Heteroatomic molecules for coordination engineering towards advanced Pb-free Sn-based perovskite photovoltaics.

As an ideal eco-friendly Pb-free optoelectronic material, Sn-based perovskites have made significant progress in the field of photovoltaics, and the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of Sn-based perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has been currently approaching 16%. In the course of development, various strategies have been proposed to improve the PCE and stability of Sn-based PSCs by solving the inherent problems of Sn, including high Lewis acidity and easy oxidation. Notably, the recent breakthrough comes from the development of heteroatomic coordination molecules to control the characteristics of Sn-based perovskites, which are considered to be vital for realizing efficient PSCs.

Wide-Bandgap Lead Halide Perovskites for Next-Generation Optoelectronics: Current Status and Future Prospects.

Over the past decade, lead halide perovskites (LHPs), an emerging class of organic-inorganic ionic-type semiconductors, have drawn worldwide attention, which injects vitality into next-generation optoelectronics. Facilely tunable bandgap is one of the fascinating features of LHPs, enabling them to be widely used in various nano/microscale applications. Notably, wide-bandgap (WBG) LHPs have been considered as promising alternatives to traditional WBG semiconductors owing to the merits of low-cost, solution processability, superior optoelectronic characteristics, and flexibility, which could improve the cost-effectiveness and expand the application scenarios of traditional WBG devices.

Homogenizing Nucleation and Growth of Tin Perovskite by Polarity-Free Trithiane Coordination Molecule for Efficient and Stable Photovoltaics.

Tin (Sn)-based perovskite solar cells (TPSCs) have garnered significant attention recently, with power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) approaching 16%. Nevertheless, for Sn-based perovskites, their rapid crystallization and easy Sn oxidation are always annoying for fabricating efficient and stable TPSCs. Coordination engineering has been developed for retarding the crystallization rate and Sn passivation, but the homogeneous crystallization of Sn-based perovskites is still challenging due to the asymmetric and polar nature of currently used ligands.

Molecule Anchoring Strategy Promotes Vertically Homogeneous Crystallization and Aligned Interfaces for Efficient Pb-Sn Perovskite Solar Cells and Tandem Device.

Narrow-bandgap (NBG) Pb-Sn perovskites are ideal candidates as rear subcell in all-perovskite tandem solar cells. Because Pb-Sn perovskites contain multiple components, the rational regulation of vertical structure and both interfaces of the film is primarily crucial to achieve high-performing NBG perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Herein, a molecule anchoring strategy is developed to in situ construct CsMAFAPbSnI perovskite film with vertically aligned crystals and optimized interfaces.

miR-5590-3p inhibits the proliferation and metastasis of renal cancer cells by targeting ROCK2 to inhibit proliferation, migration and invasion.

The present study aimed to clarify the role of microRNA (miR)-5590-3p in the progression of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and investigate the underlying mechanisms. The expression levels of miR-5590-3p, Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK)2 and β-catenin in RCC cells were measured by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR and western blot analysis. Following overexpression of miR-5590-3p and ROCK2 by transfection of miR-5590-3p mimics and GV367-ROCK2, respectively, changes in the proliferation, migration and invasion of RCC cells were determined through colony-formation, wound-healing and Transwell assays, respectively.

Improving the Air Resistance of the Precursor Solution for Ambient-Air Coating of an Sn-Pb Perovskite Film with Superior Photovoltaic Performance.

Owing to narrow band gap and low toxicity, tin-lead (Sn-Pb) hybrid perovskites have shown great potential in photovoltaic applications, and the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of Sn-Pb perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has recently reached 23.6%. However, it is still challenging to prepare Sn-Pb films in open-air condition due to the Sn oxidation of the precursor solution under this condition.

Involvement of plasma lncRNA GSEC in sepsis discrimination and prognosis, and its correlation with macrophage cell inflammation and proliferation.

Background: Despite the dysregulation and function of G-quadruplex-forming sequence containing lncRNA (GSEC) have been widely reported in human cancers, there are few available data revealing its role in sepsis.

