Investigating the Correlation between Electrolyte Concentration and Electrochemical Properties of Ionogels.

Ionogels are hybrid materials comprising an ionic liquid confined within a polymer matrix. They have garnered significant interest due to their unique properties, such as high ionic conductivity, mechanical stability, and wide electrochemical stability. These properties make ionogels suitable for various applications, including energy storage devices, sensors, and solar cells. However, optimizing the electrochemical performance of ionogels remains a challenge, as the relationship between specific capacitance, ionic conductivity, and electrolyte solution concentration is yet to be fully understood. In this study, we investigate the impact of electrolyte solution concentration on the electrochemical properties of ionogels to identify the correlation for enhanced performance. Our findings demonstrate a clear relationship between the specific capacitance and ionic conductivity of ionogels, which depends on the availability of mobile ions. The reduced number of ions at low electrolyte solution concentrations leads to decreased ionic conductivity and specific capacitance due to the scarcity of a double layer, constraining charge storage capacity. However, at a 31 vol% electrolyte solution concentration, an ample quantity of ions becomes accessible, resulting in increased ionic conductivity and specific capacitance, reaching maximum values of 58 ± 1.48 µS/cm and 45.74 F/g, respectively. Furthermore, the synthesized ionogel demonstrates a wide electrochemical stability of 3.5 V, enabling diverse practical applications. This study provides valuable insights into determining the optimal electrolyte solution concentration for enhancing ionogel electrochemical performance for energy applications. It highlights the impact of ion pairs and aggregates on ion mobility within ionogels, subsequently affecting their resultant electrochemical properties.

Interfacial engineering of hole transport layers with metal and dielectric nanoparticles for efficient perovskite solar cells.

In this work, we have demonstrated the incorporation of metal (Ag NPs) and dielectric nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs) into the hole transporting layers of inverted PSCs using facile deposition methods. Interfacial engineering in PSCs is accomplished by incorporating 50 nm Ag NPs or SiO2 NPs within the PEDOT:PSS interlayer. Dielectric SiO2 NPs were used for comparison purposes as a control sample to isolate morphological impacts without plasmonic effects. The photovoltaic performance of the devices significantly improved due to increased charge selectivity and enhanced charge collection properties across the interface (HTL). The recombination resistance of the SiO2 NP incorporated HTL based PSCs was 193% higher than that of the conventional devices. In-depth analysis using impedance measurements revealed that devices containing Ag or SiO2 NPs have low electrode polarization and consequently lower charge accumulation at the interface. Lower electrode polarization in the modified devices was also found to improve the charge carrier selectivity, which eventually led to enhanced fill factor and lower parasitic resistances. Interfacial engineering via NPs yielded improvements in the electrical characteristics of non-optical origin, which not only enhanced device performance, but also reduced the hysteresis effects to much lower than in the conventional inverted PSCs based on a pristine PEDOT:PSS interlayer.

A high performance and low-cost hole transporting layer for efficient and stable perovskite solar cells.

Here we report a small molecule oxidant 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-7,7,8,8-tetracyano-quinodimethane (F4TCNQ) doped, low cost 2',7'-bis(bis(4-methoxyphenyl)amino)spiro[cyclopenta[2,1-b:3,4-b']dithiophene-4,9'-fluorene] (FDT) hole transporting layer (HTL) for efficient mixed organic cation based MA0.6FA0.4PbI3 (MA = methyl ammonium, FA = formamidinium) perovskite solar cells (PSCs), fabricated via a highly reproducible controlled nucleation assisted restricted volume solvent annealing method, having full temperature compatibility with flexible substrates. The optimized (1 wt%) F4TCNQ doped FDT HTL based devices (F-FDT devices) demonstrate simultaneous enhancement of photovoltaic performance and device stability as well as significant reduction in photo-current hysteresis, as compared to conventional bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amine lithium (Li-TFSI) additive based FDT HTL devices (L-FDT devices). Adding to the merits, F-FDT PSCs exhibit about 75% higher device stability compared to conventional L-FDT devices during the course of three weeks. Mott-Schottky analysis and in-depth charge transport characterization were carried out using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) of the fabricated devices to understand the superior performance of the F-FDT devices. In addition, detailed polaronic intensity characterization of the doped HTL films was performed via ultraviolet-visible near-infrared (UV-vis-NIR) spectroscopy to investigate the underlying mechanism. Mitigated photocurrent hysteresis in the F-FDT devices has also been examined in terms of the inherent electrode polarization phenomenon. Furthermore, the superior device stability of the F-FDT PSCs has been probed in terms of variation in electronic properties, surface wettability, crystallinity, and microstrain dislocation density, and a detailed picture of the underlying mechanism behind stability enhancement is presented.

