Crucial role of charge transporting layers on ion migration in perovskite solar cells

The device preconditioning dependent hysteresis and the consequential performance degradation hinder the actual performance and stability of the perovskite solar cells. Ion migration and charge trapping in the perovskite with large contribution from grain boundaries are the most common interpretations for the hysteresis. Yet, the high performing devices often include intermediate hole and electron transporting layers, which can further complicate the dynamical process in the device. Here, by using Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy and Confocal Photoluminescence Microscopy, we elucidate the impact of chargetransporting layers and excess MAI on the spatial and temporal variations of the photovoltage on the MAPbI3-based solar cells. By studying the devices layer by layer, we found that the light-induced ion migration occurs predominantly in the presence of an imbalanced charge extraction in the solar cells, and the charge transporting layers play crucial role in suppressing it. Careful selection and processing of the electron and hole-transporting materials are thus essential for making perovskite solar cells free from the ion migration effect.

Discharge mode and particle transport in radio frequency capacitively coupled Ar/O_(2) plasma discharges

Simulations are conducted on capacitively coupled Ar/O_(2)mixed gas discharges employing a one-dimensional fluid coupled with an electron Monte Carlo(MC)model.The research explores the impact of different O_(2)ratio and pressures on the discharge characteristics of Ar/O_(2)plasma.At a fixed Ar/O_(2)gas ratio,with the increasing pressure,higher ion densities,as well as a slight increase in electron density in the bulk region can be observed.The discharge remains dominated by the drift-ambipolar(DA)mode,and the flux of O(3P)at the electrode increases with the increasing pressure due to higher background gas density,while the fluxes of O(1D)and Ardecrease due to the pronounced loss rate.With the increasing proportion of O_(2),a change in the dominant discharge mode from a mode to DA mode can be detected,and the O_(2)-associated charged particle densities are significantly increased.However,Ar+density shows a trend of increasing and then decreasing,while for neutral fluxes at the electrode,Arflux decreases,and O(3P)flux increases with the reduced Ar gas proportion,while trends in O(1D)flux show slight differences.The evolution of the densities of the charged particle and the neutral fluxes under different discharge parameters are discussed in detail using the ionization characteristics as well as the transport properties.Hopefully,more comprehensive understanding of Ar/O_(2)discharge characteristics in this work will provide a valuable reference for the industry.

Theoretical analyses on the one-dimensional charged particle transport in a decaying plasma under an electrostatic field

The spatiotemporal evolutions of a one-dimensional collisionless decaying plasma bounded by two electrodes with an externally applied electrostatic field are studied by theoretical analyses and particle-in-cell(PIC)simulations with the ion extraction process in a laser-induced plasma as the major research background.Based on the theoretical analyses,the transport process of the charged particles including electrons and ions can be divided into three stages:electron oscillation and ion matrix sheath extraction stage,sheath expansion and ion rarefaction wave propagation stage and the plasma collapse stage,and the corresponding criterion for each stage is also presented.Consequently,a complete analytical model is established for describing the ion extraction flux at each stage during the decaying of the laser-induced plasmas under an electrostatic field,which is also validated by the PIC modeling results.Based on this analytical model,influences of the key physical parameters,including the initial electron temperature and number density,plasma width and the externally applied electric voltage,on the ratio of the extracted ions are predicted.The calculated results show that a higher applied electric potential,smaller initial plasma number density and plasma width lead to a higher ratio of the extracted ions during the first stage;while in this stage,the initial electron temperature shows little effect on it.Meanwhile,more ions will be extracted before the plasma collapse once a higher electric potential is applied.The theoretical model presented in this paper is helpful not only for a deep understanding to the charged particle transport mechanisms for a bounded decaying plasma under an applied electrostatic field,but also for an optimization of the ion extraction process in practical applications.

TIBET'S LAST CARAVAN CHARGED WITH TRANSPORTING SALT(Ⅸ):Kelsang Wangdul Arrives at Lhasa

The road became worse by the south part of Namtso;streams of melting snow had eroded the road until it resembled a giant comb.The vehicle alternated between speeding along and a sudden brake that made everyone lurch about as though they were all intoxicated.

TIBET'S LAST CARAVAN CHARGED WITH TRANSPORTING SALT(Ⅶ):Barter Trade between Food Grains and Salt

By setting out for saline lakes in spring, Tibetan caravans on horseback return to farmlands in autumn to barter salt for agricultural products.

