Polymer passivation layers can improve the open-circuit voltage of perovskite solar cells when inserted at the perovskite-charge transport layer interfaces. Unfortunately, many such layers are poor ...conductors, leading to a trade-off between passivation quality (voltage) and series resistance (fill factor, FF). Here, we introduce a nanopatterned electron transport layer that overcomes this trade-off by modifying the spatial distribution of the passivation layer to form nanoscale localized charge transport pathways through an otherwise passivated interface, thereby providing both effective passivation and excellent charge extraction. By combining the nanopatterned electron transport layer with a dopant-free hole transport layer, we achieved a certified power conversion efficiency of 21.6% for a 1-square-centimeter cell with FF of 0.839, and demonstrate an encapsulated cell that retains ~91.7% of its initial efficiency after 1000 hours of damp heat exposure.
Laponite based nanomaterials (LBNMs) are highly diverse regarding their mechanical, chemical, and structural properties, coupled with shape, size, mass, biodegradability and biocompatibility. These ...ubiquitous properties of LBNMs make them appropriate materials for extensive applications. These have enormous potential for effective and targeted drug delivery comprised of numerous biodegradable materials which results in enhanced bioavailability. Moreover, the clay material has been explored in tissue engineering and bioimaging for the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases. The material has been profoundly explored for minimized toxicity of nanomedicines. The present review compiled relevant and informative data to focus on the interactions of laponite nanoparticles and application in drug delivery, tissue engineering, imaging, cell adhesion and proliferation, and in biosensors. Eventually, concise conclusions are drawn concerning biomedical applications and identification of new promising research directions.
Selective ion transport underpins fundamental biological processes for efficient energy conversion and signal propagation. Mimicking these 'ionics' in synthetic nanofluidic channels has been ...increasingly promising for realizing self-sustained systems by harvesting clean energy from diverse environments, such as light, moisture, salinity gradient, etc. Here, we report a spatially nanoconfined ion separation strategy that enables harvesting electricity from CO
adsorption. This breakthrough relies on the development of Nanosheet-Agarose Hydrogel (NAH) composite-based generators, wherein the oppositely charged ions are released in water-filled hydrogel channels upon adsorbing CO
. By tuning the ion size and ion-channel interactions, the released cations at the hundred-nanometer scale are spatially confined within the hydrogel network, while ångström-scale anions pass through unhindered. This leads to near-perfect anion/cation separation across the generator with a selectivity (D
/D
) of up to 1.8 × 10
, allowing conversion into external electricity. With amplification by connecting multiple as-designed generators, the ion separation-induced electricity reaching 5 V is used to power electronic devices. This study introduces an effective spatial nanoconfinement strategy for widely demanded high-precision ion separation, encouraging a carbon-negative technique with simultaneous CO
adsorption and energy generation.
Next generation smart coatings with the ability to signal changes in the environment are hugely anticipated in a variety of applications. For example in chemical and vapor sensing, in warning ...systems, corrosion inhibition and repair, and many others. Thus, in this paper a method for synthesizing a smart epoxy resin using a one-step alkaline interaction with AIEgen TPE-2CH 2 Br to obtain an aggregation-induced emission (AIE), fluorescent functional epoxy coating (TPE-EPOXY) is reported. Because of the restriction of intramolecular rotation mechanism, the internal structure of the fluorescent coating during curing, organic vapor stimulation, and corrosion performance were systematically studied using fluorescence spectroscopy. The results given in this paper demonstrate the unique advantages of AIE coatings in the field of environmental responsiveness and provide a rich source of information on the interaction of AIE molecules with traditional materials.
Highlights
Defects in SnS
x
play an important role in enhancing charge storage capacity and transport kinetics in magnesium/lithium-ion hybrid batteries.
Defective SnS
x
is a promising ...conversion-type cathode for magnesium/lithium-ion hybrid batteries.
The co-insertion of Mg
2+
/Li
+
enhances hybrid battery performance.
Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are excellent electrochemical energy sources, albeit with existing challenges, including high costs and safety concerns. Magnesium-ion batteries (MIBs) are one of the potential alternatives. However, the performance of MIBs is poor due to their sluggish solid-state Mg
2+
diffusion kinetics and severe electrode polarizability. Rechargeable magnesium-ion/lithium-ion (Mg
2+
/Li
+
) hybrid batteries (MLHBs) with Mg
2+
and Li
+
as the charge carriers create a synergy between LIBs and MIBs with significantly improved charge transport kinetics and reliable safety features. However, MLHBs are yet to reach a reasonable electrochemical performance as expected. This work reports a composite electrode material with highly defective two-dimensional (2D) tin sulphide nanosheets (SnS
x
) encapsulated in three-dimensional (3D) holey graphene foams (HGF) (SnS
x
/HGF), which exhibits a specific capacity as high as 600 mAh g
−1
at 50 mA g
−1
and a compelling specific energy density of ~ 330 Wh kg
−1
. The excellent electrochemical performance surpasses previously reported hybrid battery systems based on intercalation-type cathode materials under comparable conditions. The role played by the defects in the SnS
x
/HGF composite is studied to understand the origin of the observed excellent electrochemical performance. It is found that it is closely related to the defect structure in SnS
x
,
which offers percolation pathways for efficient ion transport and increased internal surface area assessable to the charge carriers. The defective sites also absorb structural stress caused by Mg
2+
and Li
+
insertion. This work is an important step towards realizing high-capacity cathode materials with fast charge transport kinetics for hybrid batteries.
