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Sodium (Na) doping is a well-established technique employed in chalcopyrite and kesterite solar cells. While various improvements can be achieved in crystalline quality, electrical properties, or defect passivation of the absorber materials by incorporating Na, a comprehensive demonstration of the desired Na distribution in CZTSSe is still lacking. Herein, a straightforward Na doping approach by dissolving NaCl into the CZTS precursor solution is proposed. It is demonstrated that a favorable Na ion distribution should comprise a precisely controlled Na + concentration at the front surface and an enhanced distribution within the bottom region of the absorber layer. These findings demonstrated that Na ions play several positive roles within the device, leading to an overall power conversion efficiency of 12.51%., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Background: Patients with chronic liver disease were found nearly all to have liver fibrosis, which is characterized by excess accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins. While ECM accumulation can prevent liver infection and injury, it can destroy normal liver function and architecture. miRNA's own regulation was involved in DNA methylation change. The purpose of this study is to detect DNA methylation landscape of miRNAs genes in mice liver fibrosis tissues., Methods: Male mice (10-12 weeks) were injected CCl 4 from abdominal cavity to induced liver fibrosis. 850 K BeadChips were used to examine DNA methylation change in whole genome. The methylation change of 16 CpG dinucleotides located in promoter regions of 4 miRNA genes were detected by bisulfite sequencing polymerase chain reaction (BSP) to verify chip data accuracy, and these 4 miRNA genes' expressions were detected by RT-qPCR methods., Results: There are 769 differential methylation sites (DMS) in total between fibrotic liver tissue and normal mice liver tissue, which were related with 148 different miRNA genes. Chips array data were confirmed by bisulfite sequencing polymerase chain reaction (R = 0.953; P < 0.01). GO analysis of the target genes of 2 miRNA revealed that protein binding, cytoplasm and chromatin binding activity were commonly enriched; KEGG pathway enrichment analysis displayed that TGF-beta signaling pathway was commonly enriched., Conclusion: The DNA of 148 miRNA genes was found to have methylation change in liver fibrosis tissue. These discoveries in miRNA genes are beneficial to future miRNA function research in liver fibrosis., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Photovoltaic thin film solar cells based on kesterite Cu 2 ZnSn(S, Se) 4 (CZTSSe) have reached 13.8% sunlight-to-electricity conversion efficiency. However, this efficiency is still far from the Shockley-Queisser radiative limit and is hindered by the significant deficit in open circuit voltage (V OC ). The presence of high-density interface states between the absorber layer and buffer or window layer leads to the recombination of photogenerated carriers, thereby reducing effective carrier collection. To tackle this issue, a new window structure ZnO/AgNW/ZnO/AgNW (ZAZA) comprising layers of ZnO and silver nanowires (AgNWs) is proposed. This structure offers a simple and low-damage processing method, resulting in improved optoelectronic properties and junction quality. The ZAZA-based devices exhibit enhanced V OC due to the higher built-in voltage (V bi ) and reduced interface recombination compared to the usual indium tin oxide (ITO) based structures. Additionally, improved carrier collection is demonstrated as a result of the shortened collection paths and the more uniform carrier lifetime distribution. These advances enable the fabrication of the first ITO-free CZTSSe solar cells with over 10% efficiency without an anti-reflective coating., (© 2023 The Authors. Small published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Eutectogels derived from deep eutectic solvents (DESs) exhibit great potential for the fabrication of flexible sensors. However, the hygroscopicity of eutectogels hinders their applications in underwater sensing. In this work, a hydrophobic eutectogel with exceptional long-term underwater stability is produced through one-step polymerization of lauryl methacrylate and glycidyl methacrylate in a hydrophobic DES. The hydrophobic gel network and hydrophobic DES fulfill the eutectogel with outstanding water resistance (water contact angle > 110°) and excellent mechanical properties in an aqueous environment, thus leading to extraordinary durability (over 1000 testing cycles). Additionally, based on this eutectogel, underwater strain and pressure sensors with high sensitivity, rapid responsiveness, and superior durability were fabricated for accurate real-time monitoring of human activity. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that the eutectogel sensor can transmit information through Morse code, performing as a wearable underwater communicator. This research provides an exemplary way for a demonstration method of hydrophobic eutectogel for durable underwater applications., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

It is widely recognized that designing a special micro/nanostructure of microwave absorption materials for enhancing interface polarization benefits dielectric loss capability. In this work, a facile charge-driven self-assembly strategy is reported to prepare wrinkled reduced graphene oxide wrapped polymer-derived carbon (CS@rGO) microspheres. Noticeably, the unique three-dimensional (3D) multi-interface structure imparts CS@rGO microspheres with promoted microwave absorption capability. Adjusting the charge-driven self-assembly cycle times, the dielectric properties and impedance matching characteristics of the CS@rGO microspheres can be optimized. The minimum reflection loss (RL min ) of the sample can reach up to -55.24 dB at 13.75 GHz and the effective absorption bandwidth (RL ≤ -10 dB) is 4.30 GHz (11.55-15.85 GHz) at only a thickness of 1.85 mm. This research provides a pathway to explore the high-performance microwave absorber through the construction of the unique 3D multi-interface structure., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Coal gasification fine slag (CFS) is a solid contaminant produced by an entrained flow gasifier, which pollutes fields and the air in the long term. CFS is a potential polymer reinforcement filler and has been used in polypropylene and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene resins. Coal gasification fine slag mesoporous silica (FS-SiO 2 ) was prepared by acid leaching, calcination, and pH adjustment, with a larger specific surface area and less surface hydroxyl compared to the commercial precipitated silica (P-silica). The cure characteristics, crosslink density, mechanical properties, the morphology of the tensile fractures, dynamic mechanics, and rubber processing of the prepared styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) composites filled with P-silica and FS-SiO 2 were analyzed, respectively. The results indicated that FS-SiO 2 was dispersed more uniformly in the SBR matrix than P-silica owing to its smaller amount of surface hydroxyl and spherical structure, resulting in a better mechanical performance and wet skid resistance. In particular, the SBR composites with a filler pH of 6.3 exhibited the highest crosslink density and tensile strength, being superior to commercial P-silica. Significantly, the curing time decreased with the increase in the pH of FS-SiO 2 , which caused the rubber processing to be more efficient. This strategy can reduce the cost of rubber composites and the environmental pollution caused by CFS.

One-dimensional shape memory polymer fibers (SMPFs) have obvious advantages in mechanical properties, dispersion properties, and weavability. In this work, a method for fabricating semi-crystallization ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) fiber with two-way shape memory effect by melt spinning and ultraviolet (UV) curing was developed. Here, the effect of crosslink density on its performance was systematically analyzed by gel fraction measurement, tensile tests, DSC, and TMA analysis. The results showed that the crosslink density and shape memory properties of EVA fiber could be facilely adjusted by controlling UV curing time. The resulting EVA fiber with cylindrical structure had a diameter of 261.86 ± 13.07 μm, and its mechanical strength and elongation at break were 64.46 MPa and 114.33%, respectively. The critical impact of the crosslink density and applied constant stress on the two-way shape memory effect were analyzed. Moreover, the single EVA fiber could lift more than 143 times its own weight and achieve 9% reversible actuation strain. The reversible actuation capability was significantly enhanced by a simple winding design of the single EVA fiber, which provided great potential applications in smart textiles, flexible actuators, and artificial muscles.