Preliminary study of microbiologically influenced corrosion by Pseudomonas aeruginosa on high Chromium white iron.

Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion (MIC) poses a significant challenge to various industries, leading to substantial economic losses and potential safety hazards. Despite extensive research on the MIC resistance of various materials, there is a lack of studies focusing on High Chromium White Iron (HCWI) alloys, which are widely used in wear-resistant applications. This study addresses this knowledge gap by providing a comprehensive investigation of the MIC resistance of three HCWI alloys with varying chromium contents (22 wt%, 30.7 wt%, and 21 wt%) in the presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. Aeruginosa), a common bacterial species associated with MIC. The alloys were exposed to an artificial seawater medium inoculated with P.Aeruginosa for 14 days, and their corrosion behaviour was evaluated using electrochemical techniques, surface analysis, and microscopy. Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) results revealed that the alloy with the highest chromium content (A2, 30.7 wt% Cr) exhibited superior MIC resistance compared to the other alloys (A1, 22 wt% Cr and M1, 21 wt% Cr). The enhanced performance of alloy A2 was attributed to the formation of a more stable and protective passive film, as well as the development of a more compact and less permeable biofilm. The EIS data, interpreted using equivalent circuit models, showed that alloy A2 had the highest charge transfer resistance and the lowest biofilm capacitance, indicating a more effective barrier against corrosive species. Bode plots further confirmed the superior corrosion resistance of alloy A2, with higher impedance values and phase angles at low frequencies compared to alloys A1 and M1. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy analyses corroborated these findings, showing that alloy A2 had the lowest pit density and size after 14 days of exposure. The insights gained from this study highlight the critical role of chromium content in the MIC resistance of HCWI alloys and have significant implications for the design and selection of materials for applications prone to microbial corrosion.

Enhancing the stability of polymer solar cells by improving the conductivity of the nanostructured MoO3 hole-transport layer.

This article demonstrates improvements in the operational stability of organic solar cells (OSCs) by taking advantage of the relationship between oxygen stoichiometry and conductivity in nanostructured metal oxide semiconductors (n-MOS). OSCs in the inverted device configuration of ITO/Ca/P3HT:PCBM/MoO3/Ag were employed in the present study. A high degree of oxygen defects were introduced in the hole-conducting MoO3 layer by annealing the devices under vacuum (≥10(-5) mbar) for nominal temperature (120 °C) and time (10 min). The above devices had much higher operational stability, when tested following the ISOS-D-1 (shelf) protocol, than control devices annealed conventionally, i.e., in nitrogen atmosphere. Employing current-voltage measurement as functions of temperature and photon flux, we show that the devices annealed under vacuum have a lesser density of traps than those annealed in nitrogen. The lesser trap density is shown to be beneficial in reducing the rate of electron recombination thereby increasing the operational stability of the corresponding device. A number of experiments were undertaken to show that the difference in the operation stability of the device results from the difference in conductivity of the nanostructured MoO3 hole transporting layer. The charge extraction by linear increasing voltage spectroscopy shows that charges are relaxed at the trap states in the device annealed in nitrogen whereas they are efficiently transported in the other device. We identify that building up of an interfacial potential barrier as a result of the charge relaxation at the trap states and the corresponding chemical changes in the devices annealed conventionally is the source of degradation of the device performance over time. To our knowledge, this is the first report that successfully overcomes hole-conductivity induced degradation in organic solar cells.

Simultaneous improvements in power conversion efficiency and operational stability of polymer solar cells by interfacial engineering.