Efficient optimization of electron transfer pathway by constructing phosphide/ceria interface boosts seawater hydrogen production

Developing efficient and durable hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)electrocatalysts is one of the most important issues for the commercialization of seawater electrolysis,but it remains challenging.Here,we report a CeO_(2)-CoP nanoneedle array catalyst loaded on Ti mesh(CeO_(2)-CoP/TM)with workfunction-induced directional charge transport properties.The CeO_(2)-CoP/TM catalyst showed superior HER catalytic activity and stability,with over potentials of 41 and 60 mV to attain 10 mA cm^(-2),in 1 M KOH and 1 M KOH+seawater electrolyte,respectively.Experimental results and theoretical calculations reveal that the work function drives the charge transfer from CeO_(2)to CoP,which effectively balances the electronic density of CoP and CeO_(2),optimizes the d-band center,and accelerates the water activation kinetics,thus enhancing the HER activity.The solar-driven water electrolysis device displays a high and stable solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 19.6%.This study offers a work function-induced directional charge transport strategy to design efficient and durable catalysts for hydrogen production.

Enhanced energy density and fast-charging ability via directional particle configuration

The limited energy density of lithium-ion capacitors poses a significant obstacle to their widespread application,primarily stemming from the inability of the electrodes to simultaneously fulfill both high energy density and rapid charging requirements.Experimental data demonstrate that a directional particle configuration can enhance charging speed while maintaining high-capacity density,but it is rarely discussed.Here,we have developed a particle-level electrochemical model capable of reconstructing an electrode with a directional particle configuration.By employing this method,an investigation was conducted to explore how the spatial morphology characteristics of particle configuration impact the energy storage characteristics of electrodes.Results demonstrate that rational particle configuration can effectively enhance the transport of lithium ions and create additional space for lithium-ion storage.With the same particle size distribution,the best electrode can increase the discharge capacity by up to132.4% and increase the charging SOC by 11.3% compared to the ordinary electrode under the condition of 6 C.These findings provide a further understanding of the energy storage mechanism inside the anisotropic particle distribution electrode,which is important for developing high-performance lithium-ion capacitors.

Current advancements on charge selective contact interfacial layers and electrodes in flexible hybrid perovskite photovoltaics

Perovskite-based photovoltaic materials have been attracting attention for their strikingly improved performance at converting sunlight into electricity.The beneficial and unique optoelectronic characteristics of perovskite structures enable researchers to achieve an incredibly remarkable power conversion efficiency.Flexible hybrid perovskite photovoltaics promise emerging applications in a myriad of optoelectronic and wearable/portable device applications owing to their inherent intriguing physicochemical and photophysical properties which enabled researchers to take forward advanced research in this growing field.Flexible perovskite photovoltaics have attracted significant attention owing to their fascinating material properties with combined merits of high efficiency,light-weight,flexibility,semitransparency,compatibility towards roll-to-roll printing,and large-area mass-scale production.Flexible perovskite-based solar cells comprise of 4 key components that include a flexible substrate,semi-transparent bottom contact electrode,perovskite(light absorber layer)and charge transport(electron/hole)layers and top(usually metal)electrode.Among these components,interfacial layers and contact electrodes play a pivotal role in influencing the overall photovoltaic performance.In this comprehensive review article,we focus on the current developments and latest progress achieved in perovskite photovoltaics concerning the charge selective transport layers/electrodes toward the fabrication of highly stable,efficient flexible devices.As a concluding remark,we briefly summarize the highlights of the review article and make recommendations for future outlook and investigation with perspectives on the perovskite-based optoelectronic functional devices that can be potentially utilized in smart wearable and portable devices.

Unusual Charge Transport and Spin Response of Doped Bilayer Triangular Antiferromagnets

Within the t-J model, the charge transport and spin response of the doped bilayer triangular antiferromagnetare studied by considering the bilayer interaction. Although the bilayer interaction leads to the band splitting in theelectronic structure, the qualitative behaviors of the physical properties are the same as in the single layer case. Theconductivity spectrum shows the low-energy peak and unusual midinfrared band, the temperature-dependent resistivityis characterized by the nonlinearity metallic-like behavior in the higher temperature range and the deviation from themetallic-like behavior in the lower temperature range and the commensurate neutron scattering peak near the half-fillingis split into six incommensurate peaks in the underdoped regime, with the incommensurability increasing with the holeconcentration at lower dopings, and saturating at higher dopings.

