Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Nazir Mustapha, Muhammad Abdel-Shakour, Idriss Bedja, M. Abdel Rafea
Summary: The photovoltaic performance of black dye-based dye-sensitized solar cells can be improved by introducing long alkoxy group, tuning anchoring parts, and pi-spacer, which reduces dye aggregation and improves sensitizer coverage.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE-MATERIALS IN ELECTRONICS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Multidisciplinary
Youssef Essam, Ghada H. El-Nowihy
Summary: The study presents a highly efficient nanocomposite based on titania for dye-synthesized solar cells (DSSCs). The nitrogen-cobalt-cadmium-doped titania (N-Co-Cd-doped TiO2) prepared using the sol-gel method significantly enhances the photoelectric properties of DSSCs. Material characterization techniques such as scanning electron microscopy and X-ray spectroscopy reveal the surface morphology, composition, and phases of the prepared N-Co-Cd-doped TiO2 nanocomposite. The current-voltage measurements confirm the improved charge transport in DSSCs using N-Co-Cd-doped TiO2, and the power conversion efficiency in fluorescent dye reaches 5.4% (approximately eight times higher than TiO2).
AIN SHAMS ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2023)
Review
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Hui-Xiong Deng, RuYue Cao, Su-Huai Wei
Summary: Solar cells are vital photovoltaic devices that play a crucial role in addressing global energy shortages and reducing air pollution. The defect properties of core materials are essential in determining solar cell efficiency. Recent research focuses on the electronic and defect properties of four thin-film solar cells, exploring solutions to engineer defect properties for optimization.
SCIENCE CHINA-PHYSICS MECHANICS & ASTRONOMY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ahmed Al-Shami, Anass Sibari, Abdallah El Kenz, Abdelilah Benyoussef, Amine El Moutaouakil, Omar Mounkachi
Summary: Higher power conversion efficiencies can be achieved for photovoltaic devices through cation-substitution within the A-site of APbI(3) perovskite, with hydroxyl-ammonium (NH3OH) showing the highest efficiency of 25.84%.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Wen-Feng Lai, Pei-Ling Chao, Xin-Yu Lin, Yin-Pei Chen, Jih-Hsin Liu, Tz-Feng Lin, Wei-Chou Hsu, Chia-Yi Huang
Summary: In this study, a one-dimensional protrusive TiO2 strip array was fabricated using chemical and physical methods. A porous semiconductor layer was coated on the strip array. The results showed that the DSSC with the TiO2 strip array had a higher energy conversion efficiency, which can be attributed to the large surface area of the protrusive structure and its specific electron transport paths.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Suruthi Priya Nagalingam, Andrews Nirmala Grace
Summary: This study focuses on the fabrication of a poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene) decorated MXene composite electrode and tests its performance as a counter electrode in dye-sensitized solar cells. The results show that the composite electrode exhibits good electrocatalytic activity and charge transfer kinetics in the iodide/triiodide electrolyte, surpassing the performance of traditional counter electrodes. The 15-day stability investigation demonstrates that the composite electrode has good corrosion resistance. Therefore, the composite electrode shows potential as a substitute for platinum.
MATERIALS TODAY CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Wenruo Fang, Pan Hu, Zhenqiu Wu, Youfeng Xiao, Yunxia Sui, Dalong Pan, Guangxu Su, Mingwei Zhu, Peng Zhan, Fanxin Liu, Wei Wu
Summary: The study demonstrates the use of collapsible gold nanofingers to construct plasmonic dye-sensitized solar cells, which can enhance light absorption and power conversion efficiency by adjusting material thickness and structure. The results show that compared to traditional film-type solar cells, this plasmonic nanostructure can significantly improve the photovoltaic conversion efficiency.
