Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Qi Jiang, Robert Tirawat, Ross A. Kerner, E. Ashley Gaulding, Yeming Xian, Xiaoming Wang, Jimmy M. Newkirk, Yanfa Yan, Joseph J. Berry, Kai Zhu
Summary: Metal halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) show great potential as a low-cost thin-film photovoltaic technology. To ensure their commercialization, it is important to understand their reliability under real-world outdoor conditions. This study demonstrates that indoor accelerated stability tests can predict the performance of PSCs in outdoor environments. The degradation rates under illumination and elevated temperatures are found to be the most informative for assessing device reliability. The study also identifies the interface between indium tin oxide/self-assembled monolayer-based hole transport layer and perovskite layer as a key factor affecting device stability.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Chao Zhang, Kewei Liu, Qiu Ai, Xuan Sun, Xing Chen, Jialin Yang, Yongxue Zhu, Zhen Cheng, Binghui Li, Lei Liu, Dezhen Shen
Summary: A fully transparent metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) solar-blind UV photodetector with embedded indium-tin-oxide (ITO) electrodes based on Ga2O3 films was designed and constructed for the first time. The device exhibits ultra-low dark current, high rejection ratio, high specific detectivity, and large responsivity, surpassing other reported transparent UV photodetectors. The excellent solar-blind photodetection performance is attributed to the strong and uniform electrical field in β-Ga2O3 and the high quality of the films. This finding paves the way for high-performance fully transparent Ga2O3 solar-blind UV photodetectors with great potential in future transparent electronics applications.
MATERIALS TODAY PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Gbenga D. Obikoya, Anishkumar Soman, Ujjwal K. Das, Steven S. Hegedus
Summary: This study investigates the degradation of fill factor (FF) and open-circuit voltage (VOC) in silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells. The results show that the temperature under accelerated testing conditions significantly affects the stability of the cells' performance, with FF degradation attributed to an increase in series resistance and hole collection barrier. Furthermore, the lack of passivation at the rear-side of the cells may be responsible for VOC loss.
SOLAR ENERGY MATERIALS AND SOLAR CELLS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Karla Vargas-Berrones, Raul Ocampo-Perez, Israel Rodriguez-Torres, Nahum A. Medellin-Castillo, Rogelio Flores-Ramirez
Summary: This study aimed to evaluate the adsorption influence of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) on the oxidative degradation of 4-nonylphenol (4-NP) and its by-products in traditional wastewater treatment plants (WTPs). The results showed that MIPs can efficiently adsorb 4-NP, with maximum adsorption capacities of 201.1 mg/L and 500 mg/L, and the degradation percentages of 4-NP under ozone and UV conditions can reach 98-100%. The findings are significant for the identification and removal of emerging pollutants and their degradation by-products in environmental matrices.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Xiaojing Wang, Peng Liu, Boonkar Yap, Ruidong Xia, Wai-Yeung Wong, Zhicai He
Summary: Liquid-exfoliated 2D transition metal disulfides can be potential substitutes for PEDOT:PSS as hole transport layers in Organic Solar Cells. By optimizing the preparation conditions of WS2 layers, the device performance and power conversion efficiency can be improved.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Licheng Sang, Weiyi Yang, Shuang Gao, Suhua Li, Jian Ku Shang, Qi Li
Summary: This study discovered a new type of organic semiconductor-based photocatalyst, polyacrylonitrile (PAN), which has good light absorption and appropriate electronic band structure to degrade organic pollutants and disinfect bacteria under simulated solar illumination. The PAN photocatalyst shows good stability, reusability, and suitability for practical application in real water matrix, especially as wearable products with self-disinfection property.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Adam B. Phillips, Jared D. Friedl, Philip Ottinger, Steven L. Carter, Zhaoning Song, Abasi Abudulimu, Ebin Bastola, Deng-Bing Li, Yanfa Yan, Randy J. Ellingson, Michael J. Heben
Summary: Numerical modeling is used to investigate the performance of bifacial thin film solar cells under front, back, and simultaneous illumination through both interfaces. It is found that downward band bending near the back interface is reduced under low carrier concentration conditions, but still affects minority carrier distribution at relatively high doping conditions. The power generated under bifacial illumination exceeds the sum of power from solely front or back illumination, and the performance is independent of the angle of light entering the back interface. However, under real-world albedo conditions, significant loss in frontside power generation is difficult to overcome with back illumination.
