Printed hole-conductor-free mesoscopic perovskite solar cells with excellent long-term stability using PEAI as an additive

Phenethylamine（PEA） was successfully introduced into hole-conductor-free, fully printable mesoscopic MAPbI3 perovskite solar cells（MPSCs） with a carbon electrode by mixing phenethylammonium iodide with MAPbI3 perovskite solution. PEA-MAPbI3 films show better pore filling into TiO2 scaffold that forms better contact, and induce longer exciton lifetime and higher quantum efficiency of photoinduced charge separation. As a result, the power conversion efficiency of PEA-MAPbI3 MPSCs is 37% higher than that of MAPbI3 MPSCs. And PEA-MAPbI3 MPSCs show excellent long-term stability that could keep 90% of origin power conversion efficiency for over 80 days in the air.

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.

High-Performance Perovskite Quantum Dot Solar Cells Enabled by Incorporation with Dimensionally Engineered Organic Semiconductor

Perovskite quantum dots(PQDs)have been considered promising and effective photovoltaic absorber due to their superior optoelectronic properties and inherent material merits combining perovskites and QDs.However,they exhibit low moisture stability at room humidity(20-30%)owing to many surface defect sites generated by inefficient ligand exchange process.These surface traps must be re-passivated to improve both charge transport ability and moisture stability.To address this issue,PQD-organic semiconductor hybrid solar cells with suitable electrical properties and functional groups might dramatically improve the charge extraction and defect passivation.Conventional organic semiconductors are typically low-dimensional(1D and 2D)and prone to excessive self-aggregation,which limits chemical interaction with PQDs.In this work,we designed a new 3D star-shaped semiconducting material(Star-TrCN)to enhance the compatibility with PQDs.The robust bonding with Star-TrCN and PQDs is demonstrated by theoretical modeling and experimental validation.The Star-TrCN-PQD hybrid films show improved cubic-phase stability of CsPbI_(3)-PQDs via reduced surface trap states and suppressed moisture penetration.As a result,the resultant devices not only achieve remarkable device stability over 1000 h at 20-30%relative humidity,but also boost power conversion efficiency up to 16.0%via forming a cascade energy band structure.

Morphological stability analysis of vesicles with mechanical-electrical coupling effects

Using a recently established liquid crystal model for vesicles, we present a theoretical method to analyze the morphological stability of liquid crystal vesicles in an electric field. The coupled mechanical-electrical effects associated with elastic bending, osmotic pressure, surface tension, Max- well pressure, as well as flexoelectric and dielectric proper- ties of the membrane are taken into account. The first and second variations of the free energy are derived in a com- pact form by virtue of the surface variational principle. The former leads to the shape equation of a vesicle embedded in an electric field, and the latter allows us to examine the stabil- ity of a given vesicle morphology. As an illustrative exam- ple, we analyze the stability of a spherical vesicle under a uniform electric field. This study is helpful for understanding and revealing the morphological evolution mechanisms of vesicles in electric fields and some associated phenomena of cells.

ZnSe quantum dots downshifting layer for perovskite solar cells

To date, the instability of organometal halide perovskite solar cells（PSCs） has become the focus issue that limits the development and long-term application of PSCs. Both the ultraviolet（UV） rays in sunlight and moisture in air can significantly accelerate the disintegration of the perovskite. Here, we introduced a Zn Se quantum dots layer as downshifting materials, which was spin-coated onto the backside of PSCs.This layer converted the UV rays into visible light to prevent the destruction of PSCs as well as increase the light harvesting of the perovskite layer. Under the UV irradiation in the moisture ambient（40%）, the destruction speed of the unencapsulated perovskite films were also delayed evidently. In addition, the power conversion efficiency（PCE） of the PSCs was increased from 16.6% to 17.3% due to the increase of the visible light absorbance of the perovskite.

Exploring stability of formamidinium lead trihalide for solar cell application

Formamidinium lead triiodide （FAPbI3） is a promising photoactive perovskite for low-cost and efficient solar cells. This article reports on an experimental investigation on the stability of FAPbI3 by comparison with that of widely-used methylamidinium lead triiodide （MAPbI3）. A hydration of the FAPbI3 with mois- ture could be the dominant mechanism for its degradation in air, rather than a common thermal decom- position in the MAPbI3. This can be mainly contributed to a relatively strong bond formation between formamidinium ions （FA＋） and 1-. Consequently, the stability of FAPbl3 based devices can be greatly enhanced by removal moisture in the surrounding. This conclusion renders FAPbI3 extremely attractive for stable perovskite solar cells with fine encapsulation.

