Melatonin alleviates pyroptosis by regulating the SIRT3/FOXO3α/ROS axis and interacting with apoptosis in Atherosclerosis progression.

BACKGROUND: Atherosclerosis (AS), a significant contributor to cardiovascular disease (CVD), is steadily rising with the aging of the global population. Pyroptosis and apoptosis, both caspase-mediated cell death mechanisms, play an essential role in the occurrence and progression of AS. The human pineal gland primarily produces melatonin (MT), an indoleamine hormone with powerful anti-oxidative, anti-pyroptotic, and anti-apoptotic properties. This study examined MT's anti-oxidative stress and anti-pyroptotic effects on human THP-1 macrophages treated with nicotine. METHODS: In vitro, THP-1 macrophages were induced by 1 µM nicotine to form a pyroptosis model and performed 30 mM MT for treatment. In vivo, ApoE-/- mice were administered 0.1 mg/mL nicotine solution as drinking water, and 1 mg/mL MT solution was intragastric administrated at 10 mg/kg/day. The changes in pyroptosis, apoptosis, and oxidative stress were detected. RESULTS: MT downregulated pyroptosis, whose changes were paralleled by a reduction in reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, reversal of sirtuin3 (SIRT3), and Forkhead box O3 (FOXO3α) upregulation. MT also inhibited apoptosis, mainly caused by the interaction of caspase-1 and caspase-3 proteins. Vivo studies confirmed that nicotine could accelerate plaque formation. Moreover, mice treated with MT showed a reduction in AS lesion area. CONCLUSIONS: MT alleviates pyroptosis by regulating the SIRT3/FOXO3α/ROS axis and interacting with apoptosis. Importantly, our understanding of the inhibitory pathways for macrophage pyroptosis will allow us to identify other novel therapeutic targets that will help treat, prevent, and reduce AS-associated mortality.

All-polymer organic solar cells with nano-to-micron hierarchical morphology and large light receiving angle.

Distributed photovoltaics in living environment harvest the sunlight in different incident angles throughout the day. The development of planer solar cells with large light-receiving angle can reduce the requirements in installation form factor and is therefore urgently required. Here, thin film organic photovoltaics with nano-sized phase separation integrated in micro-sized surface topology is demonstrated as an ideal solution to proposed applications. All-polymer solar cells, by means of a newly developed sequential processing, show large magnitude hierarchical morphology with facilitated exciton-to-carrier conversion. The nano fibrilar donor-acceptor network and micron-scale optical field trapping structure in combination contributes to an efficiency of 19.06% (certified 18.59%), which is the highest value to date for all-polymer solar cells. Furthermore, the micron-sized surface topology also contributes to a large light-receiving angle. A 30% improvement of power gain is achieved for the hierarchical morphology comparing to the flat-morphology devices. These inspiring results show that all-polymer solar cell with hierarchical features are particularly suitable for the commercial applications of distributed photovoltaics due to its low installation requirement.

The efficacy and mechanism of salmeterol against influenza A virus in vitro and in vivo.

Influenza A virus (IAV) is the most harmful pathogen to human beings among the various subtypes of influenza virus, which can lead to immune response, cause serious inflammation and damage to the lung. Salmeterol is a candidate compound with anti-IAV activity screened by virtual network proximity predication. In this paper, we further evaluated the pharmacodynamics of salmeterol against IAV in vivo and in vitro. The results showed that salmeterol could inhibit the activity of three IAV strains (H1N1, H3N2 and H1N1 strain resistant to oseltamivir and amantadine) in the MDCK cells. In vivo, salmeterol could improve the survival state of infected mice, and further mechanism studies shown that salmeterol could improve the pathological characteristics of the lungs, reduce the loads of virus and the expression of M2 and IFITM3 proteins in the lungs of mice. In addition, salmeterol could inhibit the formation of NLRP3 inflammasome, thus reducing the production of the TNF-α, IL-6 and MCP-1 and alleviating inflammatory symptoms. Further results showed that salmeterol can protect A549 cells from cytopathic effect caused by IAV and reduce the production of inflammasome by decreasing the expression of RIG-1 in A549 cells. Finally, salmeterol could improve the spleen morphology and significantly increase the ratio of lymphocyte CD4+/CD8+ to improve immune function of infected mice. In our study, it is confirmed that salmeterol has certain anti-IAV activity through pharmacodynamic study in vivo and in vitro, which lays an important research foundation for the new indication of salmeterol and discovery of new drug against IAV.

