Nanoscale geometric electric field enhancement in organic photovoltaics

Electrodeposited magnetic nanoporous membrane for high-yield and high-throughput immunocapture of extracellular vesicles and lipoproteins

Superparamagnetic nanobeads offer several advantages over microbeads for immunocapture of nanocarriers (extracellular vesicles, lipoproteins, and viruses) in a bioassay: high-yield capture, reduction in incubation time, and higher capture capacity. However, nanobeads are difficult to "pull-down" because their superparamagnetic feature requires high nanoscale magnetic field gradients. Here, an electrodeposited track-etched membrane is shown to produce a unique superparamagnetic nano-edge ring with multiple edges around nanopores. With a uniform external magnetic field, the induced monopole and dipole of this nano edge junction combine to produce a 10× higher nanobead trapping force. A dense nanobead suspension can be filtered through the magnetic nanoporous membrane (MNM) at high throughput with a 99% bead capture rate. The yield of specific nanocarriers in heterogeneous media by nanobeads/MNM exceeds 80%. Reproducibility, low loss, and concentration-independent capture rates are also demonstrated. This MNM material hence expands the application of nanobead immunocapture to physiological samples.

Electric Field Effects on Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting: Perspectives and Outlook

The grand challenges in renewable energy lie in our ability to comprehend efficient energy conversion systems, together with dealing with the problem of intermittency via scalable energy storage systems. Relatively little progress has been made on this at grid scale and two overriding challenges still need to be addressed: (i) limiting damage to the environment and (ii) the question of environmentally friendly energy conversion. The present review focuses on a novel route for producing hydrogen, the ultimate clean fuel, from the Sun, and renewable energy source. Hydrogen can be produced by light-driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting, but it is very inefficient; rather, we focus here on how electric fields can be applied to metal oxide/water systems in tailoring the interplay with their intrinsic electric fields, and in how this can alter and boost PEC activity, drawing both on experiment and non-equilibrium molecular simulation.

Retarding oxidation of copper nanoparticles without electrical isolation and the size dependence of work function

Copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) are attractive as a low-cost alternative to their gold and silver analogues for numerous applications, although their potential has hardly been explored due to their higher susceptibility to oxidation in air. Here we show the unexpected findings of an investigation into the correlation between the air-stability of CuNPs and the structure of the thiolate capping ligand; of the eight different ligands screened, those with the shortest alkyl chain, -(CH2)2-, and a hydrophilic carboxylic acid end group are found to be the most effective at retarding oxidation in air. We also show that CuNPs are not etched by thiol solutions as previously reported, and address the important fundamental question of how the work function of small supported metal particles scales with particle size. Together these findings set the stage for greater utility of CuNPs for emerging electronic applications.

Surfing Silicon Nanofacets for Cold Cathode Electron Emission Sites

Point sources exhibit low threshold electron emission due to local field enhancement at the tip. In the case of silicon, however, the realization of tip emitters has been hampered by unwanted oxidation, limiting the number of emission sites and the overall current. In contrast to this, here, we report the fascinating low threshold (∼0.67 V μm^-1) cold cathode electron emission from silicon nanofacets (Si-NFs). The ensembles of nanofacets fabricated at different time scales, under low energy ion impacts, yield tunable field emission with a Fowler-Nordheim tunneling field in the range of 0.67-4.75 V μm^-1. The local probe surface microscopy-based tunneling current mapping in conjunction with Kelvin probe force microscopy measurements revealed that the valleys and a part of the sidewalls of the nanofacets contribute more to the field emission process. The observed lowest turn-on field is attributed to the absence of native oxide on the sidewalls of the smallest facets as well as their lowest work function. In addition, first-principle density functional theory-based simulation revealed a crystal orientation-dependent work function of Si, which corroborates well with our experimental observations. The present study demonstrates a novel way to address the origin of the cold cathode electron emission sites from Si-NFs fabricated at room temperature. In principle, the present methodology can be extended to probe the cold cathode electron emission sites from any nanostructured material.

Organic/Organic Heterointerface Engineering to Boost Carrier Injection in OLEDs

We investigate dynamic formation of nanosheet charge accumulations by heterointerface engineering in double injection layer (DIL) based organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). Our experimental results show that the device performance is considerably improved for the DIL device as the result of heterointerface injection layer (HIIL) formation, in comparison to reference devices, namely, the current density is doubled and even quadrupled and the turn-on voltage is favorably halved, to 3.7 V, which is promising for simple small-molecule OLEDs. The simulation reveals the (i) formation of dynamic p-type doping (DPD) region which treats the quasi Fermi level at the organic/electrode interface, and (ii) formation of dynamic dipole layer (DDL) and the associated electric field at the organic/organic interface which accelerates the ejection of the carriers and their transference to the successive layer. HIIL formation proposes alternate scenarios for device design. For instance, no prerequisite for plasma treatment of transparent anode electrode, our freedom in varying the thicknesses of the organic layers between 10 nm and 60 nm for the first layer and between 6 nm and 24 nm for the second layer. The implications of the present work give insight into the dynamic phenomena in OLEDs and facilitates the development of their inexpensive fabrication for lighting applications.

