Analysis of Effect of Zn(O,S) Buffer Layer Properties on CZTS Solar Cell Performance Using AMPS

The Cu2ZnSnS4 （CZTS）-based solar cell is numerically simulated by a one-dimensional solar cell simulation soft- ware analysis of microelectronic and photonic structures （AMPS-1D）. The device structure used in the simulation is Al/ZnO：Al/nZn（O,S）/pCZTS/Mo. The primary motivation of this simulation work is to optimize the composition in the ZnO1-xSx buffer layer, which would yield higher conversion efficiency. By varying S/（S＋O） ratio x, the conduction band offset （CBO） at CZTS/Zn（O,S） interface can range from -0.23 eV to 1.06eV if the full range of the ratio is considered. The optimal CBO of 0.23eV can be achieved when the ZnO1-xSx buffer has an S/（S＋O） ratio of 0.6. The solar cell efficiency first increases with increasing sulfur content and then decreases abruptly for x〉 0.6, which reaches the highest value of 17.55% by our proposed optimal sulfur content x= 0.6. Our results provide guidance in dealing with the ZnO1-xSx buffer layer deposition for high efficiency CZTS solar cells.

Performance evaluation of the incorporation of different wire meshes in between perforated current collectors and membrane electrode assembly on the Passive Direct methanol fuel cell

Passive Direct methanol fuel cells(DMFC)are more suitable for charging small capacity electronic devices.In passive DMFC,the fuel and oxidant are supplied by diffusion and natural convection process on the anode and cathode sides respectively.Current collectors(CC)play a vital importance in fuel cell performance.This paper presents the combined impact of perforated and wire mesh current collectors(WMCC)on passive DMFC performance.Three types of open ratios of perforated current collectors(PCC),such as 45.40%,55.40%and 63.40%and two types of wire mesh current collectors with open ratios of 38.70%and 45.40%were chosen for the experimental work.A combination of TaguchiL9 rule is considered.A combination of three PCC and two WMCC on both anode and cathode was used.Methanol concentration was varied from 1 mol·L^(-1)-5 mol·L^(-1)for nine combinations of PCC and WMCC.From the experimental results,it is noticed that the combination of PCC and WMCC with an open ratio of 55.40%and 38.70%incorporated passive DMFC produced peak power density at 5 mol·L^(-1)of methanol concentration.The passive DMFC performance was evaluated in terms of maximum power density and maximum current density.The combined current collectors of PCC and WMCC open ratios of 55.40%+38.70%have more stable voltage than single PCC of open ratio 63.40%at 4 mol·L^(-1)of methanol concentration.

Performance and Stability of Polymer Solar Cells Based on the Blends of Poly(3-Hexylthiophene) and Indene-C_(60) Bis-Adduct

The performance and morphology stability of polymer bulk heterojunetion solar cells based on poly（3-hexylthiophene） （P3HT） as the donor and indene-C6o bisadduct （ICBA） or methanofullerene [6,6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester （PCBM） as the aeceptor are compared. Effect of the different donor and aeeeptor weight ratios on photo- voltaic performance of the P3HT：ICBA device is studied. The optimal device achieved power conversion emeiency of 5.51~o with dso of l0.86mA/cm2, Voc of 0.83 V, and fill factor （FF） of 61.1 % under AM 1.5G （lOOmW/cm2） simulated solar illumination. However, the stability measurement shows that cells based on P3HT：ICBA are less stable than those of the device based on P3HT：PCBM. Atomic force microscope results reveal that the morphol- ogy of the P3HT：ICBA film changed considerably during the storage periods due to unstable interpenetrating D-A network. This observation can be explained by the fact that there is lack of intermolecular hydrogen bonds in the P3HT：ICBA system. However, in the P3HT：PCBM system the molecules in the blend film are firmly held together in the solid state by means of intermoleeular hydrogen bonds originating from C-H. ~. Os bonds （where Os comes from the singly-bonded 0 atom of PCBM）, forming a stable three-dimensional network. The measured PL decay lifetimes for P3HT：PCBM and P3HT：ICBA systems are 33.66 ns and 35.34 ns, respectively, indicating that the P3HT：ICBA system has a less efficient exciton separation eftleiency than that of P3HT：PCBM, which may result in the interracial photogenerated charges accumulated on the D： A interface. Such progressive phase segregation between P3HT and ICBA eventually leads to the degradation in performance and deteriorates the stability of the device. We also present an approach to enhance the stability of P3HT：ICBA systems by adding PCBM as the second acceptor. Our results show that by carefully tuning the contents of PCBM as the second acceptor, more stable polymer solar cells can be obtained.