Self-Aggregated Light-Trapping Nanodots for Highly Efficient Organic Solar Cells.

The typical thickness of the photoactive layer in organic solar cells (OSCs) is around 100 nm, which limits the absorption efficiency of the incident light and the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of OSCs. Therefore, light-trapping schemes to reduce the optical losses in the thin photoactive layers are critically important for efficient OSCs. Herein, light-trapping and electron-collection dual-functional small organic molecules, N,N,N',N'-tetraphenyloxalamide (TPEA) and N,N,N',N'-tetraphenylmalonamide (TPMA), are designed and synthesized by a one-step acylation reaction. Driven by strong intermolecular force, TPEA and TPMA tend to self-aggregate into hemispherical light-trapping nanodots on the photoactive layer, resulting in enhanced light harvesting. Meanwhile, TPEA and TPMA demonstrate high electron mobility and excellent electron-collection ability.  Compared with the device without cathode buffer layer (CBL, PCE = 14.09%), PM6:BTP-eC9 based OSCs with TPEA and TPMA light-trapping CBLs demonstrate greatly enhanced PCE of 16.21% and 17.85%, respectively. Furthermore, a record PCE of 19.02% can be achieved for PM6:BTP-eC9:PC71 BM based ternary OSC with TPMA light-trapping CBL. Moreover, TPMA exhibits a low synthesis cost of only 0.61 $ g-1 with high yield. These findings could open a window for the rational design of multifunctional CBLs for efficient and stable OSCs.

HPV Vaccination Intentions of Female Students in Chinese Universities: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically evaluate the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination intentions among female university students in China and establish a basis for improving HPV vaccination coverage. METHODS: We searched CNKI, EBSCO, JSTOR, MESH or Emtree, Weipu Information Chinese Journal Service Platform, Wanfang Data, China Biomedical Literature Database, PubMed, Embase, Web for the Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library to identify peer-reviewed published research on intentions by female college students in China to receive the HPV vaccination. RESULTS: A preliminary search of 408 papers resulted in the inclusion of 12 studies, all cross-sectional, of moderate or high quality, with a sample size of 12,600. The HPV vaccination intention rate among Chinese female university students was 16.67% (95% CI: 12.38% to 21.24%). The vaccination intention rates of medical students, non-medical students, and Tibetan students were 30.37% (95% CI: 28.80-34.12%), 15.53% (95% CI: 11.2-20.22%), and 14.12% (95 % CI: 10.59-18.04%), respectively. The vaccination intention rates of the participants with parental education of junior high school and below, high school, and bachelor's degree and above were 15.36% (95 % CI: 11.59 to 17.54%), 17.18% (95 % CI: 12.33% to 19.61%), and 19.81% (95 % CI: 15.61% to 22.25%), respectively. The intention rates of vaccination among residents of first-tier, second-tier, and third-tier cities were 17.64% (95% CI: 12.76-21.63%), 15.39% (95% CI: 11.74-19.82%), and 13.87% (95% CI: 9.36-15.65%), respectively. The results of the meta-analysis were relatively stable with little publication bias. CONCLUSION: The intention rate of HPV vaccination among female university students in China is low and varies among different populations. There is a need to increase HPV vaccination promotion efforts to improve the intention of female university students to receive the vaccine.

Perioperative coronary artery spasm after off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting in the non-manipulated coronary artery.

BACKGROUND: Perioperative coronary artery spasm (CAS) following coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is a severe or lethal condition that is rarely reported. In addition, rare cases with CAS following CABG in the non-manipulated coronary artery are angiographically documented in the perioperative period. We aimed to report our experiences on the diagnosis and treatment of a case with CAS following off-pump CABG in the non-manipulated coronary artery. METHODS: A 57-year old male with coronary heart disease and unstable angina willing to undergo CABG was admitted to our department. CABG was recommended as he showed 90% stenosis in distal left anterior descending artery, 90% stenosis in intermediate branch, 90% stenosis in left circumflex coronary artery, as well as 50% stenosis in proximal right coronary artery (RCA). RESULTS: After CABG, the patient showed Adams-Stokes syndrome and ST-segment elevation. Then CPR was conducted and coronary angiography indicated perioperative CAS in the non-manipulated posterior descending artery. For the treatment, the patient received nitroglycerin injection into the coronary artery by catheter and pumping of diltiazem. Finally, the patient was discharged on day 7 after surgery. A comprehensive literature search was conducted to summarize the studies focused on the diagnosis and treatment of such condition, which indicated that all of the CAS cases occurred in the manipulated vessels, except one study showing CAS in the untouched native coronary artery which was similar with our case. CONCLUSIONS: Perioperative CAS in the non-manipulated coronary artery following CABG is a severe or lethal condition that is rarely reported, which deserves close attention by the clinicians in clinical practice.

