A Water-Stable Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Perovskite for Solar Cells by Inorganic Passivation

Organic-inorganic hybrid halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have been a trending topic in recent years. Significant progress has been made to increase their power conversion efficiency (PCE) to more than 20%. However, the poor stability of PSCs in both working and non-working conditions results in rapid degradation through multiple environmental erosions such as water, heat, and UV light. Attempts have been made to resolve the rapid-degradation problems, including formula changes, transport layer improvements, and encapsulations, but none of these have effectively resolved the dilemma. This paper reports our findings on adding inorganic films as surface-passivation layers on top of the hybrid perovskite materials, which not only enhance stability by eliminating weak sites but also prevent water penetration by using a water-stable layer. The surface-passivated hybrid perovskite layer indicates a slight increase of bandgap energy (Eg = 1.76 eV), compared to the original methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3, Eg = 1.61 eV) layer, allowing for more stable perovskite layer with a small sacrifice in the photoluminescence property, which represents a lower charge diffusion rate and higher bandgap energy. Our finding offers an alternative approach to resolving the low stability issue for PSC fabrication

Performance evaluation of two types of heated cables for distributed temperature sensing-based measurement of soil moisture content

Distributed temperature sensing (DTS) using heated cables has been recently developed for distributed monitoring of in-situ soil moisture content. In this method, the thermal and electrical properties of heated cables have a significant influence on the measurement accuracy of soil moisture content. In this paper, the performances of two heated cables, i.e. the carbon-fiber heated cable (CFHC) and the metal-net heated cable (MNHC), are studied in the laboratory. Their structures, uniformity in the axial direction, measurement accuracy and suitability are evaluated. The test results indicate that the MNHC has a better uniformity in the axial direction than CFHC. Both CFHC and MNHC have high measurement accuracy. The CFHC is more suitable for short-distance measurement (≤500 m), while the MNHC can be used for long-distance measurement (>500 m)

Application of Distributed Optical Fiber Sensing Technology in the Anomaly Detection of Shaft Lining in Grouting

The rupture of the shaft lining caused by grouting has seriously undermined the safety in coal mining. Based on BOTDR distributed optical fiber sensing technology, this paper studied the layout method of optical fiber sensors and the anomaly detection method of the deformation and obtained the evolution law of shaft deformation triggered by grouting. The research results showed that the bonding problem of optical fiber sensors in damp environment could be effectively solved, by applying the binder consisting of sodium silicate and cement. Through BOTDR-based deformation detection, the real-time deformation of the shaft lining caused by grouting was immediately spotted. By comparing the respective strain of shaft lining deformation and concrete deformation, the risk range of shaft lining grouting was identified. With the additional strain increment of the shaft lining triggered by each process of grouting, the saturated condition of grouting volume in strata was analyzed, providing an important technical insight into the field construction and the safety of the shaft lining

Single-cell transcriptome analysis reveals the regulatory effects of artesunate on splenic immune cells in polymicrobial sepsis

Sepsis is characterized by a severe and life-threatening host immune response to polymicrobial infection accompanied by organ dysfunction. Studies on the therapeutic effect and mechanism of immunomodulatory drugs on the sepsis-induced hyperinflammatory or immunosuppression states of various immune cells remain limited. This study aimed to investigate the protective effects and underlying mechanism of artesunate (ART) on the splenic microenvironment of cecal ligation and puncture-induced sepsis model mice using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and experimental validations. The scRNA-seq analysis revealed that ART inhibited the activation of pro-inflammatory macrophages recruited during sepsis. ART could restore neutrophils’ chemotaxis and immune function in the septic spleen. It inhibited the activation of T regulatory cells but promoted the cytotoxic function of natural killer cells during sepsis. ART also promoted the differentiation and activity of splenic B cells in mice with sepsis. These results indicated that ART could alleviate the inflammatory and/or immunosuppressive states of various immune cells involved in sepsis to balance the immune homeostasis within the host. Overall, this study provided a comprehensive investigation of the regulatory effect of ART on the splenic microenvironment in sepsis, thus contributing to the application of ART as adjunctive therapy for the clinical treatment of sepsis