Electrostatic Tailoring of Freestanding Polymeric Films for Multifunctional Thermoelectrics, Hydrogels, and Actuators.

Organic conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) has garnered enormous attention in organic electronics due to its low-cost solution processability, highly tunable conductivity, superior mechanical flexibility, and good biocompatibility together with excellent atmospheric stability. Nevertheless, limited electrical properties and unfavorable water instability of pristine PEDOT:PSS film impede its further implementation in a broad spectrum of practical applications. In this work, the successful tailoring of the intrinsic electrostatic interaction within PEDOT:PSS and consequent optimized electrical properties are enabled by a simple yet effective ionic salt post-treatment strategy.

Drop-Cast Hybrid Poly(styrene)-b-Poly(ethylene oxide) Metal Salt Films: Solvent Evaporation and Crystallinity-Dependent Evolution of Film Morphology.

Morphology templates of solution-based diblock copolymer (DBC) films with loading metal salts are widely applied in photocatalysts, photovoltaics, and sensors due to their adjustable characteristics based on surface (de-)wetting and microphase separation. The present work investigates the morphologies of drop-cast hybrid films based on poly(styrene)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (PS-b-PEO) and the metal salts titanium isopropoxide (TTIP) and zinc acetate dehydrate (ZAD) in comparison to the pure DBC. By utilizing scanning electron microscopy, grazing-incidence small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering, and differential scanning calorimetry, we find that the resulting film morphologies depend not only on the presence of metal salts but also on solvent evaporation and crystalline formation.

studies revealing the effects of Au surfactant on the formation of ultra-thin Ag layers using high-power impulse magnetron sputter deposition.

Introducing metallic nanoparticles, such as Au, on a substrate as a surfactant or wetting inducer has been demonstrated as a simple but effective way to facilitate the formation of ultra-thin silver layers (UTSLs) during the subsequent Ag deposition. However, most studies have paid much attention to the applications of UTSLs assisted by metallic surfactants but neglected the underlying mechanisms of how the metallic surfactant affects the formation of UTSL. Herein, we have applied grazing-incidence wide-/small-angle X-ray scattering to reveal the effects of the Au surfactant or seed layer (pre-deposited Au nanoparticles) on the formation of UTSL by high-power impulse magnetron sputter deposition (HiPIMS) on a zinc oxide (ZnO) thin film.

Decoding the Self-Assembly Plasmonic Interface Structure in a PbS Colloidal Quantum Dot Solid for a Photodetector.

Hybrid plasmonic nanostructures have gained enormous attention in a variety of optoelectronic devices due to their surface plasmon resonance properties. Self-assembled hybrid metal/quantum dot (QD) architectures offer a means of coupling the properties of plasmonics and QDs to photodetectors, thereby modifying their functionality. The arrangement and localization of hybrid nanostructures have an impact on exciton trapping and light harvesting.

Synergistic Interplay between Asymmetric Backbone Conformation, Molecular Aggregation, and Charge-Carrier Dynamics in Fused-Ring Electron Acceptor-Based Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells.

Asymmetric fused-ring electron acceptors (a-FREAs) have proved to be a promising type of electron acceptor for high-performance organic solar cells (OSCs). However, the relationship among molecular structures of a-FREAs and their nanoscale morphology, charge-carrier dynamics, and device performance remains unclear. In this contribution, two FREAs differing in conjugated backbone geometry with an asymmetric conformation (IPT-2F) or symmetric one (INPIC-2F) are selected to systematically explore the superiorities of the asymmetric conformation.