Improving the Efficiency of Semitransparent Perovskite Solar Cell Using Down-Conversion Coating.

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have demonstrated exceptional efficiency, yet surpassing theoretical performance limits requires innovative methodologies. Among these, down-conversion techniques are pivotal in reducing optical losses and enhancing energy conversion efficiency. In this study, optical modeling, including a generalized transfer-matrix optical model, was employed to meticulously assess optical losses in semitransparent PSCs illuminated from the front and rear sides of the device.

Bioengineering strategy to promote CNS nerve growth and regeneration via chronic glutamate signaling.

Being part of the mature mammalian central nervous system, impairments of the retina and optic nerves caused by trauma or diseases often cannot be restored. Progressive degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in glaucoma and other optic neuropathies gradually leads to permanent vision loss, which currently has no cure. The purpose of this study is to develop a biocompatible scaffold to support RGC survival and guide axon growth, facilitating optic nerve repair and regeneration.

Kopsileuconines A-D: Bisindole alkaloids with cytotoxic activity from Kopsia hainanensis.

Kopsileuconines A-D (1-4), four monoterpenoid bisindole alkaloids with unprecedented skeletons, along with their biosynthetically related precursors (5-8) were isolated from the roots of Kopsia hainanensis. Compound 1 possessed an undescribed C-6-C-5' dimerization pattern of aspidofractinine-type alkaloids. Compounds 2-4 were rhazinilam-kopsine (2) and rhazinilam-aspidofractinine type (3 and 4) bisindole alkaloids with undescribed skeletons, respectively.

Block Sequence Effects on the Self-Assembly Behaviors of Polypeptide-Based Penta-Block Copolymer Hydrogels.

Peptide-based hydrogels have great potential for applications in tissue engineering, drug delivery, and so on. We systematically synthesize, characterize, and investigate the self-assembly behaviors of a series of polypeptide-based penta-block copolymers by varying block sequences and lengths. The copolymers contain hydrophobic blocks of poly(γ-benzyl-l-glutamate) (PBG, B) and two kinds of hydrophilic blocks, poly(l-lysine) (PLL, K) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG, EG), where and are the number of repeating units of each block, where PBG and PLL blocks have unique functions for nerve regeneration and cell adhesion.

High-Performance Perovskite Solar Cells and Modules Fabricated by Slot-Die Coating with Nontoxic Solvents.

Energy shortage has become a global issue in the twenty-firt century, as energy consumption grows at an alarming rate as the fossil fuel supply exhausts. Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are a promising photovoltaic technology that has grown quickly in recent years. Its power conversion efficiency (PCE) is comparable to that of traditional silicon-based solar cells, and scale-up costs can be substantially reduced due to its utilization of solution-processable fabrication.

Correction: Exploration of biomimetic poly(γ-benzyl-L-glutamate) fibrous scaffolds for corneal nerve regeneration.

Correction for 'Exploration of biomimetic poly(γ-benzyl-L-glutamate) fibrous scaffolds for corneal nerve regeneration' by Tien-Li Ma , , 2022, , 6372-6379, https://doi.org/10.1039/D2TB01250B.

Exploration of biomimetic poly(γ-benzyl-L-glutamate) fibrous scaffolds for corneal nerve regeneration.

Poly(γ-benzyl-L-glutamate) (PBG) made biomimetic scaffolds are explored as candidate materials for corneal nerve regeneration and neurotrophic keratopathy treatment. The PBG with built-in neurotransmitter glutamate was synthesized and fabricated into 3D fibrous scaffolds containing aligned fibers using electrospinning. In experiments, primary mouse trigeminal ganglia (TG) cells were used.

Effect of cellulose compositions and fabrication methods on mechanical properties of polyurethane-cellulose composites.

A variety of cellulose-based polymer composite materials has been developed and show different impacts on the morphologies and properties of composites. Herein, we report the morphologies and properties of composites by blending polyurethane (PU) with either ethyl cellulose (EC) or cellulose nanofiber (CNF) through either drop-casting or electrospinning process. EC is homogenously mixed with PU without microphase separation and enhanced Young's modulus of composites from 0.

Achieving High-Performance Perovskite Photovoltaic by Morphology Engineering of Low-Temperature Processed Zn-Doped TiO Electron Transport Layer.

