Layered-stacking of titania films for solar energy conversion:Toward tailored optical,electronic and photovoltaic performance

Nanostructured TiO2 with differentiate morphologies has attracted tremendous attention due to its wide band-gap nature as well as outstanding optical and electric properties for solar-driven light-toelectricity conversion application. Layered-stacking TiO2 film such as double-layer, tri-layer, quadrupleor quintuplicate-layer, is highly desirable to the design of high-performance semiconductor material photoanodes and the development of advanced photovoltaic devices. In this minireview, we will summarize the recent progress and achievements on proof-of-concept of layered-stacking TiO2 films（LTFs） for solar cells with emphasis on the tailored properties and synergistic functionalization of LTFs, such as optimized sensitizer adsorption, broadened light confinement as well as facilitated electron transport characteristics.Various demonstrations of LTFs photovoltaic systems provide lots of possibilities and flexibilities for more efficient solar energy utilization that a wide variety of TiO2 with distinguished morphologies can be integrated into differently structured photoanodes with synergistic and complementary advantages. This key structure engineering technology will also pave the way for the development of next generation state-ofthe-art electronics and optoelectronics. Finally, from our point of view, we conclude the future research interest and efforts for constructing more efficient LTFs as photoelectrode, which will be highly warranted to advance the solar energy conversion process.

Titanylphthalocyanine as hole transporting material for perovskite solar cells

Titanylphthalocyanine （TiOPc） as hole transporting material （HTM） was successfully synthesized by a simple process with low cost. Perovskite solar cells using the TiOPc as HTM were fabricated and characterized. TiOPc as HTM plays an important role in increasing the power conversion efficiency （PCE） by minimizing recombi- nation losses at the perovskite/Au interface because TiOPc as HTM can extract photogenerated holes from the perovskite and then transport quickly these charges to the back metal electrode. In the research, the β-TiOPc gives a higher PCE than α-TiOPc for the devices due to sufficient transfer dynamics, The β-TiOPc was applied in perovskite solar cells without clopping to afford an impressive PCE of 5.05% under AM 1.5G illumination at the thickness of 40 nm which is competitive with spiro-OMeTAD at the same condition. The present work suggests a guideline for optimizing the photovoltaic properties ofperovskite solar cells using the TiOPc as the HTM.

A Different Approach to High-Tc Superconductivity: Indication of Filamentary-Chaotic Conductance and Possible Routes to Room Temperature Superconductivity

The empirical relation of between the transition temperature of optimum doped superconductors Tco and the mean cationic charge , a physical paradox, can be recast to strongly support fractal theories of high-Tc superconductors, thereby applying the finding that the optimum hole concentration of σo = 0.229 can be linked with the universal fractal constant δ1 = 8.72109… of the renormalized quadratic Hénon map. The transition temperature obviously increases steeply with a domain structure of ever narrower size, characterized by Fibonacci numbers. However, also conventional BCS superconductors can be scaled with δ1, exemplified through the energy gap relation kBTc ≈ 5Δ0/δ1, suggesting a revision of the entire theory of superconductivity. A low mean cationic charge allows the development of a frustrated nano-sized fractal structure of possibly ferroelastic nature delivering nano-channels for very fast charge transport, in common for both high-Tc superconductor and organic-inorganic halide perovskite solar materials. With this backing superconductivity above room temperature can be conceived for synthetic sandwich structures of less than 2+. For instance, composites of tenorite and cuprite respectively tenorite and CuI (CuBr, CuCl) onto AuCu alloys are proposed. This specification is suggested by previously described filamentary superconductivity of “bulk” CuO1﹣x samples. In addition, cesium substitution in the Tl-1223 compound is an option.

D-A structural protean small molecule donor materials for solution-processed organic solar cells

Under the synergistic effect of molecular design and devices engineering, small molecular organic solar cells have presented an unstoppable tendency for rapid development with putting forward donor- acceptor （D-A） structures. Up to now, the highest power conversion efficiency of small molecules has exceeded 11%, comparable to that of polymers. In this review, we summarize the high performance small molecule donors in various classes of typical donor-acceptor （D-A） structures and discuss their relationships briefly.

Inverted polymer solar cells with Zn_2SnO_4 nanoparticles as the electron extraction layer

In this study, we report narrow-size distribution Zn_2SnO_4（ZSO） nanoparticles, which are produced by low-temperature solution-processed used as the electron extraction layer（EEL） in the inverted polymer solar cells（i-PSCs）. Moreover, poly[（9,9-bis（30-（N,N-dimethylamino）propyl）-2,7-fluorene）-alt-2,7-（9,9-dioctylfluorene）]（PFN） is used to modify the surface properties of ZSO thin film. By using the ZSO NPs/PFN as the EEL, the i-PSCs fabricated by poly[4,8-bis（2-ethylhexyloxyl）benzo[1,2-b：4,5-b0] dithio-phene-2,6-diyl-altethylhexyl-3-fluorothithieno [3,4-b]thiophene-2-carboxylate-4,6-diyl]（PTB7） blended with（6,6）-phenyl-C_（71）-butyric acid methylester（PC_（71）BM） bulk heterojunction（BHJ） composite, exhibits a power conversion efficiency（PCE） of 8.44%, which is nearly 10% enhancement as compared with that of7.75% observed from the i-PSCs by PTB7：PC_（71）BM BHJ composite using the ZnO/PFN EEL. The enhanced PCE is originated from improved interfacial contact between the EEL with BHJ active layer and good energy level alignment between BHJ active layer and the EEL. Our results indicate that we provide a simple way to boost efficiency of i-PSCs.

Organic functional materials based buffer layers for efficient perovskite solar cells

In this review, we highlight the recent development of organic π-functional materials as buffer layers in constructing efficient perovskite solar cells（PVSCs）. By following a brief introduction on the PVSC development, device architecture and material design features, we exemplified the exciting progresses made in field by exploiting organic π-functional materials based hole and electron transport layers（HTLs and ETLs） to enable high-performance PVSCs.

Facile and robust strategy to antireflective photo-curing coating through self-wrinkling

We reported a facile and bio-inspired strategy for obtaining antireflective （AR） coating through polymerization-induced self-wrinkling. Upon irradiation of light, the complex wrinkle micro-patterns with different morphologies were generated spontaneously on the surface of coating during photo-cross- linking, which enables the photo-curing coating can decrease reflection. The resulting photo-curing coating exhibits a high transmittance over 90% and low reflection below 5% ～ 8%, with an efficiency anti- reflection of 4% ～ 7%; compared to the flat blank coating. The successful application of these AR coatings with wrinkles pattern to encapsulate the thin film solar cells results in appreciable photovoltaic performance improvement of more than 4% ～ 8%, which benefits from the decrease of the light reflection and increase of optical paths in the photoactive layer by the introduction of wrinkling pattern. Furthermore, the efficiency improvements of the solar cells are more obvious, with a remarkable increase of 8.5%, at oblique light incident angle than that with vertical light incident angle