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Jiakai Zhou, Qian Huang, Yi Ding, Guofu Hou, Ying Zhao
Summary: The pursuit of high energy conversion efficiency is driving the electricity market from renewable energies, with passivating contacts and tandem technologies identified as critical concepts for achieving high-efficiency Si-based solar cells. Passivating contacts are essential to overcome recombination losses, while combining Si with a high-bandgap tandem partner shows promise for surpassing the single junction Shockley-Queisser limit in solar cell efficiency.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Mine Ince, Ren Kuboi, Tuncay Ince, Kuon Yoshimura, Daiki Motoyoshi, Masahiro Sonobe, Ryota Kudo, Shogo Mori, Mutsumi Kimura, Tomas Torres
Summary: Incorporation of sulfur atoms onto zinc-phthalocyanine molecules led to a red shift in the absorption spectrum and decreased solar cell performance, likely due to the symmetrical electronic structure and lower excited state level caused by sulfur atoms.
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY & FUELS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ching-Chin Chen, Jia-Sian Chen, Vinh Son Nguyen, Tzu-Chien Wei, Chen-Yu Yeh
Summary: The newly designed double fence porphyrin dyes show better performance in high-performance DSSCs compared to single fence porphyrin dyes, attributed to reduced dye aggregation and decreased charge-recombination rate. This demonstrates that the double fence structure is a promising design strategy for efficient porphyrin sensitizers.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2021)
Review
Energy & Fuels
Subbiah Vijaya, Killian Lobato, Belqasem Aljafari, Sambandam Anandan
Summary: Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have attracted significant attention due to their ease of fabrication, low cost, and environmentally friendly nature. Platinum (Pt) is conventionally used as the counter electrode, thanks to its excellent electrocatalytic activity and high electrical conductivity. However, the corrosive and scarce nature of Pt limits its application. As a result, research efforts are focused on exploring alternative counter electrode materials, with MoS2 and its composites being a promising option. Interestingly, MoS2 can also be utilized as the photoanode in DSSCs. Morphology plays a crucial role in device performance, and the electrochemical investigation and stability of the counter electrodes are important considerations.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Huan Tran, Aubrey Toland, Kellie Stellmach, McKinley K. Paul, Will Gutekunst, Rampi Ramprasad
Summary: This study developed a first-principles computational scheme for accurately calculating the enthalpy of ring-opening polymerization (Delta H-ROP). The scheme demonstrated a smaller root-mean-square error compared to conventional approaches when validated on a diverse benchmark set. This development opens up new pathways for building a high-quality database of Delta H-ROP and accelerating the design of depolymerizable polymers.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Huan Tran, Aubrey Toland, Kellie Stellmach, McKinley K. Paul, Will Gutekunst, Rampi Ramprasad
Summary: Researchers have developed a first-principles computational scheme to calculate Delta H-ROP for polymer systems, achieving a root-mean-square error of 7 kJ/mol on a benchmark set of 42 ROP polymers. This development paves the way for building a high-quality database of Delta H-ROP for predictive machine-learning models and accelerating the design of depolymerizable polymers.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Ruifeng Zheng, Hongbo Li, Zhenyu Hu, Liying Wang, Wei Lu, Fenghua Li
Summary: This study presents the design and fabrication of a photo-supercapacitor that can convert and store solar energy simultaneously. The device demonstrates high efficiency and stability, making it suitable for miniaturized and self-powered electronic devices.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE-MATERIALS IN ELECTRONICS
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
M. Rekha, Renuka Yadav, L. Cindrella
Summary: Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) with Ni1-xFexMnO3 (x=0, 0.2, 0.5, 0.8, 1.0) perovskite nanoparticles as photoanodes are investigated in this study. The synthesized perovskites exhibit impressive optical properties and suitable surface morphologies for DSSC application. Compared to pristine NiMnO3-based DSSCs, the DSSCs with iron-incorporated NiMnO3 photoanodes show increased power conversion efficiency (PCE). Among the materials studied, Ni0.2Fe0.8MnO3-based DSSC achieves the highest PCE of 0.79% and a high open-circuit voltage (VOC) of 0.95 V. The optimized stoichiometry of perovskite composition is attributed to the alignment of the conduction band edge with the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of N3 dye sensitizer. FeMnO3-based DSSC exhibits the highest VOC of 1.02 V. These findings provide a pathway for unconventional perovskite materials to be used as promising photoanodes in DSSCs, leading to increased VOC and PCE.
