Thermally Evaporated ZnSe for Efficient and Stable Regular/Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells by Enhanced Electron Extraction

Electron transport layers(ETLs)are crucial for achieving efficient and stable planar perovskite solar cells(PSCs).Reports on versatile inorganic ETLs using a simple film fabrication method and applicability for both low-cost planar regular and inverted PSCs with excellent efficiencies(>22%)and high stability are very limited.Herein,we employ a novel inorganic ZnSe as ETL for both regular and inverted PSCs to improve the efficiency and stability using a simple thermal evaporation method.The TiO_(2)-ZnSe-FAPbl_(3)heterojunction could be formed,resulting in an improved charge collection and a decreased carrier recombination further proved through theoretical calculations.The optimized regular PSCs based on TiO_(2)/ZnSe have achieved 23.25%efficiency with negligible hysteresis.In addition,the ZnSe ETL can also effectively replace the unstable bathocuproine(BCP)in inverted PSCs.Consequently,the ZnSe-based inverted device realizes a champion efficiency of 22.54%.Moreover,the regular device comprising the TiO_(2)/ZnSe layers retains 92%of its initial PCE after 10:00 h under 1 Sun continuous illumination and the inverted device comprising the C_(60)/ZnSe layers maintains over 85%of its initial PCE at 85℃for 10:00 h.This highlights one of the best results among universal ETLs in both regular and inverted perovskite photovoltaics.

Ionization Engineering of Hydrogels Enables Highly Efficient Salt‑Impeded Solar Evaporation and Night‑Time Electricity Harvesting

Interfacial solar evaporation holds immense potential for brine desalination with low carbon footprints and high energy utilization.Hydrogels,as a tunable material platform from the molecular level to the macroscopic scale,have been considered the most promising candidate for solar evaporation.However,the simultaneous achievement of high evaporation efficiency and satisfactory tolerance to salt ions in brine remains a challenging scientific bottleneck,restricting the widespread application.Herein,we report ionization engineering,which endows polymer chains of hydrogels with electronegativity for impeding salt ions and activating water molecules,fundamentally overcoming the hydrogel salt-impeded challenge and dramatically expediting water evaporating in brine.The sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate-modified carbon black is chosen as the solar absorbers.The hydrogel reaches a ground-breaking evaporation rate of 2.9 kg m−2 h−1 in 20 wt%brine with 95.6%efficiency under one sun irradiation,surpassing most of the reported literature.More notably,such a hydrogel-based evaporator enables extracting clean water from oversaturated salt solutions and maintains durability under different high-strength deformation or a 15-day continuous operation.Meantime,on the basis of the cation selectivity induced by the electronegativity,we first propose an all-day system that evaporates during the day and generates salinity-gradient electricity using waste-evaporated brine at night,anticipating pioneer a new opportunity for all-day resource-generating systems in fields of freshwater and electricity.

Chemical Scissors Tailored Nano‑Tellurium with High‑Entropy Morphology for Efficient Foam‑Hydrogel‑Based Solar Photothermal Evaporators

The development of tellurium(Te)-based semiconductor nanomaterials for efficient light-to-heat conversion may offer an effective means of harvesting sunlight to address global energy concerns.However,the nanosized Te(nano-Te)materials reported to date suffer from a series of drawbacks,including limited light absorption and a lack of surface structures.Herein,we report the preparation of nano-Te by electrochemical exfoliation using an electrolyzable room-temperature ionic liquid.Anions,cations,and their corresponding electrolytic products acting as chemical scissors can precisely intercalate and functionalize bulk Te.The resulting nano-Te has high morphological entropy,rich surface functional groups,and broad light absorption.We also constructed foam hydrogels based on poly(vinyl alcohol)/nano-Te,which achieved an evaporation rate and energy efficiency of 4.11 kg m^(−2)h^(−1)and 128%,respectively,under 1 sun irradiation.Furthermore,the evaporation rate was maintained in the range 2.5-3.0 kg m^(−2)h^(−1)outdoors under 0.5-1.0 sun,providing highly efficient evaporation under low light conditions.

