An Unprecedented Efficiency with Approaching 21%Enabled by Additive‑Assisted Layer‑by‑Layer Processing in Organic Solar Cells

Recently published in Joule,Feng Liu and colleagues from Shanghai Jiaotong University reported a record-breaking 20.8%power conversion efficiency in organic solar cells(OSCs)with an interpenetrating fibril network active layer morphology,featuring a bulk p-in structure and proper vertical segregation achieved through additive-assisted layer-by-layer deposition.This optimized hierarchical gradient fibrillar morphology and optical management synergistically facilitates exciton diffusion,reduces recombination losses,and enhances light capture capability.This approach not only offers a solution to achieving high-efficiency devices but also demonstrates the potential for commercial applications of OSCs.

Investigation on Structural, Optical and Thermal Properties of Diphenyl Urea—An Organic Non-Linear Optical Crystal

Organic non-linear optical crystal diphenyl urea with molecular formula C13H12N2O was synthesized and grown successfully by slow evaporation solution growth technique. The single crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirms that it crystallizes in orthorhombic crystal system with non-centrosymmetric space group Pna21. The various functional groups were identified qualitatively by Fourier transform-infra red (FT-IR) and FT-Raman techniques. The electron absorption spectrum was studied by UV-Vis spectrophotometer. Thermal behavior of the crystal was evidenced by thermogravimetric (TG) and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) analyses. From DSC the melt ing point of the crystal is found to be 145°C. The existence of second harmonic generation (SHG) signal was evidenced using Kurtz Perry powder test and the efficiency of the crystal was found to be 0.64 times that of the standard KDP crystal.

Cyclodextrin Polymer Films Optical Waveguide Sensor for Volatile Organic Gas Detection

A sensitive optical waveguide（OWG） sensor which can be used to detect volatile organic compounds（VOCs） was presented.The sensing device（element） was fabricated by means of the immobilization of polyvinyl pyrrolidone（PVP）-cyclodextrin（CD） composite film over a single-mode potassium ion exchanged glass OWG via spin-coating method.The sensor shows higher response to styrene gas than to other VOCs and displays a linear response to styrene gas in a range of 1―1000 μL/L.

The impact of typhoons on the biogeochemistry of dissolved organic matter in eutrophic bays in northwestern South China Sea

Highly productive estuaries facilitate intense decomposition of dissolved organic matter(DOM) as a carbon source.However,the specific impacts of typhoons on DOM decomposition in eutrophic bays remain unclear.To address this issue,we investigated the spectral characteristics of DOM before and after Typhoon Ewiniar in Zhanjiang B ay,a eutrophic semi-enclosed bay in the northwestern South China Sea.The results revealed that intense microbial decomposition of DOM occurred during the pre-typhoon period because high nutrient inputs facilitated the mobilization of DOM in the bay.However,the intrusion of external seawater induced by the typhoon diluted the nutrient levels in Zhanjiang B ay,reducing the impact of microbial decomposition on DOM during the post-typhoon perio d.Nevertheless,the net addition of DOM occurred in Zhanjiang Bay during the post-typhoon period,possibly because of the decomposition of particulate organic matter(POM) and desorption of particulate matter.In addition,an increase in apparent oxygen utilization,a decrease in DO saturation and the reduced level of Chl a indicated that organic matter(OM) decomposition was enhanced and OM decomposition shifted to POM decomposition in Zhanjiang Bay after the typhoon.Overall,our study highlighted the shift in the intense OM decomposition from DOM to POM decomposition before and after typhoons in eutrophic bays,providing new insights into the response of typhoons to biogeo chemistry.

Synthesis, Growth and Characterization of Organic Nonlinear Optical Single Crystals of 4-Bromo-4’-Methyl Benzylidene Aniline

Organic nonlinear optical material of 4-bromo-4’-methyl benzylidene aniline (BMBA) was synthesized and single crystal of BMBA was grown by solvent evaporation method at room temperature using ethanol as solvent. The crystalline nature of the grown crystals was confirmed using powder X-ray diffraction studies. The crystals were also characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction method and their lattice parameters were determined. Thermal properties of BMBA were evaluated with thermogravimetric, differential thermal and differential scanning calorimetric analyses. Fourier transform infrared and FT-Raman spectral studies were carried out on the BMBA material to confirm the synthesized compound. 1H and 13C-nuclear magnetic resonance spectral studies were recorded to elucidate the structure of the grown crystals. Fluorescence spectrum recorded shows a peak at 485 nm. UV-Vis-NIR spectral analysis shows transmittance of ~92% in the visible region. The mechanical stability was analyzed by Vickers microhardness tester and the work hardening coefficient of the grown crystal was calculated. Second harmonic generation efficiency of the grown crystal measured by Kurtz powder technique is ~1.8 times that of potassium dihydrogen orthophosphate.