High slope-efficiency quantum-dot lasers grown on planar exact silicon (001) with asymmetric waveguide structures.

We report electrically pumped continuous-wave (CW) InAs/GaAs quantum dot lasers directly grown on planar exact silicon (001) with asymmetric waveguide structures. Surface hydrogen-annealing for the GaAs/ Si (001) templates and low-temperature growth for GaInP upper cladding layers were combined in the growth of the laser structure to achieve a high slope efficiency. For the broad-stripe edge-emitting lasers with 2-mm cavity length and 20-µm stripe width made from the above laser structure, a threshold current density of 203.5 A/cm2 and a single-facet slope efficiency of 0.158 W/A are achieved at ∼1.31 µm band under CW conditions. The extrapolated mean-time-to-failure reaches up to 21000 hours at room temperature, which is deduced from the data measured from C-mount packaged devices. Importantly, these results can provide a practical strategy to realize 1.3 µm wavelength band distributed feedback lasers directly on planar exact Si (001) templates with thin buffer layers.

Activity-dependent circuitry plasticity via the regulation of the histamine receptor level in the Drosophila visual system.

Activity-dependent synaptic plasticity is crucial for responses to the environment. Although the plasticity mechanisms of presynaptic photoreceptor neurons in the Drosophila visual system have been well studied, postsynaptic modifications remain elusive. In addition, further studies on the adaption of the visual system to different light experiences at a circuitry scale are required. Using the modified transcriptional reporter of intracellular Ca2+ method, we describe a way to visualize circuitry changes according to different light experiences. We found enhanced postsynaptic neuronal activity responses in lamina monopolar neuron L2 after prolonged light treatment. Although L1 also has connections with photoreceptors, there were no enhanced activity responses in L1. We also report in this study that activity-dependent transcriptional downregulation of inhibitory histamine receptor (HR), Ort, occurs in postsynaptic neuron L2, but not in L1, during continuous light conditions. We produced exogenous Ort proteins in L2 neurons and found that it attenuated the enhanced activity response caused by constant light exposure. These findings, together with the fact that histamine is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter released by photoreceptors in the Drosophila visual system, confirmed our hypothesis that the activity-dependent transcriptional downregulation of HR is responsible for the constant light exposure-induced circuitry response changes in L2. The results successfully demonstrated the selective circuit change after synaptic remodeling evoked by long-term activation and provided in vivo evidence of circuitry plasticity upon long-term environmental stimulation.

Highly Efficient and Super Stable Full-Color Quantum Dots Light-Emitting Diodes with Solution-Processed All-Inorganic Charge Transport Layers.

High performance and super stable all-inorganic full-color quantum dot light-emitting diodes (QLEDs) are constructed by adopting solution-processed Mg-doped NiOx (Mg-NiOx ) nanoparticles as hole transport layer (HTL) and Al-doped ZnO (AZO) as electron transport layer (ETL). Mg-NiOx nanoparticles possess the advantages of low-temperature solution processability, intrinsic stability, and controllable electronic properties. UV-ozone (UVO) treatment is applied to the Mg-NiOx film to modulate its surface composition. By carefully controlling the UVO treating time, favorable energy levels can be achieved to minimize the energy barrier for hole injection. At the cathode side, Al-doping can reduce the conductivity of ZnO ETL and decrease the interface charge transfer, effectively, thus leading to more balanced charge injection and consequent high luminance and efficiency. The maximum luminance and EQE can reach as high as 38 444 cd m-2 and 5.09% for R-QLEDs, 177 825 cd m-2 and 10.1% for G-QLEDs, and 3103 cd m-2 and 2.19% for B-QLEDs. The luminance values are the highest ever reported for all-inorganic QLEDs. Furthermore, the all-inorganic devices show much better resistance to water and oxygen existing in air. The results show that the ion-doped NiOx and AZO nanoparticles would facilitate the design and development of highly efficient and super stable QLEDs.

High Performance Tandem Solar Cells with Inorganic Perovskite and Organic Conjugated Molecules to Realize Complementary Absorption.