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have become one of the most promising renewable energy converting devices. However, in order to reach a sufficiently high power conversion efficiency (PCE), the PSCs typically require a high-temperature sintering process to prepare mesostructured TiO as an efficient electron transport layer (ETL), which prohibits the PSCs from commercialization in the future. This work investigates a low-temperature synthesis of TiO nanocrystals and introduces a two-fluid spray coating process to produce a nanostructured ETL for the following deposition of perovskite layer.

Work-Function-Tunable Electron Transport Layer of Molecule-Capped Metal Oxide for a High-Efficiency and Stable p-i-n Perovskite Solar Cell.

The composite electron transporting layer (ETL) of metal oxide with [6,6]-phenyl-C-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) prevents perovskite from metal electrode erosion and increases p-i-n perovskite solar cell (PVSC) stability. Although the oxide exhibits protective function, an additional work function modifier is still needed for good device performance. Usually, complicated multistep synthesis is employed to have a highly crystalline film that increases manufacturing cost and inhibits scalability.

Controlling the Morphology and Interface of the Perovskite Layer for Scalable High-Efficiency Solar Cells Fabricated Using Green Solvents and Blade Coating in an Ambient Environment.

Low-cost and solution-processed perovskite solar cells have shown great potential for scaling-up mass production. In comparison with the spin coating process for fabricating devices with small areas, the blade coating process is a facile technique for preparing uniform films with large areas. High-efficiency perovskite solar cells have been reported using blade coating, but they were fabricated using the toxic solvent ,-dimethylformide (DMF) in nitrogen.

Validated Analysis of Component Distribution Inside Perovskite Solar Cells and Its Utility in Unveiling Factors of Device Performance and Degradation.

Time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) has been used for gaining insights into perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, the importance of selecting ion beam parameters to eliminate artifacts in the resulting depth profile is often overlooked. In this work, significant artifacts were identified with commonly applied sputter sources, i.

Oligo(ethylene glycol) side chain effect on the physical properties and molecular arrangement of oligothiophene-isoindigo based conjugated polymers.

Oligo(ethylene glycol) (OEG) side chains are widely used in donor-acceptor conjugated polymers (D-A CPs) and enable the polymers to dissolve and be processed in environmentally friendly and cost-effective nonchlorinated solvents, such as water. However, the OEG effect on the physical properties of D-A CPs has not been thoroughly studied and sometimes the results are controversial. In this study, two oligothiophene-isoindigo based conjugated polymers, P3TI and P4TI, are selected as model polymers to investigate the OEG effect.

Rapid template-free synthesis of nanostructured conducting polymer films by tuning their morphology using hyperbranched polymer additives.

Nanostructures in conducting polymer films can enhance charge carrier and ion transfer, provide porosity with high specific area and confer unique optoelectronic properties for potential applications. A general and facile synthesis has been developed to prepare nanostructured conducting polymer films without the need for using templates. This simple approach employs hyperbranched polymers as additives to tune the morphology of conducting polymer films into a continuous nanofibril network.

Peptide-Based Polyelectrolyte Promotes Directional and Long Neurite Outgrowth.

Neural tissue engineering has emerged as a promising technology to cure neural damages. Although various synthetic polymers with good biocompatibility and biodegradability have been adopted as candidate materials for scaffolds, most of them require the incorporation of biomolecules or conductive materials to promote the growth of long axons. Herein we demonstrate for the first time a unique peptide-based polyelectrolyte that is ionically conductive and contains a neurotransmitter, glutamic acid.

Polybenzyl Glutamate Biocompatible Scaffold Promotes the Efficiency of Retinal Differentiation toward Retinal Ganglion Cell Lineage from Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells.

Optic neuropathy is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness caused by retinal ganglion cell (RGC) degeneration. The development of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-based therapy opens a therapeutic window for RGC degeneration, and tissue engineering may further promote the efficiency of differentiation process of iPSCs. The present study was designed to evaluate the effects of a novel biomimetic polybenzyl glutamate (PBG) scaffold on culturing iPSC-derived RGC progenitors.