Theoretical and first-principal studies involving twisted two-dimensional (2D) heterobilayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) predict interlayer exciton (ILE) emission energy amplitudes (the ...energy difference between the lowest and the highest ILE emission energies) in the range of 100–260 meV. This can be translated into an interfacial exciton periodic potential modulation depth of 100–260 meV. However, experimental studies on twisted TMD heterobilayers have reported only a narrow depth of ILE emission of up to ∼70 meV. Here, we report a wide degree of freedom twist-angle-driven indirect ILE emission in chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown MoS2/WS2 vertical heterobilayers (up to ∼10%, amplitude of 120 ± 30 meV). This is attributed to the close interlayer spacing between MoS2 and WS2 courtesy of their similar hexagonal crystal symmetry with an almost similar size, coupled with interlayer spacing tuneability at various twist angles. The wide degree of freedom of ILE emission opens exciting avenues for exploring intriguing phenomena in tuneable twistronics.
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Twisted MoS2/WS2 demonstrates a giant ILE energy amplitudeILE amplitudes rely on the stacking nature and chemical elements of heterobilayersMinimal interlayer distance with twist commands wide ILE amplitudes
Interlayer excitons (ILEs) involving an electron and a hole situated in separate adjacent layers are pronounced in type-II TMD-based heterobilayers. Tebyetekerwa et al. report a high twist-angle-dependent energy shift of the ILE emission peak in MoS2/WS2 heterobilayers for different samples investigated with a twist angle range of 0° to 60°.
Electrospinning is a powerful and scalable synthesis technique capable of producing spun polymer fibers across a range of diameters from nano to micro. It has been extensively studied and ...successfully implemented for over 100 years. But what does the future hold for electrospinning methods and its products?
Electrospinning is a powerful and scalable synthesis technique capable of producing spun polymer fibers across a range of diameters from nano to micro. It has been extensively studied and successfully implemented for over 100 years. But what does the future hold for electrospinning methods and its products?
The magnesium/lithium hybrid batteries (MLHBs) featuring dendrite-less deposition with Mg anode and Li-storage cathode are a promising alternative to Li-ion batteries for large-scale energy storage. ...However, their limited energy density limits their practical implementation. To improve this, beyond the commonly proposed intercalation compounds, high-capacity conversion-type cathodes based on heterostructures of tin sulphide-molybdenum disulphide (SnS2-MoS2) are proposed in this work. Individual SnS2 is already a promising high-capacity electrode material for multivalent batteries and undergoes conversion reactions during the ion storage process. The introduction of S-deficient MoS2 enhances the reversibility of SnS2 in the conversion reaction via strong polysulfide anchoring and catalytic effect. Our results show that the SnS2-MoS2 electrode achieves a high charge capacity of ~600 mAh g-1 at 50 mA g-1 and an excellent rate capability of 240 mAh g-1 at 1000 mAh g-1 with a negligible capacity fading rate of 0.063% per cycle across 1000 cycles. The results highlight a new direction toward designing 2D heterostructures as high-capacity cathodes beyond intercalation-type cathodes for multivalent-ion batteries.
Owing to the hybrid nature of organic–inorganic composite coatings, when applied, they can combine the merits of both components and thus make such coatings fit a wide range of applications. However, ...due to the property differences in these composites, the strategy to obtain well dispersed organic–inorganic coatings is not yet straightforward and it is of great importance for their implementation and to obtain advanced properties such as mechanical properties, corrosion-resistance, aging resistance performance, and others. In this regard, still, even the characterization and direct visualization of the making up the organic–inorganic composites are not easy tasks. Herein, a strategy to visual characterize organic–inorganic composite coatings via aggregation-induced emission (AIE) is reported. Briefly, the approach involved first designing and synthesizing a novel water dispersed AIEgen whose AIE effect was systematically analyzed. Then, inorganic Na + -montmorillonite (MMT) was introduced to the synthesized AIEgen via the ion exchange method in order to make the inorganic MMT adopt fluorescence properties. The modified MMT fluorescence property was beneficial for the imaging and characterization of the macro-dispersed MMT in the cured coatings. As an essential addition to the study, the responses of the modified MMT cured composite coatings to temperature and corrosive material erosion were studied in detail. An account of the responses demonstrated the possible application of such modified coatings in high-performance smart paints.
The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of metal halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has improved dramatically from 3.8% to 25.5% in only a decade. Gas quenching is a desirable method for fabricating ...high-efficiency cells as it does not consume antisolvents and is compatible with large-area deposition methods such as doctor blading and slot-die coating. To further improve PCEs for gas-quenched PSCs, here, we develop complementary bulk and surface passivation strategies by incorporating potassium iodide (KI) in the perovskite precursor and applying n-hexylammonium bromide (HABr) to the perovskite surface. We show that (1) KI induces a spatial-compositional change, improving grain boundary properties; (2) KI and HABr reduce traps, especially at levels close to the mid-gap; and (3) HABr greatly improves the built-in potential of the device, thereby improving voltage output. The champion device achieves a steady-state PCE of 23.6% with a VOC of 1.23V, which is, to the best of our knowledge, the highest for PSC by gas quenching to date.
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Potassium iodide induces a compositional change, improving grain boundary propertiesn-Hexylammonium bromide improves the built-in potential of the deviceClose to mid-band-gap defects can be effectively passivated by complementary passivation
Tang et al. report a 23.6% gas-quenched perovskite solar cell by incorporating potassium iodide (KI) in the precursor and applying n-hexylammonium bromide (HABr) to the surface. KI induces a spatial-compositional change, improving grain boundary properties. KI and HABr reduce traps close to the mid-gap, and HABr greatly improves the built-in potential of the device, thereby improving voltage output.
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