High-Efficiency Perovskite Solar Cells with Improved Interfacial Charge Extraction by Bridging Molecules

The interface between the perovskite layer and electron transporting layer is a critical determinate for the performance and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). The heterogeneity of the interface critically affects the carrier dynamics at the buried interface. To address this, a bridging molecule, (2-aminoethyl)phosphonic acid (AEP), is introduced for the modification of SnO2/perovskite buried interface in n-i-p structure PSCs. The phosphonic acid group strongly bonds to the SnO2 surface, effectively suppressing the surface carrier traps and leakage current, and uniforming the surface potential. Meanwhile, the amino group influences the growth of perovskite film, resulting in higher crystallinity, phase purity, and fewer defects. Furthermore, the bridging molecules facilitate the charge extraction at the interface, as indicated by the femtosecond transient reflection (fs-TR) spectroscopy, leading to champion power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 26.40% (certified 25.98%) for PSCs. Additionally, the strengthened interface enables improved operational durability of ≈1400 h for the unencapsulated PSCs under ISOS-L-1I protocol.

Intriguing Low-Temperature Phase in the Antiferromagnetic Kagome Metal FeGe

The properties of kagome metals are governed by the interdependence of band topology and electronic correlations resulting in remarkably rich phase diagrams. Here, we study the temperature evolution of the bulk electronic structure of the antiferromagnetic kagome metal FeGe using infrared spectroscopy. We uncover drastic changes in the low-energy interband absorption at the 100 K structural phase transition that has been linked to a charge-density-wave (CDW) instability. We explain this effect by the minuscule Fe displacement in the kagome plane, which results in parallel bands in the vicinity of the Fermi level. In contrast to conventional CDW materials, however, the spectral weight shifts to low energies, ruling out the opening of a CDW gap in FeGe.

Realizing Stable Perovskite Solar Cells with Efficiency Exceeding 25.6% Through Crystallization Kinetics and Spatial Orientation Regulation

Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites have emerged as highly promising candidates for photovoltaic applications, owing to the exceptional optoelectronic properties and low cost. Nonetheless, the performance and stability of solar cells suffer from the defect states of perovskite films aroused by non-optically active phases and non-centralized crystal orientation. Herein, a versatile organic molecule, Hydantoin, to modulate the crystallization of perovskite, is developed. Benefiting from the diverse functional groups, more spatially oriented perovskite films with high crystallinity are formed. This enhancement is accompanied by a conspicuous reduction in defect density, yielding efficiency of 25.66% (certified 25.15%), with superb environmental stability. Notably, under the standard measurement conditions (ISOS-L-1I), the maximum power point (MPP) output maintains 96.8% of the initial efficiency for 1600 h and exhibits excellent ion migration suppression. The synergistic regulation of crystallization and spatial orientation offers novel avenues for propelling perovskite solar cell (PSC) development.

Tethered Helical Ladder-Type Aromatic Lactams

Tethered nonplanar aromatics (TNAs) make up an important class of nonplanar aromatic compounds showing unique features. However, the knowledge on the synthesis, structures, and properties of TNAs remains insufficient. In this work, a new type of TNAs, the tethered aromatic lactams, is synthesized via Pd-catalyzed consecutive intramolecular direct arylations. These molecules possess a helical ladder-type conjugated system of up to 13 fused rings. The overall yields ranged from 3.4 to 4.3%. The largest of the tethered aromatic lactams, 6L-Bu-C14, demonstrates a guest-adaptive hosting capability of TNAs for the first time. When binding fullerene guests, the cavity of 6L-Bu-C14 became more circular to better accommodate spherical fullerene molecules. The host-guest interaction is thoroughly studied by X-ray crystallography, theoretical calculations, fluorescence titration, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) titration experiments. 6L-Bu-C14 shows stronger binding with C70 than with C60 due to the better convex-concave π-π interaction. P and M enantiomers of all tethered aromatic lactams show distinct and persistent chiroptical properties and demonstrate the potential of chiral TNAs as circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) emitters.