Rebuilding the theory of isotope fractionation for evaporation of silicate melts under vacuum condition

Isotope eff ects are pivotal in understanding silicate melt evaporation and planetary accretion processes.Based on the Hertz-Knudsen equation,the current theory often fails to predict observed isotope fractionations of laboratory experiments due to its oversimplified assumptions.Here,we point out that the Hertz-Knudsen-equation-based theory is incomplete for silicate melt evaporation cases and can only be used for situations where the vaporized species is identical to the one in the melt.We propose a new model designed for silicate melt evaporation under vacuum.Our model considers multiple steps including mass transfer,chemical reaction,and nucleation.Our derivations reveal a kinetic isotopic fractionation factor(KIFF orα)αour model=[m(^(1)species)/m(^(2)species)]^(0.5),where m(species)is the mass of the reactant of reaction/nucleation-limiting step or species of diffusion-limiting step and superscript 1 and 2 represent light and heavy isotopes,respectively.This model can eff ectively reproduce most reported KIFFs of laboratory experiments for various elements,i.e.,Mg,Si,K,Rb,Fe,Ca,and Ti.And,the KIFF-mixing model referring that an overall rate of evaporation can be determined by two steps jointly can account for the eff ects of low P_(H2)pressure,composition,and temperature.In addition,we find that chemical reactions,diffusion,and nucleation can control the overall rate of evaporation of silicate melts by using the fitting slope in ln(−ln f)versus ln(t).Notably,our model allows for the theoretical calculations of parameters like activation energy(E_(a)),providing a novel approach to studying compositional and environmental eff ects on evaporation processes,and shedding light on the formation and evolution of the proto-solar and Earth-Moon systems.

Nitrogen-doped microporous graphite-enhanced copper plasmonic effect for solar evaporation

Water scarcity is a global challenge,and solar evaporation technology offers a promising and eco-friendly solution for freshwater production.Photothermal conversion materials(PCMs)are crucial for solar evaporation.Improving photothermal conversion efficiency and reducing water evaporation enthalpy are the two key strategies for the designing of PCMs.The desired PCMs that combine both of these properties remain a challenging task,even with the latest advancements in the field.Herein,we developed copper nanoparticles(NPs)with different conjugated nitrogen-doped microporous carbon coatings(Cu@C–N)as PCMs.The microporous carbon enveloping layer provides a highly efficient pathway for water transport and a nanoconfined environment that protects Cu NPs and facilitates the evaporation of water clusters,reducing the enthalpy of water evaporation.Meanwhile,the conjugated nitrogen nodes form strong metal-organic coordination bonds with the surface of copper NPs,acting as an energy bridge to achieve rapid energy transfer and provide high solar-to-vapor conversion efficiency.The Cu@C–N exhibited up to 89.4%solar-to-vapor conversion efficiency and an evaporation rate of 1.94 kgm^(−2) h^(−1) under one sun irradiation,outperforming conventional PCMs,including carbon-based materials and semiconductor materials.These findings offer an efficient design scheme for high-performance PCMs essential for solar evaporators to address global water scarcity.

Harnessing overlapped temperature-salinity gradient in solar-driven interfacial seawater evaporation for efficient steam and electricity generation

Solar-driven interfacial water evaporation(SIWE)offers a superb way to leverage concentrated solar heat to minimize energy dissipation during seawater desalination.It also engenders overlapped temperaturesalinity gradient(TSG)between water-air interface and adjacent seawater,affording opportunities of harnessing electricity.However,the efficiency of conventional SIWE technologies is limited by significant challenges,including salt passivation to hinder evaporation and difficulties in exploiting overlapped TSG simultaneously.Herein,we report self-sustaining hybrid SIWE for not only sustainable seawater desalination but also efficient electricity generation from TSG.It enables spontaneous circulation of salt flux upon seawater evaporation,inducing a self-cleaning evaporative interface without salt passivation for stable steam generation.Meanwhile,this design enables spatial separation and simultaneous utilization of overlapped TSG to enhance electricity generation.These benefits render a remarkable efficiency of90.8%in solar energy utilization,manifesting in co-generation of solar steam at a fast rate of 2.01 kg m^(-2)-h^(-1)and electricity power of 1.91 W m^(-2)with high voltage.Directly interfacing the hybrid SIWE with seawater electrolyzer constructs a system for water-electricity-hydrogen co-generation without external electricity supply.It produces hydrogen at a rapid rate of 1.29 L h^(-1)m^(-2)and freshwater with 22 times lower Na+concentration than the World Health Organization(WHO)threshold.

