Tuning the band gap of the CIGS solar buffer layer Cd1-xZnxS (x=0—1) to achieve high efficiency

To evaluate the impact of zinc sulfate (ZnSO4) concentration on the structural properties of the films, Cd1-xZnxS thin films were formed on glass substrates using chemical bath deposition (CBD) in this study. The effect of ZnSO4 precursor concentration on the surface morphology, optical properties, and morphological structure of the Cd1-xZnxS films was investigated. To study the impact of zinc doping content on the performance metrics of Cu(In1-xGax)Se2 (CIGS) cells in the experimental group and to improve the buffer layer thickness, simulations were run using one-dimensional solar cell capacitance simulator (SCAPS-1D) software.     

Structural, electrochemical and cycling properties of Nb5+ doped LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 cathode materials at different calcination temperatures for lithium-ion batteries

LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 cathode material is prepared by sol-gel method and the effects of Nb5+ doping and different calcination temperatures on cathode materials were deeply investigated. Structural and morphological characterizations revealed that the optimal content of 1 mol% Nb5+ can stabilize layered structures, mitigate Ni2+ migration to Li layers, improve lithium diffusion capacity, and reduce lattice expansion/shrinkage while cycling. And calcination temperature at 800 °C can not only ensure good morphology, but also suppress the mixed discharge of lithium and nickel in the internal structure. Electrochemical performance evaluation revealed that Nb5+ doping improves the discharge-specific capacity of the material, which is conducive to ameliorating its rate capability and cycle performance. And the material at 800 °C exhibits the highest discharge specific capacity, the best magnification performance, low polarizability, and the best cycle reversibility.     

Highly Conductive MXene/PEDOT:PSS-Integrated Poly(N-Isopropylacrylamide) Hydrogels for Bioinspired Somatosensory Soft Actuators

Sophisticated sensing and actuation capabilities of many living organisms in nature have inspired scientists to develop biomimetic somatosensory soft robots. Herein, the design and fabrication of homogeneous and highly conductive hydrogels for bioinspired somatosensory soft actuators are reported. The conductive hydrogels are synthesized by in situ copolymerization of conductive surface-functionalized MXene/Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(styrenesulfonate) ink with thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) hydrogels. The resulting hydrogels are found to exhibit high conductivity (11.76 S m⁻¹), strain sensitivity (GF of 9.93), broad working strain range (≈560% strain), and high stability after over 300 loading–unloading cycles at 100% strain. Importantly, shape-programmable somatosensory hydrogel actuators with rapid response, light-driven remote control, and self-sensing capability are developed by chemically integrating the conductive hydrogels with a structurally colored polymer. As the proof-of-concept illustration, structurally colored hydrogel actuators are applied for devising light-driven programmable shape-morphing of an artificial octopus, an artificial fish, and a soft gripper that can simultaneously monitor their own motions via real-time resistance variation. This work is expected to offer new insights into the design of advanced somatosensory materials with self-sensing and actuation capabilities, and pave an avenue for the development of soft-matter-based self-regulatory intelligence via built-in feedback control that is of paramount significance for intelligent soft robotics and automated machines.     

Solid Solvation Assisted Electrical Doping Conserves High-Performance in 500 nm Active Layer Organic Solar Cells

Organic solar cells (OSCs) process fascinating solution-printing capability to achieve low-cost and large-scale manufacture. However, the rapid power conversion efficiency (PCE) decay with active layer thickness enlargement inhibits the implement of OSCs’ potential advantages. To overcome the bottlenecks of PCE decay in thick active layer OSCs, the electrical doping with componential selectivity in bulk heterojunction (BHJ) film is achieved by introducing a solid solvation additive. Benefiting from the higher exciton splitting efficiency together with the longer drift (L_dr) and diffusion (L_diff) lengths, an OSC with 100 nm BHJ film demonstrates a PCE increment from 16.44% to 18.24% with prolonged dark and illuminated storage stabilities. Applying the solid solvation assisted (SSA) doping method in the OSCs with 500 nm active layer, the PCE significantly increases by 31.9%, from the original value of 11.79% to 15.55%. It further improves to 15.84% in a ternary blend thick-film device, which is the record value to the best of our knowledge. Besides, the SSA doping narrows the PCE gap between the 0.04 and 1 cm² devices. All improvements demonstrate the great potential of SSA doping for OSC commercial manufacture, since it optimizes the photovoltaic performance under all practical conditions of long-term, thick-film, and large-area.     

