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A nanostructured spiro-OMeTAD can be fabricated via nanoimprint soft lithography and realizes back-side nanostructured perovskite quantum dot solar cells showing improved photovoltaic performance due to the enhanced light absorption and photocurrent.

Here, we proposed an eco-friendly synthetic method for synthesizing hybrid composites with ultralow dielectric properties at high frequencies up to 28 GHz for true 5G communication from aqueous aromatic polyimide (PI) polymers and dual-porous silica nanoparticles (DPS). The "one-step" water-based emulsion template method was used to synthesize the macroporous silica nanoparticles (MPS). A substantially negative ζ potential was produced along the surface of MPS by the poly(vinylpyrrolidone)-based chemical functionalization, enabling excellent aqueous dispersion stability. The water-soluble poly(amic acid) (PAA), as a precursor to PI, was also "one-step" polymerized in an aqueous solution. The MPS were dispersed in a water-soluble PAA matrix to create the hybrid composite films using an entirely water-based approach. The compatibility between the PAA matrix and MPS was elucidated by investigating relatively diverse end-terminated PAAs (with either amine or carboxyl group). It was also discovered that, during a thermally activated imidization reaction, the MPS are in situ converted into the DPS with macro- and microporous structures (with a surface area of 1522.4 m

Herein, we examine the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells containing five D-π-A organic dyes designed by systematic modification of π-bridge size and geometric structure. Each dye has a simple push-pull structure with a triarylamino group as an electron donor, bithiophene-4,4-dimethyl-4H-cyclopenta[1,2-b:5,4-b’]dithiophene (M11), 4,4-dimethyl-4H-cyclopenta[1,2-b:5,4-b’]dithiophene-thiophene (M12), thiophene-4,4-dimethyl-4H-cyclopenta[1,2-b:5,4-b’]dithiophene (M13), 4,4-dimethyl-4H-cyclopenta[1,2-b:5,4-b’]dithiophene-benzene (M14), and 4,4-dimethyl-4H-cyclopenta[1,2-b:5,4-b’]dithiophene (M15) units as π-bridges, and cyanoacrylic acid as an electron acceptor/anchor. The extension of the π-bridge linkage favors wide-range absorption but, because of the concomitant molecular volume increase, hinders the efficient adsorption of dyes on the TiO2 film surface. Hence, higher loadings are achieved for smaller dye molecules, resulting in (i) a shift of the TiO2 conduction band edge to more negative values, (ii) a greater photocurrent, and (iii) suppressed charge recombination between the photoanode and the redox couple in the electrolyte. Consequently, under one-sun equivalent illumination (AM 1.5 G, 100 mW/cm2), the highest photovoltage, photocurrent, and conversion efficiency (η = 7.19%) are observed for M15, which has the smallest molecular volume among M series dyes.

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are at the forefront of metal-free electrocatalysts, however, the performance is still limited due to lack of functionality and dispersion. Coupling of MWCNTs with nitrogen doped carbon quantum dots (NCQDs) can impart the required active sites and dispersion. For the purpose, NCQDs are generally attached to MWCNTs by multistep processing, such as NCQDs synthesis, followed by their complex purification, surface activation, and crosslinking with MWCNT. The scalability of such a multistep process is limited, which is addressed by direct microwave-assisted growth of NCQDs on MWCNT. The concentration of reactants of NCQDs synthesis was optimized (with respect to MWCNTs), to achieve controlled direct growth of NCQDs on MWCNTs. The proposed strategy significantly reduced time and energy consumption, along with providing an overlapped interface for the fast charge transfer. Moreover, NCQDs' growth effectively modulated the surface reactivity and internal band structure of the MWCNTs. In response, dye-sensitized solar cells employing NCQDs modified MWCNT as a counter electrode showed 50% higher photovoltaic performance as compared to bare MWCNTs.

Complex electrolyte diffusion through the stacked graphene nanosheets limits their electrochemical performance. As a potential solution, this study explored the potential of nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots (NGQDs) to induce 3D porous orientation of holey graphene oxide (hGO) nanosheets. The sizes of NGQDs and antisolvent for phase separation assisted assembly were optimized to achieve a 3D nanoporous network. This nano-network serves as a soft template for the porous orientation of hGO, forming a 3D hierarchically porous carbon architecture. Benefiting from the porosity of the 3D framework, π-π restacking was radically avoided, providing high electrolyte transport rates. In addition, doped nitrogen and J-type aggregation of NGQDs effectively tuned the band structure to realize charge transfer at low overpotential. The enhanced electrocatalytic activity and exceptionally low charge transfer resistance of the composite structure were attributed to the enhanced electrode/electrolyte interface and multidimensional charge & electrolyte transport. Porous composite structure based counter electrode showed 78% enhanced photovoltaic performance (compared to unmodified graphene) in the dye-sensitized solar cell, which is comparable to the performance of Pt electrode. The proposed 3D porous orientation can be utilized in emerging electrocatalytic applications, such as supercapacitors, water splitting, and battery electrodes.

