Metal oxide electron transport materials for perovskite solar cells: a review

WOS:000607509500013Solar electricity is an unlimited source of sustainable fuels, yet the efficiency of solar cells is limited. The efficiency of perovskite solar cells improved from 3.9% to reach 25.5% in just a few years. Perovskite solar cells are actually viewed as promising by comparison with dye-sensitized solar cells, organic solar cells, and the traditional solar cells made of silicon, GaAs, copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS), and CdTe. Here, we review bare and doped metal oxide electron transport layers in the perovskite solar cells. Charge transfer layers have been found essential to control the performance of perovskite solar cells by tuning carrier extraction, transportation, and recombination. Both electron and hole transport layers should be used for charge separation and transport. TiO2 and 2,2′,7,7′-Tetrakis[N,N-di(4-methoxyphenyl)amino]-9,9′-spirobifluorene are considered as the best electron and hole transport layers. Metal oxide materials, either bare or doped with different metals, are stable, cheap, and effective

Retraction: Neodymium and Praseodymium Doped Perovskite Materials for Highly Stable CuInS2-Hole-Transport Layer-Based Perovskite Solar Cells(Energy Technol., (2023), 11, (2100936))

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.“Neodymium and Praseodymium Doped Perovskite Materials for Highly Stable CuInS2-Hole-Transport Layer-Based Perovskite Solar Cells”. by R. Taheri-Ledari, S. Gharibi, A. Maleki, S. Akin, and A.E. Shalan. Energy Technol., 2022, 2100936. The above article, published online on 15 December 2021 in Wiley Online Library, has been retracted by agreement between the former journal Editor in Chief John Uhlrich, the interim Editor in Chief Till von Graberg, and Wiley-VCH GmbH. Data irregularities in Figures 2b and 5b were pointed out by authors S. Akin, A. E. Shalan and corroborated by peer review from a specialist in the experimental technique. The authors were unable to provide the complete original data to restore confidence in these results. The retraction was necessary as the validity of the conclusions is substantially affected by these irregularities. While S.A. and A.E.S. agreed with the decision to retract the manuscript, R.T.L., A.M., and S.G. did not. Author contributions:. R.T.L: Wrote the manuscript and interpreted the analyses. He has also drawn the graphics used in the manuscript. S.G: Performed all practical stages and provided the analyses. A.M: Managed all stages of the work, and financially supported the expenditures (Supervisor). S.A: Revised the manuscript and addressed the reviewers' comments. A.E.S: Edited the manuscript and improved the English presentation.R.T.‐L. and S.G. contributed equally to this work. The authors greatly appreciate partial support from the Iran University of Science & Technology (IUST). The authors also appreciate the worthy accompaniment of Fateme Sadat Qazi and Amir Kashtiaray from the Chemistry Department of IUST. A.E.S. is grateful to the National Research grants from MINECO, Spain, “Juan de la Cierva” [FJCI‐2018‐037717]. S.A. thanks the Turkish Science Academy Young Scientist Awards Programme (BAGEP)

Neodymium and praseodymium doped perovskite materials for highly stable CuInS2-hole-transport layer-based perovskite solar cells

WOS:000739892000001Organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite (PSK) technology is a new class of solar cells which have attracted great attention due to the rapid progress in photovoltaic performance and ease of processing pathways. Herein, a novel method for the enhancement of the photovoltaic and photoelectric properties of the triple-cation Cs/MA/FA PSK layer is presented. For this purpose, two lanthanide ions, including praseodymium (Pr3+) and neodymium (Nd3+), are prepared in nanoscale and incorporated into the PSK structure as B-site dopants, which results in an improved crystallinity, prolonged charge-recombination process, and increased light harvesting while yielding higher efficiency. Moreover, inorganic copper indium sulfide (CuInS2) hole-transport layer is used instead of the high cost and organic spiro-OMeTAD to reduce production costs and enhance the device stability of PSK photovoltaics. Ultimately, a notable efficiency of 15.75% with a significant short-circuit current density of 24.54 mA cm−2 is achieved by the utilization of PSK + Pr layer in a large-scale (1.4 × 1.4 cm2) perovskite solar cell. More importantly, the devices maintain 94.3% of their initial performance for 10 day/night cycles under ambient conditions

Highly porous copper-supported magnetic nanocatalysts: made of volcanic pumice textured by cellulose and applied for the reduction of nitrobenzene derivatives

Publisher Copyright: © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2021.Herein, a novel designed heterogeneous catalytic system constructed of volcanic pumice magnetic particles (VPMPs), cellulose (CLS) as a natural polymeric matrix, and copper nanoparticles (Cu NPs) is presented. Also, to enhance the inherent magnetic property of VPMP, iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles have been prepared and incorporated in the structureviaanin situprocess. As its first and foremost excellent property, the designed composite is in great accordance with green chemistry principles because it contains natural ingredients. Another brilliant point in the architecture of the designed composite is the noticeable porosity of VPMP as the core of the composite structure (surface area: 84.473 m2g−1). This great porosity leads to the use of a small amount (0.05 g) of the particles for catalytic purposes. However, the main characterization methods, such as Fourier-transform infrared and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and electron microscopy, revealed that the spherical metallic particles (Fe and Cu oxides) were successfully distributed onto the surface of the VPMP and CLS matrices. Further, vibrating-sample magnetometer analysis confirmed the enhancement of the magnetic property (1.5 emu g−1) of the composite through the addition of Fe3O4nanoparticles. Further, the prepared (Fe3O4@VPMP/CLS-Cu) nanocomposite has been applied to facilitate the reduction reaction of hazardous nitrobenzene derivatives (NBDs) to their aniline analogs, with 98% conversion efficiency in eight minutes under mild conditions. Moreover, the good reusability of the catalytic system has been verified after recycling it ten times without any significant decrease in the performance.The authors gratefully acknowledge the partial support from the Research Council of the Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST). Furthermore, AES thanks the National Research grants from MINECO, Spain, “Juan de la Cierva” [FJCI-2018-037717]. Also, the authors appreciate the kind accompaniment of Mr Seyed Masoud Seyed Ali Routeh from IAUSR.Peer reviewe

Silver-assisted reduction of nitroarenes by an Ag-embedded curcumin/melamine-functionalized magnetic nanocatalyst

Abstract In the current study, we introduce a hybrid magnetic nanocomposite comprised of curcumin (Cur), iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4 MNPs), melamine linker (Mel), and silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs). Initially, a facile in situ route is administrated for preparing the Fe3O4@Cur/Mel-Ag effectual magnetic catalytic system. In addition, the advanced catalytic performance of the nanocomposite to reduce the nitrobenzene (NB) derivatives as hazardous chemical substances were assessed. Nevertheless, a high reaction yield of 98% has been achieved in short reaction times 10 min. Moreover, the Fe3O4@Cur/Mel-Ag magnetic nanocomposite was conveniently collected by an external magnet and recycled 5 times without a noticeable diminish in catalytic performance. Therefore, the prepared magnetic nanocomposite is a privileged substance for NB derivatives reduction since it achieved notable catalytic activity