All-inorganic halide perovskite solar cells (PerSCs) have achieved rapid development in recent years. However, limited by narrow absorption bands, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of all-inorganic halide PerSCs lag behind the organic-inorganic hybrid ones. In this contribution, to expand their absorption spectra and enhance the PCE, tandem solar cells (TSCs) with inorganic perovskite and organic conjugated molecules are constructed, utilizing CsPbI2Br as an ultraviolet-visible light absorber and a PTB7-Th:IEICO-4F bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) active layer as a near-infrared light absorber. To physically and electronically connect the front and rear subcells, P3HT/MoO3/Ag/PFN-Br is introduced as an interconnecting junction. Finally, the TSCs exhibit a remarkably higher PCE of 17.24% compared to that of the single junction PerSCs (12.09%) and organic solar cells (OSCs) (10.89%). These results indicate that the combination of all-inorganic perovskite and a low bandgap organic active layer for TSCs is a feasible approach to realize broad spectra utilization and efficiency enhancement.

Facile Method of Solvent-Flushing To Building Component Distribution within Photoactive Layers for High-Performance Organic Solar Cells.

Suitable donor and acceptor distribution in the blended photoactive layer benefits the charge transfer and exciton separation to boost the performance of organic solar cells (OSCs). Herein, we propose a universal solvent-flushing method for building component distribution in photoactive layers based on the different solubilities of the donor and acceptor in acetylacetone (Acac). The donor and acceptor concentration distribution through the photoactive layers is investigated by the time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectroscopy, and the surface concentration changes are examined by contact angle measurements and atomic force microscopy tests. The charge-transfer properties of OSCs before and after Acac flushing are further investigated by the rectification ratio and light intensity-dependent Jsc and Voc measurements. For inverted OSCs based on PBDB-TF:IT-4F, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) enhances from 12.87 to 14.05%, and for a PBDB-TF:Y6-based device, the PCE also significantly increases from 15.40 to 16.51% because of greatly enhanced Jsc and FF, benefited from enhanced charge transport and suppressed charge recombination by solvent-flushing. Our findings suggest that solvent-flushing is a simply processed and easily controlled method to achieve vertical component distribution in photoactive layers to boost the performance of OSCs.

High Performance Quasi-2D Perovskite Sky-Blue Light-Emitting Diodes Using a Dual-Ligand Strategy.

For quasi-2D perovskite light-emitting diodes, the introduction of insulating bulky cation reduces the charge transport property, leading to lowered brightness and increased turn-on voltage. Herein, a dual-ligand strategy is adopted to prepare perovskite films by using an appropriate ratio of i-butylammonium (iBA) and phenylethylammonium (PEA) as capping ligands. The introduction of iBA enhances the binding energy of the ligands on the surface of the quasi-2D perovskite, and effectively controls the proportion of 2D perovskite to allow more efficient energy transfer, resulting in the great enhancement of the electric and luminescent properties of the perovskite. The photoluminescence (PL) mapping of the perovskite films exhibits that enhanced photoluminescence performance with better uniformity and stronger intensity can be achieved with this dual-ligand strategy. By adjusting the proportion of the two ligands, sky-blue perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs) with electroluminescence (EL) peak located 485 nm are achieved with a maximum luminance up to 1130 cd m-2 and a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) up to 7.84%. In addition, the color stability and device stability are significantly enhanced by using a dual-ligand strategy. This simple and feasible method paves the way for improving the performance of quasi-2D PeLEDs.

Activity-Dependent Synaptic Plasticity in Drosophila melanogaster.

The Drosophila nervous system is a valuable model to examine the mechanisms of activity-dependent synaptic modification (plasticity) owing to its relatively simple organization and the availability of powerful genetic tools. The larval neuromuscular junction (NMJ) in particular is an accessible model for the study of synaptic development and plasticity. In addition to the NMJ, huge strides have also been made on understanding activity-dependent synaptic plasticity in the Drosophila olfactory and visual systems. In this review, we focus mainly on the underlying processes of activity-dependent synaptic plasticity at both pre-synaptic and post-synaptic terminals, and summarize current knowledge on activity-dependent synaptic plasticity in different parts of the Drosophila melanogaster nervous system (larval NMJ, olfactory system, larval visual system, and adult visual system). We also examine links between synaptic development and activity-dependent synaptic plasticity, and the relationships between morphological and physiological plasticity. We provide a point of view from which we discern that the underlying mechanism of activity-dependent plasticity may be common throughout the nervous systems in Drosophila melanogaster.