An integrated single-cell RNA-seq atlas of the mouse hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus links transcriptomic and functional types

The hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) is a highly complex brain region that is crucial for homeostatic regulation through neuroendocrine signaling, outflow of the autonomic nervous system, and projections to other brain areas. In the past years, single-cell datasets of the hypothalamus have contributed immensely to the current understanding of the diverse hypothalamic cellular composition. While the PVN has been adequately classified functionally, its molecular classification is currently still insufficient. To address this, we created a detailed atlas of PVN transcriptomic cell types by integrating various PVN single-cell datasets into a recently published hypothalamus single-cell transcriptome atlas. Furthermore, we functionally profiled transcriptomic cell types, based on relevant literature, existing retrograde tracing data, and existing single-cell data of a PVN-projection target region. Finally, we validated our findings with immunofluorescent stainings. In our PVN atlas dataset, we identify the well-known different neuropeptide types, each composed of multiple novel subtypes. We identify Avp-Tac1, Avp-Th, Oxt-Foxp1, Crh-Nr3c1, and Trh-Nfib as the most important neuroendocrine subtypes based on markers described in literature. To characterize the preautonomic functional population, we integrated a single-cell retrograde tracing study of spinally projecting preautonomic neurons into our PVN atlas. We identify these (presympathetic) neurons to cocluster with the Adarb2+ clusters in our dataset. Further, we identify the expression of receptors for Crh, Oxt, Penk, Sst, and Trh in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus, a key region that the pre-parasympathetic PVN neurons project to. Finally, we identify Trh-Ucn3 and Brs3-Adarb2 as some centrally projecting populations. In conclusion, our study presents a detailed overview of the transcriptomic cell types of the murine PVN and provides a first attempt to resolve functionality for the identified populations.

Softening of a flat phonon mode in the kagome ScV6Sn6

Geometrically frustrated kagome lattices are raising as novel platforms to engineer correlated topological electron flat bands that are prominent to electronic instabilities. Here, we demonstrate a phonon softening at the kz = π plane in ScV6Sn6. The low energy longitudinal phonon collapses at ~98 K and q = [Formula: see text] due to the electron-phonon interaction, without the emergence of long-range charge order which sets in at a different propagation vector qCDW = [Formula: see text]. Theoretical calculations corroborate the experimental finding to indicate that the leading instability is located at [Formula: see text] of a rather flat mode. We relate the phonon renormalization to the orbital-resolved susceptibility of the trigonal Sn atoms and explain the approximately flat phonon dispersion. Our data report the first example of the collapse of a kagome bosonic mode and promote the 166 compounds of kagomes as primary candidates to explore correlated flat phonon-topological flat electron physics.

Crystallization and Orientation Modulation Enable Highly Efficient Doctor-Bladed Perovskite Solar Cells

With the rapid rise in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) performance, it is imperative to develop scalable fabrication techniques to accelerate potential commercialization. However, the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of PSCs fabricated via scalable two-step sequential deposition lag far behind the state-of-the-art spin-coated ones. Herein, the additive methylammonium chloride (MACl) is introduced to modulate the crystallization and orientation of a two-step sequential doctor-bladed perovskite film in ambient conditions. MACl can significantly improve perovskite film quality and increase grain size and crystallinity, thus decreasing trap density and suppressing nonradiative recombination. Meanwhile, MACl also promotes the preferred face-up orientation of the (100) plane of perovskite film, which is more conducive to the transport and collection of carriers, thereby significantly improving the fill factor. As a result, a champion PCE of 23.14% and excellent long-term stability are achieved for PSCs based on the structure of ITO/SnO2/FA1-xMAxPb(I1-yBry)3/Spiro-OMeTAD/Ag. The superior PCEs of 21.20% and 17.54% are achieved for 1.03 cm2 PSC and 10.93 cm2 mini-module, respectively. These results represent substantial progress in large-scale two-step sequential deposition of high-performance PSCs for practical applications.

Constructing Additives Synergy Strategy to Doctor-Blade Efficient CH3 NH3 PbI3 Perovskite Solar Cells under a Wide Range of Humidity from 45% to 82

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have emerged as one of the most promising and competitive photovoltaic technologies, and doctor-blading is a facile and robust deposition technique to efficiently fabricate PSCs in large scale, especially matching with roll-to-roll process. Herein, it demonstrates the encouraging results of one-step, antisolvent-free doctor-bladed methylammonium lead iodide (CH₃ NH₃ PbI_3, MAPbI₃ ) PSCs under a wide range of humidity from 45% to 82%. A synergy strategy of ionic-liquid methylammonium acetate (MAAc) and molecular phenylurea additives is developed to modulate the morphology and crystallization process of MAPbI₃ perovskite film, leading to high-quality MAPbI₃ perovskite film with large-size crystal, low defect density, and ultrasmooth surface. Impressive power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 20.34% is achieved for doctor-bladed PSCs under the humidity over 80% with a device structure of ITO/SnO₂ /MAPbI₃ /Spiro-OMeTAD/Ag. It is the highest PCEs for one-step solution-processed MAPbI₃ PSCs without antisolvent assistance. The research provides a facile and robust large-scale deposition technique to fabricate highly efficient and stable PSCs under a wide range of humidity, even with the humidity over 80%.