A hierarchical salt-rejection strategy for sustainable and high-efficiency solar-driven desalination

Solar steam generation(SSG)is widely regarded as one of the most sustainable technologies for seawater desalination.However,salt fouling severely compromises the evaporation performance and lifetime of evaporators,limiting their practical applications.Herein,we propose a hierarchical salt-rejection(HSR)strategy to prevent salt precipitation during long-term evaporation while maintaining a rapid evaporation rate,even in high-salinity brine.The salt diffusion process is segmented into three steps—insulation,branching diffusion,and arterial transport—that significantly enhance the salt-resistance properties of the evaporator.Moreover,the HSR strategy overcomes the tradeoff between salt resistance and evaporation rate.Consequently,a high evaporation rate of 2.84 kg m^(-2) h^(-1),stable evaporation for 7 days cyclic tests in 20 wt%NaCl solution,and continuous operation for 170 h in natural seawater under 1 sun illumination were achieved.Compared with control evaporators,the HSR evaporator exhibited a>54%enhancement in total water evaporation mass during 24 h continuous evaporation in 20 wt%salt water.Furthermore,a water collection device equipped with the HSR evaporator realized a high water purification rate(1.1 kg m^(-2) h^(-1)),highlighting its potential for agricultural applications.

Omni-functional simultaneous interfacial treatment for enhancing stability and outgassing suppression of lithium-ion batteries

Ni-rich layered oxides in lithium-ion batteries have problems with gas generation and electrochemical performance reduction due to residual lithium's reaction on the surface with the electrolyte.To address this issue,in this study,the Acid solvent evaporation(AsE)method has been proposed as a potential method to remove residual lithium while promoting the formation of a new LiNO_(3)-derived coating layer on the cathode surface.The reduction of residual lithium using the ASE method and the construction of a LiNO_(3)-derived coating layer suppresses gas evolution caused by the side effects of the electrolyte,improves electrochemical performance,and improves thermal stability by facilitating the smooth movement of lithium ions.Furthermore,the structural stability and resistance change due to the LiNO_(3)-derived coating layer effects is guaranteed through cycling and DCIR of the pouch cell.As a result,compared to Pristine,the capacity retention of coin cells increased by 8%after 100 cycles,and pouch cells increased by 25%after 160 cycles.In addition,after cycling the pouch cell,CO_(2) gas has significantly reduced by about 30%compared to Pristine using gas chromatography.The ASE method effectively forms a robust LiNO_(3)-derived coating layer on the cathode active material,which helps minimize electrolyte reactivity,suppress ,CO_(2) emissions,enhance surface structure stability,improve thermal stability,and improveoverallbatteryperformance.

Possibilities for the synthesis of superheavy element Z=121 in fusion reactions

Based on the dinuclear system model,the calculated evaporation residue cross sections matched well with the current experimental results.The synthesis of superheavy elements Z=121 was systematically studied through combinations of stable projectiles with Z=21-30 and targets with half-lives exceeding 50 d.The influence of mass asymmetry and isotopic dependence on the projectile and target nuclei was investigated in detail.The reactions^(254)Es(^(46)Ti,3n)^(297)121 and^(252)Es(^(46)Ti,3n)^(295)121 were found to be experimentally feasible for synthesizing superheavy element Z=121,with maximal evaporation residue cross sections of 6.619 and 4.123 fb at 219.9 and 223.9 MeV,respectively.

