Pinhole-free 2D Ruddlesden-Popper perovskite layer with close packed large crystalline grains, suitable for optoelectronic applications.

Here, we achieved pinhole-free 2D Ruddlesden-Popper Perovskite (RPP) BA2PbI4 layers with close packed crystalline grains with dimension of about 30 × 30 µm2, which have been demonstrated to be favorable for optoelectronic applications, such as fast response RPP-based metal/semiconductor/metal photodetectors. We explored affecting parameters in hot casting of BA2PbI4 layers, and proved that oxygen plasma treatment prior to hot casting plays a significant role to achieve high quality close packed polycrystalline RPP layers at lower hot cast temperatures. Moreover, we demonstrate that crystal growth of 2D BA2PbI4 can be dominantly controlled by the rate of solvent evaporation through substrate temperature or rotational speed, while molarity of the prepared RPP/DMF precursor is the dominant factor that determines the RPP layer thickness, and can affect the spectral response of the realized photodetector. Benefiting from the high light absorption and inherent chemical stability of 2D RPP layers, we achieved high responsivity and stability, and fast response photodetection from perovskite active layer. We achieved a fast photoresponse with rise and fall times of 189 µs and 300 µs, and the maximum responsivity of 119 mA/W and detectivity of 2.15 × 108 Jones in response to illumination wavelength of 450 nm. The presented polycrystalline RPP-based photodetector benefits from a simple and low-cost fabrication process, suitable for large area production on glass substrate, a good stability and responsivity, and a promising fast photoresponse, even around that of exfoliated single crystal RPP-based counterparts. However, it is well known that exfoliation methods suffer from poor repeatability and scalability, which make them incompatible with mass production and large area applications.

Mesoscale Fracture Analysis of Multiphase Cementitious Composites Using Peridynamics.

Concrete is a complex heterogeneous material, and thus, it is important to develop numerical modeling methods to enhance the prediction accuracy of the fracture mechanism. In this study, a two-dimensional mesoscale model is developed using a non-ordinary state-based peridynamic (NOSBPD) method. Fracture in a concrete cube specimen subjected to pure tension is studied. The presence of heterogeneous materials consisting of coarse aggregates, interfacial transition zones, air voids and cementitious matrix is characterized as particle points in a two-dimensional mesoscale model. Coarse aggregates and voids are generated using uniform probability distributions, while a statistical study is provided to comprise the effect of random distributions of constituent materials. In obtaining the steady-state response, an incremental and iterativesolverisadopted for the dynamic relaxation method. Load-displacement curves and damage patterns are compared with available experimental and finite element analysis (FEA) results.Although the proposed model uses much simpler material damage models and discretization schemes, the load-displacementcurvesshownodifferencefromtheFEAresults. Furthermore,nomeshrefinement is necessary, as fracture is inherently characterized by bond breakages. Finally, a sensitivity study is conducted to understand the effect of aggregate volume fraction and porosity on the load capacity of the proposed mesoscale model.