Surface passivation with organic materials is one of the most effective and popular strategies to improve the stability and efficiency of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, the secondary bonding formed between organic molecules and perovskite layers is still not strong enough to protect the perovskite absorber from degradation initialized by oxygen and water attacking at defects. Recently, passivation with inorganic materials has gradually been favored by researchers due to the effectiveness of chemical and mechanical passivation. Lead-containing substances, alkali metal halides, transition elements, oxides, hydrophobic substances, etc. have already been applied to the surface and interfacial passivation of PSCs. These inorganic substances mainly manipulate the nucleation and crystallization process of perovskite absorbers by chemically passivating defects along grain boundaries and surface or forming a mechanically protective layer simultaneously to prevent the penetration of moisture and oxygen, thereby improving the stability and efficiency of the PSCs. Herein, we mainly summarize inorganic passivating materials and their individual passivation principles and methods. Finally, this review offers a personal perspective for future research trends in the development of passivation strategies through inorganic materials.

To reduce the size of optoelectronic devices, it is essential to understand the crystal size effect on the carrier transport through microscale materials. Here, we show a soft contact method to probe the properties of irregularly shaped microscale perovskite crystals by employing a movable liquid metal electrode to form a self-adaptative deformable electrode-perovskite-electrode junction. Accordingly, we demonstrate that (1) the photocurrents of perovskite quantum dot films and microplatelets show profound differences regarding both the on/off ratio and the response time upon light illumination; and (2) small-size perovskite (

Advances in surface chemistry and manipulation of CsPbI3 perovskite quantum dots (PQDs) have enabled the replacement of native long-chain ligands with short-chain ligands, leading to their photovol...

We synthesised cesium lead bromide and formamidinium lead bromide perovskite colloidal nanocrystals by ligand-assisted reprecipitation method for the wide-colour gamut low-cost displays. The prepared perovskite colloidal nanocrystal solutions were formulated into the ink-jet printable homogeneous inks and uniformly coated as the colour conversion layers of the quantum dot organic light-emitting diode displays. The silica capped CsPbBr3 nanocrystals were very stable in high temperature observation while the FAPbBr3 showed the excellent long-term stability at room temperature even without the silica passivation. The ink-jet printed colour conversion films had very narrow full-width-at-half-maximums of around 20 nm and high photoluminescence quantum yields of 73.0% and 76.9%, respectively. Particularly, the FAPbBr3 thin film had an excellent cut-off ratio of blue emission and exhibited external quantum efficiency of 5.39% when fabricated as the hybrid display devices.

A highly self-healable polymeric system with enhanced mechanical properties is prepared by blending conventional polyurethane (PU) with functional polyimide (PI). PU and PI synthesized in this stud...

In quest of finding a sustainable solution for metal-free counter electrode materials, reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is emerged as the best alternative due to its intrinsic high electrocatalytic activity. However, owing to its two-dimensional sheets like structure, there is re-stacking of rGO sheets, which reduces exposed surface area and hinders in electrolyte diffusion. To avoid these issues, activated charcoal (AC) is explored as an active spacer material between rGO sheets, for the first time. By loading an optimum concentration of AC in rGO, a high porosity, high conductivity, and high concentration of active sites were gathered in the single composite structure. Such synchronized features of the proposed composite were utilized for Pt-free counter electrode application in dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSc). The composite structure showed high electrocatalytic activity, with a low charge transfer resistance of 0.7 Ω, which is far lower than Pt and rGO (8.5 Ω and 7.5 Ω). The DSSc fabricated with optimized composite showed power conversion efficiency of 8.6%, compared to Pt-based DSSc with 7.9% efficiency. Additionally, the potential of the electrode was also tested for the electro-photocatalytic (99%) degradation of methylene blue dye from water, in 60 min. The proposed highly efficient nanocomposite structure possesses the highest efficiency as compared to other previously studied rGO based counter-electrodes.

MXene has been considered as a promising two-dimensional material for supercapacitors owing to its large surface area, high conductivity, and excellent cycling stability. However, its low specific capacitance restricts its extensive applications. Therefore, to address the issue, we homogeneously deposited NiCo2S4 nanoflakes on the surface of MXene on conductive nickel foam (denoted as MXene-NiCo2S4@NF), which was used as a composite binder-free electrode for supercapacitor applications. The NiCo2S4 nanoflakes increased the surface area of the composite electrode, thereby increasing its specific capacity from 106.34 C g−1 to 596.69 C g−1 at 1 A g−1. Compared to the pristine MXene, MXene-NiCo2S4@NF maintained the high retention rate of pristine MXene and exhibited excellent cycling stability with 80.4% of its initial specific capacity after 3000 cycles. The composite electrode exhibited improved electrochemical performance for supercapacitors, owing to the combined merits of NiCo2S4 (high specific capacity) and MXene (high retention rate and good cycling stability. The fabricated asymmetric solid-state supercapacitor using MXene-NiCo2S4 as a positive electrode and active carbon as a negative electrode, exhibited an energy density of 27.24 Wh kg−1 at 0.48 kW kg−1 of power density.

Thin-film solar cells have attracted worldwide attention due to their high efficiency and low cost. Antimony selenide (Sb2Se3) is a promising light absorption material candidate for thin-film solar cells due to its suitable band gap, abundance, low toxicity, and high chemical stability. Herein, we fabricate an Sb2Se3 thin film solar cell using a simple hydrazine solution process. By controlling the thickness of the photoactive layer and inserting a poly(3-hexylthiophene) hole-transporting layer, an Sb2Se3 solar cell with a power conversion efficiency of 2.45% was achieved.

In recent years, successful manufacturing activities such as managing production efficiency, managing yields and responding to changes in demand are becoming more difficult as boundary breakdown among manufacturing application systems accelerates. To solve this problem, the importance of manufacturing information management and control is increasing, and the establishment of manufacturing application IT systems is becoming necessary. To match the speed of technological development centered on the 4th Industrial Revolution, smart factories in manufacturing industries are being introduced without methods for linking them with existing operating systems. In other words, to apply various manufacturing application systems to manufacturing sites, customizations that reflect different production processes, reference information, and site requirements are required by industry and company. Solving the problems of matching individual interfaces is required for compatibility with other manufacturing application systems. In this paper, a manufacturing data integration schema was established as a collaborative tool to secure consistency in the meaning of data and to enhance the reuse of different data models among manufacturing application systems such as Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Manufacturing Execution System(MES) and Enterprise Resource Planning(ERP).

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) counter electrode (CE) is considered one of the most viable alternatives to Pt CE in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) owing to its abundance, low cost, and superior electrocatalytic activity. However, mostly, MoS2 CEs for DSSCs are prepared by conventional chemical reactions and annealing at a high temperature. By these conventional processes, deposition of sufficiently thin and transparent MoS2 layers is challenging; therefore, bifacial DSSCs employing transparent MoS2 CEs have not been studied. Here, we report transparent few-nanometer-thick MoS2 CEs prepared by atomic layer deposition at a relatively low temperature (98 °C) for bifacial DSSC applications. MoS2 nanofilms with precisely controlled thicknesses of 3–16 nm are conformally coated on transparent conducting oxide glass substrates. With increase in the MoS2 nanofilm thickness, the MoS2 CE electrocatalytic activity for the iodide/triiodide redox couple enhances, but its transparency decreases. Notably, the application of a thinner MoS2 nanofilm in a bifacial DSSC leads to lower conversion efficiency under front-illumination, but higher conversion efficiency under back-illumination. In particular, only the 3 nm-thick MoS2 nanofilm shows reasonable photovoltaic performances under both front- and back-illumination conditions.

Nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots (NGQDs) are a diverse organic catalyst, competitive with other metallic catalysts due to their low cost, high stability, biocompatibility, and eco-friendliness. Highly functional multi-edge surfaces of NGQDs play a key role in imparting superb photocatalytic and electrocatalytic activity. However, when coating NGQDs by conventional techniques, such surfaces are not exposed for catalysis, due to the unwanted overlap of NGQDs sheets. To avoid this issue, here we propose a facile technique to orient NGQDs in a three-dimensional (3D) self-assembled foam-like structure, over reduced graphene oxide coated woven carbon fabric. This 3D assembled structure provides highly exposed active surfaces, which are readily available for catalytic reactions: however, in the conventional uniformly coated NGQDs layer, catalytic activity was limited by complex diffusion. The superb catalytic activity of the assembled NGQDs was utilized for the degradation of organic pollutant (methylene blue dye) from water. Additionally, the proposed electrode revealed much higher electrocatalytic activity than the rare Pt catalyst, owing to the easy diffusion of electrolyte and fast quenching of charges through the porous structure. The assembled NGQDs showed 50% higher photocatalytic degradation compared to uniformly coated NGQDs, which was further accelerated (50%) by application of the biased potential of 2 V; i.e. photo-electrocatalysis. The novel photo-electrocatalytic electrode offers high conductivity, stability, and flexibility, which make this complete carbon electrode highly attractive for other catalytic applications such as fuel cells, supercapacitors, and water splitting.