Charge Transport Properties of Tetrabenz[a,c,h,j]-anthracene Derivatives

Charge transport properties of F, OH, OCH3, SH and SCH3-substituted tetra- benz[a,c,h,j]- anthracene derivative molecules have been investigated theoretically at the B3LYP/6-31G＊＊ level using Marcus theory. The results showed that at 300 K, the hole or electron transport capability of F or SH-substituted molecules was better obviously than that of OH or OCH3-substituted molecules, The electron transport capability of SCH3-substituted and F or SH-substituted molecules was superior to their hole transport capability, respectively. F, SH or SCH3-substituted tetrabenz[a,c,h,j]-anthracene derivative molecules can be used as electron transport materials.

Indications of c-axis Charge Transport in Hole Doped Triangular Antiferromagnets

The c-axis charge transport of the hole doped triangular antiferromagnet is investigated within the t-J model by considering the incoherent interlayer hopping. It is shown that the c-axis charge transport of the hole doped triangular antiferromagnet is essentially determined by the scattering from the in-plane fluctuation. The c-axis conductivity spectrum shows a low-energy peak and the unusual high-energy broad band, while the c-axis resistivity is characterized by a crossover from the high temperature metallic-like behavior to the low temperature insulating-like behavior, which is qualitatively consistent with those of the hole doped square lattice antiferromagnet.

Tuning crystal orientation and charge transport of quasi-2D perovskites via halogen-substituted benzylammonium for efficient solar cells

Quasi-two-dimensional(quasi-2D)perovskites with high stability usually suffers from poor device efficiency.Chemical tuning of the spacer cations has been an effective strategy to achieve efficient and stable quasi-2D perovskite solar cells.Here,we demonstrate that 3-halogon-substituted benzylammonium iodide(3X-BAI,X=F,Cl,Br,I)can significantly affect the orientation of low-dimensional perovskites and charge transport from perovskite to hole extraction layer,as well as device performance.With 3Br-BAI,we achieve the highest device efficiency of 13.21%for quasi-2D perovskites with a nominal n=3 average composition.Our work provides a facile approach to regulate vertical crystal orientation and charge transport via tuning the molecular structure of organic spacer toward high performance quasi-2D perovskite solar cells.

Quantum dynamics of charge transfer on the one-dimensional lattice:Wave packet spreading and recurrence

The wave function temporal evolution on the one-dimensional （ID） lattice is considered in the tight-binding approxi- mation. The lattice consists of N equal sites and one impurity site （donor）. The donor differs from other lattice sites by the on-site electron energy E and the intersite coupling C. The moving wave packet is formed from the wave function initially localized on the donor. The exact solution for the wave packet velocity and the shape is derived at different values E and C. The velocity has the maximal possible group velocity v = 2. The wave packet width grows with time -t1/3 and its amplitude decreases ,- t-1/3. The wave packet reflects multiply from the lattice ends. Analytical expressions for the wave packet front propagation and recurrence are in good agreement with numeric simulations.

Progress in hole-transporting materials for perovskite solar cells

In recent years the photovoltaic community has witnessed the unprecedented development of perovskite solar cells（PSCs） as they have taken the lead in emergent photovoltaic technologies. The power conversion efficiency of this new class of solar cells has been increased to a point where they are beginning to compete with more established technologies. Although PSCs have evolved a variety of structures, the use of hole-transporting materials（HTMs） remains indispensable. Here, an overview of the various types of available HTMs is presented. This includes organic and inorganic HTMs and is presented alongside recent progress in associated aspects of PSCs, including device architectures and fabrication techniques to produce high-quality perovskite films. The structure, electrochemistry, and physical properties of a variety of HTMs are discussed, highlighting considerations for those designing new HTMs. Finally, an outlook is presented to provide more concrete direction for the development and optimization of HTMs for highefficiency PSCs.

Theoretical Investigation on the Charge Transport Properties of 2,5-Di(cyanovinyl)-thiophene/furan with the Kinetic Monte Carlo Method