Article
Physics, Applied
Qichang An, Zhe Xu, Zhenzhen Wang, Meng Meng, Mengxue Guan, Sheng Meng, Xuetao Zhu, Haizhong Guo, Fang Yang, Jiandong Guo
Summary: By controlling reversible phase transitions between perovskite LaCoO3 and brownmillerite LaCoO2.5, the concentration and spatial distribution of oxygen vacancies (Vo) in PV-LCO can be tuned to enhance its ferromagnetism.
APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hongyu Jiang, Jiyu Xu, Qinghua Zhang, Qian Yu, Laiquan Shen, Ming Liu, Yitao Sun, Chengrong Cao, Dong Su, Haiyang Bai, Sheng Meng, Baoan Sun, Lin Gu, Weihua Wang
Summary: This study directly observed the fractal atomic structure in thin metallic glassy membranes, with the fractal dimension depending on atomic density. The atomic configuration in the metallic glass membrane consists of various polygons with bonding angles concentrated on 45 degrees-55 degrees. The fractal atomic structure is consistent with percolation theory analysis and may explain the enhanced relaxation dynamics and ease of glass transition observed in thin metallic glassy films or surfaces.
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Yanchong Zhao, Tao Bo, Luojun Du, Jinpeng Tian, Xiaomei Li, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Rong Yang, Dongxia Shi, Sheng Meng, Wei Yang, Guangyu Zhang
Summary: By studying the bilayer MoS2/WS2 heterostructure, it was found that thermal annealing can increase interlayer coupling, resulting in the heterostructure behaving more like a new material after band hybridization. Experimental and theoretical studies also investigated the electric controllable direct and indirect infrared interlayer excitons in such system.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Jin Zhang, Hao Hong, Jincan Zhang, Chunchun Wu, Hailin Peng, Kaihui Liu, Sheng Meng
Summary: By utilizing time-resolved photoluminescence and state-of-the-art time-domain density functional theory, the study reveals a zigzag charge-transfer pathway at the semiconductor-graphene interface, where photoexcited hot carriers in organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites transfer back and forth between CH3NH3PbI3 and graphene electrode before reaching a charge-separated state. This pathway, driven by quantum coherence and interlayer vibrational modes, takes about 400 fs, significantly faster than the relaxation process within CH3NH3PbI3.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Peng Cheng, Longjuan Kong, Tong Zhang, Hang Liu, Huixia Fu, Lan Chen, Kehui Wu, Xi Chen, Sheng Meng, Qi-kun Xue
Summary: Magnetic anisotropy is crucial for maintaining magnetization in permanent magnets, especially in the context of future spintronic technology. This study demonstrated the ability to control magnetic anisotropy at the single-molecule level using STM, showing potential for tuning anisotropy energy through ligand coupling. The enhanced magnetic anisotropy of Mn from the carbonitrile ligand provides a promising prototype for engineering magnetism in quantum devices.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yuxiang Liu, Jin Zhang, Sheng Meng, ChiYung Yam, Thomas Frauenheim
Summary: In Van der Waals heterostructures of two-dimensional materials, photo-induced charge transfer from graphene to WS2 is found to be faster for holes than electrons. Interlayer charge transfer is correlated with the vibrational modes of graphene and WS2, and carrier dynamics can be modulated by external electric fields. The transfer rate at the heterointerface is governed by the coupling between donor and acceptor states, influenced by interlayer and intralayer relaxation processes.
