Solar RRL最新文献

Semi-transparent perovskite solar cells (ST-PSCs) often employ mixed halides, which can induce significant phase segregation and thus impair device performance. Defects at the film surface and grain boundaries are primary factors driving this segregation. In this study, we present a novel “adaptive barrier layer” strategy through the introduction of a benzalkonium chloride (BAC) mixture. BAC molecules with varying n values demonstrate selective adsorption to distinct defect sites, dynamically forming a tailored barrier layer. This multifunctional layer effectively passivates both surface and grain boundary defects while inhibiting ion migration, thereby mitigating halide phase segregation. When applied to ST-PSCs, this strategy enabled power conversion efficiencies of 20.46% and 18.16% on the front and rear sides, respectively, with a bifaciality of 88.27%, and the semi-transparent device retains 93.8% of its initial efficiency after 1080 h of continuous exposure. This study provides a critical optimization pathway for significantly enhancing the efficiency and operational stability of ST-PSCs.

The performance and long-term stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are critically dependent on the quality of the electron transport layer (ETL), particularly its defect states and charge transport characteristics. In this work, we report a plasma-assisted magnetron sputtering approach that incorporates methane (CH₄) as a reactive gas to precisely tailor the oxygen vacancy (O_vac) distribution in the titanium dioxide (TiO₂) ETL. By introducing varying CH₄ concentrations (0%–20%) into an argon (Ar) plasma environment, we achieved a controlled O_vac generation, favoring subsurface oxygen depletion while minimizing surface defects. To isolate the effect of CH₄-derived carbon species, a comparative sample (SP-10-H₂) was also fabricated by introducing 10% H₂ instead of CH₄ during sputtering. The CH₄ molecules undergo partial oxidation in the plasma phase, forming volatile CO and CO₂ and enabling selective oxygen removal. Comprehensive structural, morphological, and electrical characterizations reveal that CH₄ concentration of 10% yields TiO₂ films with optimal surface uniformity, reduced trap-density, and enhanced carrier mobility. Planar-type PSCs employing these CH₄-modified ETLs demonstrated a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 22.3%, surpassing those fabricated with conventional spray-coated TiO₂ (20.4%) and CH₄-free sputtered TiO₂ (19.2%). Moreover, the optimized devices retained over 90% of their initial efficiency after 800 h. These findings establish CH₄-assisted reactive sputtering as an effective, scalable strategy for defect engineering in oxide ETLs, offering a promising pathway toward high-efficiency, durable perovskite photovoltaics.

The practical application of solar-driven interfacial evaporation (SDIE) is fundamentally challenged by inefficient heat distribution and salt accumulation. This work introduces an Arc-Modulated Block Geometry (AMBG) aerogel evaporator that overcomes these limitations through synergistic geometry-angle coupling. This unique design features a semicircular dual-side structure tilted at 60° and integrated into a lightweight porous network, which not only establishes bidirectional heat-transfer pathways to homogenize temperature fields and suppress hotspots, but also directs salt-crystallization toward the edges, effectively preventing pore blockage. The resultant evaporator delivers a high evaporation rate of 2.88 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ and energy efficiency exceeding 93% under one-sun illumination, with remarkable long-term stability in high-salinity environments. Our strategy pioneers a shift from conventional planar design to intelligent three-dimensional structural modulation, providing a promising structural paradigm for efficient and durable solar desalination.

Piezo-photocatalysis on defective materials is of general interest in this current decade since the capability of coupling light with external force like ultrasound to enhance the production of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) via direct and in-direct generation pathways. In this feature, we would like to introduce some of our key research on this area, focusing on current discoveries from our group and others to demonstrate the potential of piezo-photocatalysis compared to electrocatalysis or thermocatalysis. To increase catalytic performance, by coupling light with ultrasound, it is shown that enhanced performance would originate from lowering the activation barrier. Moreover, the less-negative activation entropy from piezo-photocatalysis compared to its photo-counterpart would suggest the less poisoning active sites when ultrasonic wave was introduced to the system, in which more free sites are frequently generated to perform catalytic reactions. Furthermore, on defective surfaces, the rate-limiting step on oxygen adsorption would be overcome and the rapid charge transfer contributes to the formation of oxygenic radicals, finally yielding (H₂O₂). Furthermore, we also provide our viewpoints on successes and challenges, which would help guide scientists to push the fundamental understanding in this research area and the new kind of catalytic technologies become feasible on the industrial scale.

In recent years, the development of perovskite/perovskite/silicon triple junction solar cells has received considerable attention, aiming to exceed the efficiency of perovskite/silicon dual junction solar cells. Various challenges must be addressed to reach these efficiencies and justify the additional complexity. This article outlines a simulation-based roadmap for improving the structure of these cells. It discusses critical issues and estimates potential improvements for perovskite/perovskite/silicon solar cells based on device architectures developed at Fraunhofer ISE and EPFL. The article describes potential challenges related to thickening the middle perovskite absorber to achieve current matching. It explains the observed losses in fill factor in the top cell with a high bandgap, which arise from an insufficient hole barrier caused by unfavorable valence-band alignment between the perovskite and the electron transport layer. These aspects are examined through numerical device simulations.