Effects of Dietary Yeast Cell Wall Polysaccharides Supplementation to Late Gestation and Lactation Diets on Reproductive Performance and Blood Profiles of Sows and Their Offspring

This study was conducted to determine the effects of yeast cell wall polysaccharides（YCWP） on reproductive performance, serum profiles and milk composition during late gestation and lactation. A total of 96 sows（Landrace × Yorkshire） were blocked on a basis of breed, parity（2-3）and their respective d 85 of gestation, and then randomly allotted to the following three dietary treatments： CON（basal diet, treatment 1）, YCWP1（CON＋0.2% YCWP, treatment 2） and YCWP2（CON＋0.4% YCWP, treatment 3）. The experiment lasted from d 85 of gestation to weaning（d 21 of lactation）. Sows fed YCWP diets had lower backfat thickness reduction from postpartum to weaning（ P〈0.05）. The supplementation of YCWP tended to increase litter weight at weaning（P=0.08） compared with CON. The non-lipid and total milk solids in colostrum was improved by YCWP2（P〈0.05）.No differences were observed in milk composition among dietary treatments（ P〉0.05）. The supplementation of YCWP decreased（P〈0.05） the levels of alanine amino transferase（ALT）, aspartate amino transferase（AST）, while it did not affect（ P〉0.05） alkaline phosphatase（ALP）, total protein（TP）,albumin（ALB）, globulin（GLB）, glucose（GLU）, total cholesterol（TC）, triglyceride（TG） or immunoglobulin G（IgG） in the sow serum. The serum IgG of piglets was increased by the YCWP. The levels of serum ALT and AST were reduced（P〈0.05） for suckling piglets in YCWP treatments. Taken together, the results of current studies might indicate beneficial effects of YCWP supplementation to late gestation and lactation diets on the sow productivity by improving litter weight at weaning, reducing backfat loss, and increasing serum IgG concentrations of piglets.

Effect of silica nanoparticles/poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) coated layers on the performance of polypropylene separator for lithium-ion batteries

In an effort to reduce thermal shrinkage and improve electrochemical performance of porous polypropylene （PP） separators for lithium-ion batteries, a new composite separator is developed by introducing ceramic coated layers on both sides of PP separator through a dip-coating process. The coated layers are comprised of heat-resistant and hydrophilic silica nanoparticles and polyvinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene （PVDF-HFP） binders. Highly porous honeycomb structure is formed and the thickness of the layer is only about 700 nm. In comparison to the pristine PP separator, the composite separator shows significant reduction in thermal shrinkage and improvement in liquid electrolyte uptake and ionic conduction, which play an important role in improving cell performance such as discharge capacity, C-rate capability, cycle performance and coulombic efficiency.

Recent progress in laser texturing of battery materials: a review of tuning electrochemical performances, related material development, and prospects for large-scale manufacturing

Traditional electrode manufacturing for lithium-ion batteries is well established,reliable,and has already reached high processing speeds and improvements in production costs.For modern electric vehicles,however,the need for batteries with high gravimetric and volumetric energy densities at cell level is increasing;and new production concepts are required for this purpose.During the last decade,laser processing of battery materials emerged as a promising processing tool for either improving manufacturing flexibility and product reliability or enhancing battery performances.Laser cutting and welding already reached a high level of maturity and it is obvious that in the near future they will become frequently implemented in battery production lines.This review focuses on laser texturing of electrode materials due to its high potential for significantly enhancing battery performances beyond state-of-the-art.Technical approaches and processing strategies for new electrode architectures and concepts will be presented and discussed with regard to energy and power density requirements.The boost of electrochemical performances due to laser texturing of energy storage materials is currently proven at the laboratory scale.However,promising developments in high-power,ultrafast laser technology may push laser structuring of batteries to the next technical readiness level soon.For demonstration in pilot lines adapted to future cell production,process upscaling regarding footprint area and processing speed are the main issues as well as the economic aspects with regards to CapEx amortization and the benefits resulting from the next generation battery.This review begins with an introduction of the three-dimensional battery and thick film concept,made possible by laser texturing.Laser processing of electrode components,namely current collectors,anodes,and cathodes will be presented.Different types of electrode architectures,such as holes,grids,and lines,were generated;their impact on battery performances are illustrated.The usage of high-energy materials,which are on the threshold of commercialization,is highlighted.Battery performance increase is triggered by controlling lithium-ion diffusion kinetics in liquid electrolyte filled porous electrodes.This review concludes with a discussion of various laser parameter tasks for process upscaling in a new type of extreme manufacturing.