This article addresses simultaneous improvements in the photovoltaic performance and operational stability of organic photovoltaic devices (OPVs) in the inverted configuration when nanostructured ZnO characterized by a lower density of localized surface atomic energy states is employed as an electron transport layer. Two sets of devices with the configuration ITO/ZnO/P3HT:PCBM/MoO3/Ag are employed in the present study. A difference in the density of localized energy states in the band gap of ZnO was produced by altering the crystallinity by annealing the ZnO at two temperatures, viz. 160 and 240 °C. The devices are characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometry, current-voltage (I-V) measurements as functions of temperature and illumination intensity, incident photon to current conversion efficiency (IPCE) spectroscopy, and charge extraction by linearly increasing photovoltage (CELIV) spectroscopy. The devices fabricated using the ZnO nanostructures annealed at 240 °C have shown remarkably higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) and IPCE values than the other device. From I-V measured as a function of photon flux and temperature we show that the device with higher PCE is characterized by a lower depth of localized energy states by a factor of two than the other device. The implications of the lower trap depth was also evaluated using CELIV and the corresponding charge mobility obtained differed by a factor of three between the two sets of devices. The device with lower equilibrium concentration at the interface has three fold higher charge mobility and 40% enhanced photoconversion efficiency. The stability of the devices was evaluated with and without encapsulation under simulated sunlight (AM 1.5) following the ISOS-D-1 (shelf) and the ISOS-L-1 protocols; the device with higher PCE also showed higher operational stability. The findings in this study are expected to provide new directions in fabricating organic-inorganic heterojunction devices with high performance and stability.

Sources of Thermal Power Generation and Their Influence on the Operating Temperature of Organic Solar Cells.

Thermal stability, closely associated with the operating temperature, is one of the desired properties for practical applications of organic solar cells (OSCs). In this paper, an OSC of the structure of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/P3HT:PCBM/ZnO/Ag was fabricated, and its current-voltage (J-V) characteristics and operating temperature were measured. The operating temperature of the same OSC was simulated using an analytical model, taking into consideration the heat transfer, charge carrier drift-diffusion and different thermal generation processes. The simulated results agreed well with the experimental ones. It was found that the thermalization of charge carriers above the band gap had the highest influence on the operating temperature of the OSCs. The energy off-set at the donor/acceptor interface in the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) was shown to have a negligible impact on the thermal stability of the OSCs. However, the energy off-sets at the electrode/charge-transporting layer and BHJ/charge-transporting layer interfaces had greater impacts on the operating temperature of OSCs at the short circuit current and maximum power point conditions. Our results revealed that a variation over the energy off-set range from 0.1 to 0.9 eV would induce an almost 10-time increase in the corresponding thermal power generation, e.g., from 0.001 to 0.01 W, in the cells operated at the short circuit current condition, contributing to about 16.7% of the total solar power absorbed in the OSC.

Data of chemical analysis and electrical properties of SnO2-TiO2 composite nanofibers.

In this data article, we provide energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) spectra of the electrospun composite (SnO2-TiO2) nanowires with the elemental values measured in atomic and weight%. The linear sweep voltammetry data of composite and its component nanofibers are provided. The data collected in this article is directly related to our research article "Synergistic combination of electronic and electrical properties of SnO2 and TiO2 in a single SnO2-TiO2 composite nanowire for dye-sensitized solar cells" [1].

Adsorbed carbon nanomaterials for surface and interface-engineered stable rubidium multi-cation perovskite solar cells.