Objective: To assess the expression and function of GSEC in the development of sepsis and its potential molecular mechanism.

Materials And Methods: A total of 78 sepsis patients, 55 non-sepsis intensive care unit patients, and 42 healthy individuals were enrolled in this study.

Nc886 promotes renal cancer cell drug-resistance by enhancing EMT through Rock2 phosphorylation-mediated β-catenin nuclear translocation.

Drug resistance is a significant challenge in the present treatment regimens of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Our previous study confirmed that nc886 functions as an oncogene in RCC. Nevertheless, the role and underlying mechanism of nc886 in RCC drug resistance are unclear.

Polarization-Sensitive Halide Perovskites for Polarized Luminescence and Detection: Recent Advances and Perspectives.

While halide perovskites (HPs) have achieved enormous success in the field of optoelectronic applications, much attention has been recently drawn to the unique polarization sensitivity of HPs, either intrinsic or extrinsic, which makes HPs a potential candidate for innovative applications in directly polarized luminescence and detection. Herein, the research status in the field of polarization-sensitive HPs, including linear polarization and circular polarization, is comprehensively summarized. To evaluate the effectiveness of HPs in generating and detecting linearly or circularly polarized light, the principles and characterization methods of polarized luminescence and detection are introduced.

All-inorganic Sn-based Perovskite Solar Cells: Status, Challenges, and Perspectives.

Recently, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of perovskite solar cells (PSC) based on organic-inorganic hybrid Pb halide perovskites has reached 25.2 %. However, the toxicity of Pb has still been a main concern for the large-scale commercialization of Pb-based PSCs.

Robust Stability of Efficient Lead-Free Formamidinium Tin Iodide Perovskite Solar Cells Realized by Structural Regulation.

The instability issue of Pb-free Sn-based perovskite is one of the biggest challenges for its application in optoelectronic devices. Herein, a structural regulation strategy is demonstrated to regulate the geometric symmetry of formamidiniumtin iodide (FASnI) perovskite. Experimental and theoretical works show that the introduction of cesium cation (Cs) could improve the geometric symmetry, suppress the oxidation of Sn, and enhance the thermodynamical structural stability of FASnI.

miR-27a in serum acts as biomarker for prostate cancer detection and promotes cell proliferation by targeting Sprouty2.

Prostate cancer (PCa) exhibits a high incidence among men, but there is no effective and non-invasive biomarker for the diagnosis of PCa, and the pathogenesis of PCa remains unclear. The present study identified that miR-27a was significantly overexpressed in the tumor tissues and sera of patients with PCa. In addition, high serum levels of miR-27a were correlated with poor survival in patients with PCa.

High-Quality Cs AgBiBr Double Perovskite Film for Lead-Free Inverted Planar Heterojunction Solar Cells with 2.2 % Efficiency.

All-inorganic double-metal perovskite materials have recently gained much attention due to their three dimensionality (3D) and non-toxic nature to replace lead-based perovskite materials. Among all those double perovskite materials, theoretical works have demonstrated that Cs AgBiBr shows high stability and possesses a suitable band gap for solar-cell applications. However, the film-forming ability of Cs AgBiBr is found to be the utmost challenge hindering its development in thin-film solar-cell devices.

Long non-coding RNA CASC2 regulates Sprouty2 via functioning as a competing endogenous RNA for miR-183 to modulate the sensitivity of prostate cancer cells to docetaxel.

Prostate cancer (PC) is the most common cancer in men; however, limited effect is obtained due to the therapy resistance. CASC2 acts as a tumor suppressor in human malignancies serving as a ceRNA for miRNAs; Sprouty2 (SPRY2), a key antagonist of RTK signaling, also serves as a tumor suppressor. Herein, CASC2 and SPRY2 expression was down-regulated in PC tissues and cell lines; the overexpression of CASC2 and SPRY2 could suppress PC cell proliferation, promote PC cell apoptosis, and enhance the sensitivity of PC cells to docetaxel.