Exploring, designing, and synthesizing novel organic field-effect transistor （OFET） materials have kept an important and hot issue in organic electronics. In the current work, the charge transport properties for 2,5-di（cyanovinyl）thiophene/furan crystal associating two pentafluorophenyl units linked via the azomethine bond, CTE and CFE have been theoretically investigated by means of density functional theory （DFT） calculations coupled with the incoherent charge-hopping mechanism and the kinetic Monte Carlo simulation. Results show that these two compounds possess remarkably low-lying HOMO （-7.0 eV） and LUMO （-4.0 eV） levels, as well as large electron affinities （〉 3.0 eV）, which indicate their high stability exposed to air as promising OFET materials. However, the ph value at room temperature （T = 300 K） is predicted to be 2.058x10^7 cm26Vl·s-1, and the is as low as 9.834^10-8 cm2-V-l.s-1 for CFT crystal. Meanwhile, these two values are 7.561 x 10-8 and 8.437 x 10-8 cm2.V-I.s-1 for the CFE crystal, respectively. Furthermore, the simulation of angle-dependent mobility in the a-b, a-c, and b-c crystal planes shows that the charge transport in CTE and CFE crystals is remarkably anisotropic, which maybe is helpful for the fabrication of high-performance OFET devices.

Charge Transport in Bifidobacterium animalis subsp.lactis BB-12 under Various Atmospheres

The influence of relative humidity (RH) on quasistatic current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12 thin layers was studied for the first time. The value of electrical conductivity in 75% RH was found to be in the order of 10-7 (ohm·cm)-1, which was 106 orders of magnitude higher than that observed in dry atmosphere. It was concluded that RH played a key role in hysteresis behavior of the measured (I-V) characteristics. FTIR measurements showed that under water moisture environment, the associated bonds between amine and carboxyl group were greatly strengthened that was the source of free charge carries after ionization. The surface charge of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12 was found to be negative by zeta potential measurements, claiming that electrons were the charge carriers.

Influence of shape effect on dynamic surface charge transport mechanism of cellular electret after corona discharge

Surface charge accumulation and transport on cellular polypropylene play an important role in nanogenerators,which could have a potential impact on energy harvesting and wearable devices for zero carbon energy systems and the internet of things.Different shapes have different charge accumulation and decay characteristics of the polymer.Therefore,we studied the influence of the sample’s shape on the surface charge decay by experiment and modeling.The surface potential of square and circular cellular polypropylene was measured by a two-dimensional surface potential measurement system with electrostatic capacitive probe.The experimental result shows that the surface potential distribution of the square sample dissipates non-uniformly from the bell shape to a one-sided collapsed shape,while that of the circular sample dissipates uniformly from the bell shape to the crater-like shape.Moreover,the simulated results of the initial surface potential distributions of the square and circular cellular polypropylene are consistent with the experimental results.The investigation demonstrates that the charge transport process is correlated with the shape of the sample,which provides significant reference for designing electret material used for highly efficient nanogenerators.

Influence of charge transport layer on the crystallinity and charge extraction of pure tin-based halide perovskite film

As one of the most compelling photovoltaic devices, halide perovskite (PVK) solar cells have achieved a new surprising record power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 25.8%in 2021 [1]. This demonstrates the great potential of halide PVK solar cells as a highly competitive substitute to replace silicon-based solar cells in the photovoltaic market [2–6].

Coherent charge transport in ferromagnet/semiconductor nanowire/ferromagnet double barrier junctions with the interplay of Rashba spin-orbit coupling, induced superconducting pair potential,and external magnetic field

By solving the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation, the influence of the interplay of Rashba spin-orbit coupling, induced superconducting pair potential, and external magnetic field on the spin-polarized coherent charge transport in ferromagnet/semiconductor nanowire/ferromagnet double barrier junctions is investigated based on the Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk theory. The coherence effect is characterized by the strong oscillations of the charge conductance as a function of the bias voltage or the thickness of the semiconductor nanowire, resulting from the quantum interference of incoming and outgoing quasiparticles in the nanowire. Such oscillations can be effectively modulated by varying the strength of the Rashba spin-orbit coupling, the thickness of the nanowire, or the strength of the external magnetic field. It is also shown that two different types of zero-bias conductance peaks may occur under some particular conditions, which have some different characteristics and may be due to different mechanisms.

Charge Transport Processes of Immobilized Heteropolyanions at Self-assembled Monolayer Modified Gold Electrode by Electrochemical Quartz Crystal Microbalance Measurement

The in situ electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance（EQCM） technique was used to investigate the ion transport of immobilized heteropolyanions at a self-assembled monolayer（SAM） modified gold electrode during electrochemical redox process.A mixed transfer method was presented to analyse the abnormal change of resonant frequency based on the simultaneous insertion/extraction of different ions.The results indicate that the migration of HSO4-anions was indispensable in the redox process of the heteropolyanions in a 1 mol/L H2SO4 solution and played a key role in the abnormal change of the resonant frequency.Such a change was attributed to different packing densities derived by means of differently immobilized methods.