The current work reports the simultaneous enhancement in efficiency and stability of low-temperature, solution-processed triple cation based MA0.57FA0.38Rb0.05PbI3 (MA: methyl ammonium, FA: formamidinium, Rb: rubidium) perovskite solar cells (PSCs) by means of adsorbed carbon nanomaterials at the perovskite/electron transporting layer interface. The quantity and quality of the adsorbents are precisely controlled to electronically modify the ETL surface and lower the energy barrier across the interface. Carbon derivatives namely fullerene (C60) and PC71BM ([6,6]-phenyl C71 butyric acid methyl ester) are employed as adsorbents in conjunction with ZnO and together serve as a bilayer electron transporting layer (ETL). The adsorbed fullerene (C60-ZnO, abbreviated as C-ZnO) passivates the interstitial trap-sites of ZnO with interstitial intercalation of oxygen atoms in the ZnO lattice structure. C-ZnO ETL based PSCs demonstrate about a 19% higher average PCE compared to conventional ZnO ETL based devices and a nearly 9% higher average PCE than PC71BM adsorbed-ZnO (P-ZnO) ETL based PSCs. In addition, the interstitial trap-state passivation with a C-ZnO film upshifts the Fermi-level position of the C-ZnO ETL by 130 meV, with reference to the ZnO ETL, which contributes to an enhanced n-type conductivity. The photocurrent hysteresis phenomenon in C-ZnO PSCs is also substantially reduced due to mitigated charge trapping phenomena and concomitant reduction in an electrode polarization process. Another major highlight of this work is that, C-ZnO PSCs demonstrate a superior device stability retaining about 94% of its initial PCE in the course of a month-long, systematic degradation study conducted in our work. The enhanced device stability with C-ZnO PSCs is attributed to their high resistance to aging-induced recombination phenomena and a water-induced perovskite degradation process, due to a lower content of oxygen-related chemisorbed species on the C-ZnO ETL. The intricate mechanisms behind the efficiency and stability enhancement are investigated in detail and explained in the context of enhanced surface and interfacial electronic properties.

Photo-degradation of high efficiency fullerene-free polymer solar cells.

Polymer solar cells are a promising technology for the commercialization of low cost, large scale organic solar cells. With the evolution of high efficiency (>13%) non-fullerene polymer solar cells, the stability of the cells has become a crucial parameter to be considered. Among the several degradation mechanisms of polymer solar cells, burn-in photo-degradation is relatively less studied. Herein, we present the first systematic study of photo-degradation of novel PBDB-T:ITIC fullerene-free polymer solar cells. The thermally treated and as-prepared PBDB-T:ITIC solar cells were exposed to continuous 1 sun illumination for 5 hours. The aged devices exhibited rapid losses in the short-circuit current density and fill factor. The severe short-circuit current and fill factor burn in losses were attributed to trap mediated charge recombination, as evidenced by an increase in Urbach energy for aged devices.

Solution-Processed Lithium-Doped ZnO Electron Transport Layer for Efficient Triple Cation (Rb, MA, FA) Perovskite Solar Cells.

The current work reports the lithium (Li) doping of a low-temperature processed zinc oxide (ZnO) electron transport layer (ETL) for highly efficient, triple-cation-based MA0.57FA0.38Rb0.05PbI3 (MA: methylammonium, FA: formamidinium, Rb: rubidium) perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Lithium intercalation in the host ZnO lattice structure is dominated by interstitial doping phenomena, which passivates the intrinsic defects in ZnO film. In addition, interstitial Li doping also downshifts the Fermi energy position of Li-doped ETL by 30 meV, which contributes to the reduction of the electron injection barrier from the photoactive perovskite layer. Compared to the pristine ZnO, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the PSCs incorporating lithium-doped ZnO (Li-doped) is raised from 14.07 to 16.14%. The superior performance is attributed to the reduced current leakage, enhanced charge extraction characteristics, and mitigated trap-assisted recombination phenomena in Li-doped devices, thoroughly investigated by means of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analysis. Li-doped PSCs also exhibit lower photocurrent hysteresis than ZnO devices, which is investigated with regard to the electrode polarization phenomena of the fabricated devices.

Electrospun ZnO nanowire plantations in the electron transport layer for high-efficiency inverted organic solar cells.

Inverted bulk heterojunction organic solar cells having device structure ITO/ZnO/poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT):[6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) /MoO3/Ag were fabricated with high photoelectric conversion efficiency and stability. Three types of devices were developed with varying electron transporting layer (ETL) ZnO architecture. The ETL in the first type was a sol-gel-derived particulate film of ZnO, which in the second and third type contained additional ZnO nanowires of varying concentrations. The length of the ZnO nanowires, which were developed by the electrospinning technique, extended up to the bulk of the photoactive layer in the device. The devices those employed a higher loading of ZnO nanowires showed 20% higher photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE), which mainly resulted from an enhancement in its fill factor (FF). Charge transport characteristic of the device were studied by transient photovoltage decay and charge extraction by linearly increasing voltage techniques. Results show that higher PCE and FF in the devices employed ZnO nanowire plantations resulted from improved charge collection efficiency and reduced recombination rate.