Effect of thickness on physical properties of electron beam vacuum evaporated CdZnTe thin films for tandem solar cells

The thickness and physical properties of electron beam vacuum evaporated CdZnTe thin films have been optimized in the present work. The films of thickness 300 nm and 400 nm were deposited on ITO coated glass substrates and subjected to different characterization tools like X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV‐Vis spectrophotometer, source meter and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to investigate the structural, optical, electrical and surface morphological properties respectively. The XRD results show that the as-deposited CdZnTe thin films have zinc blende cubic structure and polycrystalline in nature with preferred orientation (111). Different structural parameters are also evaluated and discussed. The optical study reveals that the optical transition is found to be direct and energy band gap is decreased for higher thickness. The transmittance is found to increase with thickness and red shift observed which is suitable for CdZnTe films as an absorber layer in tandem solar cells. The current-voltage characteristics of deposited films show linear behavior in both forward and reverse directions as well as the conductivity is increased for higher film thickness. The SEM studies show that the as-deposited CdZnTe thin films are found to be homogeneous, uniform, small circle-shaped grains and free from crystal defects. The experimental results confirm that the film thickness plays an important role to optimize the physical properties of CdZnTe thin films for tandem solar cell applications as an absorber layer.     

Low Temperature Metal-Enhanced Fluorescence

In this short letter, we describe the effects of low temperature on the Metal-Enhanced Fluorescence (MEF) phenomenon. Fluorophores close to Silver Island Films (SiFs) show on average two- to ten-fold enhancements in their fluorescence signatures at room temperature. However, at 77 K, we have observed that MEF is even more pronounced as compared to an identical glass control sample. We also demonstrate that the further enhancements in MEF occur at low temperature over a range of visible wavelengths for different fluorophores, for both SiFs and 20 nm surface deposited gold colloids.     

Positively charged liposomes consisting of the KTTKS pentapeptide conjugated with rhodamine increase rhodamine toxicity in E. coli and zebrafish embryo

Liposomes composed of cell‐penetrating peptide derivatives increased transport across the cell membrane. Conjugating rhodamine to a cell‐penetrating peptide increased the toxicity of rhodamine in E. coli and zebrafish embryos. A similar total protein inhibition pattern with different intensities, indicating that the interaction pathways of the rho‐KTTKS‐CONH₂ monomer and liposomes were the same. It suggests that the rho‐KTTKS‐CONH₂ liposomes showed higher toxicity because better transport across the cell membrane increased the effective concentration inside cells. The staining of zebrafish embryos using rho‐KTTKS‐CONH₂ liposomes showed a longer retention time, suggesting that it can penetrate deeper tissues or organs in zebrafish.     

Bacteria and cancer cell pearl chain under dielectrophoresis

In this work, we aim to observe and study the physics of bacteria and cancer cells pearl chain formation under dielectrophoresis (DEP). Experimentally, we visualized the formation of Bacillus subtilis bacterial pearl chain and human breast cancer cell (MCF-7) chain under positive and negative dielectrophoretic force, respectively. Through a simple simulation with creeping flow, AC/DC electric fields, and particle tracing modules in COMSOL, we examined the mechanism by which bacteria self-organize into a pearl chain across the gap between two electrodes via DEP. Our simulation results reveal that the region of greatest positive DEP force shifts from the electrode edge to the leading edge of the pearl chain, thus guiding the trajectories of free-flowing particles toward the leading edge via positive DEP. Our findings additionally highlight the mechanism why the free-flowing particles are more likely to join the existing pearl chain rather than starting a new pearl chain. This phenomenon is primarily due to the increase in magnitude of electric field gradient, and hence DEP force exerted, with the shortening gap between the pearl chain leading edge and the adjacent electrode. The findings shed light on the observed behavior of preferential pearl chain formation across electrode gaps.     

Electrophoresis and electric conduction in a salt-free suspension of charged particles

The electrophoresis and electric conduction of a suspension of charged spherical particles in a salt-free solution are analyzed by using a unit cell model. The linearized Poisson-Boltzmann equation (valid for the cases of relatively low surface charge density or high volume fraction of the particles) and Laplace equation are solved for the equilibrium electric potential profile and its perturbation caused by the imposed electric field, respectively, in the fluid containing the counterions only around the particle, and the ionic continuity equation and modified Stokes equations are solved for the electrochemical potential energy and fluid flow fields, respectively. Explicit analytical formulas for the electrophoretic mobility of the particles and effective electric conductivity of the suspension are obtained, and the particle interaction effects on these transport properties are significant and interesting. The scaled zeta potential, electrophoretic mobility, and effective electric conductivity increase monotonically with an increase in the scaled surface charge density of the particles and in general decrease with an increase in the particle volume fraction, keeping each other parameter unchanged. Under the Debye-Hückel approximation, the dependence of the electrophoretic mobility normalized with the surface charge density on the ratio of the particle radius to the Debye screening length and particle volume fraction in a salt-free suspension is same as that in a salt-containing suspension, but the variation of the effective electric conductivity with the particle volume fraction in a salt-free suspension is found to be quite different from that in a suspension containing added electrolyte.     

