Corporate Board Attributes, Bank Audit Quality, Bank Performance and Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria

Nigeria Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) are the life wires of the Nigerian economy as their contribution to the development and growth cannot be overemphasized; This paper examines corporate board attributes (CBR), bank audit quality (BAQ), and bank performance and DMBs with the aid of an ex-post facto design and sample of listed DMBs as at 2019. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed in the analysis with the use of statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS, version 23.0). The study revealed that bank board size (BBS) has a negative but significant bank board composition (BBC) and Bank Chief Executive Officer Duality (CEOD) has a positive and significant impact on DMBs and concluded that the implications of CBR (BBC, BBS, and CEOD) are important indicators of BAQ in evaluating the performance of DMBs. One key recommendation was that the position of the CEO as the chairman of the board should be discouraged among DMBs, and the board size should be kept relatively large so as to reach board conclusions easily and fast, also, to enable and strengthen quality audit among DMBs. Keywords: Corporate Board, Audit Quality, Board Size, Board Composition, Chief, CEO Duality, performance, Deposit Money Banks DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/12-6-03 Publication date:March 31st 202

Performance and Stability Enhancement of Dye-Sensitized and Perovskite Solar Cells by Al Doping of TiO2

Reversible photo-induced performance deterioration is observed in mesoporous TiO2-containing devices in an inert environment. This phenomenon is correlated with the activation of deep trap sites due to astoichiometry of the metal oxide. Interestingly, in air, these defects can be passivated by oxygen adsorption. These results show that the doping of TiO2 with aluminium has a striking impact upon the density of sub-gap states and enhances the conductivity by orders of magnitude. Dye-sensitized and perovskite solar cells employing Al-doped TiO2 have increased device efficiencies and significantly enhanced operational device stability in inert atmospheres. This performance and stability enhancement is attributed to the substitutional incorporation of Al in the anatase lattice, "permanently" passivating electronic trap sites in the bulk and at the surface of the TiO2. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Towards Long-Term Photostability of Solid-State Dye Sensitized Solar Cells

The solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) was introduced to overcome inherent manufacturing and instability issues of the electrolyte-based DSSC and progress has been made to deliver high photovoltaic efficiencies at low cost. However, despite 15 years research and development, there still remains no clear demonstration of long-term stability. Here, solid-state DSSCs are subjected to the severe aging conditions of continuous illumination at an elevated temperature. A fast deterioration in performance is observed for devices encapsulated in the absence of oxygen. The photovoltaic performance recovers when re-exposed to air. This reversible behavior is attributed to three related processes: i) the creation of light and oxygen sensitive electronic shunting paths between TiO and the top metal electrode, ii) increased recombination at the TiO/organic interface, and iii) the creation of deep electron traps that reduce the photocurrent. The device deterioration is remedied by the formation of an insulating alumino-silicate shell around the TiO nanocrystals, which reduces interfacial recombination, and the introduction of an insulating mesoporous SiO buffer layer between the top electrode and TiO, which acts as a permanent insulating barrier between the TiO and the metal electrode, preventing shunting. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim