organic-free Anatase TiO₂ Paste for Efficient Plastic Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells and Low Temperature Processed Perovskite Solar Cells.

Recently, the synthesis of fine TiO2 paste with organic-free binder emerged as an indispensable technique for plastic photovoltaics due to the low temperature processing requirement. In this study, pure anatase TiO2 nanoparticles and organic-free TiO2-sol were successfully synthesized individually in organic-free solution. By mixing the pure anatase TiO2 with the newly developed TiO2-sol binder, mechanically robust and well-interconnected TiO2 films were prepared via UV-irradiation at low temperature for applications in plastic dye-sensitized solar cells (p-DSSCs).

Facile one-step synthesis of highly branched ZnO nanostructures on titanium foil for flexible dye-sensitized solar cells.

Highly branched ZnO (HBZ) nanostructures were prepared on titanium (Ti) foil using a facile, one-step vapor confined chemical vapor deposition technique. The as-prepared ZnO layer showed a good connection with the Ti foil even after 50 bending cycles, and the resultant HBZ/Ti electrode possessed high bendability. The HBZ/Ti electrode was composed of four different layers, including a highly branched ZnO layer, a ZnO compact layer, a Ti-Zn alloy layer and Ti foil.

Facile synthesis of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) film via solid-state polymerization as high-performance Pt-free counter electrodes for plastic dye-sensitized solar cells.

A high-performance Pt-free counter electrode (CE) based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) film for plastic dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) has been developed via a facile solid-state polymerization (SSP) approach. The polymerization was simply initiated by sintering the monomer, 2,5-dibromo-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (DBEDOT), at the temperature of 80 °C, which can be applied on the plastic substrate. The cyclic voltammetry measurements revealed that the catalytic activity of the SSP-PEDOT CE for triiodide reduction is comparable with that of the Pt CE.

High-performance plastic platinized counter electrode via photoplatinization technique for flexible dye-sensitized solar cells.

A photoplatinization technique was proposed to deposit Pt on a thin TiO(2) layer modified indium tin oxide-coated polyethylene naphthalate (ITO/PEN) substrate at low temperature (about 50 °C after 1 h of UV irradiation) for the first time. The fabrication process includes coating and hydrolyzing the tetra-n-butyl titanate to form a TiO(2)-modified layer and the photoplatinization of the modified substrate in H(2)PtCl(6)/2-propanol precursor solution under UV irradiation. The obtained platinized electrodes were used as counter electrodes (CE) for flexible dye-sensitized solar cells (FDSCs).