Highly Conductive 2D Metal-Organic Framework Thin Film Fabricated by Liquid-Liquid Interfacial Reaction Using One-Pot-Synthesized Benzenehexathiol.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOF) are studied extensively in applications like catalysts, gas storage, and sensors due to their various functional groups and structures. Two-dimensional (2D) MOFs such as triphenylene-based materials show excellent charge transport properties, but thin-film fabrication and organic ligand synthesis are difficult. In this work, we synthesize thiol-based organic ligand, benzenehexathiol (BHT), by a simple one-pot reaction.

Remarkably High Hole Mobility Metal-Oxide Thin-Film Transistors.

High performance p-type thin-film transistor (p-TFT) was realized by a simple process of reactive sputtering from a tin (Sn) target under oxygen ambient, where remarkably high field-effect mobility (μ ) of 7.6 cm/Vs, 140 mV/dec subthreshold slope, and 3 × 10 on-current/off-current were measured. In sharp contrast, the SnO formed by direct sputtering from a SnO target showed much degraded μ , because of the limited low process temperature of SnO and sputtering damage.

Novel 3D Neuron Regeneration Scaffolds Based on Synthetic Polypeptide Containing Neuron Cue.

Neural tissue engineering has become a potential technology to restore the functionality of damaged neural tissue with the hope to cure the patients with neural disorder and to improve their quality of life. This paper reports the design and synthesis of polypeptides containing neuron stimulate, glutamic acid, for the fabrication of biomimetic 3D scaffold in neural tissue engineering application. The polypeptides are synthesized by efficient chemical reactions.

Quantitative correlation of the effects of crystallinity and additives on nanomorphology and solar cell performance of isoindigo-based copolymers.

The high power conversion efficiency of bulk heterojunction (BHJ) polymer solar cells can be achieved from either low crystallinity (P3TI) or high crystallinity (P6TI) of isoindigo-based donor-acceptor alternating copolymers blended with PCBM by controlling nanophase separation using additives. P3TI shows similar device performance regardless of the type of additives, while P6TI is significantly affected by whether the additive is aliphatic or aromatic. To understand the interplays of crystallinity of polymers and the type of additive on the formation of nanomorphology of BHJ, we employed the simultaneous grazing-incidence small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS and GIWAXS) technique to perform the quantitative investigation.

Improved Solar-Driven Photocatalytic Performance of Highly Crystalline Hydrogenated TiO Nanofibers with Core-Shell Structure.

Hydrogenated titanium dioxide has attracted intensive research interests in pollutant removal applications due to its high photocatalytic activity. Herein, we demonstrate hydrogenated TiO nanofibers (H:TiO NFs) with a core-shell structure prepared by the hydrothermal synthesis and subsequent heat treatment in hydrogen flow. H:TiO NFs has excellent solar light absorption and photogenerated charge formation behavior as confirmed by optical absorbance, photo-Kelvin force probe microscopy and photoinduced charge carrier dynamics analyses.

Coexistence of Two Electronic Nano-Phases on a CHNHPbICl Surface Observed in STM Measurements.

Scanning tunneling microscopy is utilized to investigate the local density of states of a CHNHPbICl perovskite in cross-sectional geometry. Two electronic phases, 10-20 nm in size, with different electronic properties inside the CHNHPbICl perovskite layer are observed by the dI/dV mapping and point spectra. A power law dependence of the dI/dV point spectra is revealed.

Formation Mechanism and Control of Perovskite Films from Solution to Crystalline Phase Studied by in Situ Synchrotron Scattering.

Controlling the crystallization and morphology of perovskite films is crucial for the fabrication of high-efficiency perovskite solar cells. For the first time, we investigate the formation mechanism of the drop-cast perovskite film from its precursor solution, PbCl and CHNHI in N,N-dimethylformamide, to a crystalline CHNHPbICl film at different substrate temperatures from 70 to 180 °C in ambient air and humidity. We employed an in situ grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS) technique for this study.

Remarkably high mobility ultra-thin-film metal-oxide transistor with strongly overlapped orbitals.

High mobility channel thin-film-transistor (TFT) is crucial for both display and future generation integrated circuit. We report a new metal-oxide TFT that has an ultra-thin 4.5 nm SnO2 thickness for both active channel and source-drain regions, very high 147 cm(2)/Vs field-effect mobility, high ION/IOFF of 2.