Response of Two Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus)Cultivars Differing in Tolerance to Salt Treatment

To explore genetic variability for two Jerusalem artichoke cultivated with 75% seawater irrigation for six years） and N7 （Helianthus tuberosus） cultivars, N1 （the sixth-generation （a general variety）, a experiment was conducted to study the changes in physiological attributes under different concentrations （0%, 10% and 25% of seawater concentration in greenhouse and 0%, 30% and 50% of seawater concentration in the field） of seawater salinity stress. In the greenhouse experiment, decreases of dry growth rate, but increases of dry matter percentage and membrane injury occurred in both the genotypes at 10% and 25% seawater treatments, although lesser cell membrane damage was observed in N1 than N7. N1 accumulated greater contents of Na^＋, Cl^-, soluble sugar and proline in leaves compared with NT. In the field experiment, the yields of shoot, root and tuber, and the contents of total-sugar and inulin in tubers of N1 were higher than those of N7. Lesser degree of salt injury in N1 indicated that the relatively salt-tolerant cultivar had higher K^＋/Na^＋ ratio, lower Na^＋/Ca^2＋ ratio, and the salt-induced enhancement of osmotic adjustment.

Improved performance and air stability of perovskite solar cells based on low-cost organic hole-transporting material X60 by incorporating its dicationic salt

The development of an efficient, stable, and low-cost hole-transporting material (HTM) is of great significance for perovskite solar cells (PSCs) from future commercialization point of view. Herein, we specifically synthesize a dicationic salt of X60 termed X60(TFSI)2, and adopt it as an effective and stable "doping" agent to replace the previously used lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) for the low-cost organic HTM X60 in PSCs. The incorporation of this dicationic salt significantly increases the hole conductivity of X60 by two orders of magnitude from 10-6 to 10-4 S cm-1. The dramatic enhancement of the conductivity leads to an impressive power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 19.0% measured at 1 sun illumination (100 mW cm-2, AM 1.5 G), which is comparable to that of the device doped with LiTFSI (19.3%) under an identical condition. More strikingly, by replacing LiTFSI, the PSC devices incorporating X60(TFSI)2 also show an excellent long-term durability under ambient atmosphere for 30 days, mainly due to the hydrophobic nature of the X60(TFSI)2 doped HTM layer,which can effectively prevent the moisture destroying the perovskite layer. The present work paves the way for the development of highly efficient, stable, and low-cost HTM for potential commercialization of PSCs.

Organic Cation Effect on the Physical Properties of CH3NH3PbI3 Perovskite from the First-principles Study

The effect of the distribution of organic cations CH3NH3^＋（MA^＋） on the stability,electronic structures and optical properties of CH3NH3 Pb I3 perovskite have been investigated using the plane-wave ultrasoft pseuudopotentials. Generalized gradient approximation and local density approximation are used to optimize the geometries of six models, which are different in the orientation of organic cations. The results show that model C is more stable than others, and the main contribution to the top of valence band is from I 5p states. In the bottom of conduction bands, the main components are Pb 6s states with an overlapping of I 5p states. When the orientation of organic group is transforming, the Pb I6 octahedra will distort and the band structure will alter with it, which affect the generation and migration of photon-generated carriers and optical properties.

Antioxidant responses and salt stress tolerance of Aloe vera irrigated by seawater with different salinity

The variations of antioxidant enzyme activities including superoxide dismutase （SOD： EC 1.15.1.1）, peroxidase （POD： EC 1.11.1.7） and catalase （CAT： EC 1.11.1.6）, lipid peroxidation and major electrolytes in Aloe vera irrigated for three years with seawater having different salinity were studied. The results indicate that POD activity increased significantly at 10% seawater level, whereas decreased at higher seawater levels. The SOD activity decreased with increasing seawater concentration except for treatment with 100% seawater （denoted as T100%） under long-term salt stress. Salinity decreased CAT activity,and increased lipid peroxidation and cell membrane injury. In addition, Ca^2＋ content was high in Aloe irrigated by seawater of low salinity level, but low in Aloe irrigated by seawater of high salinity level. An opposite trend was observed for the effect of seawater on Na^＋ content of plants. K^＋ and Mg^2＋ contents remain relatively stable under various seawater levels, which benefit plant growth.

Charge distribution into illuminated dye-doped surface stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal cell

Surface stabilized （anti） ferroelectric liquid crystal cells can be used as an optically addressed media for optical data processing. The structure of the cell has to contain a photo sensible agent, i.e, an absorbing dye-doped orienting layer. The all-optical generation of the diffractive grating can be done due to the switching parameters of the smectic slab within cells with a sensitive layer. This Letter considers a study of the optically induced charge generation into the dye-doped layer, and the explanation of the phenomena of the selective molecular director reorientation, while cell driving what leads to the induction of phase grating.

Impact of blanching pretreatment on the drying rate and energy consumption during far-infrared drying of Paprika(Capsicum annuum L.)

We incorporated a superheated steam blanching pretreatment step into a paprika drying process and compared the far-infrared(FIR)drying rates,hardness of the sample surfaces,cell membrane stabilities,and energy consumption of blanched and non-blanched paprika.The average drying rate of blanched paprika samples during FIR drying was higher than that of non-blanched samples.The hardness and cell membrane stability of dried blanched samples were lower than those of non-blanched samples.We estimated that the softening of the sample surfaces and injury to the cell membranes caused the drying rate to increase.The total energy consumption of the FIR drying of paprika was reduced by approximately 30%by introducing the blanching pretreatment.These findings contribute to the development of environmentally friendly FIR drying techniques for paprika.