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
A. Pramitha, Srijana G. Rao, Y. Raviprakash
Summary: In this study, the effects of post-UV-ozone (UVO) treatment on SnO2 thin films were investigated. It was found that UVO treatment did not significantly affect the structural characteristics of the films, but resulted in a decrease in bandgap and an increase in defects. This led to a decrease in the ratio between band-to-band emission and defect emissions. These findings suggest that UVO treatment is an effective strategy for tuning the optical properties of SnO2 thin films by precisely controlling the bandgap.
JOURNAL OF ELECTRONIC MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Andrey Zaspa, Liya Vitukhnovskaya, Aida Mamedova, Suleyman I. Allakhverdiev, Alexey Semenov, Mahir Mamedov
Summary: This study directly measured the long-term photovoltage generation by the photosynthetic pigment-protein complex of photosystem I (PS I) from cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. By immobilizing PS I onto a membrane filter and sandwiching it between two semiconductor electrodes, a stable photovoltage system was successfully developed. The results demonstrated that the system could generate a stable voltage signal under certain conditions.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY
(2022)
Article
Physics, Applied
Firman Mangasa Simanjuntak, Sridhar Chandrasekaran, Debashis Panda, Sailesh Rajasekaran, Cut Rullyani, Govindasamy Madhaiyan, Themistoklis Prodromakis, Tseung-Yuen Tseng
Summary: This study reveals that excessive unintentional out-diffused In atom into the switching layer may pose a potential threat to the switching stability of memristor devices, and suggests a facile UV/O-3 treatment to mitigate such damaging effects. It also shows that the device fabricated on the UVO-treated ITO substrate exhibits significant switching parameter improvement compared to the device manufactured on untreated ITO.
APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Dariusz Augustowski, Maciej Gala, Pawel Kwasnicki, Jakub Rysz
Summary: This study suggests that removing organic residues from the surface of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles using UV ozone cleaning process can significantly reduce the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) and boost the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the prepared devices, mainly due to the increase in short circuit current (Jsc) and slight improvement in open circuit voltage (Voc).
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Chuang Liang, Yu-Gan Zhu, Bao-Chang Sun, Guang-Wen Chu, Jian-Feng Chen
Summary: A novel rotating packed bed reactor integrated with plasma (plasma-RPB) was developed to enhance wastewater treatment by fully utilizing ozone. The ozone-water mass transfer efficiency of the plasma-RPB with different liquid distributor structures was evaluated. The plasma-RPB exhibited prominent degradation performance, with sulfamethoxazole and TOC removal efficiency reaching up to 87.6% and 82.7%, respectively, within 5 minutes.
INDUSTRIAL & ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Kai Wang, Tao Ye, Xu Huang, Yuchen Hou, Jungjin Yoon, Dong Yang, Xiaowen Hu, Xiaofang Jiang, Congcong Wu, Guofu Zhou, Shashank Priya
Summary: Material recycling from used perovskite solar cells for remaking new devices has been inefficient, but a bleacher solution is shown to disassemble cells into collectable parts with high material reuse rate. The remade device using recycled materials exhibits minimal efficiency drop, indicating a promising high-efficiency recycle-remake strategy for extending the life cycle of perovskite photovoltaics.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yuanhang Cheng, Xixia Liu, Zhiqiang Guan, Menglin Li, Zixin Zeng, Ho-Wa Li, Sai-Wing Tsang, Armin Gerhard Aberle, Fen Lin
Summary: The degradation of PVSCs can be divided into three steps: 1) dissociation of ions from perovskite lattices, 2) migration of dissociated ions, and 3) consumption of I- by reacting with metal electrode. Step (3) is crucial as it accelerates the first two steps leading to continuous degradation.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2021)
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Arsalan Razzaq, Thomas G. Allen, Wenzhu Liu, Zhengxin Liu, Stefaan De Wolf
Summary: The PV industry is growing due to the increasing electricity demand from renewables. Grid parity has been achieved in some countries, but module prices need to decline further and efficiency improvements are required for market growth. Passivating contact technologies, particularly amorphous silicon-based silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells, offer potential solutions to overcome limitations of conventional PV technologies. However, SHJ technology currently has a small market share despite its excellent performance and simple design.