High-Performance Inkjet-Printed Indium-Gallium-Zinc-Oxide Transistors Enabled by Embedded, Chemically Stable Graphene Electrodes

Recent developments in solution-processed amorphous oxide semiconductors have established indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (IGZO) as a promising candidate for printed electronics. A key challenge for this vision is the integration of IGZO thin-film transistor (TFT) channels with compatible source/drain electrodes using low-temperature, solution-phase patterning methods. Here we demonstrate the suitability of inkjet-printed graphene electrodes for this purpose. In contrast to common inkjet-printed silver-based conductive inks, graphene provides a chemically stable electrode-channel interface. Furthermore, by embedding the graphene electrode between two consecutive IGZO printing passes, high-performance IGZO TFTs are achieved with an electron mobility of ∼6 cm(2)/V·s and current on/off ratio of ∼10(5). The resulting printed devices exhibit robust stability to aging in ambient as well as excellent resilience to thermal stress, thereby offering a promising platform for future printed electronics applications.

Orthogonal Thin Film Photovoltaics on Vertical Nanostructures

Decoupling paths of carrier collection and illumination within photovoltaic devices is one promising approach for improving their efficiency by simultaneously increasing light absorption and carrier collection efficiency. Orthogonal photovoltaic devices are core-shell type structures consisting of thin film photovoltaic stack on vertical nanopillar scaffolds. These types of devices allow charge collection to take place in the radial direction, perpendicular to the path of light in the vertical direction. This approach addresses the inherently high recombination rate of disordered thin films, by allowing semiconductor films with minimal thicknesses to be used in photovoltaic devices, without performance degradation associated with incomplete light absorption. This work considers effects which influence the performance of orthogonal photovoltaic devices. Illumination non-uniformity as light travels across the depth of the pillars, electric field enhancement due to the nanoscale size and shape of the pillars, and series resistance due to the additional surface structure created through the use of pillars are considered. All of these effects influence the operation of orthogonal solar cells and should be considered in the design of vertically nanostructured orthogonal photovoltaics.

Photocurrent enhancement of HgTe quantum dot photodiodes by plasmonic gold nanorod structures

The near-field effects of noble metal nanoparticles can be utilized to enhance the performance of inorganic/organic photosensing devices, such as solar cells and photodetectors. In this work, we developed a well-controlled fabrication strategy to incorporate Au nanostructures into HgTe quantum dot (QD)/ZnO heterojunction photodiode photodetectors. Through an electrostatic immobilization and dry transfer protocol, a layer of Au nanorods with uniform distribution and controllable density is embedded at different depths in the ZnO layer for systematic comparison. More than 80 and 240% increments of average short-circuit current density (Jsc) are observed in the devices with Au nanorods covered by ∼7.5 and ∼4.5 nm ZnO layers, respectively. A periodic finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation model is developed to analyze the depth-dependent property and confirm the mechanism of plasmon-enhanced light absorption in the QD layer. The wavelength-dependent external quantum efficiency spectra suggest that the exciton dissociation and charge extraction efficiencies are also enhanced by the Au nanorods, likely due to local electric field effects. The photodetection performance of the photodiodes is characterized, and the results show that the plasmonic structure improves the overall infrared detectivity of the HgTe QD photodetectors without affecting their temporal response. Our fabrication strategy and theoretical and experimental findings provide useful insight into the applications of metal nanostructures to enhance the performance of organic/inorganic hybrid optoelectronic devices.

Highly efficient top-illuminated flexible polymer solar cells with a nanopatterned 3D microresonant cavity

Top-illuminated flexible polymer solar cells with 3D micoresonant cavity provide not only powerful light-trapping but also electrical enhancement, resulting in significant enhancement of power efficiency (26.4%). Capping layer (CL) enhanced the transmittance of the transparent electrodes, increasing electric field intensity in the photoactive layer by forming microresonant cavity, and the nano-pattern on the rear electrodes caused significant enhancement to the Jsc by improving light absorption and charge collection.

Widely applicable coinage metal window electrodes on flexible polyester substrates applied to organic photovoltaics

The fabrication, exceptional properties, and application of 8 nm thick Cu, Ag, Au, and Cu/Ag bilayer electrodes on flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) substrates is reported. These electrodes are fabricated using a solvent free process in which the plastic surface is chemically modified with a molecular monolayer of thiol and amine terminated alkylsilanes prior to metal deposition. The resulting electrodes have a sheet resistance of ≤14 Ω sq⁻¹, are exceptionally robust and can be rapidly thermally annealed at 200 °C to reduce their sheet resistance to ≤9 Ω sq⁻¹. Notably, annealing Au electrodes briefly at 200 °C causes the surface to revert almost entirely to the {111} face, rendering it ideal as a model electrode for fundamental science and practical application alike. The power conversion efficiency of 1 cm² organic photovoltaics (OPVs) employing 8 nm Ag and Au films as the hole-extracting window electrode exhibit performance comparable to those on indium-tin oxide, with the advantage that they are resistant to repeated bending through a small radius of curvature and are chemically well-defined. OPVs employing Cu and bilayer Cu:Ag electrodes exhibit inferior performance due to a lower open-circuit voltage and fill factor. Measurements of the interfacial energetics made using the Kelvin probe technique provide insight into the physical reason for this difference. The results show how coinage metal electrodes offer a viable alternative to ITO on flexible substrates for OPVs and highlight the challenges associated with the use of Cu as an electrode material in this context.