Cr-induced fusion reactions to synthesize superheavy elements

We investigated ^(50,52-54)Cr-induced fusion reactions for the synthesis of the superheavy element in the 104≤Z≤122 range.The cross sections produced in this investigation using ^(54)Cr projectiles were compared with those obtained in prior experiments.The estimated cross sections from this analysis are consistent with the findings of prior studies.From the current study,the predicted cross section was found to be 42fb at 236 MeV for ^(53)Cr+^(243)Am,23.2 fb at 236 MeV for ^(54)Cr+^(247)Cm,95.6 fb at 240 MeV for ^(53)Cr+248Bk,and 1.33 fb at 242 MeV for ^(53)Cr+250Cf.Consequently,these projected cross sections with excitation energy and beam energy will be useful in future Cr-induced fusion reaction investigations.

Preparation of 20 (S)-protopanaxadiol PLGA Nanoparticles

[Objectives]To prepare 20(S)-protopanaxadiol PLGA nanoparticles(20(S)-PPD-PLGA-NPs).[Methods]20(S)-PPD-PLGA-NPs were prepared by emulsion solvent evaporation method,and the optimal formulation was screened by Box-Behnken experiment with particle size and drug loading as the indicators through single factor experiment,and the drug release in vitro was carried out.[Results]The average diameter of the nanoparticles was(119.60±2.29)nm and the polydispersity index was(0.12±0.02),the size was uniform.The encapsulation efficiency and drug loading of protopanaxadiol were(87.99±1.29)%and(14.86±0.25)%,respectively.[Conclusions]The 20(S)-PPD-PLGA-NPs were successfully prepared by emulsion solvent evaporation method,and the 20(S)-PPD-PLGA-NPs had good stability,to lay a foundation for the study of 20(S)-PPD-PLGA-NPs in vitro and in vivo.

Experimental Study and Thermal Modelling of Cocoa Shell Convective Drying in an Indirect Solar Dryer

The concern of the present work is the convective drying of empty cocoa shells in an indirect solar dryer. Some drying experiments, using one sample, were carried out. During the experiments, the sample is introduced in the drying chamber. Then at steady time intervals, the sample is withdrawn from the drying chamber, for a rapid weighing. After each weighing, the sample is reintroduced in the dryer. At each time interval, the ambient temperature of the drying chamber and its relative humidity γ are measured by a thermo-hygrometer. From the experimental data, a theoretical determination of the moisture evaporated from the product was performed and a good agreement was found between the theoretical and experimental values, confirmed by the value of the RMSE. Those calculations used the constants in the Nusselt number found in literature. Then those constants were evaluated again, to get new values more suitable with the experimental data. The dimensionless numbers of Nusselt, Grashof and Prandtl were calculated. That allowed the calculation of the average value of the Nusselt number. The average convective heat transfer coefficient was determined.

Evaluation of Water Losses by Evaporation in the Nakanbe Basin

A numerical approach to heat and mass transfer in a large water reservoir is presented. This water reservoir is likened to a parallelepiped reservoir whose vertical and lower walls are adiabatic and impermeable. The equations that govern natural convection in water are solved by the finite volume method and Thomas’salgorithm. The adequacy between the velocity and pressure fields is ensured by the SIMPLE algorithm. We are going to evaluate the water losses by evaporation from three dams in the Nakanbé basin in Burkina Faso for a period of thirty years, that is to say from January 1, 1991, to March 15, 2020. The three dams have a rate of evaporation greater than 40% of the volume of water stored. Indeed the rate of evaporation in each dam increases with the water filling rate in the reservoir: we have observed the following results for each dam in the Nakanbé basin;for the date of 02/27/1988 to 03/13/2020., the Loumbila dam received a total volume of stored water of 22.02 Mm3 and 10.57 Mm3 as the total volume of water evaporated at the same date. At the Ouaga dam (2 + 3), it stored a water volume of 4.06 Mm3 and evaporated 2.03 Mm3 of its storage volume from 01/01/1988 to 05/07/2016. Finally, with regard to the Bagré dam, it stored 745.16 Mm3 of water and 365.13 Mm3 as the volume of water evaporated from 01/01/1993 to 03/31/2020.

