High-Performance Photodetectors Based on Single All-Inorganic CsPbBr₃ Perovskite Microwire

In recent years, hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites have emerged as promising photosensing materials for next-generation solution-processed photodetectors, achieving high responsivity, fast speed, and large linear dynamic range. In particular, perovskite photoresistors possess low-cost fabrication and easy integration with low dimensional structures. However, a relatively large dark current is still limiting the further development of perovskite photoresistors. Herein, we introduce full-inorganic perovskite polycrystalline microwires for high-performance photodetection, in order to enhance the device stability. Furthermore, dark current and noise can be effectively suppressed by tuning the contacts. All-inorganic CsPbBr₃ microwires with a number of nanocrystals on the wire surface are prepared by a simple, low-cost, two-step, solution-processed method at room temperature. Photodetectors based on this CsPbBr₃ polycrystalline single microwire are assembled on indium tin oxide electrodes and demonstrate a decent responsivity up to 118 A/W and a fast response within 40 ms. In addition, such optimized photoresistors possess a fairly tiny dark current and noise, which result in an improved detectivity of >10¹² Jones and demonstrate excellent characteristics to detect weak light

Perovskite Solar Cells Based on Low-Temperature Processed Indium Oxide Electron Selective Layers

Indium oxide (In₂O₃) as a promising n-type semiconductor material has been widely employed in optoelectronic applications. In this work, we applied low-temperature solution-processed In₂O₃ nanocrystalline film as an electron selective layer (ESL) in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) for the first time. By taking advantages of good optical and electrical properties of In₂O₃ such as high mobility, wide band gap, and high transmittance, we obtained In₂O₃-based PSCs with a good efficiency exceeding 13% after optimizing the concentration of the precursor solution and the annealing temperature. Furthermore, to enhance the performance of the In₂O₃-based PSCs, a phenyl-C₆₁-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) layer was introduced to modify the surface of the In₂O₃ film. The PCBM film could fill up the pinholes or cracks along In₂O₃ grain boundaries to passivate the defects and make the ESL extremely compact and uniform, which is conducive to suppressing the charge recombination. As a result, the efficiency of the In₂O₃-based PSC was improved to 14.83% accompanied with <i>V</i>_OC, <i>J</i>_SC, and FF being 1.08 V, 20.06 mA cm^–2, and 0.685, respectively

RNA Interference against ATP as a Gene Therapy Approach for Prostate Cancer

Chemotherapeutic agents targeting energy metabolism have not achieved satisfactory results in different types of tumors. Herein, we developed an RNA interference (RNAi) method against adenosine triphosphate (ATP) by constructing an interfering plasmid-expressing ATP-binding RNA aptamer, which notably inhibited the growth of prostate cancer cells through diminishing the availability of cytoplasmic ATP and impairing the homeostasis of energy metabolism, and both glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation were suppressed after RNAi treatment. Further identifying the mechanism underlying the effects of ATP aptamer, we surprisingly found that it markedly reduced the activity of membrane ionic channels and membrane potential which led to the dysfunction of mitochondria, such as the decrease of mitochondrial number, reduction in the respiration rate, and decline of mitochondrial membrane potential and ATP production. Meanwhile, the shortage of ATP impeded the formation of lamellipodia that are essential for the movement of cells, consequently resulting in a significant reduction of cell migration. Both the downregulation of the phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and endoplasmic reticulum kinase (ERK) and diminishing of lamellipodium formation led to cell apoptosis as well as the inhibition of angiogenesis and invasion. In conclusion, as the first RNAi modality targeting the blocking of ATP consumption, the present method can disturb the respiratory chain and ATP pool, which provides a novel regime for tumor therapies.