The role of reduction extent of graphene oxide in the photocatalytic performance of Ag/AgX (X = Cl, Br)/rGO composites and the pseudo-second-order kinetics reaction nature of the Ag/AgBr system.

Although reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-based photocatalyst composites have been intensively developed during the past few years, the influence of reduction extent of rGO on the photocatalytic performance of the rGO-based composite has virtually not been investigated due to some technical limitations, such as the poor water dispersibility of rGO and low reduction selectivity of the hydrothermal method, which make it difficult to control the reduction extent of rGO in these composites. Herein, we used a facile room-temperature method to synthesize Ag/AgX (X = Cl, Br)/rGO photocatalyst composites as a model to study the effect of reduction extent of rGO on the photocatalytic performance of the photocatalyst. It was found that the photocatalytic activities of both Ag/AgCl/PrGO and Ag/AgBr/PrGO systems had an optimized threshold of the reduction extent of photoreduced GO (PrGO).

Facile one-pot synthesis of MoS2 quantum dots-graphene-TiO2 composites for highly enhanced photocatalytic properties.

We reported a simple one-pot solvothermal approach to fabricate a MoS2 quantum dots (QDs)-graphene-TiO2 (MGT) composite photocatalyst with significantly improved photocatalysis properties, which is caused by the increased charge separation, visible-light absorbance, specific surface area and reaction sites upon the introduction of MoS2 QDs.

One-pot synthesis of Ag/r-GO/TiO2 nanocomposites with high solar absorption and enhanced anti-recombination in photocatalytic applications.

In this paper, we reported a simple one-pot solvothermal approach to fabricate Ag/reduced graphene oxide (r-GO)/TiO2 composite photocatalyst under atmospheric pressure. Based on the experimental data, we concluded that the introduction of Ag into classical graphene-TiO2 system (i) efficiently enlarges the absorption range, (ii) improves photogenerated electron separation and (iii) increases photocatalysis reaction sites. The optimized sample exhibits prominent photocatalysis ability as compared to pure TiO2 under simulated sunlight.

Employing the plasmonic effect of the Ag-graphene composite for enhancing light harvesting and photoluminescence quenching efficiency of poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene-vinylene].

In this work, we report that the Ag-graphene composite (AGC) can effectively enhance the light harvesting and photoluminescence (PL) quenching efficiency of poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene-vinylene] (MEH-PPV). Loading the AGC on MEH-PPV leads to improved light absorption ability and PL quenching efficiency, which is due to the strong interaction between localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR)-activated Ag nanoparticles and the MEH-PPV molecule. Control experiment reveals that the combination of graphene and Ag nanoparticles achieves superior light absorptivity and PL quenching ability compared with individual graphene and Ag NPs.

Violating the isolated pentagon rule (IPR): endohedral non-IPR C98 cages of Gd2@C98.

The geometric, electronic structure, and thermodynamic stability of large gadolinium-containing endohedral metallofullerenes, Gd(2)@C(98), have been systematically investigated by comprehensive density functional theory calculations combined with statistical mechanics treatments. The Gd(2)@C(2)(230924)-C(98) structure, which satisfies the isolated-pentagon rule (IPR), is determined to possess the lowest energy followed with some stable non-IPR isomers. In order to clarify the relative stabilities at elevated temperatures, entropy contributions are taken into account on the basis of the Gibbs energy at the B3LYP level for the first time.

Rapid label-free identification of mixed bacterial infections by surface plasmon resonance.

Background: Early detection of mixed aerobic-anaerobic infection has been a challenge in clinical practice due to the phenotypic changes in complex environments. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor is widely used to detect DNA-DNA interaction and offers a sensitive and label-free approach in DNA research.

Methods: In this study, we developed a single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) amplification technique and modified the traditional SPR detection system for rapid and simultaneous detection of mixed infections of four pathogenic microorganisms (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium tetani and Clostridium perfringens).