A Comparative Analysis of Evaporate Sediments on Earth and Mars: Implications for the Climate Change on Mars

The knowledge of Martian salts has gone through substantial changes during the past decades. In the 70th of last century, Viking landers have noticed the existence of salts on Mars. Several salt species have been suggested from then on, such as sulfates and chlorides. However, their origin was a mystery due to the lack of observations. The recent explorations and related studies at the beginning of this century revealed that the crustal composition of Mars is similar to that of Earth, and it was hypothesized that almost one third of Martian surface was covered by oceans and lakes in the early stage of Mars. The huge water bodies may have dissolved a large quantity of ions from Martian primary rocks during the whole Noachian and Hesperian epoch. After the enormous drought event happened during the late Hesperian and the early Amazonian, these dissolved ions have formed huge salts deposits and most of them were preserved on Mars until today. To date, carbonates, sulfates, chlorides have all been detected by orbital remote sensing and by landers and rovers. However, the salt mineral assemblages on Mars seems to have some differences from those on Earth, e.g., rich in sulfates and lack of massive carbonates. To explain this difference, we propose that most of the surface carbonates precipitated from the ancient oceans may have been dissolved by the later ubiquitous acidic fluids originated from the global volcanism in the Hesperian era, and formed the enormous sulfate deposits as detected, and this hypothesis seems to be supported by the evidence that most of the sulfate deposits distribute around the Tharsis volcanic province while the survived carbonates located far from it. This process can release most of the carbon on Mars to the atmosphere in the form of CO2 and then be erased by the late heavy bombardments, which might have profound influence on the climate change happened in the Hesperian age. The positive correlation between the GRS results of the potassium distributions and the distribution of chlorides on Mars, together with the high Br concentration measured from the evaporate sediments at two Mars exploration rover landing sites, indicate that the brines in the regions where the chlorides deposited may have reached the stage for potassium salts deposition, thus we propose for the first time that potassium salts deposits might be prevalent in these regions.

Modeling and simulation of urea-water-solution droplet evaporation and thermolysis processes for SCR systems

A reliable mathematical model of urea-water-solution(UWS) droplet evaporation and thermolysis is developed.The well known Abramzon–Sirignano evaporation model is corrected by introducing an adjustment coefficient considering the different evaporation behaviors of UWS droplet at different ambient temperatures. A semidetailed kinetic scheme of urea thermolysis is developed based on Ebrahimian's work. Sequentially, the evaporation characteristics, decomposition efficiency of a single UWS droplet and deposit formation are simulated. As a result, the relation of evaporation time, relative velocity, exhaust temperature and droplet initial diameter is presented. Synchronously, it indicates that temperature is the decisive factor for urea thermolysis. Different temperatures result in different deposit components, and deposit yield is significantly influenced by temperature and decomposition time. The current work can provide guidance for designing urea injection strategy of SCR systems.

Superconducting phase qubits with shadow-evaporated Josephson junctions

We develop a fabrication process for the superconducting phase qubits in which Josephson junctions for both the qubit and superconducting quantum interference device（SQUID） detector are prepared by shadow evaporation with a suspended bridge. Al junctions with areas as small as 0.05 μm^2 are fabricated for the qubit, in which the number of the decoherencecausing two-level systems（TLS） residing in the tunnel barrier and proportional to the junction area are greatly reduced. The measured energy spectrum shows no avoided crossing arising from coherent TLS in the experimentally reachable flux bias range of the phase qubit, which demonstrates the energy relaxation time T1 and dephasing time Tφ on the order of 100 ns and 50 ns, respectively. We discuss several possible origins of decoherence from incoherent or weakly-coupled coherent TLS and further improvements of the qubit performance.

