Publications by authors named "Zihao Zhai"

Heavy metal ion wastewater is a pressing and inescapable issue that is closely related to human health and ecological security due to its toxicity, carcinogenicity, and the unmanageable property of this type of wastewater. Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are a class of crystalline nanoporous materials with flexible designability and controllability, showing great potential in the field of adsorption and purification of heavy metals in wastewater. In this Perspective, we first discuss the harm of different heavy metal ions and briefly expound virtues of MOFs for pollutant adsorption.

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The sol-gel method is a widely adopted technique for the preparation of tungsten trioxide (WO) materials, favored for its cost-effectiveness and straightforward production procedures. However, this method encounters challenges such as prolonged annealing periods and limited flexibility in fabricating patterned WO films. This study introduces a novel approach that integrates femtosecond laser processing with the sol-gel method to enhance the fabrication of WO films.

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With the advance of nanotechnology, the past couple of years have witnessed the fast development of quasi two-dimensional (2D) halide perovskites, which exhibit outstanding long-term stability against moisture and heat, compared with their three-dimensional (3D) counterparts. As one of the most common structures in 2D halide perovskites, quasi-2D Dion-Jacobson (DJ) perovskites show multiple-quantum-well structures with layers of [BX] octahedral inorganic sheets sandwiched by two layers of diammonium spacers, thus exhibiting superior structural stability due to the elimination of van der Waals gaps. Thanks to the achievement of high power conversion efficiency accompanied by impressive stability, quasi-2D DJ perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have recently drawn extensive attention in the field.

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Interfacial modification is a promising strategy to fabricate highly efficient perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Nevertheless, research studies about optimization for the performance of Dion-Jacobson (DJ)-phase quasi-2D PSCs by underlying surface modification are rarely reported. The relevant influence of interfacial modification on defect regulation in the bulk and at the interface for PSCs is still unexplored.

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Property modulation of graphene glass by heteroatom doping such as boron (B) and nitrogen (N) is important to extend its practical applications. However, unlike N doping, research studies about the metal-free synthesis of B-doped graphene on glass through the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method are rarely reported. Herein, we report a hot-filament CVD approach to prepare B-doped graphene glass using diborane (BH) as the B dopant.

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Article Synopsis
  • Direct growth of graphene films on glass has previously been challenging due to glass's noncatalytic properties, leading to more amorphous carbon films at lower temperatures.
  • This study explores the impact of hydrogen on carbon films deposited on quartz glass at 850 °C, showing that increasing hydrogen dilution can transition films from amorphous to nanocrystalline graphene.
  • The resulting nanocrystalline graphene exhibits improved electrical properties compared to amorphous carbon, with higher carrier mobility and lower resistivity, providing insights into the structural and electrical evolution of carbon films.
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