Trends in Aluminium-Based Intercalation Batteries

Over the last decade, optimizing energy storage has become significantly important in the field of energy conversion and sustainability. As a result of immense progress in the field, cost‐effective and high performance batteries are imperative to meeting the future demand of sustainability. Currently, the best performing batteries are lithium‐ion based, but limited lithium (Li) resources make research into alternatives essential. In recent years, the performance of aluminium‐ion batteries has improved remarkably in all battery‐relevant metrics, which renders them a promising alternative. Compared with monovalent Li‐ion batteries, aluminium (Al) cations can carry three positive charges, which could result in higher energy densities. This review describes recent developments in Al‐based cathode materials. The major goal of this review is to highlight strengths and weaknesses of various different approaches and provide guidelines for future research

Ambient Fabrication of Organic–Inorganic Hybrid Perovskite Solar Cells

Organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have attracted significant attention in recent years due to their high‐power conversion efficiency, simple fabrication, and low material cost. However, due to their high sensitivity to moisture and oxygen, high efficiency PSCs are mainly constructed in an inert environment. This has led to significant concerns associated with the long‐term stability and manufacturing costs, which are some of the major limitations for the commercialization of this cutting‐edge technology. Over the past few years, excellent progress in fabricating PSCs in ambient conditions has been made. These advancements have drawn considerable research interest in the photovoltaic community and shown great promise for the successful commercialization of efficient and stable PSCs. In this review, after providing an overview to the influence of an ambient fabrication environment on perovskite films, recent advances in fabricating efficient and stable PSCs in ambient conditions are discussed. Along with discussing the underlying challenges and limitations, the most appropriate strategies to fabricate efficient PSCs under ambient conditions are summarized along with multiple roadmaps to assist in the future development of this technology

Evaluation of the BET Theory for the Characterization of Meso and Microporous MOFs

Surface area determination with the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method is a widely used characterization technique for metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). Since these materials are highly porous, the use of the BET theory can be problematic. Several researchers have evaluated the BET method to gain insights into the usefulness of the obtained results and interestingly, their findings are not always consistent. In this review, the suitability of the BET method is discussed for MOFs that have a diverse range of pore widths below the diameters of N2 or Ar and above 20 Å. In addition, the surface area of MOFs that are obtained by implementing different approaches, such as grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations, calculations from the crystal structures or based on experimental N2, Ar, or CO2 adsorption isotherms, are compared and evaluated. Inconsistencies in the state‐of‐the‐art are also noted. Based on the current literature, an overview is provided of how the BET method can give useful estimations of the surface areas for the majority of MOFs, but there are some crucial and specific exceptions which are highlighted in this review

Ambient fabrication of organic-inorganic hybrid Perovskite solar cells

Organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have attracted significant attention in recent years due to their high‐power conversion efficiency, simple fabrication, and low material cost. However, due to their high sensitivity to moisture and oxygen, high efficiency PSCs are mainly constructed in an inert environment. This has led to significant concerns associated with the long‐term stability and manufacturing costs, which are some of the major limitations for the commercialization of this cutting‐edge technology. Over the past few years, excellent progress in fabricating PSCs in ambient conditions has been made. These advancements have drawn considerable research interest in the photovoltaic community and shown great promise for the successful commercialization of efficient and stable PSCs. In this review, after providing an overview to the influence of an ambient fabrication environment on perovskite films, recent advances in fabricating efficient and stable PSCs in ambient conditions are discussed. Along with discussing the underlying challenges and limitations, the most appropriate strategies to fabricate efficient PSCs under ambient conditions are summarized along with multiple roadmaps to assist in the future development of this technology

Influence of Lithium and Lanthanum Treatment on TiO2 Nanofibers and Their Application in n-i-p Solar Cells

The addition of cations to TiO2 photoelectrodes is routinely accepted as a route to enhance the performance of conventional n‐i‐p solar cells. However, this is typically achieved in multiple steps or by the incorporation of expensive and hydroscopic cationic precursors such as lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide. In addition, it is often unclear as to whether the incorporation of such cation sources is inducing “doping” or simply transformed into cationic oxides on the surface of the photoelectrodes. In this study, TiO2 nanofibers were produced through a simple electrospinning technique and modified by introducing lithium and lanthanum precursors in one step. Our results show that the addition of both cations caused minimal substitutional or interstitial doping of TiO2. Brunauer‐Emmett‐Teller measurements showed that lanthanum‐treated TiO2 nanofibers had an increase in surface area, which even exceeded that of TiO2 P25 nanoparticles. Finally, treated and untreated TiO2 nanofibers were used in n‐i‐p solar cells. Photovoltaic characteristics revealed that lanthanum treatment was beneficial, whereas lithium treatment was found to be detrimental to the device performance for both dye‐sensitized and perovskite solar cells. The results discuss new fundamental understandings for two of the commonly incorporated cationic dopants in TiO2 photoelectrodes, lithium and lanthanum, and present a significant step forward in advancing the field of materials chemistry for photovoltaics

CuInS2 Quantum Dot and Polydimethylsiloxane Nanocomposites for All-Optical Ultrasound and Photoacoustic Imaging

Dual-modality imaging employing complementary modalities, such as all-optical ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging, is emerging as a well-suited technique for guiding minimally invasive surgical procedures. Quantum dots are a promising material for use in these dual-modality imaging devices as they can provide wavelength-selective optical absorption. The first quantum dot nanocomposite engineered for co-registered laser-generated ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging is presented. The nanocomposites developed, comprising CuInS2 quantum dots and medical-grade polydimethylsiloxane (CIS-PDMS), are applied onto the distal ends of miniature optical fibers. The films exhibit wavelength-selective optical properties, with high optical absorption (> 90%) at 532 nm for ultrasound generation, and low optical absorption (< 5%) at near-infrared wavelengths greater than 700 nm. Under pulsed laser irradiation, the CIS-PDMS films generate ultrasound with pressures exceeding 3.5 MPa, with a corresponding bandwidth of 18 MHz. An ultrasound transducer is fabricated by pairing the coated optical fiber with a Fabry–Pérot (FP) fiber optic sensor. The wavelength-selective nature of the film is exploited to enable co-registered all-optical ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging of an ink-filled tube phantom. This work demonstrates the potential for quantum dots as wavelength-selective absorbers for all-optical ultrasound generation

Z boson production in Pb+Pb collisions at √Snn = 5.02 TeV measured by the ATLAS experiment

The production yield of Z bosons is measured in the electron and muon decay channels in Pb+Pb collisions at √S = 5.02 TeV with the ATLAS detector. Data from the 2015 LHC run corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 0.49 nb are used for the analysis. The Z boson yield, normalised by the total number of minimum-bias events and the mean nuclear thickness function, is measured as a function of dilepton rapidity and event centrality. The measurements in Pb+Pb collisions are compared with similar measurements made in proton-proton collisions at the same centre-of-mass energy. The nuclear modification factor is found to be consistent with unity for all centrality intervals. The results are compared with theoretical predictions obtained at next-to-leading order using nucleon and nuclear parton distribution functions. The normalised Z boson yields in Pb+Pb collisions lie 1-3σ above the predictions. The nuclear modification factor measured as a function of rapidity agrees with unity and is consistent with a next-to-leading-order QCD calculation including the isospin effect. nn -