Experimental Analysis of the Performances of Unit Refrigeration Systems Based on Parallel Compressors with Consideration of the Volumetric and Isentropic Efficiency

The performances of a refrigeration unit relying on compressors working in parallel have been investigated considering the influence of the compressor volumetric efficiency and isentropic efficiency on the compression ratio.Moreover,the following influential factors have been taken into account:evaporation temperature,condensation temperature and compressor suction-exhaust pressure ratio for different opening conditions of the compressor.The following quantities have been selected as the unit performance measurement indicators:refrigeration capacity,energy efficiency ratio(COP),compressor power consumption,and refrigerant flow rate.The experimental results indicate that the system refrigeration capacity and COP decrease with a decrease in evaporation temperature,increase of condensation temperature,and increase in pressure ratio.The refrigerant flow rate increases with the increase in evaporation temperature,decrease in condensing temperature and increase in pressure ratio.The compressor power consumption increases with the increase in condensing temperature and increase in pressure ratio,but is not significantly affected by the evaporation temperature.

Effect of Flow Directions on Multiphase Flow Boiling Heat Transfer Enhanced by Suspending Particles in a Circulating Evaporation System

A circulating fluidized bed evaporator(including down-flow, horizontal, and up-flow beds) was constructed to study the effect of flow directions on multiphase flow boiling heat transfer. A range of experimental investigations were carried out by varying amount of added particles(0-2%), circulation flow rate(2.15-5.16 m^3/h) and heat flux(8-16 kW/m^2). The comparison of heat transfer performance in different vertical heights of the horizontal bed was also discussed. Results reveal that the glass bead particle can enhance heat transfer compared with vapor-liquid two-phase flow for all beds. At a low heat flux(q = 8 kW/m), the heat-transfer-enhancing factor of the horizontal bed is obviously greater than those of the up-flow and down-flow beds. With the increase in the amount of added particles, the heat-transfer-enhancing factors of the up-flow and down-flow beds increase, whereas that of the horizontal bed initially increases and then decreases. However, at a high heat flux(q=16 kW/m), the heat-transfer-enhancing factors of the three beds show an increasing tendency with the increase in the amount of added particles and become closer than those at a low heat flux. For all beds, the heat-transfer-enhancing factor generally increases with the circulation flow rate but decreases with the increase in heat flux.

Palynology and stratigraphy of the thick evaporate-bearing Shashi Formation in Jiangling Depression,Jianghan Basin of South China,and its paleoclimate change

In the greater inland Jianghan Basin of South China,three salt depressions are lacking accurate geological times,of which Jiangling Depression is the largest.Evaporites are important records of paleoclimate,however,the geological ages of evaporates are very difficult to be determined because often evaporates have scare macrofossils and microfossils.Nonmarine Cretaceous to Tertiary halite deposits interbedded with mudstones are widely distributed in China.Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum had very high temperatures and attracted strong interests of geologists because these times can be compared with future climate change because of global warming.However,previous studies focused on marine sediments found that during the Paleocene-Early Eocene,massive evaporate deposits formed in Jiangling depression of the Jianghan Basin.In this paper,the authors show that the Shashi Formation halite deposits formed in the Paleocene according to palynology.Most of these palynology fossils are arid types,so the massive evaporites in the Jiangling depression could be closely related to the hot Paleocene climate.High temperatures during the Paleocene contributed to the formation of the massive evaporates in the Jiangling Depression,until sylvite was the result.

Vapour Recoil Effect on a Vapour Liquid System with a Deformable Interface

A new two-sided model of vapour-liquid layer system with a deformable interface is proposed. In this model, the vapour recoil effect on the Marangoni-Bénard instability of a thin evaporating liquid layer can be examined only when the interface deflexion is considered. The instability of a liquid layer undergoing steady evaporation induced by the coupling of vapour recoil effect and the Marangoni effect is analysed using a linear stability theory. We modify and develop the Chebyshev-Tau method to solve the instability problem of a deformable interface system by introducing a new equation at interface boundary. New instability behaviour of the system has been found and the self-amplification mechanism between the evaporation flux and the interface deflexion is discussed.