Exploring the ecological meanings of temperature sensitivity of ecosystem respiration from different methods.

Temperature sensitivity (Q10) of ecosystem respiration (Re) is a critical parameter for predicting global terrestrial carbon dynamics and its response to climate warming. However, the determination of Q10 has been controversial. In this study, we scrutinized the underpinnings of three mainstream methods to reveal their relationships in estimating Q10 for Re in the Heihe River Basin, northwest China. Specifically, these methods are Q10 estimated from the long-term method (Q10_long), short-term method (Q10_short), and the low-frequency (Q10_lf) and high-frequency (Q10_hf) signals decomposed by the singular spectrum analysis (SSA) method. We found that: 1) Q10_lf and Q10_long are affected by the confounding effects caused by non-temperature factors, and are 1.8 ± 0.3 and 1.7 ± 0.3, respectively. 2) The high-frequency signals of the SSA method and short-term method have consistent roles in removing the confounding effects. Both Q10_short and Q10_hf reflect the actual response of respiration to temperature. 3) Overall, Q10_long has a larger variability (1.7 ± 0.3) across different biomes, whereas Q10_short and Q10_hf show convergence (1.4 ± 0.2 and 1.3 ± 0.1, respectively). These results highlight the fact that Q10 can be overestimated by the long-term method, whereas the short-term method and high-frequency signals decomposed by the SSA method can obtain closer and convergent values after removing the confounding effects driven by non-temperature factors. Therefore, it is recommended to use the Q10 value estimated by the short-term method or high-frequency signals decomposed by the SSA method to predict carbon dynamics and its response to global warming in Earth system models.

Hybrid Dry and Wet Etching of LiNbO3 Domain-Wall Memory Devices with 90° Etching Angles and Excellent Electrical Properties.

Ferroelectric domain walls, agile nanoscale interfaces of polar order, can be selectively controlled by electric fields for their position, conformation, and function, which is ultimately the key to realizing novel low-energy memory and computing structures. LiNbO3 single-crystal domain wall memory has the advantages of high operational speed, high integration density, and virtually unlimited endurance cycles, appearing as a good solution for the next generation of highly miniaturized low-energy memories. However, the etching process poses significant challenges in the nanofabrication and high-density integration of LiNbO3 domain-wall memories. Here, we employed a hybrid etching technique to achieve smooth sidewalls with a 90° inclined angle, leading to a 24% reduction in the coercive field and a 2.5-fold increase in the linear domain wall current density with a retention time of more than 106 seconds and endurance of over 105 writing cycles. Combined with the results of X-ray diffraction patterns and X-ray photoelectric spectra, it is concluded that the excellent electrical performance is related to the formation of an oxygen-deficient LiNbO3-x layer on the sidewall surface during the wet chemical etching process, which is a conductive layer that reduces the thickness of the "dead" layer between the side electrodes and the LiNbO3 cell and rectifies the diode-like wall currents with an onset voltage reduced from 1.23 to 0.28 V. These results prove the high-density integration of ferroelectric domain-wall memories at the nanoscale and provide a new strategy applicable to the development of LiNbO3 photonic devices.

Methylamine-assisted growth of uniaxial-oriented perovskite thin films with millimeter-sized grains.

Defects from grain interiors and boundaries of perovskite films cause significant nonradiative recombination energy loss, and thus perovskite films with controlled crystallinity and large grains is critical for improvement of both photovoltaic performance and stability for perovskite-based solar cells. Here, a methylamine (MA0) gas-assisted crystallization method is developed for fabrication of methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) perovskite films. In the process, the perovskite film is formed via controlled release of MA0 gas molecules from a liquid intermediate phase MAPbI3·xMA0. The resulting perovskite film comprises millimeter-sized grains with (110)-uniaxial crystallographic orientation, exhibiting much low trap density, long carrier lifetime, and excellent environmental stability. The corresponding perovskite solar cell exhibits a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of ~ 21.36%, which is among the highest reported for MAPbI3-based devices. This method provides important progress towards the fabrication of high-quality perovskite thin films for low-cost, highly efficient and stable perovskite solar cells.

In Situ Deposition of CuBiS2 on Mesoporous TiO2 Film for Light Absorber in Solar Cells.

