Chromatic Titanium Photoanode for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells under Rear Illumination

Titanium (Ti) has high potential in many practical applications such as biomedicine, architecture, aviation, and energy. In this study, we demonstrate an innovative application of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on Ti photoanodes that can be integrated into the roof engineering of large-scale architectures. A chromatic Ti foil produced by anodizing oxidation (coloring) technology is an attractive roof material for large-scale architecture, showing a colorful appearance due to the formation of a reflective TiO₂ thin layer on both surfaces of Ti. The DSSC is fabricated on the backside of the chromatic Ti foil using the Ti foil as the working electrode, and this roof–DSSC hybrid configuration can be designed as an energy harvesting device for indoor artificial lighting. Our results show that the facet-textured TiO₂ layer on the chromatic Ti foil not only improves the optical reflectance for better light utilization but also effectively suppresses the charge recombination for better electron collection. The power conversion efficiency of the roof–DSSC hybrid system is improved by 30–40% with a main contribution from an improvement of short-circuit current density under standard 1 sun and dim-light (600–1000 lx) illumination

Void-free interface between In and high-impurity Cu joint

The effect of impurities in the Cu film on the void formation at the interface of the Sn-rich solder joint has been extensively studied. However, this has rarely been studied for In solder joints. In this study, Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (SAC305) and In-solder/ Cu films with high impurities were aged at 150 °C to analyze the films at various aging times. A metastable CuIn2 phase appeared and transformed into a stable Cu11In9 phase. Noticeable voids and cracks were observed at the SAC305/Cu interface during the solid-state aging. In contrast, there was a void-free interface between In and Cu-CP. This was primarily due to the difference in diffusion behaviour between In/Cu and SAC305/Cu. The mechanism of the above phenomenon was revealed.</p

Silatrane-Based Molecular Nanolayers as Efficient Diffusion Barriers for Cu/SiO₂/Si Heterojunctions: Implications for Integrated Circuit Manufacturing

With the rapid development of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and high-frequency communications, advanced subnanometer chips with a high-performance computing ability have received worldwide attention. The success of subnanometer chips relies on ultrafine pitch integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing technology and “more than Moore” three-dimensional (3D) IC packaging technology. Copper (Cu) is a key conducting material used to fabricate planar and through-silicon-via Cu/SiO2/Si heterojunctions in 3D IC packaging architectures. The construction of an ultrathin diffusion barrier with a high film uniformity and adhesion strength at various Cu/SiO2/Si heterojunctions is an imperative and challenging task. In this study, we demonstrate that a molecule-based nanolayer assembled from amine-terminated silatrane is a promising diffusion barrier for blocking active atomic diffusion of Cu to Si. The breakdown temperature at which Cu silicides are formed at heterojunctions is taken as an indicator of the efficacy of the molecule-based diffusion barriers. Due to their superior structural stabilities and intermolecular networking abilities, silatranes can assemble into denser and more organized molecular nanolayers than commercially available amine-terminated silanes. Benefiting from the well-organized network structure, the silatrane-based barrier increased the breakdown temperature to 500 °C, which was greater than those seen without a barrier (400 °C) or with silane-based (450 °C) barriers

Partially Neutralizing Potency against Emerging Genotype I Virus among Children Received Formalin-Inactivated Japanese Encephalitis Virus Vaccine