Combined Vacuum Evaporation and Solution Process for High-Efficiency Large-Area Perovskite Solar Cells with Exceptional Reproducibility

Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites exhibit outstanding performances in perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, the complex solution chemistry of perovskites precursors renders it difficult to prepare large-area devices in a reproducible way, which is a prerequisite for the technology to make an impact beyond lab scale. Vacuum processing, instead, is an established technology for large-scale coating of thin films. However, with respect to the hybrid perovskites it is highly challenging due to the high vapor pressure of the organic ammonium halide. In this work, vacuum evaporation of lead iodide and solution processing of organic ammonium halide is combined to produce large-area homogeneous perovskite films with large grains in a highly reproducible way. The resulting PSCs achieve a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 24.3% (certified 23.9%) on small area (0.10 cm² ), 24.0% (certified 23.7%) on large area (1 cm² ) and 20.0% for minimodule (16 cm² ), and maintain 90% of its initial efficiency after 1000 h 1-sun operation. The vacuum evaporation prevents advert environmental effects on lead halide formation and guarantees a reproducible fabrication of high-quality large-area perovskite films, which opens a promising way for large-scale fabrication of perovskite optoelectronics.

Tuning Hole Transport Properties via Pyrrole Derivation for High-Performance Perovskite Solar Cells

Hole transport materials (HTMs) with high hole mobility, good band alignment and ease of fabrication are highly desirable for perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Here, we designed and synthesized novel organic HTMs, named T3, which can be synthesized in high yields with commercially available materials, featuring a substituted pyrrole core and triphenylamine peripheral arms. The capability of functionalization in the final synthetic step provides an efficient way to obtain a variety of T3-based HTMs with tunable energy levels and other properties. Among them, fluorine-substituted T3 (T3-F) exhibits the best band alignment and hole extraction properties, leading to PSCs with outstanding PCEs of 24.85 % and 24.03 % (certified 23.46 %) for aperture areas of 0.1 and 1 cm² , respectively. The simple structure and tunable performance of T3 can inspire further optimization for efficient PSCs.

4-Terminal Inorganic Perovskite/Organic Tandem Solar Cells Offer 22% Efficiency

After fast developing of single-junction perovskite solar cells and organic solar cells in the past 10 years, it is becoming harder and harder to improve their power conversion efficiencies. Tandem solar cells are receiving more and more attention because they have much higher theoretical efficiency than single-junction solar cells. Good device performance has been achieved for perovskite/silicon and perovskite/perovskite tandem solar cells, including 2-terminal and 4-terminal structures. However, very few studies have been done about 4-terminal inorganic perovskite/organic tandem solar cells. In this work, semi-transparent inorganic perovskite solar cells and organic solar cells are used to fabricate 4-terminal inorganic perovskite/organic tandem solar cells, achieving a power conversion efficiency of 21.25% for the tandem cells with spin-coated perovskite layer. By using drop-coating instead of spin-coating to make the inorganic perovskite films, 4-terminal tandem cells with an efficiency of 22.34% are made. The efficiency is higher than the reported 2-terminal and 4-terminal inorganic perovskite/organic tandem solar cells. In addition, equivalent 2-terminal tandem solar cells were fabricated by connecting the sub-cells in series. The stability of organic solar cells under continuous illumination is improved by using semi-transparent perovskite solar cells as filter.

Double Layer Composite Electrode Strategy for Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells with Excellent Reverse-Bias Stability

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have become the representatives of next generation of photovoltaics; nevertheless, their stability is insufficient for large scale deployment, particularly the reverse bias stability. Here, we propose a transparent conducting oxide (TCO) and low-cost metal composite electrode to improve the stability of PSCs without sacrificing the efficiency. The TCO can block ion migrations and chemical reactions between the metal and perovskite, while the metal greatly enhances the conductivity of the composite electrode. As a result, composite electrode-PSCs achieved a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 23.7% (certified 23.2%) and exhibited excellent stability, maintaining 95% of the initial PCE when applying a reverse bias of 4.0 V for 60 s and over 92% of the initial PCE after 1000 h continuous light soaking. This composite electrode strategy can be extended to different combinations of TCOs and metals. It opens a new avenue for improving the stability of PSCs.

