Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yenal Yalcinkaya, Ilka M. Hermes, Tobias Seewald, Katrin Amann-Winkel, Lothar Veith, Lukas Schmidt-Mende, Stefan A. L. Weber
Summary: This study introduces a new chemical method to control the strain in perovskite crystals by adjusting the ratio of Pb(Ac)(2) and PbCl2 in the precursor solution. The combination of piezoresponse force microscopy and X-ray diffraction is used to observe the effect on crystal strain. The results demonstrate the potential of chemical strain engineering as a simple method for controlling strain-related effects in lead halide perovskites.
ADVANCED ENERGY MATERIALS
(2022)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Qiaojiao Gao, Jianhang Qi, Kai Chen, Minghao Xia, Yue Hu, Anyi Mei, Hongwei Han
Summary: This article discusses the preparation process and methods of halide perovskite crystals, including nanocrystals, single crystals, and thin films. High-performance devices rely on high crystal quality. The supersaturation of the solution determines the proportion and energy changes of aggregation, while nucleation and crystal growth processes determine crystal quality.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Zhipeng Li, Xiao Wang, Zaiwei Wang, Zhipeng Shao, Lianzheng Hao, Yi Rao, Chen Chen, Dachang Liu, Qiangqiang Zhao, Xiuhong Sun, Caiyun Gao, Bingqian Zhang, Xianzhao Wang, Li Wang, Guanglei Cui, Shuping Pang
Summary: This study investigates the role of transamination reactions in the degradation mechanism of formamidinium-containing perovskites in an aliphatic amines environment. Ammonia is selected as a post-healing gas to facilitate the formation of highly uniform and compact formamidinium-based perovskite films. Low temperature is crucial in achieving a liquid intermediate state and eliminating voids in the raw films. The champion perovskite solar cell achieved a power conversion efficiency of 23.21% with excellent reproducibility.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Lev-Ivan Bulyk, Taras Demkiv, Oleh Antonyak, Yaroslav M. Chornodolskyy, Roman Gamernyk, Andrzej Suchocki, Anatolii Voloshinovskii
Summary: This study investigates the effect of hydrostatic pressure on the luminescence properties of CsPbBr3 single crystals at 12 K. The intensity and energy position of free excitons and Rashba excitons change with increasing pressure.
DALTON TRANSACTIONS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Isabella Poli, Guan-Woo Kim, E. Laine Wong, Antonella Treglia, Giulia Folpini, Annamaria Petrozza
Summary: The study demonstrates that pristine thin films made of tin halide perovskite exhibit external photoluminescence quantum yield comparable to that of lead halide perovskite, the material commonly used in state-of-the-art perovskite solar cells.
ACS ENERGY LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Stefania Cacovich, Pia Dally, Guillaume Vidon, Marie Legrand, Stephanie Gbegnon, Jean Rousset, Jean-Baptiste Puel, Jean-Francois Guillemoles, Philip Schulz, Muriel Bouttemy, Arnaud Etcheberry
Summary: The investigation combines XPS profiling and PL characterization to study the effects of Ar+ sputtering on the chemical composition and optoelectronic properties of perovskite layers. The results show that sputtering does not significantly impact the chemical and optoelectronic properties, validating the use of XPS profiling and PL characterization for studying multi-layered photovoltaic devices.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2022)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Aurora Rizzo, Andrea Listorti, Silvia Colella
Summary: This article discusses the impact of ink evolution on the performance of metal halide perovskite solar cells, emphasizing the importance of understanding ink properties for industrialization. The article highlights that even small changes in ink composition can greatly affect photovoltaic performances.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Tom P. A. van der Pol, Kunal Datta, Martijn M. Wienk, Rene A. J. Janssen
Summary: Photoluminescence spectroscopy is crucial for studying material properties and dynamic effects in metal-halide perovskite optoelectronic systems. However, self-absorption and thin film cavity effects need to be considered, and an optical model is proposed to accurately explain the spectral lineshape and extract the intrinsic spectrum of the film.