Perovskite and PbS quantum dots (QDs) tandem solar cells demonstrate significant advantages in surpassing the efficiency limits of single-junction devices due to the spectral complementarity between the wide bandgap (≈1.55 eV) perovskite top cell and the narrow (≈0.95 eV) PbS QDs bandgap bottom cell. However, the hole transport layer of the perovskite top solar cell is a challenge for the tandem solar cells, resulting in the performance still lagging. Herein, the effects of two types of hole transport layers (HTLs), Spiro-OMeTAD, and NiO_X, on the performance of four-terminal (4-T) and two-terminal (2-T) tandem solar cells are systematically investigated through the 1D Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator simulation. For 4-T tandem solar cells, simulations predict that a device using Spiro-OMeTAD can achieve an efficiency of 27.03%, whereas one using NiO_X can reach 24.56%. In addition, in the 2-T tandem device, the efficiencies of the two devices are 24.17% and 23.38%, respectively. Based on the simulation results, the corresponding 4-T and 2-T tandem devices are fabricated with efficiencies of 27.05% and 17.11%, respectively. Thus, these findings will accelerate the optimization of the performance of perovskite and PbS QDs tandem solar cells approaching their theoretical efficiency limit.

The increasingly severe challenge of global plastic pollution has spurred significant interest inphotocatalytic upcycling, a sustainable strategy which utilizes solar energy to convert plastic waste into valuable chemicals. This article systematically examines the detailed reaction mechanisms of photocatalytic plastic upcycling and elucidates the critical role of pretreatment in overcoming the intrinsic chemical inertness of polymers. Furthermore, it highlights recent advances in upcycling major plastic categories, including polyesters, polyolefins, polystyrene, and polyvinyl chloride, with a dedicated discussion on the design principles of high-performance photocatalysts and their underlying reaction pathways. The discussion also extends to the systematic evaluation of strategies for upgrading mixed plastics, aiming to establish a theoretical foundation for enhancing conversion efficiency and scalability. Finally, the emerging bottlenecks to industrialization are identified, and prospects for future development are proposed.

Electroluminescence (EL) imaging is a commonly used characterization tool in solar cell production lines. EL images provide information on performance losses caused by increased recombination and series resistance (R_s). However, separating recombination and R_s-related defects presents significant challenges. This study proposes a deep learning approach to extract qualitative photoluminescence (PL, related to recombination) and R_s images from a single EL measurement. The developed model has demonstrated high accuracy on unseen simulations. While further fine-tuning and additional work are needed to ensure robustness for practical use, this approach holds significant potential to streamline solar cell inspection processes in production lines, eliminating the need for expensive additional equipment.

The valorization of food waste (FW) into functional carbon materials offers a promising strategy for simultaneously mitigating environmental burdens and promoting resource recovery. Herein, N,S-co-doped hydrothermal carbon materials (N,S-HTC and N,S-HTC-W) are fabricated from FW via H₂SO₄-assisted hydrothermal carbonization. Spectroscopic analyses reveal that hydrothermal carbonization reinforces the π-conjugation carbon framework and effectively incorporates N and S heteroatoms, yielding n-type semiconductors with well-aligned band structures. N,S-HTC exhibits a high carbonization degree and improved charge-carrier dynamics, which enables efficient photocatalytic oxygen (O₂) reduction at a hydroperoxide (H₂O₂) production rate of 22.59 mmol·L⁻¹·g_cat.⁻¹·h⁻¹ with 51% selectivity via a successive single-electron pathway. Crucially, N,S-HTC demonstrates outstanding robustness in cycling and long-term tests and sustains H₂O₂ production even under oxygen-deficient conditions. Under simulated wheat cultivation scenarios, 0.08 mmol·L⁻¹ H₂O₂ is achieved outdoors under natural sunshine using only dissolved atmospheric oxygen, sufficient to alleviate copper-induced growth inhibition in wheat. Simultaneously, nutrient profiling and heavy-metal assessment confirm that the FW-derived HTC materials satisfy agronomic and environmental safety requirements for soil amendment. Overall, this work proposes a practical circular-economy paradigm that upgrades FW into a dual-function carbon material capable of improving soil quality while enabling on-site solar-driven H₂O₂ production for crop growth promotion and abiotic stress mitigation.

Ensuring broad-spectrum visible-light absorption and efficient electron extraction is essential for enhancing the efficiency of photocatalytic hydrogen production. To achieve this, manipulating carrier dynamics through cocatalyst heterojunction engineering has attracted considerable concern. However, conventional narrow-bandgap Cu–In–Zn–S (CIZS) nanocrystals (NCs) typically exhibit limited photocatalytic activity due to severe exciton annihilation. Herein, two-dimensional (2D) CIZS nanobelts (NBs) were coupled with Ni₉S₈ cocatalyst to construct a library of CIZS/Ni₉S₈ Schottky heterojunctions synthesized via a combined colloidal one-pot and hot-injection strategy. As anticipated, the CIZS/2.0%Ni₉S₈ heterojunction displayed the optimal photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity of 2.75 mmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹, ≈3.31 times higher than that of pristine CIZS NBs (0.83 mmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹). Experimental results uncovered that the enhanced photocatalytic performance originated from the formation of the CIZS/2.0%Ni₉S₈ Schottky heterojunction, which facilitated efficient charge transfer from CIZS NBs to Ni₉S₈ and hindered the return of electrons. Moreover, Ni₉S₈ serves as active catalytic sites, significantly accelerating surface proton reduction reactions. This study provides valuable insights into the rational design and precise synthesis of colloidal multinary Cu-based chalcogenide heterojunctions for efficient photocatalytic energy conversion.