Article
Optics
Hao Hong, Chunchun Wu, Zixun Zhao, Yonggang Zuo, Jinhuan Wang, Can Liu, Jin Zhang, Fangfang Wang, Jiangang Feng, Huaibin Shen, Jianbo Yin, Yuchen Wu, Yun Zhao, Kehai Liu, Peng Gao, Sheng Meng, Shiwei Wu, Zhipei Sun, Kaihui Liu, Jie Xiong
Summary: The study demonstrates that coating a sub-200-nm-thick quantum dot film on two-dimensional materials can significantly enhance their nonlinear optical responses by more than three orders of magnitude. This enhancement is driven by a non-trivial mechanism of multiphoton-excitation resonance energy transfer, where the quantum dots deliver their strongly absorbed multiphoton energy to the adjacent two-dimensional materials.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Meng-Xue Guan, En Wang, Pei-Wei You, Jia-Tao Sun, Sheng Meng
Summary: Optical control of Weyl semimetals allows for the development of switchable and dissipationless topological devices at ultrafast scales. Unexpected orbital-selective photoexcitations have been reported in type-II Weyl material WTe2 under linearly polarized light, inducing transitions among different topologically distinct phases. This new perspective provides insight into manipulating the Weyl node singularity and coherent control of electron and lattice quantum dynamics.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Xuanyi Li, Zhili Zhu, Qing Yang, Zexian Cao, Yeliang Wang, Sheng Meng, Jiatao Sun, Hongjun Gao
Summary: This study introduces a novel monolayer magnetic crystal named PP-VTe2, which exhibits strong intrinsic ferromagnetism and semiconductor properties, along with unusual magnetic anisotropy and multiferroic coupling.
Article
Physics, Condensed Matter
Vivekanand Shukla, Yang Jiao, Carl M. Frostenson, Per Hyldgaard
Summary: Hybrid density functionals use a fraction of a generalized-gradient approximation (GGA) exchange description combined with a Fock-exchange component. Range-separated hybrids (RSHs) screen the Fock-exchange component effectively, allowing for characterizations of metals and adsorption at metal surfaces. The vdW-DF-ahcx method, which is an analytical-hole consistent-exchange RSH extension to the vdW-DF method, shows comparable performance to HSE for bulk and noble-metal surface properties.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS-CONDENSED MATTER
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Industrial
Yang Jiao, Saso Dzeroski, Ales Jurca
Summary: This study investigates the variation in toe shape, as measured by the hallux valgus angle, and finds that it has a normal distribution in the general population. Females have larger angles compared to males, and people from Asia have larger angles compared to those from North America and Europe.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yuchong Kang, Xiaoyun Ma, Jing Fu, Kun Yang, Zongguo Wang, Haibo Li, Wei Ma, Jin Zhang
Summary: This study used first-principles calculations to demonstrate the optimal hydrogen adsorption configurations of freestanding borophanes and ones grown on metallic substrates, providing important insights into the stabilization of boron polymorphs.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Vivekanand Shukla, Yang Jiao, Jung-Hoon Lee, Elsebeth Schroeder, Jeffrey B. Neaton, Per Hyldgaard
Summary: We introduce a new general-purpose van der Waals density functional, vdW-DF2-ahbr, which combines vdW-DF2 correlation with a screened Fock exchange. It successfully resolves spurious exchange binding and density-driven errors, significantly improving the performance of existing vdW-DFs for molecular problems.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yuchong Kang, Kun Yang, Jing Fu, Zongguo Wang, Xuao Li, Zhiqiang Lu, Jia Zhang, Haibo Li, Jin Zhang, Wei Ma
Summary: Borophene-based van der Waals heterostructures have shown great potential in optoelectronic and photovoltaic devices. This study investigates the photoexcited carrier dynamics in different borophene/MoS2 heterostructures. The findings reveal the importance of Schottky contacts, electronic coupling, and phonon modes in determining the carrier dynamics in these heterostructures. Different borophene allotropes exhibit distinct and selective carrier transfer behaviors, enabling efficient charge separation and offering promising applications in optoelectronic and photovoltaic devices.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yang Song, Yuchong Kang, Wei Ma, Haibo Li
Summary: In this study, a facile one-step method was developed to prepare crystalline anatase and rutile TiO2 nanocrystals on Ti3C2Tx. The combination of TiO2 nanocrystals and Ti3C2Tx introduced extensive accessible sites for Na+ storage and efficiently relieved the collapse of Ti3C2Tx, leading to improved charge transport. The optimized A/R-TiO2/Ti3C2Tx hybrid electrode exhibited desirable specific surface area, low charge transfer resistance, and excellent ion diffusion. Moreover, the presence of oxygen vacancies on TiO2/Ti3C2Tx enhanced the insertion/de-insertion of Na+ during charge/discharge. As a result, the A/R-TiO2/Ti3C2Tx showed high average capacity and desirable capacitance retention rate.