Influence of optical interference and carrier lifetime on the short circuit current density of organic bulk heterojunction solar cells

Based on simple analytical equations, short circuit current density （Jsc） of the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells has been calculated. It is found that the optical interference effect plays a very important role in the determination of Jsc; and obvious oscillatory behaviour of Jsc was observed as a function of thickness. At the same time, the influence of the carrier lifetime on Jsc also cannot be neglected. When the carrier lifetime is relatively short, Jsc only increases at the initial stage and then decreases rapidly with the increase of active layer thickness. However, for a relatively long carrier lifetime, the exciton dissociation probability must be considered, and Jsc behaves wave-like with the increase of active layer thickness. The validity of this model is confirmed by the experimental results.

Impacts of Water-Sediment Regulation Scheme on Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter in the Lower Yellow River

As a river with more than 3000 reservoirs in its watershed,the Yellow River has been affected by dams not only on the sediment load,but also on the water quality.Water-sediment regulation scheme(WSRS),which has been carried out annually in the Yellow River since 2002,is a typical human activity affecting river water quality.Chromophoric dissolved organic matter(CDOM)in river is susceptible to changes in ecological and environmental conditions as well as human activities.Here,we report variations in dissolved organic carbon concentrations,compositions and sources of CDOM in time series samples in the lower Yellow River during WSRS.In addition,a parallel factor fluorescence analysis(PARAFAC)method is applied to identify different fluorescent components in water samples during WRSR,showing four major components including tryptophan-like component(C1),microbial humic-like component(C2),terrestrial humic-like component(C3)and tyrosine-like component(C4).In general,C1 increased after water regulation,while C2 and C3 increased after sediment regulation,indicating that the water and sediment released by the dam have different effects on CDOM compositions.Under the impacts of the dam,source of CDOM in the lower Yellow River is mainly autochthonous related to microbial activities,and is regulated by the terrestrial input during WSRS period.Sediment resuspension inhibits microbial activities and reduces the production of autochthonous CDOM.Overall,human activities especially WSRS,as exemplified here,significantly alter the quality and quantity of CDOM in the lower Yellow River,affecting CDOM dynamics and biogeochemical processes in the estuarine environment.

Determining the environmental and atmospheric effects of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)quarantining by studying the total aerosol optical depth,black carbon,organic matter,and sulfate in Blida City of Algeria

Background:To study,estimate and discuss the variations of the aerosol optical depth(AOD),black carbon,sulfate and organic matter,in the atmosphere in Blida City of Algeria,which was greatly affected by COVID-19 pandemic.Methods:We analyzed the effects of changes in the total AOD,black carbon,sulfate,and organic matter in the atmosphere(λ=550 nm)in the same period of 2019 and 2020,following the COVID-19 epidemic in Blida City,which was the most-affected city in Algeria.Results:The quarantine that was enacted to limit the spread of COVID-19 resulted in side effects that were identifiable in the total AOD and in some of its atmospheric components.Comparing these variables in 2019 and 2020(in the months during the quarantine)revealed that in April,the BCAOD values were much lower in 2020than in 2019.Conclusion:Based on the effects of the emerging COVID-19,the research listed the changes received from the AOD,and is considered as a comparative study and represents a significant side effect of the quarantine that was mainly designed to limit COVID-19.

Preparation of Organic Nanoparticle Colloids by Laser Ablation and Their Nonlinear Optical Properties

Suspension of micrometer-sized 1,4-bis（4-methylstyryl）benzene（p-MSB） was converted into colloidal nanocrystal solution by irradiation with an femtosecond laser（800 nm, 1 kHz）. The prepared nanocrystals were rectangular with ca. 100 nm in size. The same crystal structure as that of bulk crystals was confirmed by X-ray diffraction measurement. UV-Vis spectra and emission spectra of the nanoparticle dispersions in dichloromethane（poor solvent） were examined. The nanocrystal exhibits large quantum yield（89%）. The nonlinear optical properties of the nanocrystals were further studied by Z-scan technique with femtosecond laser duration of 120 fs at a wavelength of 800 nm. The results show that the nanocrystals exhibit strong nonlinear absorption.