<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Genotype I (GI) Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) that replaced GIII virus has become the dominant circulating virus in Asia. Currently, all registered live and inactivated JEV vaccines are derived from genotype III viruses. In Taiwan, the compulsory JEV vaccination policy recommends that children receives four doses of formalin-inactivated Nakayama (GIII) JEV vaccine.</p> <h3>Methodology/Principal Findings</h3><p>To evaluate the influence of genotype replacement on the post-vaccination viral neutralizing ability by GIII and GI viruses, the small panel of vaccinated-children serum specimens was assembled, and the reciprocal 50% plaque-reduction neutralizing antibody titers (PRNT₅₀) were measured against Nakayama vaccine strain, CJN GIII human brain isolate and TC2009-1 GI mosquito isolate. The seropositivity rate (PRNT₅₀≥1∶10) and geometric mean titers (GMT) against the TC2009-1 virus were the lowest among the three viruses. The protective threshold against the CJN and TC2009-1 viruses could only be achieved when the GMT against Nakayama virus was ≥1∶20 or ≥1∶80, respectively. Using undiluted vaccinees' sera, the enhancement of JEV infection in K562 cells was observed in some low or non-neutralizing serum specimens.</p> <h3>Conclusions/Significance</h3><p>Our preliminary study has shown that neutralizing antibodies, elicited by the mouse brain-derived and formalin-inactivated JEV Nakayama vaccine among a limited number of vaccinees, have reduced neutralizing capacity against circulating GI virus, but more detailed studies are needed to address the potential impact on the future vaccine policy.</p> </div

Strain-specific protection threshold of inactivated Nakayama Japanese encephalitis virus vaccine.

<p>Strain-specific protection threshold of inactivated Nakayama Japanese encephalitis virus vaccine.</p

Effects of children's undiluted serum samples on viral yield of GI JEV from K562 cells.

<p>The magnitude of enhancement of viral yield is calculated as follows: Log₁₀ (serum-treated viral titer/untreated viral titer). The K562 cells infected with labeled samples C86, TC36, B19, D7, D15, 113, I5 and I6, were subjected to infection rate analysis by flow cytometry (<a href="http://www.plosntds.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001834#pntd-0001834-g004" target="_blank">Figure 4</a>).</p

Functions of Self-Assembled Ultrafine TiO₂ Nanocrystals for High Efficient Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

In this paper, we demonstrate a simple approach of self-assembled process to form a very smooth and compacted TiO₂ underlayer film from ultrafine titanium oxide (TiO₂) nanocrystals with dimension of 4 nm for improving the electrical properties and device performances of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Because the TiO₂ film self-assembles by simply casting the TiO₂ on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate, it can save a lot of materials in the process. As compared with control DSSC without the self-assembled TiO₂ (SA-TiO₂) layer, short-circuit current density (<i>J</i>_sc) improves from 14.9 mA/cm² for control DSSC to 17.3 mA/cm² for masked DSSC with the SA-TiO₂ layer. With the very smooth SA-TiO₂ layer, the power conversion efficiency is enhanced from 8.22% (control) to 9.35% for the DSSCs with mask and from 9.79% (control) to 11.87% for the DSSCs without mask. To explain the improvement, we have studied the optical properties, morphology, and workfunction of the SA-TiO₂ layer on FTO substrate as well as the impedance spectrum of DSSCs. Importantly, we find that the SA-TiO₂ layers have better morphology, uniformity, and contact with FTO electrode, increased workfunction and optical transmission, as well as reduced charge recombination at the contact of FTO substrate contributing to the improved device performances. Consequently, our results show that the simple self-assembly of TiO₂ ultrafine nanocrystals forms a very good electron extraction layer with both improved optical and electrical properties for enhancing performances of DSSCs

Patterns of ADE in K562 cells infected by virus treated with serum samples.

<p>The virus control is GI TC2009-1 virus-infected K562 cells in the absence of serum samples. The ADE of TC2009-1 virus in K562 cells by using 1∶100 diluted 4G2 monoclonal antibody as a positive ADE control and the serum samples collected from vaccinated children including C86, TC36, B19, I6, 113, D7, D15, and I5. The K562 cells were collected, stained with mouse anti-JEV HIAF, and analyzed for infection rate by flow cytometry.</p

Geometric mean titers (GMT) of strain-specific neutralizing antibody against vaccine and field-isolated genotype III and I viruses among serum samples collected from children immunized with inactivated JEV Nakayama vaccine.

1<p>Boldface indicates titers significantly different (P<.05) from those for Nakayama virus by pairwise comparisons.</p

Structural locations of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) envelope (E) protein variations.

<p>Amino acid variations between the Nakayama vaccine strain and the GIII brain-isolated CJN strain are indicated in blue, and variations between the Nakayama vaccine strain and the GI field-isolated TC2009-1 strain are indicated in both blue and red.</p