Air Electrode Supported Manganese Electrocatalysts for Neutral Electrolyte Magnesium Air Cell

X The catalysts of air electrode were prepared by sintering the active carbon loaded with manganese nitrate and potassium permanganate at 360 ℃ . The air electrode was made up of a catalyst layer, a waterproof and gas-permeable layer, a current collecting substrate and a second wa-terproof and gas-permeable layer. The cell was assembled by the air electrode, pure magnesium anode and 10% NaCl solution used as electrolyte. The microstructures of air electrodes before and after discharging were characterized by SEM. The electrochemical behaviors of the air electrodes were determined by means of polarization curves, volt-ampere curves and constant current discharge curves. The polarization voltage of air electrode is-173 mV （vs SCE） at the current density of 50 mA/cm2. The air electrodes exhibits good activity and stability in neutral electrolyte. The magnesium-air cell could work at 5 W for more than 7 h.

Composite Semiconductor Quantum Dots CdSe/CdS Co-sensitized TiO_2 Nanorod Array Solar Cells

CdSe/CdS semiconductor quantum dots co-sensitized TiO2 nanorod array was fabricated on the transparent conductive fluorine-doped tin oxide （FTO） substrate using the hydrothermal and successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction （SILAR） process. The structural and morphological properties of the samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, field-emission scanning electron microscopy （FESEM）, and transmission electron microscopy （TEM）. The results indicate that CdSe/CdS QDs are uniformly coated on the surface of the TiO2 nanorods. The shift of light absorption edge was monitored by taking UV-visible absorption spectra. Compared with the absorption spectra of the TiO2 nanorod array, deposition of CdSe/CdS QDs shifts the absorption edge to the higher wavelength. The enhanced light absorption in the visible-light region of CdSe/CdS/TiO2 nanorod array indicates that CdSe/CdS layers can act as co-sensitizers in quantum dots sensitized solar cells （QDSSCs）. By optimizing the CdSe layer deposition cycles, a photocurrent of 5.78 mA/cm2, an open circuit photovoltage of 0.469 V and a conversion efficiency of 1.34 % were obtained under an illumination of 100 mw/cm2.

Simulation design of P–I–N-type all-perovskite solar cells with high efficiency

According to the good charge transporting property of perovskite, we design and simulate a p–i–n-type all-perovskite solar cell by using one-dimensional device simulator. The perovskite charge transporting layers and the perovskite absorber constitute the all-perovskite cell. By modulating the cell parameters, such as layer thickness values, doping concentrations and energy bands of n-, i-, and p-type perovskite layers, the all-perovskite solar cell obtains a high power conversion efficiency of 25.84%. The band matched cell shows appreciably improved performance with widen absorption spectrum and lowered recombination rate, so weobtain a high J_（sc） of 32.47 m A/cm^2. The small series resistance of the all-perovskite solar cell also benefits the high J_（sc）. The simulation provides a novel thought of designing perovskite solar cells with simple producing process, low production cost and high efficient structure to solve the energy problem.

TCP TRAFFIC PERFORMANCE IMPROVING IN LTE-A NETWORKS

This paper presents a novel way to improve Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) performance of the users at the edge areas of the macro cells in Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) systems. Previous works on improving wireless TCP performance are reviewed and current considerations on TCP in LTE-A are explained. However, those solutions are neither too complex nor limited to some presuppositions which are too restricting for the deployment of LTE-A networks. In this paper a substituted TCP acknowledgement transmission scheme based on Automatic Repeat reQuest (ARQ) information in layer 2 is proposed. The simulation result shows that the proposed method can reduce the delay and improve the throughput of the edging users of the cell, as well as reducing radio resources in LTE-A macro cells.

Cells grouping scheme against pilot contamination in large scale antennas system

The influence of cells groupings factor to the performance of the cells groupings time-shift pilot scheme is researched for the multiple cells large scale antennas systems（LSAS）. The former researches have confirmed that the cells groupings time-shift pilots scheme is effective to reduce inter-cell interference, especially pilot contamination, which results from the pilot reuse in adjacent cells. However, they have not specified reasonable cells groupings factor, which plays a critical role in the general performance of the LSAS. Therefore, this problem is researched in details. The time for reverse-link data transmission will be compressed, when the groupings factor surpasses a certain range. Thus it is not always beneficial to increase the cells groupings factor without limitation. Furthermore,a reasonable cells groupings factor is deduced from the perspective of optimization to enhance the system performance. Simulations verify the proposed cell grouping factor.

