Revealing Size-Dependency of Ionic Liquid to Assist Perovskite Film Formation Mechanism for Efficient and Durable Perovskite Solar Cells.

Ionic liquids (ILs) are extensively utilized for the manipulation of crystallization kinetics of perovskite, morphology optimization, and defect passivation for the fabrication of highly efficient and stable devices. However, comparing ILs with different chemical structures and selecting the appropriate ILs from the many types available to enhance perovskite device performance remains a challenge. In this study, a range of ILs containing different sizes of anions are introduced as additives for assisting in film formation in perovskite photovoltaics. Specifically, ILs with various sizes significantly affects the strength of chemical interaction between ILs and perovskite composition, inducing varying degrees of conversion of lead iodide to perovskite as well as the formation of perovskite films with markedly disparate grain sizes and morphology. Theoretical calculations in conjunction with experimental measurements revealed that small-sized anion can more effectively reduce defect density by filling halide vacancies within perovskite bulk materials, resulting in suppression of charge-carrier recombination, an extended photoluminescence lifetime, and significantly improved device performance. Boosted by ILs with appropriate size, the champion power conversion efficiency of 24.09% for the ILs-treated device is obtained, and the unencapsulated devices retain 89.3% of its original efficiency under ambient conditions for 2000 h.

Dimethylammonium Cation-Induced 1D/3D Heterostructure for Efficient and Stable Perovskite Solar Cells.

Mixed-dimensional perovskite engineering has been demonstrated as a simple and useful approach to achieving highly efficient and more-durable perovskite solar cells (PSCs), which have attracted increasing research interests worldwide. In this work, 1D/3D mixed-dimensional perovskite has been successfully obtained by introducing DMAI via a two-step deposition method. The additive DMA+ can facilitate the crystalline growth and form 1D DMAPbI3 at grain boundaries of 3D perovskite, leading to improved morphology, longer charge carrier lifetime, and remarkably reduced bulk trap density for perovskite films. Meanwhile, the presence of low-dimension perovskite is able to prevent the intrusion of moisture, resulting in enhanced long-term stability. As a result, the PSCs incorporated with 1D DMAPbI3 exhibited a first-class power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 21.43% and maintained 85% of their initial efficiency after storage under ambient conditions with ~45% RH for 1000 h.

A two-step approach for improved exfoliation and cutting of boron nitride into boron nitride nanodisks with covalent functionalizations.

The synthesis of boron nitride nanodisks (BNNDs) with reducing the size and having fewer disk layers, and low optical band gap (E g) is essential for practical applications in electronics and optoelectronic devices. So far, the large-scale preparation of hydroxyl (-OH) and hydroperoxyl (-OOH) functionalized boron nitride nanosheets and BNNDs with reduced E g is still a challenge. This research demonstrates the scalable and solution process synthesis of hydroxyl (-OH) and hydroperoxyl (-OOH) functionalization of BNNDs at the edges and basal planes from pristine hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) by the combination of modified Hummer's method and Fenton's chemistry. Modified Hummer's method induces exfoliation and cutting of the h-BN into BNNDs with a low percentage of -OH functionalization (6.90%), which is further exfoliated and cut by Fenton's reagent with improved -OH and -OOH functionalization (ca. 17.25%). The combination of these two methods allows us to reduce the size of the OH/OOH-BNNDs to ca. 200 nm with the number of disk layers in the range from ca. 6-11. Concurrently, the E g of h-BN was decreased from ca. 5.10 to ca. 3.58 eV for OH/OOH-BNNDs, which enables the possible application of OH/OOH-BNNDs in semiconductor electronics. The high percentage of -OH and -OOH functionalizations in the OH/OOH-BNNDs enablesg them to disperse in various solvents with high long-term stability.

An Electrochemical Immunosensor Based on a Self-Assembled Monolayer Modified Electrode for Label-Free Detection of α-Synuclein.