碱性介质中氢氧化反应电催化剂的开发:从机理认识到材料设计

阴离子交换膜(AEM)燃料电池因具有使用非贵金属作为催化剂的优点而受到广泛关注.然而,在碱性体系中,AEM燃料电池中氢氧化反应(HOR)的反应动力学比在酸性介质中的慢两个数量级.针对HOR在碱中动力学缓慢的问题,有两种主要的理论来解释,(1)pH相关的氢结合能作为主要影响因素来控制HOR动力学的理论;(2)质子和氢氧根离子的吸附共同作为影响因子来控制HOR在碱性条件下的动力学的双功能理论.本文首先讨论了在碱性电解质中可能的HOR反应机理及其Tafel性能变化.除了传统的Tafel-Volmer和Heyrovsky-Volmer-HOR机理外,还讨论了最新提出的氢氧根离子吸附参与的HOR机理来说明在酸性和碱性介质中HOR机理的差异.然后,总结了具有代表性的碱性HOR催化剂(如贵金属、合金、金属间化合物、镍基合金、碳化物、氮化物等),简要介绍了它们相应的HOR反应机理,从而进一步理解在碱性介质中不同基元反应步骤给HOR性能带来的差异.最后,提出了一种未来设计HOR碱性催化剂的可行性方案,为今后碱性环境下的HOR催化剂设计提供参考.     

Polymorphs of the Gadolinite-Type Borates ZrB2O5 and HfB2O5 Under Extreme Pressure

Based on the results from previous high-pressure experiments on the gadolinite-type mineral datolite, CaBSiO₄(OH), the behavior of the isostructural borates β-HfB₂O₅ and β-ZrB₂O₅ have been studied by synchrotron-based in situ high-pressure single-crystal X-ray diffraction experiments. On compression to 120 GPa, both borate layer-structures are preserved. Additionally, at ≈114 GPa, the formation of a second phase can be observed in both compounds. The new high-pressure modification γ-ZrB₂O₅ features a rearrangement of the corner-sharing BO₄ tetrahedra, while still maintaining the four- and eight-membered rings. The new phase γ-HfB₂O₅ contains ten-membered rings including the rare structural motif of edge-sharing BO₄ tetrahedra with exceptionally short B−O and B⋅⋅⋅B distances. For both structures, unusually high coordination numbers are found for the transition metal cations, with ninefold coordinated Hf⁴⁺, and tenfold coordinated Zr⁴⁺, respectively. These findings remarkably show the potential of cold compression as a low-energy pathway to discover metastable structures that exhibit new coordinations and structural motifs.     

在体酶生物燃料电池的研究进展

酶生物燃料电池(Enzymatic biofuel cells,EBFCs)具有高专一性和催化性能,可催化与氧化还原反应有关的燃料并获得电能.可用的生物燃料,如葡萄糖、乳酸和丙酮酸盐,可以从汗液、泪液和血液中提取,因而以体液为燃料的EBFCs在可植入式或可穿戴式设备中具有良好的应用前景.采用生物电催化机理对酶生物燃料电池在体液发电中的应用进行了研究,以及对可植入式或可穿戴式生物燃料电池的主要挑战和未来的前景进行了展望.     

服役温度对多壁碳纳米管/Li1.18Ni0.15Co0.15Mn0.52O2复合正极材料性能的影响

通过煅烧的方式制得多壁碳纳米管(MWCNT)质量分数为3%的MWCNT/Li1.18Ni0.15Co0.15Mn0.52O2锂离子电池复合正极材料,并测试了复合正极材料在不同服役温度环境下的电化学性能:-20和60℃下服役时,其放电容量分别高达169、303 mAh·g^-1,且展示出良好的倍率性能和循环稳定性。结合电化学阻抗测试结果可知,MWCNT均匀附着在层状粒子的表面,有效减少了电解液对电极材料的侵蚀,阻碍了表面膜的生成,同时提高了材料的电子电导率。