An introduction on the demonstration performance of fuel cell buses (FCB) in Beijing

Since the 1990’s, hydrogen has found broad use in the traffic segment. Compared with conventional ones, hydrogen fuelled vehicles, a new generation of clean vehicles, produce no pollutants, with higher energy efficiency. In today’s world where the pollution is tougher, the "Zero Pollution" fuel cell buses display

Studies of the intestinal absorption of the alkaloids in the Wu-tou decoction combined with different incompatible medicinal herbs in a Caco-2 cell culture system using UPLC-MS/MS

In this study, seven alkaloids were detected in Wu-tou decoction using ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry （UPLC-MSn）. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus, Fritillariae Thunbergii Bulbus, Pinelliae Rhizoma in different ratios with Wu-tou decoction （2：1, 1：1, 1：2） by measuring the therapeutic effects in Wu-tou decoction of main seven alkaloids including benzoylaconitine （BA）, benzoylmesaconitine （BM）, benzoylhypaconitine （BH）, hypaconitine （HA）, fuziline （FU）, niaolin （NE） and deoxyaconitine （DA）. The permeability of aconitum alkaloids extract through a Caco-2 cell monolayer was analyzed in the absence and presence of Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus, Fritillariae Thunbergii Bulbus, and Pinelliae Rhizoma, respectively. The results showed that Pinelliae Rhizoma could reduce the absorption of the alkaloids and increase the excretion of the alkaloids, which would attenuate the therapeutic effects of Wu-tou decoction. Therefore, Pinelliae Rhizoma is an incompatible herb of Wu-tou decoction because of the inhibition of the absorption of alkaloids in the intestine. And that Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus and Fritillariae rhunbergii Bulbus showed the effects to improve the permeability of the alkaloids in Wu-tou decoction. These effects of these two herbs were similar, but the former was stronger than the latter, which most likely is due to the fact that the compositions of these two traditional Chinese medicines are similar. The in vitro data suggests that the compounds such as fritillary presented in alkaloids in the formula maybe improve the therapeutic function caused by the increased bioavailability of alkaloids in intestine.

Novel organic dye sensitizers containing fluorenyl and biphenyl moieties for solar cells

Three novel triarylamine dyes（AFL1-AFL3） containing fluorenyl and the biphenyl moieties have been designed and synthesized for application in dye-sensitized solar cells.The light-harvesting capabilities and photovoltaic performance of these dyes were investigated systematically through comparison of different π-bridges.The dye with a furan linker exhibited a higher open-circuit voltage（VOC） and monochromatic incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency（IPCE） compared to thiophene and benzene linker.Thus,AFL3 containing a furan linker exhibited the maximum overall conversion efficiency of 5.81%（VOC = 760 mV,JSC = 11.36 mA cm^-2 and ff=0.68） under standard global AM 1.5 G solar condition.

Radiation effect on the optical and electrical properties of CdSe(In)/p-Si heteroj unction photovoltaic solar cells

The efficiency and radiation resistance of solar cells are graded.They are then fabricated in the form of n-CdeSe（In）/p-Si heterojunction cells by electron beam evaporation of a stoichiomteric mixture of CdSe and In to make a thin film on a p-Si single crystal wafer with a thickness of 100μm and a resistivity of～1.5Ω·cm at a temperature of 473 K.The short-circuit current density（jsc）,open-circuit voltage（Voc）,fill factor（ff） and conversion efficiency（η） under 100 mW/cm^2（AMI） intensity,are 20 mA/cm^2,0.49 V,0.71 and 6%respectively. The cells were exposed to different electron doses（electron beam accelerator of energy 1.5 MeV,and beam intensity 25 mA）.The cell performance parameters are measured and discussed before and after gamma and electron beam irradiation.

Micro PEM Fuel Cells and Stacks

1 Results The effects of different operating parameters on micro proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell performance were experimentally studied for three different flow field configurations (interdigitated,mesh,and serpentine).Experiments with different cell operating temperatures and different backpressures on the H2 flow channels,as well as various combinations of these parameters,have been conducted for three different flow geometries.The micro PEM fuel cells were designed and fabricated in-house t...

Highly active iridium catalyst for hydrogen production from formic acid

Formic acid（FA） dehydrogenation has attracted a lot of attentions since it is a convenient method for H_2 production. In this work, we designed a self-supporting fuel cell system, in which H_2 from FA is supplied into the fuel cell, and the exhaust heat from the fuel cell supported the FA dehydrogenation. In order to realize the system, we synthesized a highly active and selective homogeneous catalyst Ir Cp＊Cl_2 bpym for FA dehydrogenation. The turnover frequency（TOF） of the catalyst for FA dehydrogenation is as high as7150 h^（-1）at 50°C, and is up to 144,000 h^（-1）at 90°C. The catalyst also shows excellent catalytic stability for FA dehydrogenation after several cycles of test. The conversion ratio of FA can achieve 93.2%, and no carbon monoxide is detected in the evolved gas. Therefore, the evolved gas could be applied in the proton exchange membrane fuel cell（PEMFC） directly. This is a potential technology for hydrogen storage and generation. The power density of the PEMFC driven by the evolved gas could approximate to that using pure hydrogen.