New method for fast morphological characterization of organic polycrystalline films by polarized optical microscopy

A new method to visualize the large-scale crystal grain morphology of organic polycrystalline films is proposed. First,optical anisotropic transmittance images of polycrystalline zinc phthalocyanine（Zn Pc） films vacuum deposited by weak epitaxial growth（WEG） method were acquired with polarized optical microscopy（POM）. Then morphology properties including crystal grain size, distribution, relative orientation, and crystallinity were derived from these images by fitting with a transition dipole model. At last, atomic force microscopy（AFM） imaging was carried out to confirm the fitting and serve as absolute references. This method can be readily generalized to other organic polycrystalline films, thus providing an efficient way to access the large-scale morphologic properties of organic polycrystalline films, which may prove to be useful in industry as a film quality monitoring method.

Studies on the growth aspects of organic L-alanine maleate: a promising nonlinear optical crystal

A organic nonlinear optical material, L-alanine maleate (LALM) was synthesized. Bulk Single crystals of LALM have been grown by slow cooling method with a solution pH of 5. The solubility of L-alanine maleate has been deter-mined for various temperatures. Large size sin-gle crystal of 2.0 x 1.2 x 0.8 cm3 has been grown with reasonable growth rate along the three crystallographic directions by optimizing the growth parameters. The structure of LALM crys- tal was studied by single-crystal X-ray diffrac-tion analysis. The presence of functional groups was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The LALM crystal was analysed for its thermal and mechanical behaviours. The grown crystals have also been subjected to linear and non-linear optical property studies. From these studies, it is inferred that the LALM crystals exhibit better thermal and mechanical stabilities with improved optical properties. Thus satisfies the essential requirements for optical device fabrication.

Crystal Growth, Thermal, Mechanical and Optical Properties of a New Organic Nonlinear Optical Material: Ethyl P-Dimethylamino Benzoate (EDMAB)

An organic material, namely, ethyl p-dimethylamino benzoate was crystallized for the first time by solution growth technique using pure and mixed solvents. Growth kinetics and morphology changes with solvents were investigated based on solute –solvent interactions of pure and mixed solvents. An appropriate mixed solvent for high quality crystals with well-defined morphology is reported. The absence of solvent molecules and the presence of various functional groups of the grown sample were qualitatively confirmed by FTIR spectroscopic studies. Thermal properties of the grown sample were analyzed by TG and DTA analysis. Mechanical properties of the EDMAB crystal were investigated by micro hardness studies. Moreover, the grown crystal shows high transparency in the visible and near IR regions. The material shows relatively high SHG efficiency than that of KDP.

ORGANIC NONLINEAR OPTICAL CRYSTAL:N-(4-NITROPHENYL)-(s)-(+)-2-PYRROLIDINEMETHYLENE TOSYLATE(NPP-OTs)

Large crystal NPP-OTs has been obtained by growth from solution,its powder SHG efficiency is 1/3 of urea.It shows it is a new convenient approach to obtain organic second-order NLO crystal:the dipole-dipole interaction is oppos- ed by introducing a large side group.

NEW ORGANIC NONLINEAR OPTICAL MATERIALS OF CINNAMYLIDENE-ACETOPHENONE DERIVATIVES

we have synthesised a series of new optically nonlinear organic materials of cinnamylidene-acetophenone derivatives which have large nonl inear optical susceptibilities and short cut-off wavelengths.

Effect of Optical Microcavity on Absorption Behavior of Homo-Tandem Organic Solar Cells

The optical microcavity effect of the homo-tandem solar cells is explored utilizing the transfer matrix method. Ultrathin silver can reduce the deadzone effect compared with graphene and PH1000, and leads to a factor of 1.07 enhancement for an electrical field in a metal microcavity. The enhancement is considered to be the fact that strong exciton-photon coupling occurs in the microcavity due to ultrathin Ag. On the basis of the optical enhancement effect, optical behaviors are manipulated by varying the microcavity length. It is confirmed that ultrathin silver can serve as an ideal interconnection layer as the active layer is ～ 150nm thick and the thickness ratio between front and rear active layers lies between 1：1 and 1：2.

