Crystallization process is critical for enhancing the crystallinity, regulating the crystal orientation of polycrystalline thin films, as well as repairing defects within the films. For quasi-1D SbSe photovoltaic materials, the preparation of SbSe thin films still faces great challenges in adjusting orientation and defect properties, which limits the device performance. In this study, a novel post-treatment strategy is developed that uses a low melting point BO coating layer as a flux to drive the recrystallization of SbSe, thereby regulating the micro-orientation of thermal evaporation-derived SbSe films and optimizing their electrical properties.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSuppression of charge recombination caused by unfavorable grain boundaries (GBs) in polycrystalline thin films is essential for improving the optoelectronic performance of semiconductor devices. For emerging antimony selenide (SbSe) materials, the unique quasi-1D structure intensifies the dependence of GB properties on the grain size and orientation, which also increases the impact of defects related to grain structure on device performance. However, these characteristics pose significant challenges in the preparation of thin films.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAgSbSSe is a promising light-harvesting material for thin film solar cells, characterized by nontoxicity, high chemical stability, and excellent optoelectronic properties. However, the complex chemical composition of AgSbSSe poses significant challenges to thin film preparation, giving rise to an intensive dependence on multi-step preparation methods. Herein, a hydrothermal method is developed for depositing AgSbSSe films and achieves one-step preparation of this kind of thin film materials for the first time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBand structure of a semiconducting film critically determines the charge separation and transport efficiency. In antimony selenosulfide (Sb(S,Se)) solar cells, the hydrothermal method has achieved control of band gap width of Sb(S,Se) thin film through tuning the atomic ratio of S/Se, resulting in an efficiency breakthrough towards 10 %. However, the obtained band structure exhibits an unfavorable gradient distribution in terms of carrier transport, which seriously impedes the device efficiency improvement.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe intestinal barrier of newborn piglets is vulnerable and underdeveloped, making them susceptible to enteric virus infections. Benzoic acid (BA), employed as a growth promoter, exhibits the potential to enhance the gut health of piglets by modulating intestinal morphometry and tight junction dynamics. However, the extent to which BA regulates the intestinal mucus barrier through its impact on stem cells remains inadequately elucidated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntimony selenide (SbSe) consists of 1D (SbSe) ribbons, along which the carriers exhibit high transport efficiency. By adjusting the deposition parameters of vacuum-deposited methods, such as evaporation temperature, chamber pressure, and vapor concentration, it is possible to grow the (SbSe) ribbons vertically or highly inclined towards the substrate, resulting in films with [hk1] orientation. However, the specific mechanisms by which these deposition parameters affect the orientation of thin films require a deeper understanding.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe discovery of antiviral molecules is crucial for controlling porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV). Previous studies have provided evidence that the IFN-inducible transmembrane protein 3 (IFITM3), which is coded by an interferon-stimulated gene, prevents the infections of a number of enveloped viruses. Nevertheless, the involvement of IFITM3 in PDCoV infection remains unexplored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe emerging antimony chalcogenide (Sb (S Se ) , 0 ≤ x ≤ 1) semiconductors are featured as quasi-1D structures comprising (Sb S(e) ) ribbons, this structural characteristic generates facet-dependent properties such as directional charge transfer and trap states. In terms of carrier transport, proper control over the crystal nucleation and growth conditions can promote preferentially oriented growth of favorable crystal planes, thus enabling efficient electron transport along (Sb S(e) ) ribbons. Furthermore, an in-depth understanding of the origin and impact of the crystal orientation of Sb (S Se ) films on the performance of corresponding photovoltaic devices is expected to lead to a breakthrough in power conversion efficiency.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Appl Mater Interfaces
October 2023
Antimony sulfoselenide (Sb(S,Se)) is a promising light absorption material because of its high photoabsorption coefficient, appropriate band gap, superior stability, and abundant elemental storage. As an emerging solar material, hydrothermal deposition of Sb(S,Se) solar cells has enabled a 10% efficiency threshold, where cadmium sulfide (CdS) is applied as an electron transport layer (ETL). The high-efficiency Sb(S,Se) solar cells largely employ CdS as the ETL.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRationally designing carriers to obtain efficient and stable immobilized enzymes for the production of food raw materials is always a challenge. In this work, hollow cube carbon (HMC) as a carrier of lipase (CRL) was prepared to construct a Pickering interfacial biocatalysis system, which was applied to biphasic biocatalysis. For comparison, the nonporous carbon (HC) and porous MoS (HMoS) were also designed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Appl Mater Interfaces
December 2022