Expanding the Light Harvesting of CsPbI2Br to Near Infrared by Integrating with Organic Bulk Heterojunction for Efficient and Stable Solar Cells.

All-inorganic perovskite (CsPbX3, X = Br or I) solar cells demonstrate superior stability, while the power conversion efficiency (PCE) lags behind the organic-inorganic hybrid counterparts mainly due to the limitation of narrow absorption bands. To broaden their absorption spectrum and improve their PCE, all-inorganic perovskite/organic integrated solar cells utilizing CsPbI2Br as an ultraviolet-visible light absorber and PBDTTT-E-T:IEICO as a near-infrared light absorber are demonstrated in this work. The integrated solar cells exhibit a broadened photoresponse to over 900 nm, attributed to the integration of PBDTTT-E-T:IEICO. The additional absorption enhances the short-circuit current density from 14.78 to 15.98 mA/cm2, resulting in greatly improved PCE of 14.03% for integrated solar cells, much higher than that of the control perovskite solar cells (12.53%) and organic solar cells (7.51%). An in-depth understanding of the charge-transfer dynamic process in the CsPbI2Br/PBDTTT-E-T:IEICO film is comprehensively analyzed by photoinduced transient absorption spectroscopy. Furthermore, the air stability and thermal stability of the integrated solar cells are greatly enhanced. For unencapsulated integrated solar cells, the PCE still preserves 95% of its initial value after aging for 300 h in an ambient environment and retains about 90% of its original value even after aging at 85 °C for 180 h in nitrogen.

Enhancing charge transport in an organic photoactive layer via vertical component engineering for efficient perovskite/organic integrated solar cells.

Suitable vertical component distribution within an organic bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) is vital for effective exciton dissociation and smooth charge transport in perovskite/organic integrated solar cells (ISCs). Herein, a bi-continuous interpenetrating network of organic donor/acceptor materials is constructed simply by optimizing their weight ratio, and is further applied in perovskite/organic ISCs. Time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectroscopy (TOF-SIMS) and scanning Kelvin probe microscopy (SKPM) strongly confirm that this method can effectively restrict vertical stratification and build a desired bi-continuous framework within the organic photoactive layer, which can effectively suppress two potential recombination losses from the viewpoint of kinetics, leading to the PCE increasing from 12.63% to 15.47% for ISCs based on the structure of MAPbI3/PBDB-T : IEICO. Meanwhile, our ISCs combining a UV-vis harvesting layer of MAPbI3 and a near-infrared absorbing layer of PBDB-T : IEICO exhibit a photo-response extending to the whole visible and infrared spectrum (up to 900 nm). This work verifies that tuning the donor/acceptor weight ratio is a feasible strategy for optimizing the morphology of BHJ absorbers and suppressing charge recombination for efficient perovskite/BHJ ISCs.

Passivation of the grain boundaries of CH3NH3PbI3 using carbon quantum dots for highly efficient perovskite solar cells with excellent environmental stability.

Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites are prone to defect formation due to iodine and methylamine ion/defect migration, leading to the formation of lots of defects at the perovskite surface and grain boundaries. Passivation of the defects is an effective method to improve the power conversion efficiency (PCE) and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). To achieve stable passivation, the interaction between the perovskite and additive materials should be taken into consideration. In this work, we for the first time introduced carbon quantum dots (CQDs) as an additive for the stabilization of MAPbI3via passivation of the grain boundaries of the perovskite. Because the carboxylic groups, hydroxyl groups and amino-groups on the edge of CQDs can bond with the uncoordinated Pb in MAPbI3, strong and stable interactions between the perovskite and CQDs can be generated, inducing a lower trap-state density and better optoelectronic properties. The typical PCE of the PSCs based on CQD modified MAPbI3 films increases from 17.59% to 18.81% and the PCE of the optimized champion PSCs reaches 19.38%. Furthermore, the hydrophobic CQD molecules can block the contact between water and MAPbI3, and even if the CQD modified perovskite is kept under ambient atmosphere without controlling the humidity for 4 months, the MAPbI3 film still retained its original black color.

Constructing Desired Vertical Component Distribution Within a PBDB-T:ITIC-M Photoactive Layer via Fine-Tuning the Surface Free Energy of a Titanium Chelate Cathode Buffer Layer.