Research on the properties of ZnO1-xSx thin films modified by sulfur doping for CIGS solar cells

ZnO1-xSx thin films modified by sulfur doping were prepared on glass substrates by chemical bath deposition (CBD) for studying the effect of thiourea concentration on the thin film properties. The obtained ZnO1-xSx thin films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), which shows the surfaces of ZnO1-xSx thin films deposited under the thiourea concentration of 0.14 M are more compact. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurement shows that the ZnO1-xSx thin films with hexagonal crystal structure had strong diffraction peaks and better crystallinity. The optical transmittance of the ZnO1-xSx thin films with 0.14 M thiourea concentration is above 80% in the wavelength range of 300—900 nm. According to the measurement results from spectrophotometer, the ZnO1-xSx band gap energy value Eg varies nonlinearly with different S/(S+O) ratio x, and increases with the increase of x. There is a band gap value of 2.97 eV in the ZnO1-xSx thin films deposited under 0.14 M thiourea concentration. Therefore, the thin films have better structural, optical and electric properties, and are more suitable for the buffer layers of copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) thin film solar cells.     

Study of cross-conjugated iso-polytriacetylenes and related oligoenynes

Two series of monodisperse cross-conjugated oligomers based on enyne repeat units have been realized. The first class of molecules, iso-polytriacetylenes (iso-PTAs, 2), was divergently synthesized using an iterative sequence of palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions of vinyl triflate 5 with terminal alkynes. The second series of oligoenynes (17-20) are based on an octatetrayne backbone, and result from homocoupling of the differentially protected iso-PTA oligomers 8-11. The longest member of this series, 20, spans ca. 5.6 nm from Si atom to Si atom and is composed of a contiguous sequence of 44 sp and sp(2) carbons. The lowest energy electronic absorption band for iso-PTA dimers in the progression 13 --> 9 --> 16 is consistently red-shifted as a result of extending the cross-conjugated structure. A similar comparison within each series (i.e., 16, 6-7, or 17-20), however, suggests little effect on the electronic characteristics of these molecules as oligomer length is increased. The solid-state properties of one derivative, 17, are also described.     

Direct observation of eta 2-imine formation through beta-H abstraction between amide ligands. Neutron and X-ray diffraction structure of a dihydride imine ditantalum complex

Reactions of Ta(NMe2)5 with D2SiR'Ph (R' = Me, Ph) were found to give a dideuteride eta 2-imine complex (Me2N)3Ta(mu-D)2(mu-N-eta 2-N,C-CH2NMe)Ta(NMe2)3(1-d2) through C-H activation of an amide ligand via beta-H abstraction, and the structure of 1 was confirmed by single crystal neutron and X-ray diffraction.     

Fingerprint scaling increases the probability of identifying molecules with similar activity in virtual screening calculations.

Results of systematic virtual screening calculations using a structural key-type fingerprint are reported for compounds belonging to 14 activity classes added to randomly selected synthetic molecules. For each class, a fingerprint profile was calculated to monitor the relative occupancy of fingerprint bit positions. Consensus bit patterns were determined consisting of all bits that were always set on in compounds belonging to a specific activity class. In virtual screening calculations, scale factors were applied to each consensus bit position in fingerprints of query molecules. This technique, called "fingerprint scaling", effectively increases the weight of consensus bit positions in fingerprint comparisons. Although overall prediction accuracy was satisfactory using unscaled calculations, scaling significantly increased the number of correct predictions but only slightly increased the rate of false positives. These observations suggest that fingerprint scaling is an attractive approach to increase the probability of identifying molecules with similar activity by virtual screening. It requires the availability of a series of related compounds and can be easily applied to any keyed fingerprint representation that associates bit positions with specific molecular features.     

Observations on the swelling characteristics of the zwitterionic hydrogel of poly(1-3-sulfopropyl)-2-vinyl-pyridinium-betaine hydrogel

Samples of poly[1-(3-sulfopropyl)-2-vinyl-pyridinium-betaine] (PSPV) have been synthesized to high conversion by free radical polymerization in aqueous solution of the zwitterionic monomer SPV with several concentrations of the crosslinker N,N′-methylene-bis-acrylamide (MBA). The densities of the resultant xerogels increased regularly with the content of MBA. Hydrogels obtained by swelling them in water and aqueous KSCN solution were examined by gravimetric and dimensional analysis. The water contents increased with decreasing content of MBA, the value of 92.7 wt% at the lowest MBA content being higher than that for other zwitterionic hydrogels. Enhanced swelling occurred in 1 M aq. KSCN at each MBA content, the total swelling being 98.1 wt% at the lowest crosslinker content. Swelling increased with increasing temperature. An approximate procedure to formulating swelling equilibrium in term of the volume fraction of water in hydrogel, in conjunction with the van’t Hoff equation, yields a small positive value for the enthalpy of swelling. This is compared with values derived similarly for other hydrogels.