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Solid-state transistor sensors that can detect biomolecules in real time are highly attractive for emerging bioanalytical applications. However, combining upscalable manufacturing with the required performance remains challenging. Here, an alternative biosensor transistor concept is developed, which relies on a solution-processed In 2 O 3 /ZnO semiconducting heterojunction featuring a geometrically engineered tri-channel architecture for the rapid, real-time detection of important biomolecules. The sensor combines a high electron mobility channel, attributed to the electronic properties of the In 2 O 3 /ZnO heterointerface, in close proximity to a sensing surface featuring tethered analyte receptors. The unusual tri-channel design enables strong coupling between the buried electron channel and electrostatic perturbations occurring during receptor-analyte interactions allowing for robust, real-time detection of biomolecules down to attomolar (am) concentrations. The experimental findings are corroborated by extensive device simulations, highlighting the unique advantages of the heterojunction tri-channel design. By functionalizing the surface of the geometrically engineered channel with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibody receptors, real-time detection of the SARS-CoV-2 spike S1 protein down to am concentrations is demonstrated in under 2 min in physiological relevant conditions., (© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Molecular doping is often used in organic semiconductors to tune their (opto)electronic properties. Despite its versatility, however, its application in organic photovoltaics (OPVs) remains limited and restricted to p-type dopants. In an effort to control the charge transport within the bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) of OPVs, the n-type dopant benzyl viologen (BV) is incorporated in a BHJ composed of the donor polymer PM6 and the small-molecule acceptor IT-4F. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the cells is found to increase from 13.2% to 14.4% upon addition of 0.004 wt% BV. Analysis of the photoactive materials and devices reveals that BV acts simultaneously as n-type dopant and microstructure modifier for the BHJ. Under optimal BV concentrations, these synergistic effects result in balanced hole and electron mobilities, higher absorption coefficients and increased charge-carrier density within the BHJ, while significantly extending the cells' shelf-lifetime. The n-type doping strategy is applied to five additional BHJ systems, for which similarly remarkable performance improvements are obtained. OPVs of particular interest are based on the ternary PM6:Y6:PC 71 BM:BV(0.004 wt%) blend for which a maximum PCE of 17.1%, is obtained. The effectiveness of the n-doping strategy highlights electron transport in NFA-based OPVs as being a key issue., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2020 The Authors. Published by WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

The application of liquid-exfoliated 2D transition metal disulfides (TMDs) as the hole transport layers (HTLs) in nonfullerene-based organic solar cells is reported. It is shown that solution processing of few-layer WS 2 or MoS 2 suspensions directly onto transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes changes their work function without the need for any further treatment. HTLs comprising WS 2 are found to exhibit higher uniformity on ITO than those of MoS 2 and consistently yield solar cells with superior power conversion efficiency (PCE), improved fill factor (FF), enhanced short-circuit current (J SC ), and lower series resistance than devices based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) and MoS 2 . Cells based on the ternary bulk-heterojunction PBDB-T-2F:Y6:PC 71 BM with WS 2 as the HTL exhibit the highest PCE of 17%, with an FF of 78%, open-circuit voltage of 0.84 V, and a J SC of 26 mA cm -2 . Analysis of the cells' optical and carrier recombination characteristics indicates that the enhanced performance is most likely attributed to a combination of favorable photonic structure and reduced bimolecular recombination losses in WS 2 -based cells. The achieved PCE is the highest reported to date for organic solar cells comprised of 2D charge transport interlayers and highlights the potential of TMDs as inexpensive HTLs for high-efficiency organic photovoltaics., (© 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Fullerenes and their derivatives are widely used as electron acceptors in bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells as they combine high electron mobility with good solubility and miscibility with relevant semiconducting polymers. However, studies on the use of fullerenes as the sole photogeneration and charge-carrier material are scarce. Here, a new type of solution-processed small-molecule solar cell based on the two most commonly used methanofullerenes, namely [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PC 60 BM) and [6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC 70 BM), as the light absorbing materials, is reported. First, it is shown that both fullerene derivatives exhibit excellent ambipolar charge transport with balanced hole and electron mobilities. When the two derivatives are spin-coated over the wide bandgap p-type semiconductor copper (I) thiocyanate (CuSCN), cells with power conversion efficiency (PCE) of ≈1%, are obtained. Blending the CuSCN with PC 70 BM is shown to increase the performance further yielding cells with an open-circuit voltage of ≈0.93 V and a PCE of 5.4%. Microstructural analysis reveals that the key to this success is the spontaneous formation of a unique mesostructured p-n-like heterointerface between CuSCN and PC 70 BM. The findings pave the way to an exciting new class of single photoactive material based solar cells.