Enhancing Efficiency and Durability of Perovskite Solar Cells with Chlorine-Functionalized Fully Conjugated Porous Aromatic Framework.

Non-radiative recombination, caused by trap states, significantly hampers the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). The emerging porous organic polymers (POPs) show promise as a platform for designing novel defect passivation agents due to their rigid and porous structure. However, the POPs reported so far lack either sufficient stability or clear sites of interactions with the defects. Herein, two chlorine-functionalized, fully conjugated porous aromatic frameworks (PAFs) were constructed via a decarbonylation reaction. The chlorinated PAFs feature unique long-range conjugated networks bearing multiple chlorine atoms, significantly improving the photovoltaic performance and stability of doped solar cells. Combined experimental and theoretical analyses confirmed the strong passivation effects of conjugated structure to the defect through Cl sites. Specifically, PAF-159, bearing a triphenylamine moiety, demonstrated stronger Cl-Pb bonding and higher passivation efficiency due to the presence of π* anti-bonding orbitals, which elevate the HOMO energy level and facilitate Cl-Pb charge transfer. Consequently, we obtained high-performance PAF-159-doped devices with advanced PCE (24.3%), good storage stability (retaining 86% after 3000 hours), and good long-term operational stability (retaining 92% after 350 hours).

The multi-slit very small angle neutron scattering instrument at the China Spallation Neutron Source.

A multi-slit very small angle neutron scattering (MS-VSANS) instrument has been finally accepted at the China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS). It is the first spallation neutron source based VSANS instrument. MS-VSANS has a good signal-to-noise ratio and can cover a wide scattering vector magnitude range from 0.00028 to 1.4 Å-1. In its primary flight path, a combined curved multichannel beam bender and sections of rotary exchange drums are installed to minimize the background downstream of the instrument. An exchangeable multi-slit beam focusing system is integrated into the primary flight path, enabling access to a minimum scattering vector magnitude of 0.00028 Å-1. MS-VSANS has three modes, namely conventional SANS, polarizing SANS and VSANS modes. In the SANS mode, three motorized high-efficiency 3He tube detectors inside the detector tank cover scattering angles from 0.12 to 35° simultaneously. In the polarizing SANS mode, a double-V cavity provides highly polarized neutrons and a high-efficiency 3He polarization analyser allows full polarization analysis. In the VSANS mode, an innovative high-resolution gas electron multiplier detector covers scattering angles from 0.016 to 0.447°. The absolute scattering intensities of a selection of standard samples are obtained using the direct-beam technique; the effectiveness of this method is verified by testing the standard samples and comparing the results with those from a benchmark instrument. The MS-VSANS instrument is designed to be flexible and versatile and all the design goals have been achieved.

Acoustic metasurface with hybrid resonances.

An impedance-matched surface has the property that an incident wave generates no reflection. Here we demonstrate that by using a simple construction, an acoustically reflecting surface can acquire hybrid resonances and becomes impedance-matched to airborne sound at tunable frequencies, such that no reflection is generated. Each resonant cell of the metasurface is deep-subwavelength in all its spatial dimensions, with its thickness less than the peak absorption wavelength by two orders of magnitude. As there can be no transmission, the impedance-matched acoustic wave is hence either completely absorbed at one or multiple frequencies, or converted into other form(s) of energy, such as an electrical current. A high acoustic-electrical energy conversion efficiency of 23% is achieved.

Behavior and products of mechano-chemical dechlorination of polyvinyl chloride and poly (vinylidene chloride).

The mechano-chemical (MC) dechlorination of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) was performed by mechanical milling PVC/PVDC powder with zinc powder in a planetary ball mill, and the products of dechlorination were characterized by Infrared spectra (IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and 13C solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The experimental results show that PVC/PVDC can be easily dechlorinated by milling with zinc powder, and formed various kinds of inorganic and organic products. Inorganic compounds included Zn2OCl(2).2H2O, Zn5(OH)8Cl2.H2O etc., and organic products involved diamond-like carbon, carbyne fragment, polyacetylene etc. Organic products formed following the paths of dechlorination, dehydrochlorination, crosslink, and oxidation. The mechano-chemical dechlorination process of PVC/PVDC may be an effective approach for carbyne synthesizing in the appropriate condition.