Recent Progress of All‐Bromide Inorganic Perovskite Solar Cells

Inorganic perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have attracted enormous attention during the past 5 years. Many advanced strategies and techniques have been developed for fabricating inorganic PSCs with improved efficiency and stability to realize commercial applications. CsPbBr3 is one of the representative materials of inorganic perovskites and has demonstrated excellent stability against thermal and high humidity environmental conditions. The power conversion efficiency of CsPbBr3-based PSCs has increased significantly from 5.95% in 2015 to 10.91%, and the storage stability under moisture (approximate to 80% relative humidity) and heat (approximate to 80 degrees C) is more than 2000 h. The outstanding performance of CsPbBr3 PSCs shows great potential in light-to-electricity conversion applications. In this review, recent developments of CsPbBr3-based PSCs including the physico-chemical as well as optoelectronic properties, processing techniques for fabricating CsPbBr3 films, derivative phase structures, efficiency, and stability of devices are reviewed and discussed. Finally, the challenges and outlook of CsPbBr3 PSCs for future research directions are outlined

Long-life lithium-sulfur batteries with high areal capacity based on coaxial CNTs@TiN-TiO2 sponge

Rational design of heterostructures opens up new opportunities as an ideal catalyst system for lithium polysulfides conversion in lithium-sulfur battery. However, its traditional fabrication process is complex, which makes it difficult to reasonably control the content and distribution of each component. In this work, to rationally design the heterostructure, the atomic layer deposition is utilized to hybridize the TiO2-TiN heterostructure with the three-dimensional carbon nanotube sponge. Through optimizing the deposited thickness of TiO2 and TiN layers and adopting the annealing post-treatment, the derived coaxial sponge with uniform TiN-TiO2 heterostructure exhibits the best catalytic ability. The corresponding lithium-sulfur battery shows enhanced electrochemical performance with high specific capacity of 1289 mAh g(-1) at 1C and capacity retention of 85% after 500 cycles at 2C. Furthermore, benefiting from the highly porous structure and interconnected conductive pathways from the sponge, its areal capacity reaches up to 21.5 mAh cm(-2). It is challenging to optimize catalytic heterostructures for lithium sulfur (Li-S) batteries. Here, authors prepare nanometer-scale TiN-TiO2 heterostructures via atomic layer deposition on carbon nanotube sponge to realize stable Li-S batteries with high areal capacity and improved rate capability

2D Derivative Phase Induced Growth of 3D All Inorganic Perovskite Micro–Nanowire Array Based Photodetectors

A large number of derivative phases in inorganic perovskites are reported with special structures and extraordinary performances in photoelectronic device applications. The reverse phase transition between derivative phases and perovskites usually induces recrystallization or forms mixed components. In this work, derivative phase‐induced growth of the CsPbBr₃ micro–nanowire (MW) array by utilizing phase transition of the 2D CsPb₂Br₅ phase is reported. Owing to its layered structure and phase transition, annealing of CsPb₂Br₅ at a temperature of 550℃ combined with solvent quenching leads to a templating effect to form a high‐quality CsBr MW array. Subsequent PbBr₂ deposition and the second annealing are employed to form aligned CsPbBr₃ MW arrays. Based on this method, a CsPbBr₃ MW array‐based photodetector is fabricated. The large grain size, less grain boundaries, and lower surface potential of the CsPbBr₃ MW array lead to high device performance with a responsivity of 7.66 A W⁻¹, a detectivity of ≈10¹² Jones, and long‐term operational stability over 1900 min

Holistic Strategies Lead to Enhanced Efficiency and Stability of Hybrid Chemical Vapor Deposition Based Perovskite Solar Cells and Modules

Hybrid chemical vapor deposition (HCVD) is a promising method for the up-scalable fabrication of perovskite solar cells/modules (PSCs/PSMs). However, the efficiency of the HCVD-based perovskite solar cells still lags behind the solution-processed PSCs/PSMs. In this work, the oxygen loss of the electron transport layer of SnO2 in the HCVD process and its negative impact on solar cell device performance are revealed. As the counter-measure, potassium sulfamate (H2KNO3S) is introduced as the passivation layer to both mitigate the oxygen loss issue of SnO2 and passivate the uncoordinated Pb2+ in the perovskite film. In parallel, N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) is used as the solvent to dissolve PbI2 by forming the intermediate phase of PbI2•NMP, which can greatly lower the energy barrier for perovskite nucleation in the HCVD process. The perovskite seed is employed to further modulate the kinetics of perovskite crystal growth and improve the grain size. The resultant solar cells yield a champion power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 21.98% (0.09 cm2) with a stable output performance of 21.15%, and the PCEs of the mini-modules are 16.16% (22.4 cm2, stable output performance of 14.72%) and 12.12% (91.8 cm2). Furthermore, the unencapsulated small area device shows an outstanding operational stability with a T80 lifetime exceeding 4000 h.journal articl