Sulfuration plays a decisive role in enhancing crystal growth and passivate defects in the fabrication of high-efficiency metal-sulfide solar cells. However, the traditional sulfuration process always suffers from high-price professional equipment, tedious processes, low activity of S, or high toxicity of HS. Here, we develop a desired in situ sulfuration by introducing tartaric acid additive into the hydrothermal deposition process of SbS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThermal treatment of inorganic thin films is a general and necessary step to facilitate crystallization and, in particular, to regulate the formation of point defects. Understanding the dependence of the defect formation mechanism on the annealing process is a critical challenge in terms of designing material synthesis approaches for obtaining desired optoelectronic properties. Herein, a mechanistic understanding of the evolution of defects in emerging Sb (S,Se) solar cell films is presented.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSb S as a light-harvesting material has attracted great attention for applications in both single-junction and tandem solar cells. Such solar cell has been faced with current challenge of low power conversion efficiency (PCE), which has stagnated for 8 years. It has been recognized that the synthesis of high-quality absorber film plays a critical role in efficiency improvement.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Appl Mater Interfaces
July 2022
The TiO thin film is considered as a promising wide band gap electron-transporting material. However, due to the strong Ti-O bond, it displays an inert surface characteristic causing difficulty in the adsorption and deposition of metal chalcogenide films such as SbSe. In this study, a simple CdCl post-treatment is conducted to functionalize the TiO thin film, enabling the induction of nucleation sites and growth of high-quality SbSe.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDeveloping cathode materials integrating good rate performance and sufficient cycle life is the key to commercialization of aqueous zinc-ion batteries. The hyperstable Zn V O ⋅1.8 H O (ZVOH) cathode with excellent rate performance has been successfully developed via an in situ self-transformation from zinc-rich Zn V O (ZVO) in this study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLarge-area fabrication of perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs) through mass-production techniques has attracted growing attention due to their potential applications in lighting. Several breakthroughs are made for red/infrared and green emissions. Nevertheless, large-area blue/sky-blue PeLEDs, a requisite color for lighting, have not yet been reported.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCharacterizing defect levels and identifying the compositional elements in semiconducting materials are important research subject for understanding the mechanism of photogenerated carrier recombination and reducing energy loss during solar energy conversion. Here it shows that deep-level defect in antimony triselenide (Sb Se ) is sensitively dependent on the stoichiometry. For the first time it experimentally observes the formation of amphoteric Sb defect in Sb-rich Sb Se .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPorcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) is an emerging porcine enteric coronavirus that causes severe diarrhea in piglets and results in serious economic losses. There are no effective vaccines and antiviral drugs to prevent and treat PDCoV infection currently. Griffithsin (GRFT) is a lectin with potent antiviral activity against enveloped viruses because of its ability to specifically bind N-linked high-mannose oligosaccharides.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntimony trisulfide (SbS) is a kind of emerging light-harvesting material with excellent stability and abundant elemental storage. Due to the quasi-one-dimensional symmetry, theoretical investigations have pointed out that there exist complicated defect properties. However, there is no experimental verification on the defect property.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Appl Mater Interfaces
April 2021
Antimony selenide (SbSe) has attracted increasing attention in photovoltaic applications due to its unique quasi-one-dimensional crystal structure, suitable optical band gap with a high extinction coefficient, and excellent stability. As a promising light-harvesting material, the available synthetic methods for the fabrication of a high-quality film have been quite limited and seriously impeded both the fundamental study and the efficiency improvement. Here, we developed a facile and low-cost hydrothermal method for in situ deposition of SbSe films for solar cell applications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntimony selenosulfide (Sb (S,Se) ) is an emerging low-cost, nontoxic solar material with suitable bandgap and high absorption coefficient. Developing effective methods for fabricating high-quality films would benefit the device efficiency improvement and deepen the fundamental understanding on the optoelectronic properties. Herein, equipment is developed that allows online introduction of precursor vapor during the reaction process, enabling sequential coevaporation of Sb Se and S powders for the deposition of Sb (S,Se) thin films.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHere we report a solution processed environmentally friendly MoS3 hole-transport material for Sb2Se3 solar cells, where MoS3 exhibits a matched energy level relative to Sb2Se3. In the synthesis, H2S produced by the thermal decomposition of (NH4)2MoS4 is found to efficiently eliminate the antimony oxide impurity formed on the Sb2Se3 surface. Finally, the all-inorganic Sb2Se3 solar cell delivers an efficiency of 6.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study, we provide fundamental understanding on defect properties of the Sb(S,Se) absorber film and the impact on transmission of photo-excited carriers in N-i-P architecture solar cells by both deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) and optical deep level transient spectroscopy (ODLTS) characterizations. Through conductance-voltage and temperature-dependent current-voltage characterization under a dark condition, we find that the Sb(S,Se) solar cell demonstrates good rectification and high temperature tolerance. The DLTS results indicates that there are two types of deep level hole traps H1 and H2 with active energy of 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Bull (Beijing)
January 2019
SbS is a kind of stable light absorption materials with suitable band gap, promising for practical applications. Here we demonstrate that the engineering on the composition ratio enables significant improvement in the device performance. We found that the co-evaporation of sulfur or antimony with SbS is able to generate sulfur- or antimony-rich SbS.
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