This research demonstrated the development of a simple, cost-effective, and label-free immunosensor for the detection of α-synuclein (α-Syn) based on a cystamine (CYS) self-assembled monolayer (SAM) decorated fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) electrode. CYS-SAM was formed onto the FTO electrode by the adsorption of CYS molecules through the head sulfur groups. The free amine (-NH2) groups at the tail of the CYS-SAM enabled the immobilization of anti-α-Syn-antibody, which concurrently allowed the formation of immunocomplex by covalent bonding with α-Syn-antigen. The variation of the concentrations of the attached α-Syn at the immunosensor probe induced the alternation of the current and the charge transfer resistance (Rct) for the redox response of [Fe(CN)6]3-/4-, which displayed a linear dynamic range from 10 to 1000 ng/mL with a low detection limit (S/N = 3) of ca. 3.62 and 1.13 ng/mL in differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) measurements, respectively. The immunosensor displayed good reproducibility, anti-interference ability, and good recoveries of α-Syn detection in diluted human serum samples. The proposed immunosensor is a promising platform to detect α-Syn for the early diagnose of Parkinson's disease, which can be extended for the determination of other biologically important biomarkers.

Carbon nanotube hollow polyhedrons derived from ZIF-8@ZIF-67 coupled to electro-deposited gold nanoparticles for voltammetric determination of acetaminophen.

A comparative study was carried out on the electrochemical behavior of three carbonized zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) synthesized through solvothermal pyrolysis. An electrochemical sensor for acetaminophen (ACT) was subsequently developed. The sensor was made by coating the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) with cobalt-nitrogen co-doped carbon nanotube hollow polyhedron (Co-NCNHP), which was prepared from core shell ZIF-8@ZIF-67, before electrodeposition of gold nanoparticles. Due to the high specific surface area, good electrical conductivity and stability of both Co-NCNHP and the gold nanoparticles, the resultant sensor displayed excellent electrocatalytic activity towards ACT with the catalytic rate constant Kcat of 4.9 × 105 M-1 s-1, diffusion coefficient D of 1.8 × 10-6 cm2 s-1, high sensitivity of 1.75 µA µM-1 cm-2, and best at a working voltage of 0.35 V (vs. Ag/AgCl). Benefitting from the synergistic effect of both Co-NCNHP and gold nanoparticles, the modified GCE had a linear response in the 0.1 µM-250 µM ACT and detection limit of 0.05 µM (at S/N = 3). The sensor was successfully applied to quantify ACT in tablets and spiked urine samples with recoveries ranged between 96.0% and 105.2%. Graphical abstractSchematic representation of cobalt-nitrogen co-doped carbon nanotube hollow polyhedrons (Co-NCNHP) exhibiting superior electrocatalytic activity to carbonized ZIF-8 and carbonized ZIF-67. Co-NCNHP were coupled to electrodeposition gold nanoparticles to modify glassy carbon electrode for improving acetaminophen (ACT) redox.

An in situ chemically and physically confined sulfur-polymer composite for lithium-sulfur batteries with carbonate-based electrolytes.

An in situ chemically and physically confined sulfur-polymer composite (denoted as SPANI) is synthesized by sulfurizing PANI through a one-step thermal treatment. The SPANI cathode exhibits excellent cycling stability in commercial carbonate-based electrolytes. It offers a new insight into sulfur cathode design for high performance Li-S batteries.

A sensitive electrochemical sensor based on ZIF-8-acetylene black-chitosan nanocomposites for rutin detection.

Herein, we fabricated a sensitive rutin electrochemical sensor via modifying glassy carbon electrode (GCE) with zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) and acetylene black (AB) in the presence of chitosan (CS). The electrochemical activity and experimental parameters of the ZIF-8-AB-CS/GCE sensor were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Under the optimal conditions, the sensor presented a reasonable linear response in the range of 0.1-10 µM with a limit of detection (LOD) as low as 0.004 µM (S/N = 3). The sensor possessed good reproducibility and high stability, and was successfully applied to detect rutin tablet samples with satisfactory results, which was attributed to the synergistic effect between ZIF-8 and AB. Meanwhile, the sensor displayed a potential application for detection of other analytes in real samples. Furthermore, a probable interaction mechanism was proposed to account for the interaction between rutin and the nanocomposite electrode, which was not discussed in previous reports.