Comparative Study of Iminodibenzyl and Diphenylamine Derivatives as Hole Transport Materials in Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells.

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have recently achieved over 26% power conversion efficiency, challenging the dominance of silicon-based alternatives. This progress is significantly driven by innovations in hole transport materials (HTMs), which notably influence the efficiency and stability of PSCs. However, conventional organic HTMs like PTAA, although highly efficient, suffer from thermal degradation, moisture ingress, and high cost.

Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Polydopamine Nanosphere's Structure Based on Experimental Evidence.

In this work, we show how to obtain internal monodispersed gold nanoparticles inside polydopamine (PDA) nanospheres that are also externally decorated with gold. The number of internal nanoparticles is affected by the size of the PDA nanosphere used, and the lower limit in the number of gold nanoparticles in the center of decorated nanospheres, one single gold nanoparticle, has been reached. In addition, extensive molecular dynamics simulations of PDA nanospheres based on four different chemical motifs, in the presence of water and with different sizes, have been performed to gain insight into the arrangements capable of accommodating cavities.

Analyzing Dynamical Disorder for Charge Transport in Organic Semiconductors via Machine Learning.

Organic semiconductors are indispensable for today's display technologies in the form of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and further optoelectronic applications. However, organic materials do not reach the same charge carrier mobility as inorganic semiconductors, limiting the efficiency of devices. To find or even design new organic semiconductors with higher charge carrier mobility, computational approaches, in particular multiscale models, are becoming increasingly important.

From Absorption Spectra to Charge Transfer in Nanoaggregates of Oligomers with Machine Learning.

Fast and inexpensive characterization of materials properties is a key element to discover novel functional materials. In this work, we suggest an approach employing three classes of Bayesian machine learning (ML) models to correlate electronic absorption spectra of nanoaggregates with the strength of intermolecular electronic couplings in organic conducting and semiconducting materials. As a specific model system, we consider poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) polystyrene sulfonate, a cornerstone material for organic electronic applications, and so analyze the couplings between charged dimers of closely packed PEDOT oligomers that are at the heart of the material's unrivaled conductivity.

Sugar-based bicyclic monomers for aliphatic polyesters: a comparative appraisal of acetalized alditols and isosorbide.

Three series of polyalkanoates (adipates, suberates and sebacates) were synthesized using as monomers three sugar-based bicyclic diols derived from D-glucose (Glux-diol and isosorbide) and D-mannose (Manx-diol). Polycondensations were conducted in the melt applying similar reaction conditions for all cases. The aim was to compare the three bicyclic diols regarding their suitability to render aliphatic polyesters with enhanced thermal and mechanical properties.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) residues in milk from an agroindustrial zone of Tuxpan, Veracruz, Mexico.

The coasts of the Gulf of Mexico are zones exposed to the exploration and exploitation of petroleum sources, and the products generated in agricultural zones may become contaminated by persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The objective of the present study was to evaluate the presence of polychlorinated biphenyl compounds (PCBs) in milk from dairy production units near sources of environmental pollutants. It was confirmed that the seven congeners of nondioxin-like PCBs (NDL-PCBs) are present in milk where compounds PCB101, PCB118, PCB153 and PCB180 appear in 100% of the samples analyzed, the rank of concentration for the sum of the seven congeners fluctuating between 2.

Self-organization of nano-lines and dots triggered by a local mechanical stimulus.

When a local mechanical perturbation is applied to the surface of a thin film of a mechanically interlocked molecule (a rotaxane), the molecules self-organize into periodic arrays of discrete dots or lines. The dimensionality of the nanostructures depends on whether the mechanical stimulus acts along a 1D line or over a 2D area. The size (50-500 nm) and periodicity (100-600 nm) of the patterns are controlled solely by the film thickness.

Long time atomistic polymer trajectories from coarse grained simulations: bisphenol-A polycarbonate.

Based on coarse grained simulations of a specially adapted model for bisphenol-A polycarbonate (BPA-PC) we generate by inverse mapping, the reintroduction of chemical details, well equilibrated all-atom conformations and time trajectories of dense polymeric melts for up to 7.8 µs. This is several orders of magnitude more than any direct all-atom simulations have reached so far.

Self-organization of rotaxane thin films into spatially correlated nanostructures: morphological and structural aspects.

The self-organization of rotaxane thin films into spatially correlated nanostructures is shown to occur upon a thermal stimulus. The mechanism of formation of nanostructures and their organization has been investigated using atomic force microscopy, bright field transmission electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction, and molecular mechanics simulations. The evolution of the nanostructures follows a complex pathway, where a rotaxane thin film first dewets from the substrate to form nanosized droplets.

BPA-PC on a Ni111 surface: the interplay between adsorption energy and conformational entropy for different chain-end modifications.

We extend a previous dual scale modeling approach for the behavior of polymers near a metal surface to a variety of end groups. Our approach combines a coarse-grained polymer model with ab initio DFT calculations. Such a procedure was applied to a melt of phenolic-like terminated Bisphenol A-polycarbonate (BPA-PC) interacting with a (111) nickel surface (Delle Site, L.

Photoisomerization of a rotaxane hydrogen bonding template: light-induced acceleration of a large amplitude rotational motion.

Establishing methods for controlling aspects of large amplitude submolecular movements is a prerequisite for the development of artificial devices that function through rotary motion at the molecular level. Here we demonstrate that the rate of rotation of the interlocked components of fumaramide-derived [2]rotaxanes can be accelerated, by >6 orders of magnitude, by isomerizing them to the corresponding maleamide [2]rotaxanes by using light.

The effect of guest inclusion on the crystal packing of p-tert-butylcalix[4]arenes.

The effect of guest inclusion in the crystal structures of p-tert-butylcalix[4]arene complexes has been investigated through a combination of molecular-mechanics-based solid-state calculations and statistical analysis, with a procedure previously developed and used to study a variety of classes of organic compounds. The results indicate that the general trends in the behavior of calixarene crystals are very similar, irrespective of the presence or the absence of a guest encapsulated in the calixarene cavity, and are similar to those obtained for most other organics. Some differences arise only when a statistical analysis of several descriptors is performed.

Influence of the presence of small gas molecules in the structure of comblike polyacrylates: a Monte Carlo study.

A theoretical strategy has been developed to study the motion of small molecules through ordered polymeric systems. The strategy, which has been incorporated into a computer program denoted MCDP/2, is especially useful to study comblike polymers organized in biphasic arrangements. This is because it is based on a configurational bias Monte Carlo algorithm, which is more efficient than conventional methods to study dense systems.

The effect of mechanical interlocking on crystal packing: predictions and testing.

The first statistical analyses of the X-ray crystal structures of mechanically interlocked molecular architectures, the first molecular mechanics-based solid-state calculations on such structures and atomic force microscopy (AFM) experiments are used in combination to predict and test which types of benzylic amide macrocycle-containing rotaxanes possess mobile components in the crystalline phase and thus could form the basis of solid-state devices that function through mechanical motion at the molecular level. The statistical studies and calculations show that crystals formed by rotaxanes possess similarities and unanticipated differences with respect to the crystal packing of noninterlocked molecules. Trends in the rotaxane series correlate quantities related to crystal packing, molecular size, stoichiometry, and H-bonding.