An 8-Connected Chiral Lanthanide Metal-organic Framework Constructed from Naturally Camphoric Acid:Crystal Structure,Vibrational Circular Dichroism Spectroscopy and Second-order Nonlinear Optical Effect

A chiral lanthanide metal-organic framework based on enantiopure camphoric acid （D-H2cam）, [Nd3（D-cam）8（H2O）4Cl]n （1）, has been synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray structural analysis, elemental analysis, IR, thermal gravimetric, and X-ray powder diffraction. Crystal data for the title compound are as follows： orthorhombic system, space group P212121 with a = 13.8287（7）, b = 14.0715（7）, c = 25.7403（12） A^°, V = 5008.8（4） A^°3, Mr = 1333.08, Z = 4, F（000） = 2644, Dc = 1.768 g/cm^3, μ（MoKα） = 3.189 mm^-1, the final R = 0.0351 and wR = 0.0814 （I 〉 2σ（I））. Compound 1 displays an 8-connected bcu topology 3D framework and hydrogen-bonding interactions stabilize the solid-state structure. The vibrational circular dichroism （VCD） spectrum and second-order nonlinear optical effect of compound 1 have been studied in the solid state.

Optical, Photoelectrochemical, and Electrochemical Impedance Studies on Photoactive Organic/Inorganic/Interface Assemblies of Poly 2,2 Bithiophene/Poly 3-(2-Thienyl) Aniline (PThA)/TiO₂

Particles of TiO2 modified with poly 3-(2-thienyl) aniline (PThA) and occluded in poly 2,2 bithiophene (PBTh), were subjected to optical, electrochemical impedance spectroscopic (EIS) and photoelectrochemical (PEC) investigation in aqueous, acetate, citrate, and phosphate electrolytes. EIS studies revealed that the assembly film of TiO2/PThA/PBTh possess porous-type structure. They also confirmed the approximate value of Ef obtained from electrochemical studies. Both EIS and optical studies indicated that ac conductivity is much greater than dc conductivity. Guided by the properties of PBTh, no large changes in the energy band structure occurred due to occlusion of TiO2 in PBTh films. Occlusion of TiO2/PThA into the network structure of PBTh inhibits the energy dissipation process and impeded charge polarization process of the material. Photoelectrochemical outcome suggested possible band alignments between the organic film and TiO2 and formation of hybrid sub-bands. Inclusion of TiO2 in the thiophene-based polymers enhanced the charge separation and consequently charge transfer processes and widen the absorption in visible light range.

SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF NOVEL SOL-GEL DOPED ORGANIC/INORGANIC HYBRID NONLINEAR OPTICAL MATERIALS

hydroxy-4-nitro azobenzene (NHA) and 4-amino-4-nitro azobenzene (DO3) were prepared respectively from p-nitrophenylamine as a precursor compound. Two kinds of doped organic/inorganic hybrid nonlinear optical (NLO) materials containing NHA and DO3 were synthesized by Sol-Gel process. The preparation and properties of two NLO materials were studied and characterized by FTIR, 1H-NMR, UV-VIS, SEM, DSC and SHG measurements. The results show that the maximum doping amounts of NHA and DO3 in two doped hybrid NLO materials are 7.2(wt)% and 11.3(wt)% respectively, and the corresponding second-order NLO coefficients (d33 values) are 2.91×10 8esu and 6.14×10 8esu. Two doped NLO materials have relatively good RT stability, after 90 days at RT the d33 values can maintain about 85% of their initial values, but after 10h at 100℃ can only maintain about 50% of their initial values. In this report, the reasons for high-temperature instability of doped materials were discussed, and the possible improvements were also suggested.

Reduction of the Optical Loss in the Multi-Cathode Structure Organic Light Emitting Device Using a Long Range Surface Plasmon

Light extraction efficiency of organic light-emitting devices has improved by using a nano-sized multi-cathode structure consisting of semi-transparent metal and an optical compensation layer. From the detail optical calculation based on the multi-scale analysis including near-field optics, it was found that surface plasmon loss in the metal cathode is suppressed to less than 10% due to long range and short range surface plasmon coupling between both sides of metal cathode. Not less than 90% of optical power in the dipole emission can be successfully utilized as propagation light. Light extraction efficiency in a phosphorescent device has improved about twice by using the multi-cathode structure.

MOLECULAR DESIGN STUDY ON THE NEW ORGANIC NONLINEAR OPTICAL MATERIALS

In this paper,the second-order nolinear-optical coefficients of a series of conjugated substituted polyenes have been colculated by the semi-empirical CNDO/S-CI method.we have studied in deiail the influence on the number of substituents,the location of the substituents and the conjugation length in motecules to the NLO coefficient Bvace The results showed that the introduetion of the electroinc donor and acceptor groups and the increase in the distance between the substituents and the conjugated length may lead to enhanced NLO responses.It is also shown that the caiculoted In Bvec is linear with the number of double bonds in planar and linear tians substituted polyenes.A saturation effect in substitution is also presented.Based on these discussion one can provide the theorilical guidelines for designing and synthesizing of molecules with larger NLO coefficients.