Rationally controlling the vertical component distribution within a photoactive layer is crucial for efficient polymer solar cells (PSCs). Herein, fine-tuning the surface free energy (SFE) of the titanium(IV) oxide bis(2,4-pentanedionate) (TOPD) cathode buffer layer is proposed to achieve a desired perpendicular component distribution for the PBDB-T:ITIC-M photoactive layer. The Owens-Wendt method is adopted to precisely calculate the SFE of TOPD film jointly based on the water contact angle and the diiodomethane contact angle. We find that the SFE of TOPD film increases as the annealing temperature rises, and the subtle SFE change causes the profound vertical component distribution within the bulk region of PBDB-T:ITIC-M. The results of secondary-ion mass spectroscopy visibly demonstrate that the TOPD film with an SFE of 48.71 mJ/cm2, which is very close to that of the ITIC film (43.98 mJ/cm2), tends to form desired vertical component distribution. Consequently, compared with conventional bulk heterojunction devices, the power conversion efficiency increases from 9.00 to 10.20% benefiting from the short circuit current density increase from 14.76 to 16.88 mA/cm2. Our findings confirm that the SFE adjustment is an effective way of constructing the desired vertical component distribution and therefore achieving high-efficiency PSCs.

Perfect Complementary in Absorption Spectra with Fullerene, Nonfullerene Acceptors and Medium Band Gap Donor for High-Performance Ternary Polymer Solar Cells.

Because of the mismatch between the solar irradiance spectra and the photoactive layer absorption spectra, only a part of sunlight can be utilized, which fundamentally restricting the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the polymer solar cells (PSCs). Ternary blend PSCs, with an additional third component, have become an effective approach to extend the absorption spectra and increase the mobility of the charge carriers. Herein, we select the middle band gap PBDTBDD as an electron donor and narrow band gap ITIC and wide band gap PC60BM as electron acceptors to construct ternary blends for simultaneously enhancing the absorption intensity and expanding the absorption band. The optical properties, morphologies, and the charge-/energy-transfer behaviors of the ternary blends are investigated. By attentively adjusting the ratio of the third component, ITIC, the ternary PSCs demonstrate an expanded light-response region and greatly enhanced JSC, giving an improved overall PCE of 10.36%, much higher than that of the binary counterparts based on PBDTBDD:PC60BM (6.63%) and PBDTBDD:ITIC (9.44%). These findings indicate that proper selection of donors and acceptors to construct absorption spectra-complementary ternary blend photoactive layers is an effective way to achieve high-performance PSCs.

Low-temperature solution-processed vanadium oxide as hole transport layer for efficient and stable perovskite solar cells.

In recent years, great progress has been achieved in improving the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells (PSCs), but the stability of PSCs is still an obstacle in their commercialization due to the limitation of efficient and stable hole transport materials. Herein, we demonstrate an alcohol-solution-based low-temperature-processed vanadium oxide (VOx) hole transport layer (HTL) for planar heterojunction PSCs. The good crystallinity and morphology of CH3NH3PbI3 grown on this amorphous VOx film is investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. Due to the suitable and matching energy levels of VOx and CH3NH3PbI3, the holes generated in CH3NH3PbI3 can efficiently transfer to VOx HTL. Furthermore, VOx-HTL-based PSCs yield a PCE value of 14.5% with better stability in comparison with PEDOT:PSS-HTL-based PSCs. These results reveal that the low-temperature-processed VOx films can be employed as the HTL for efficient and stable PSCs.

Enhanced Electron Injection and Exciton Confinement for Pure Blue Quantum-Dot Light-Emitting Diodes by Introducing Partially Oxidized Aluminum Cathode.

Stable and efficient red (R), green (G), and blue (B) light sources based on solution-processed quantum dots (QDs) play important roles in next-generation displays and solid-state lighting technologies. The brightness and efficiency of blue QDs-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) remain inferior to their red and green counterparts, due to the inherently unfavorable energy levels of different colors of light. To solve these problems, a device structure should be designed to balance the injection holes and electrons into the emissive QD layer. Herein, through a simple autoxidation strategy, pure blue QD-LEDs which are highly bright and efficient are demonstrated, with a structure of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/Poly-TPD/QDs/Al:Al2O3. The autoxidized Al:Al2O3 cathode can effectively balance the injected charges and enhance radiative recombination without introducing an additional electron transport layer (ETL). As a result, high color-saturated blue QD-LEDs are achieved with a maximum luminance over 13,000 cd m-2, and a maximum current efficiency of 1.15 cd A-1. The easily controlled autoxidation procedure paves the way for achieving high-performance blue QD-LEDs.