Tumor-associated microglia and macrophages in glioblastoma: From basic insights to therapeutic opportunities

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and malignant primary brain tumor in adults. Currently, the standard treatment of glioblastoma includes surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. Despite aggressive treatment, the median survival is only 15 months. GBM progression and therapeutic resistance are the results of the complex interactions between tumor cells and tumor microenvironment (TME). TME consists of several different cell types, such as stromal cells, endothelial cells and immune cells. Although GBM has the immunologically “cold” characteristic with very little lymphocyte infiltration, the TME of GBM can contain more than 30% of tumor-associated microglia and macrophages (TAMs). TAMs can release cytokines and growth factors to promote tumor proliferation, survival and metastasis progression as well as inhibit the function of immune cells. Thus, TAMs are logical therapeutic targets for GBM. In this review, we discussed the characteristics and functions of the TAMs and evaluated the state of the art of TAMs-targeting strategies in GBM. This review helps to understand how TAMs promote GBM progression and summarizes the present therapeutic interventions to target TAMs. It will possibly pave the way for new immune therapeutic avenues for GBM patients

The Effect of Decomposed PbI2 on Microscopic Mechanisms of Scattering in CH3NH3PbI3 Films

Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites (HOIPs) exhibit long electronic carrier diffusion length, high optical absorption coefficient, and impressive photovoltaic device performance. At the core of any optoelectronic device lie the charge transport properties, especially the microscopic mechanism of scattering, which must efficiently affect the device function. In this work, CH3NH3PbI3 (MAPbI(3)) films were fabricated by a vapor solution reaction method. Temperature-dependent Hall measurements were introduced to investigate the scattering mechanism in MAPbI(3) films. Two kinds of temperature-mobility behaviors were identified in different thermal treatment MAPbI(3) films, indicating different scattering mechanisms during the charge transport process in films. We found that the scattering mechanisms in MAPbI(3) films were mainly influenced by the decomposed PbI2 components, which could be easily generated at the perovskite grain boundaries (GBs) by releasing the organic species after annealing at a proper temperature. The passivation effects of PbI2 in MAPbI(3) films were investigated and further discussed with emphasis on the scattering mechanism in the charge transport process

A Versatile Surface Bioengineering Strategy Based on Mussel-Inspired and Bioclickable Peptide Mimic

In this work, we present a versatile surface engineering strategy by the combination of mussel adhesive peptide mimicking and bioorthogonal click chemistry. The main idea reflected in this work derived from a novel mussel-inspired peptide mimic with a bioclickable azide group (i.e., DOPA4-azide). Similar to the adhesion mechanism of the mussel foot protein (i.e., covalent/noncovalent comediated surface adhesion), the bioinspired and bioclickable peptide mimic DOPA4-azide enables stable binding on a broad range of materials, such as metallic, inorganic, and organic polymer substrates. In addition to the material universality, the azide residues of DOPA4-azide are also capable of a specific conjugation of dibenzylcyclooctyne- (DBCO-) modified bioactive ligands through bioorthogonal click reaction in a second step. To demonstrate the applicability of this strategy for diversified biofunctionalization, we bioorthogonally conjugated several typical bioactive molecules with DBCO functionalization on different substrates to fabricate functional surfaces which fulfil essential requirements of biomedically used implants. For instance, antibiofouling, antibacterial, and antithrombogenic properties could be easily applied to the relevant biomaterial surfaces, by grafting antifouling polymer, antibacterial peptide, and NO-generating catalyst, respectively. Overall, the novel surface bioengineering strategy has shown broad applicability for both the types of substrate materials and the expected biofunctionalities. Conceivably, the “clean” molecular modification of bioorthogonal chemistry and the universality of mussel-inspired surface adhesion may synergically provide a versatile surface bioengineering strategy for a wide range of biomedical materials