In this report, emplectite (CuBiS2) semiconductor has been deposited on mesoporous TiO2 using gas-solid reaction method. For the first time, CuCl2 and BiCl3 are solution-coated on mesoporous TiO2 films, and thereafter reacted with H2S gas in an H2S atmosphere. The CuBiS2 film is further confirmed using X-ray diffraction; thus, demonstrating the pure phase of CuBiS2. CuBiS2 film shows high spectral absorption with an energy gap (Eg) of 2.18 eV. Furthermore, devices have a structure consisting of FTO/compact-TiO2/mesoporous-TiO2/CuBiS2/P3HT/Ag have been fabricated and hence exhibit high photoresponse performance.

Ion Exchange/Insertion Reactions for Fabrication of Efficient Methylammonium Tin Iodide Perovskite Solar Cells.

The low toxicity, narrow bandgaps, and high charge-carrier mobilities make tin perovskites the most promising light absorbers for low-cost perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, the development of the Sn-based PSCs is seriously hampered by the critical issues of poor stability and low power conversion efficiency (PCE) due to the facile oxidation of Sn2+ to Sn4+ and poor film formability of the perovskite films. Herein, a synthetic strategy is developed for the fabrication of methylammonium tin iodide (MASnI3) film via ion exchange/insertion reactions between solid-state SnF2 and gaseous methylammonium iodide. In this way, the nucleation and crystallization of MASnI3 can be well controlled, and a highly uniform pinhole-free MASnI3 perovskite film is obtained. More importantly, the detrimental oxidation can be effectively suppressed in the resulting MASnI3 film due to the presence of a large amount of remaining SnF2. This high-quality perovskite film enables the realization of a PCE of 7.78%, which is among the highest values reported for the MASnI3-based solar cells. Moreover, the MASnI3 solar cells exhibit high reproducibility and good stability. This method provides new opportunities for the fabrication of low-cost and lead-free tin-based halide perovskite solar cells.

A Cation-Exchange Approach for the Fabrication of Efficient Methylammonium Tin Iodide Perovskite Solar Cells.

Tin-based halide perovskite materials have been successfully employed in lead-free perovskite solar cells, but the overall power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) have been limited by the high carrier concentration from the facile oxidation of Sn2+ to Sn4+ . Now a chemical route is developed for fabrication of high-quality methylammonium tin iodide perovskite (MASnI3 ) films: hydrazinium tin iodide (HASnI3 ) perovskite film is first solution-deposited using presursors hydrazinium iodide (HAI) and tin iodide (SnI2 ), and then transformed into MASnI3 via a cation displacement approach. With the two-step process, a dense and uniform MASnI3 film is obtained with large grain sizes and high crystallization. Detrimental oxidation is suppressed by the hydrazine released from the film during the transformation. With the MASnI3 as light harvester, mesoporous perovskite solar cells were prepared, and a maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 7.13 % is delivered with good reproducibility.

A Novel Strategy for Scalable High-Efficiency Planar Perovskite Solar Cells with New Precursors and Cation Displacement Approach.

Methylammonium iodide (MAI) and lead iodide (PbI2 ) have been extensively employed as precursors for solution-processed MAPbI3 perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, the MAPbI3 perovskite films directly deposited from the precursor solutions, usually suffer from poor surface coverage due to uncontrolled nucleation and crystal growth of the perovskite during the film formation, resulting in low photovoltaic conversion efficiency and poor reproducibility. Herein, propylammonium iodide and PbI2 are employed as precursors for solution deposition of propylammonium lead iodide (PAPbI3 ) perovskite film. It is found that the precursors have good film formability, enabling the deposition of a large-area and homogeneous PAPbI3 perovskite film by a scalable dip-coating technique. The dip-coated PAPbI3 film is then subjected to an organic-cation displacement reaction, resulting in MAPbI3 film with high surface coverage and crystallinity. With the MAPbI3 film as the light absorber, planar PSCs are fabricated, and stabilized power conversion efficiencies of 19.27% and 15.68% can be achieved for the devices with active areas of 0.09 and 5.02 cm2 , respectively. The technology reported here provides a robust and efficient approach to fabricate large-area and high-efficiency perovskite cells for practical application.