Multifunctional succinate additive for flexible perovskite solar cells with more than 23% power-conversion efficiency

Flexible perovskite solar cells (FPSCs) have emerged as power sources in versatile applications owing to their high-efficiency characteristics, excellent flexibility, and relatively low cost. Nevertheless, undesired strain in perovskite films greatly impacts the power-conversion efficiency (PCE) and stability of PSCs, particularly in FPSCs. Herein, a novel multifunctional organic salt, methylammonium succinate, which can alleviate strain and reinforce grain boundaries, was incorporated into the perovskite film, leading to relaxed microstrain and a lower defect concentration. As a result, a PCE of 25.4% for rigid PSCs and a record PCE of 23.6% (certified 22.5%) for FPSCs have been achieved. In addition, the corresponding FPSCs exhibited excellent bending durability, maintaining ∼85% of their initial efficiency after bending at a 6 mm radius for 10 000 cycles.

Collaborative Assembly of a Fluorine-Enriched Heterostructured Solid Electrolyte Interphase for Ultralong-Life Lithium Metal Batteries

Lithium metal batteries have become potential high-energy storage devices because lithium metal has excellent theoretical capacity and low reduction potential. Unfortunately, the reckless growth of lithium dendrites leads to the decrease in Coulombic efficiency and the attenuation of cycle performance. Herein, we propose a collaborative assembly approach for a fluorine-enriched heterostructured solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) on lithium metal to enable stable and ultralong-life lithium metal batteries. The fluorine-enriched heterostructured SEI consists of an artificial precursor substrate K₂ZrF₆ and an epigenetically assembled LiF layer, and the composite structure cooperatively realizes the rapid conduction of Li⁺ ions and inhibits the formation of lithium dendrites. Benefiting from the heterostructured SEI, the symmetric cell exhibits an ultralong-time stable cycle of more than 7000 h at a high current and capacity density (4 mA cm^-2 and 4 mA h cm^-2, respectively), much longer than that of the lithium cell. Besides, the LiFePO₄ full battery (LFP||Li-Zr) enables substantially enhanced cyclability over 800 cycles at 1 C. This work paves the way for dendrite-free and long-life lithium metal batteries with well-balanced heterostructured SEI engineering.

Sequential vacuum-evaporated perovskite solar cells with more than 24% efficiency

Vacuum evaporation is promising for the high-throughput fabrication of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) because of its solvent-free characteristic, precise control of film thickness, and compatibility with large-scale production. Nevertheless, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of PSCs fabricated by vacuum evaporation lags behind that of solution-processed PSCs. Here, we report a Cl-containing alloy-mediated sequential vacuum evaporation approach to fabricate perovskite films. The presence of Cl in the alloy facilitates organic ammonium halide diffusion and the subsequent perovskite conversion reaction, leading to homogeneous pinhole-free perovskite films with few defects. The resulting PSCs yield a PCE of 24.42%, 23.44% (certified 22.6%), and 19.87% for 0.1, 1.0, and 14.4 square centimeters (mini-module, aperture area), respectively. The unencapsulated PSCs show good stability with negligible decline in performance after storage in dry air for more than 4000 hours. Our method provides a reproducible approach for scalable fabrication of large-area, high-efficiency PSCs and other perovskite-based optoelectronics.

[Effects of protein disulfide isomerase on hyperglycemia and hypoxia/reoxygenation injury in H9c2 cardiomyocytes]

