Ce-Doped SnO Electron Transport Layer for Minimizing Open Circuit Voltage Loss in Lead Perovskite Solar Cells.

In the planar heterostructure of perovskite-based solar cells (PSCs), tin oxide (SnO) is a material that is often used as the electron transport layer (ETL). SnO ETL exhibits favorable optical and electrical properties in the PSC structures. Nevertheless, the open circuit voltage () depletion occurs in PSCs due to the defects arising from the high oxygen vacancy on the SnO surface and the deeper conduction band (CB) energy level of SnO.

Single-Cell Proliferation Microfluidic Device for High Throughput Investigation of Replicative Potential and Drug Resistance of Cancer Cells.

Introduction: Cell proliferation represents a major hallmark of cancer biology, and manifests itself in the assessment of tumor growth, drug resistance and metastasis. Tracking cell proliferation or cell fate at the single-cell level can reveal phenotypic heterogeneity. However, characterization of cell proliferation is typically done in bulk assays which does not inform on cells that can proliferate under given environmental perturbations.

Ectopic Expression of a Truncated Isoform of Hair Keratin 81 in Breast Cancer Alters Biophysical Characteristics to Promote Metastatic Propensity.

Keratins are an integral part of cell structure and function. Here, it is shown that ectopic expression of a truncated isoform of keratin 81 (tKRT81) in breast cancer is upregulated in metastatic lesions compared to primary tumors and patient-derived circulating tumor cells, and is associated with more aggressive subtypes. tKRT81 physically interacts with keratin 18 (KRT18) and leads to changes in the cytosolic keratin intermediate filament network and desmosomal plaque formation.

Role of a Solution-Processed VO Hole Extracting Layer on the Performance of CuO-ZnO-Based Solar Cells.

In this research, a heterostructure of the CuO-ZnO-based solar cells has been fabricated using low-cost, earth-abundant, non-toxic metal oxides by a low-cost, low-temperature spin coating technique. The device based on CuO-ZnO without a hole transport layer (HTL) suffers from poor power conversion efficiency due to carrier recombination on the surface of CuO and bad ohmic contact between the metal electrode and the CuO absorber layer. The main focus of this research is to minimize the mentioned shortcomings by a novel idea of introducing a solution-processed vanadium pentoxide (VO) HTL in the heterostructure of the CuO-ZnO-based solar cells.

Solution-Processed Synthesis of Copper Oxide (Cu O) Thin Films for Efficient Photocatalytic Solar Water Splitting.

This article reports a solution-processed synthesis of copper oxide (Cu O) to be used as a potential photocathode for solar hydrogen production in the solar water-splitting system. Cu O thin films were synthesized through the reduction of copper iodide (CuI) thin films by sodium hydroxide (NaOH), which were deposited by the spin coating method from CuI solution in a polar aprotic solvent (acetonitrile). The phase and crystalline quality of the synthesized Cu O thin films prepared at various annealing temperatures were investigated using various techniques.

Multi-sample deformability cytometry of cancer cells.

There is growing recognition that cell deformability can play an important role in cancer metastasis and diagnostics. Advancement of methods to characterize cell deformability in a high throughput manner and the capacity to process numerous samples can impact cancer-related applications ranging from analysis of patient samples to discovery of anti-cancer compounds to screening of oncogenes. In this study, we report a microfluidic technique called multi-sample deformability cytometry (MS-DC) that allows simultaneous measurement of flow-induced deformation of cells in multiple samples at single-cell resolution using a combination of on-chip reservoirs, distributed pressure control, and data analysis system.

Hydrodynamic mobility of confined polymeric particles, vesicles, and cancer cells in a square microchannel.

The transport of deformable objects, including polymer particles, vesicles, and cells, has been a subject of interest for several decades where the majority of experimental and theoretical studies have been focused on circular tubes. Due to advances in microfluidics, there is a need to study the transport of individual deformable particles in rectangular microchannels where corner flows can be important. In this study, we report measurements of hydrodynamic mobility of confined polymeric particles, vesicles, and cancer cells in a linear microchannel with a square cross-section.