ADVANCED OPTICAL MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Maged Abdelsamie, Tianyang Li, Finn Babbe, Junwei Xu, Qiwei Han, Volker Blum, Carolin M. Sutter-Fella, David B. Mitzi, Michael F. Toney
Summary: Thiocyanate-containing additive MASCN can promote the crystallization of perovskite films and the formation of perovskite phase, contributing to growth through collision and drying processes. The characteristics of intermediate phases formed during this process and their kinetics of formation/dissociation play a crucial role in nucleation and growth of the perovskite phase.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yue-Min Xie, Qin Yao, Zixin Zeng, Qifan Xue, Tianqi Niu, Ruoxi Xia, Yuanhang Cheng, Francis Lin, Sai-Wing Tsang, Alex K-Y Jen, Hin-Lap Yip, Yong Cao
Summary: Monolithic perovskite/organic tandem solar cells have gained increasing attention due to their high efficiency and easy fabrication. Improving the performance of these cells requires wide-bandgap perovskites and low-bandgap organic bulk-heterojunction rare cells. This study successfully synthesized high-efficiency perovskite solar cells and tandem cells through optimization methods.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2022)
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Yue-Min Xie, Qifan Xue, Hin-Lap Yip
Summary: Metal-halide perovskites are considered ideal photovoltaic materials due to their variable crystal material composition and superb optoelectronic performance, but the complexity of their crystallization process can lead to reduced film crystallinity and decreased device performance. Extensive research has been conducted on the crystallization kinetics of 3D MHPs, and methods for modulating MHP crystallization have been summarized, including solution engineering, compositional engineering, interfacial engineering, and additive passivation. The review also provides insights into the prospects and challenges in revealing perovskite crystallization kinetics.
ADVANCED ENERGY MATERIALS
(2021)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Kuan Liu, Patrick W. K. Fong, Qiong Liang, Gang Li
Summary: This review summarizes the recent progress in upscaling of organic-inorganic halide perovskites processed in an ambient environment. It discusses the challenges and limitations involved, as well as provides a brief overview of robust strategies for the fabrication of efficient perovskite solar cells using printing-friendly techniques under ambient conditions, which are crucial for future deployment of this technology.
TRENDS IN CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Antonio Guenzler, Esteban Bermudez-Urena, Loreta A. Muscarella, Mario Ochoa, Efrain Ochoa-Martinez, Bruno Ehrler, Michael Saliba, Ullrich Steiner
Summary: This study investigates the crystallization mechanisms of flash infrared-annealed perovskite films grown on substrates with lithographically patterned Au nucleation seeds. The study shows that by increasing the nucleation site density, the proportion of larger crystallites is increased, leading to longer charge carrier lifetimes in regions with large crystallites on the domain boundaries. This combination of rapid thermal annealing with nucleation control is a promising approach to improve perovskite crystallinity and the performance of optoelectronic devices.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Hao Gao, Minghui Zhang, Zicong Xu, Yichuan Chen, Yuehui Hu, Zhijie Yi, Jiayu Huang, Hua Zhu
Summary: In this study, a novel confined-space annealing strategy was developed to address the hydrophilicity and black-phase instability issues of FA perovskites. Through this strategy, stable and crystalline FAPbI(3) films were successfully fabricated under high humidity. The study also revealed that the combination of MA and Cl is essential for obtaining pure α-FAPbI(3) films, offering valuable insights for commercial applications of FA-based PSCs.
DALTON TRANSACTIONS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Junsang Cho, Preethi S. Mathew, Jeffrey T. DuBose, Prashant Kamat
Summary: 2D lead halide perovskites with tunable bandgap and enhanced chemical stability are useful for designing optoelectronic devices. Reducing dimensionality can increase resistance to light-induced ion migration, but also decreases the efficiency of halide ion segregation and segregation rate constant, leading to a decrease in charge-carrier lifetime.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Heng Zhang, Elke Debroye, Beatriz Vina-Bausa, Donato Valli, Shuai Fu, Wenhao Zheng, Lucia Di Virgilio, Lei Gao, Jarvist M. Frost, Aron Walsh, Johan Hofkens, Hai Wang, Mischa Bonn
Summary: Using ultrafast terahertz spectroscopy, a stable Mott polaron state with overlapping polaron wavefunctions is identified in lead halide perovskites (LHPs). The Mott polaron density is determined to be similar to 10^(18) cm^(-3), in agreement with theoretical calculations. Excess charge carriers injected beyond the Mott polaron density annihilate quickly before reaching the stable Mott state.