In this study, we demonstrate the simultaneous use of carbon quantum dots and organic dyes as highly emissive luminescent material in high performance tandem luminescent solar concentrator (LSC). The top LSC layer is based on carbon quantum dots (CQDs), while the bottom one is based on organic dye. The role of forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) is demonstrated in organic dyes in a bottom LSC. Moreover, the CQDs layer which has the capability to harvest ultraviolet (UV) and near-UV photons acts as a protective layer to improve the photo-stability of the organic dyes contained in bottom waveguide. The electrical measurements showed that the optical conversion efficiency (ηopt) and power conversion efficiency (ηPCE) of CQDs based single LSC are 5.62% and 1.03% respectively. While, ηopt, and ηPCE the dye-LSC are 13.42% and 2.72% respectively. However, in the tandem LSC, overall ηopt and ηPCE are 16.32% and 3.2% respectively. Our results showed that tandem structured CQDs and dye based luminescent solar concentrators make the practical use of LSCs more feasible because of the unique properties such as good photostability and high efficiency.

Since the first report on solid-state perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with 9.7% efficiency and 500-h long-term stability in 2012, PSCs have achieved an amazing power-conversion efficiency (PCE) of 24.2%, exceeding the PCEs of multi-crystalline Si (22.3%), thin-film crystalline Si (21.2%), copper indium gallium selenide (22.6%), and CdTe-based thin-film SCs (22.1%), and are suitable for transforming into flexible solar cells based on plastic substrates. The light weight and flexibility of flexible-PSCs (F-PSCs) allows their use in niche applications such as portable electric chargers, electronic textiles, large-scale industrial roofing, and power sources for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). However, the F-PSCs always exhibit inferior efficiency compared to rigid PSCs, i.e., champion-cell efficiency of F-PSCs is 19.11%, which is apparently lower than that of rigid cells. Also, the world-best module efficiency for rigid perovskite module is 17.18% (30 cm2) higher than that for flexible perovskite module efficiency, 15.22% (30 cm2). Moreover, the F-PSCs have not shown better long-term stability in comparison with rigid PSCs. In this review paper, we investigate fundamental challenges of F-PSCs regarding relatively low efficiency and stability and demonstrate the recent efforts to overcome big hurdles. Also, current attempts for the commercialization of F-PSCs are introduced.

Utilizing ultraviolet light by using Energy Down Shift (EDS) of quantum dots is a recent approach to efficiently utilize a broader spectrum of light, for energy harvesting. Other than higher efficiency, EDS is highly promising for increasing the stability of Dye-Sensitized Solar cells (DSSC); as it decreases the UV degradation of the cell. Previously, heavy metals-based (Cadmium etc) quantum dots are used for the purpose, which are not only toxic but also have less stability and have complicated synthesis methods. To overcome these issues, a thin coating of green emissive Nitrogen-doped Carbon Quantum Dots (N-CQDs) on DSSC, as a stable and efficient EDS layer is proposed here. N-CQDs were synthesized by a scalable, green and facile one-pot hydrothermal pyrolysis of citric acid in presence of nitrogen source, with a production yield of 65%, and quantum yield of 70%. The readily dispersible and highly stable colloid of N-CQDs was coated on the device, and with an optimized thickness, the power conversion efficiency was increased by 10%. This increase was further confirmed by external quantum efficiency (EQE) test, i.e. N-CQDs coated device showed EQE enhancement majorly in the UV spectrum and enhanced stability in UV light was recorded. The transmittance of FTO-glass was increased due to EDS and it also has an antireflection effect, which intern produces a small increase in EQE in the visible spectrum.

Recently, scalable perovskite fabrication techniques for large, uniform, and highly crystalline perovskite layers have been developed by controlling the crystal chemistry of perovskite precursors. ...

Nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots (N-GQDs) are emerging electroactive and visible light active organic photocatalysts, known for their high stability, catalytic activity and biocompatibility. The edge surfaces of N-GQDs are highly active, however, when N-GQDs make the film the edges are not fully exposed for catalysis. To avoid this issue, the N-GQDs are shaped to branched leaf shape, with an extended network of voids, offering highly active surfaces (edge) exposed for electrocatalytic and photocatalytic activity. The nitrogen doping causes a decrease in the bandgap of N-GQDs, thus enabling them to be superb visible light photocatalyst, for degradation of Methylene blue dye from water. Photoluminescence results confirmed that by a synergistic combination of the highly conductive substrate; Carbon fabric coated graphene sheets (CF-rGO) the recombination of photogenerated excitons is significantly suppressed, hence enabling their efficient utilization for catalysis. Comparatively, uniformly coated N-GQDs showed 49.3% lower photocatalytic activity, owing to their hidden active sites. The degradation was further boosted by 30% by combining the electrocatalytic activity, i.e. electro-photocatalysis of the proposed electrode. The proposed electrode material was analyzed using TEM, FE-SEM, FTIR, AFM, and WA-XRD, whereas the stability of electrode was confirmed by TGA, tensile test, bending test, and in harsh chemical environments. The proposed photo-electrocatalyst electrode is binder-free, stable, flexible and highly conductive, which makes the electrode quite suitable for flexible catalytic devices like flexible solar cells and wearable supercapacitors.

Charge-transport materials for use in highly efficient and stable perovskite solar cells (PSCs) must exhibit energy levels appropriate for high charge selectivity, sufficiently high charge-transport ability for efficient charge collection, and high humidity resistance for long-term device stability. Polythiophenes are a promising class of hole-transport layer (HTL) materials that could satisfy these requirements. However, PSCs fabricated using conventional poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) HTLs show limited efficiencies of

A thin TiO2 layer is introduced by atomic layer deposition (ALD) onto the surface of TiO2 host-particles at low-temperature, which serves as binding layer to enhance the interconnection of TiO2 host-nanoparticles of photoelectrode or adhesion of photoelectrode with substrate. The power conversion efficiency of 4.63%, corresponding to 50% enhancement compared with 3.09% of reference cell, is achieved from ALD-treated cell. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy confirms the reduced internal resistance and much longer electron lifetime in ALD-treated cell. These results suggest that ALD technique can be used as an effective and precise technique to construct efficient dye-sensitized solar cells at low-temperature.

Vertically-aligned TiO2 nanotube (NT) arrays prepared by electrochemical anodization are considered promising alternatives to the conventional nanoparticle (NP)-based electrodes for photovoltaic devices. Recently, such NT arrays have been employed in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) by transferring them onto NP-based electrodes, to obtain multi-layered nanoelectrodes. Here, we comparatively evaluate the photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical properties of TiO2 NP-only electrodes and multi-layered electrodes comprising NP and NT arrays at the same thickness of 15 μm. Although the multi-layered electrodes have a smaller surface area compared to the NP-only electrodes, they show much higher transmittance. In addition, impedance studies reveal that the multi-layered electrodes have lower charge recombination with the electrolyte as well as enhanced electrolyte diffusion when applied as a photoanode in DSSCs. As a result, the multi-layered electrodes exhibit a photovoltaic conversion efficiency (η = 5.37%) comparable to that of the NP-only electrodes (η = 5.80%), despite 36.6% lower dye loading.

The effects of water-containing I−/I3− liquid electrolytes on the photovoltaic performance and long-term stability of ruthenium based complex Z907 dye was examined in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Despite of high water content up to 60 vol% in organic solvent-based liquid electrolyte, the photovoltaic properties and long-term stability measured under the standard global (G) air-mass (AM) 1.5 solar irradiation were not significantly affected. The underlying correlation between the effects of water and the photovoltaic performances were identified by UV–visible spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. We investigated the long-term stability of performance for DSSCs in conjunction with I−/I3− redox electrolytes in different water compositions. The findings revealed that the competitive photovoltaic performance and long-term stability of water-containing DSSCs mainly depends on the hydrophobicity of dye as well as the transport phenomena of I3− throughout the electrolytes. The water-based DSSCs proposed herein are free from water permeation issues and these results will provide great insight into the development of less expensive and more environmental friendly DSSCs.