Interface engineering strategies towards Cs2AgBiBr6 single-crystalline photodetectors with good Ohmic contact behaviours

Lead-free double perovskite materials have attracted much interest for optoelectronic applications due to their nontoxicity and high stability. In this work, centimetre-sized Cs2AgBiBr6 single crystals were successfully grown using methylammonium bromide (MABr) as the flux by a top-seeded solution growth (TSSG) method. The low-temperature crystal structure of Cs2AgBiBr6 single crystals was determined and refined. To investigate the interface problems between Cs2AgBiBr6 single crystals and electrodes, the optical band gap, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS) measurements were performed on Cs2AgBiBr6 single crystals. More importantly, we investigated the photodetectors based on Cs2AgBiBr6 single crystals with different contact electrodes (Au, Ag, and Al). It is found that a good Ohmic contact with Ag electrodes enables excellent photo-response behaviors. Furthermore, we studied the photodetectors based on Cs2AgBiBr6 single crystals using Ag electrodes under room and low temperature conditions, which underwent phase transition. Cs2AgBiBr6 single crystal photodetectors show clear differences at room and low temperatures, which is caused by the work function changes of Cs2AgBiBr6 single crystals induced by the reversible phase transition. These attractive properties may enable opportunities to apply emerging double perovskite single-crystalline materials for high-performance optoelectronic devices

Inverse Growth of Large-Grain-Size and Stable Inorganic Perovskite Micronanowire Photodetectors

Control of forward and inverse reactions between perovskites and precursor materials is key to attaining high-quality perovskite materials. Many techniques focus on synthesizing nanostructured CsPbX3 materials (e.g., nanowires) via a forward reaction (CsX + PbX2 → CsPbX3). However, low solubility of inorganic perovskites and complex phase transition make it difficult to realize the precise control of composition and length of nanowires using the conventional forward approach. Herein, we report the self-assembly inverse growth of CsPbBr3 micronanowires (MWs) (CsPb2Br5 → CsPbBr3 + PbBr2↑) by controlling phase transition from CsPb2Br5 to CsPbBr3. The two-dimensional (2D) structure of CsPb2Br5 serves as nucleation sites to induce initial CsPbBr3 MW growth. Also, phase transition allows crystal rearrangement and slows down crystal growth, which facilitates the MW growth of CsPbBr3 crystals along the 2D planes of CsPb2Br5. A CsPbBr3 MW photodetector constructed based on the inverse growth shows a high responsivity of 6.44 A W–1 and detectivity of ∼1012 Jones. Large grain size, high crystallinity, and large thickness can effectively alleviate decomposition/degradation of perovskites, which leads to storage stability for over 60 days in humid environment (relative humidity = 45%) and operational stability for over 3000 min under illumination (wavelength = 400 nm, light intensity = 20.06 mW cm–2)

Phase transition induced recrystallization and low surface potential barrier leading to 10.91%-efficient CsPbBr3 perovskite solar cells

High efficiency and long-term stability are vital for further development of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). PSCs based on cesium lead halide perovskites exhibit better stability but lower power conversion efficiencies (PCEs), compared with organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites. Lower PCE is likely associated with trap defects, overgrowth of partial crystals and irreversible phase transition in the films. Here we introduce a strategy to fabricate high-efficiency CsPbBr3-based PSCs by controlling the ratio of CsBr and PbBr2 to form the perovskite derivative phases (CsPb2Br5/Cs4PbBr6) via a vapor growth method. Following post-annealing, the perovskite derivative phases as nucleation sites transform to the pure CsPbBr3 phase accompanied by crystal rearrangements and retard rapid recrystallization of perovskite grains. This growth procedure induced by phase transition not only makes the grain size of perovskite films more uniform, but also lowers the surface potential barrier that existsbetween the crystals and grain boundaries. Owing to the improved film quality, a PCE of 10.91% was achieved for n-i-p structured PSCs with silver electrodes, and a PCE of 9.86% for hole-transport-layer-free devices with carbon electrodes. Moreover, the carbon electrode-based devices exhibited excellent long-term stability and retained 80% of the initial efficiency in ambient air for more than 2000 h without any encapsulation