ACS ENERGY LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Young Won Woo, Zhenzhu Li, Young-Kwang Jung, Ji-Sang Park, Aron Walsh
Summary: This study investigates the competition between corner-, edge-, and face-sharing octahedral networks and its effect on phase inhomogeneity in metal halide perovskite thin-films. The authors use first-principles materials modeling to probe the distribution and transport of charged iodine vacancies in the junction between cubic and hexagonal polytypes of CsPbI3. The results show that defects have lower formation energy and higher mobility in the face-sharing regions, which may influence carrier dynamics in perovskite-based solar cells and electrical devices.
ACS ENERGY LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Kazuki Morita, Matthias J. Golomb, Miguel Rivera, Aron Walsh
Summary: Polarons are localized excess charge in materials, especially transition metal oxides, which are of fundamental interest for photochemical and electrochemical reactions. This study focuses on the model system rutile TiO2 and investigates the effect of impurity doping on polaron formation. Additionally, two metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), MIL-125 and ACM-1, are compared to TiO2, demonstrating the influence of ligands and connectivity on polaron mobility.
CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Kasper Tolborg, Aron Walsh
Summary: The researchers investigated the tetragonal-to-cubic phase transition of ZrO2 at high temperatures using anharmonic lattice dynamics and molecular dynamics simulations. They found that the stability of cubic zirconia cannot be solely explained by anharmonic stabilization, but may also involve spontaneous defect formation and entropic stabilization, which is responsible for its superionic conductivity at elevated temperatures.
CRYSTAL GROWTH & DESIGN
(2023)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Ian M. Slauch, Hir Gandhi, Rishi E. Kumar, Tala Sidawi, Jared Tracy, Roy Kaushik Choudhury, Rico Meier, David P. Fenning, Mariana I. Bertoni
Summary: This paper uses X-ray Topography (XRT) and Water Reflectometric Detection (WaRD) to study the dynamic response and local water content changes of solar cells under high temperature and humidity. It is found that the cell deflection is related to the diffusion of water in the encapsulant, and the stress state and curvature of the cell change continuously depending on the local humidity and temperature.
SOLAR ENERGY MATERIALS AND SOLAR CELLS
(2023)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Tala Sidawi, Rishi E. Kumar, Ian Slauch, Rico Meier, Mariana I. Bertoni, David P. Fenning
Summary: This article presents a robust optical method to quantify water content in the front and rear side encapsulants of bifacial silicon PV modules and validates a model for simulating water concentration in these modules. The solubility of water in four modern encapsulants is quantified, and the diffusion of moisture within glass-backsheet modules is measured using water reflectometry detection. A model of moisture transport in bifacial silicon PV modules is presented and shown to be consistent with measurements. This work provides a quantitative picture of moisture in emerging module architectures and a framework to extend this approach to other encapsulants and module designs.
IEEE JOURNAL OF PHOTOVOLTAICS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Gabriel Krenzer, Johan Klarbring, Kasper Tolborg, Hugo Rossignol, Andrew R. McCluskey, Benjamin J. Morgan, Aron Walsh
Summary: In this study, molecular dynamics simulations were used to investigate the type-II superionic phase transition in α-Li3N. The findings suggest that the superionic transition may be driven by a decrease in defect formation energetics rather than changes in Li transport mechanism. This insight may have implications for other type-II superionic materials.
CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Kanta Ogawa, Hajime Suzuki, Aron Walsh, Ryu Abe
Summary: Three novel bismuth-based layered oxyiodides with increased water oxidation activity under visible light were reported. The electronic structure of these compounds is controlled by the Bi-Bi interaction, resulting in enhanced photoabsorption and reduced band gap. This research not only provided new photocatalysts for water splitting, but also offered a pathway to control the optoelectronic properties of lone-pair semiconductors.
CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Shanti M. Liga, Sean R. Kavanagh, Aron Walsh, David O. Scanlon, Gerasimos Konstantatos
Summary: Lead toxicity and poor stability hinder the commercialization of metal-halide perovskite solar cells. This study explores the use of Ti(IV) and Sn(IV) as alternatives to replace Pb(II), with Ti(IV) perovskites being unstable in air and Sn(IV) perovskites showing good stability in ambient conditions. The research focuses on mixed titanium-tin bromide and iodide double perovskites, finding that these mixtures exhibit higher stability at high percentages of Sn, with bromide compositions demonstrating greater stability compared to iodides.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Kasper Tolborg, Aron Walsh
Summary: Hybrid organic-inorganic materials are promising as flexible and Pb-free piezoelectric materials, but their properties deteriorate at high temperatures due to ferroelectric-to-paraelectric phase transitions. In this study, a model Hamiltonian for the archetypical hybrid organic-inorganic piezoelectric TMCMCdCl3 is developed using first-principles calculations to simulate the order-disorder phase transition. It is found that the inclusion of vibrational entropy is necessary to accurately reproduce the phase transition temperature, highlighting the significance of vibrational contributions for the phase stability of soft and flexible materials. Additionally, the formation of defective structures and intergrowths at ambient temperature is suggested to explain the exceptional piezoelectric response of these materials, which cannot be accounted for by the conventional small-displacement limit.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY C
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ju Huang, Seung-Jae Shin, Kasper Tolborg, Alex Ganose, Gabriel Krenzer, Aron Walsh
Summary: Through molecular dynamics simulations, it is found that the local structures of layered covalent organic frameworks (COFs) deviate from the average crystal structures determined by X-ray diffraction experiments. The simulations using a machine learning force field show that the stacking behavior of COFs is more complex than previously understood.
MATERIALS HORIZONS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Britt S. R. Claes, Kasper K. Krestensen, Gargey Yagnik, Andrej Grgic, Christel Kuik, Mark J. Lim, Kenneth J. Rothschild, Michiel Vandenbosch, Ron M. A. Heeren
Summary: A novel technique called MALDIIHC was published recently, which combines MALDI-MSI and IHC to achieve targeted imaging of biomolecules in tissue. This study explored the utility of targeted MALDIIHC and its complementarity with untargeted spatial proteomics using breast cancer tissue. The combination of multiplexed MALDI-IHC with image-guided proteomics showed great potential for disease investigation. Additionally, the effect of MALDI-2 in improving MALDI-IHC was investigated.
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Mudita Vats, Berta Cillero-Pastor, Bryn Flinders, Eva Cuypers, Ron M. A. Heeren
Summary: This study utilized MALDI-MSI to determine the spatial distribution of flavor compounds in edible button mushrooms and optimized the sample preparation protocol and investigated the effect of heat on the distribution.
JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY-MYSORE
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Kasper K. Krestensen, Ron M. A. Heeren, Benjamin Balluff
Summary: Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) has evolved from a niche technique to a widely used spatial biology tool. This review provides an overview of state-of-the-art MSI applications in both established and emerging biomedical fields, serving as a reference framework for new researchers in the field.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Xinwei Wang, Sean R. Kavanagh, David O. Scanlon, Aron Walsh
Summary: The study reveals the phenomenon of negative-U behavior in Sb2Se3, where a defect traps a second charge carrier more strongly. Utilizing a global structure searching strategy, the researchers found large atomic reconfigurations that facilitate charge redistribution. Thermodynamic analysis shows a four-electron negative-U transition for both VSe and VSb, indicating that all intrinsic point defects in Sb2Se3 exhibit amphoteric behavior.