Objective: To explore the effect of protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) in diabetic ischemic heart disease. Methods: We established an in vitro model of high glucose and hypoxia/reoxygenation in H9c2 rat myocardial cells. Cultured cells were divided into four groups: Control, high glucose (HG), hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) and HG+H/R. Changes in PDI expression mediated by PDI adenovirus(Ad-PDI) infection and siRNA(PDI-siRNA) transfection in myocardial cells were observed by inverted fluorescence microscopy. We also measured lactate dehydrogenase(LDH) activity and malondialdehyde(MDA) and high molecular weight(HMW)-APN concentrations. PDI, APN, cleaved caspase-3, and glucose regulated protein 78 (Grp78) protein expression were detected. Results: PDI expression was significantly decreased in the HG, H/R and HG+H/R groups compared to the Control group; however, LDH activity[(179.7±10.4) U/L、(218.4±18.4) U/L、(328.2±5.3) U/L vs (91.0±11.0) U/L], MDA concentration[(7.0±0.4) μmol/L、(10.0±1.0) μmol/L、(11.7±1.0) μmol/L vs (4.2±1.8) μmol/L], cleaved caspase-3, and Grp78 expression were increased. Interestingly, APN and HMW-APN expression were decreased [(2.01±0.21) μg/L、(1.64±0.27) μg/L、(1.20±0.14) μg/L vs (2.62±0.12) μg/L, all P<0.05]. Over expression of PDI attenuated high glucose and hypoxia/reoxygenation induced apoptosis and oxidative stress in H9c2 cardiomyocytes(all P<0.05), and simultaneously increased APN and HMW-APN expression [(2.86±0.03) μg/L vs (3.03±0.10) μg/L、(2.06±0.05) μg/L vs (2.31±0.06) μg/L、(1.83±0.07) μg/L vs (1.96±0.11) μg/L、(1.20±0.06) μg/L vs (1.39±0.09) μg/L]. PDI-siRNA transfection increased LDH activity, MDA concentration, and cleaved caspase-3 and Grp78 expression, and decreased APN and HMW-APN expression [(0.75±0.09) μg/L vs (0.59±0.09) μg/L、(0.62±0.04) μg/L vs (0.53±0.05) μg/L、(0.55±0.14) μg/L vs (0.51±0.12) μg/L、(0.48±0.12) μg/L vs (0.35±0.08) μg/L] in response to different treatments in cultured H9c2 cardiomyocytes (all P<0.05). Conclusion: PDI may regulate the expression of APN and HMW-APN, and play an important role in the function of diabetic ischemia-reperfusion cardiomyocytes.

Construction of specific Smo lentivirus and expression of infected pancreatic cancer cells positive for CD24CD44 surface antibody

This study aimed to construct a vector lentivirus carrying the Smo gene and transfect pancreatic cancer cells positive for CD24CD44 surface antibody and detect the infectivity. A lentivirus carrying a specific Smo fragment was designed and synthesized, and its functionality was tested. An overexpression group, inhibitory group, and negative control group were used for subsequent experimental research and comparison. A virus was successfully designed and produced. The best viral load was the 1X106 TU virus, where the cell growth and fluorescence effect of culture wells with polybrene dilution were the best. These are the transfection conditions and transfection param-eters for subsequent experiments. This plasmid was detected with a flag antibody by Western blot. The result was that it had a large specific 250kD band, and the membrane protein was overexpressed successfully. The expression results of Smo in five groups of cells after virus transfection detected by RT-PCR: blank group were 1.0038±0.0344, CON238 negative group: 1.0276±0.2944d, CON077 negative group: 0.8793±0.0402; LV-SMO15570-2 overexpres-sion group: 2.7479±0.8308, and LV-SMO-RNAi37304-1 inhibition group: 0.2386±0.0481. There were differences among the overexpression group and inhibition group with the other three groups. Homogeneity of variance: Bartlett F = 4.3530, P = 0.0016 < 0.05, heterogeneous. K-W test: cc2 = 10.9905* P = 0.0267, and there was a statisti-cally significant difference. The designed virus achieved the goal requirements. An sRNA fragment was designed for the key gene Smo of the Hh signaling pathway, and a vector lentivirus carrying this fragment was successfully constructed. The expression of Smo was analyzed after transfecting SW1990CD24CD44 positive cells, suggesting that the function of the RNA fragment designed for the key gene Smo in this experiment was successful.

Progress in the study of markers related to glioma prognosis

OBJECTIVE

In the era of precision medicine, molecular and genetic biomarkers act as the key indicators for glioma patients' recurrence and prognosis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We summarize the biomarkers of glioma prognosis from molecular level, gene level and microRNA level.

RESULTS

In molecular biomarkers, cyclinD1 high expression/P16 low expression, MIF high expression and VEGF high expression were all related to glioma patients' poor prognosis; in genetic biomarkers, MGMT promoter methylation absence, IDH1 wild type, HIF-α high expression, Chromosome 1p/19q non-deletion and TERT promoter mutation were associated with poor prognosis for glioma; in microRNA biomarkers, miR-524-5p, miR-586, miR-433, miR-619, miR-548d-5p, miR-525-5p, miR-301a, miR-210, miR-10b-5p, miR-15b-5p and miRNA-182 high expression, miR-124, miR-128, miR-146b and miR-218 low expression were commonly seen in glioma poor prognosis patients.

CONCLUSIONS

With the continuous development of science and technology, the diagnosis of glioma will tend to the gene and molecular level. Finding specific markers is helpful for the early diagnosis and accurate prognosis of glioma, which provides the possibility for individualized treatment.