A functional polyurethane based on the heterocyclic group was synthesized and its self-healing and mechanical properties were examined. To synthesize a heterocyclic polyurethane, a polyol and a heterocyclic compound with di-hydroxyl groups at both ends were blended and the blended solution was reacted with a crosslinker containing multiple isocyanate groups. The heterocyclic polyurethane demonstrates better self-healing efficiency than the conventional polyurethane with no heterocyclic groups. Furthermore, unlike the conventional self-healing materials, the heterocyclic polyurethane examined in this study shows an outstanding recovery of the mechanical properties after the self-healing process. These results are attributed to the unique supramolecular network resulting from the strong hydrogen bonding interaction between the urethane group and the heterocyclic group in the heterocyclic polyurethane matrix.

Enhancing the efficiency of the crystalline silicon solar cell (c-Si SC) by coating the energy shifting layer with quantum dots (QDs) is a recent approach to efficiently utilize the high-energy spectrum of light. Carbon QDs are an attractive candidate for such applications; however, a small Stokes shift and nonuniform coating due to high aggregation are the bottlenecks to fully utilize their potential. For this purpose, here, we propose a layer-by-layer self-assembled uniform coating of eco-friendly red-emissive hollow nitrogen-doped carbon QDs (NR-CQDs) as an efficient energy-down-shifting layer. A unique hollow and conjugated structure of NR-CQDs was designed to achieve a large Stokes shift (UV-excited red emission) with a quantum yield (QY) comparable to Cd/Pb QDs. A highly uniform coating of intrinsically negatively charged NR-CQDs on c-Si SCs was achieved by cationizing the c-Si SC by bovine serum albumin (BSA) under mildly acidic conditions. By an opposite-charge-assisted, self-assembled overlayer, the short-circuit current density (

Among the various renewable sources of energy, solar energy conversion systems have been regarded as a promising way to satisfy the growing energy demand. For superior solar energy conversion performance, it is important to utilize efficient photosensitizers that have excellent light-harvesting capability. In this regard, quantum dots (QDs) are promising photosensitizer candidates owing to their high absorption coefficient, band gap tunability, and potential multiple exciton generation. Here, we report an effective and straightforward approach to improve the loadings of nanocomposite PbS/CdS QDs in a mesoporous electrode, for highly efficient solar energy conversion. By controlling the surface charge of TiO2 during the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction process, both the PbS and CdS QD loadings are distinctly increased, leading to a highly enhanced light-harvesting capability of the photoelectrodes. This enhancement is effectively applied not only for solar-to-electrical but also for solar-to-chemical energy conversion, resulting in a ∼33% increased conversion efficiency of the QD solar cells and an unprecedented photocurrent of 22.1 mA/cm2 (at 0.6 V vs. RHE) for hydrogen production from photoelectrochemical water splitting. These results provide significant insight into the application of QD photosensitizers in solar energy conversion.

Organic–inorganic hybrid lead halide perovskites have been extensively investigated for various optoelectronic applications. Particularly, owing to their ability to form highly crystalline and homogeneous films utilizing low-temperature solution processes ( 400 °C), has limited the fabrication of perovskite solar cells on flexible substrates. Therefore, the development of a low-temperature processable charge-transporting layer has emerged as an urgent task for achieving flexible perovskite solar cells. This review summarizes the recent progress in low-temperature processable electron- and hole-transporting layer materials, which contribute to improved device performance in flexible perovskite solar cells.

Flexible dye-sensitized solar cells on plastic substrates have achieved a conversion efficiency of 8.6% with the hot compression technique (

The control of the optoelectronic properties of the interlayers of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is crucial for achieving high photovoltaic performances. Of the solution-processable interlayer candidates, NiOx is considered one of the best inorganic hole-transporting layer (HTL) materials. However, the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of NiOx-based PSCs are limited by the unfavorable contact between perovskite layers and NiOx HTLs, the high density of surface trap sites, and the inefficient charge extraction from perovskite photoactive layers to anodes. Here, we introduce a new organic-inorganic double HTL consisting of a Cu:NiOx thin film passivated by a conjugated polyelectrolyte (PhNa-1T) film. This double HTL has a significantly lower pinhole density and forms better contact with perovskite films, which results in enhanced charge extraction. As a result, the PCEs of PSCs fabricated with the double HTL are impressively improved up to 17.0%, which is more than 25% higher than that of the corresponding PSC with a Cu:NiOx HTL. Moreover, PSCs with the double HTLs exhibit similar stabilities under ambient conditions to devices using inorganic Cu:NiOx. Therefore, this organic-inorganic double HTL is a promising interlayer material for high performance PSCs with high air stability.