Ultraviolet photodetector (UV PD) based on all-inorganic CsPbCl3 perovskite has shown enormous potential due to its appropriate band gap and exceptional optoelectronic properties. However, the nonradiative charge recombination caused by the interface state of CsPbCl3 films and degradation under UV radiation have hindered its widespread adoption and practical application. Herein, the interface between SnO2 electron transport layer (ETL)/perovskite and the quality of CsPbCl3 films were synergetic modulated by Ti3C2Tx MXene. After interface and additive engineering of Ti3C2Tx MXene, carrier extraction and transport are enhanced by the van der Walls (vdW) bonds from Ti3C2Tx and optimal properties of CsPbCl3 films. Moreover, the nonradiative charge recombination induced by the interface state and internal defect is alleviated. Eventually, the UV PD with FTO/SnO2/ Ti3C2Tx/CsPbCl3@Ti3C2Tx/Au structure exhibits extraordinary performance, including an exceptionally high responsivity (up to 1.05 x 103 mA/W), a significant specific detectivity (1.71 x 1011 cm Hz1/2/W), and a rapid rise/decay time (1.47/1.52 mu s) under self-powered mode, with dramatically improved stability as well. This approach demonstrates a novel strategy for optimizing UV PD performance based on CsPbCl3 perovskite though a dual strategy of MXene modulation.

All-inorganic CsPbBr3 single crystals have emerged as promising candidates for high-energy radiation detectors owing to their exceptional X-ray absorption capabilities, charge transport properties, and high stability. This study uses first-principles calculations to analyze the structure, band structure, and density of states of different CsPbBr3 phases, demonstrating that the orthorhombic phase of CsPbBr3 single crystals is more suitable for X-ray detector fabrication. A low-temperature solvent evaporation-induced crystallization method was used to fabricate single crystals to prevent defect introduction during phase transitions. After the introduction of NH4SCN additives, the crystalline quality of the CsPbBr3-NH4SCN single crystals was significantly enhanced, with the mu tau value and bulk resistivity increasing to 1.3 x 10(-2) cm(2)V-1 and 6.8 x 10(10) Omegacm, respectively. The ultimately fabricated CsPbBr3-NH4SCN single-crystal X-ray detector achieved a sensitivity level of 2,360.1 mu CGy(air)( -1)cm(-2 )and a detection limit as low as 424.1 nGy(air)s(-1 )under an electric field of 20 Vmm(-1). Overall, the experimental results provide new insights into the future fabrication of CsPbBr3 single-crystal X-ray detectors.

Cd 1-x Mn x Te (CMT) ternary compounds, prepared by co-evaporation using CdTe and Mn as raw materials, possess the same zinc blende structure as CdTe. The bandgap of CMT films rises as the Mn concentration increases, with the correlation between bandgap and Mn concentration being E g = 1.5 + 1.7 x- 1.3 x 2 . The work function of CMT films increases slightly compared to that of CdTe. When employed as a buffer layer in CdTe solar cells, CMT can reflect electrons due to its good lattice matching with CdTe and a higher conduction band, reducing the carrier recombination. This results in an enhanced open-circuit voltage ( V OC ) and, consequently, an increase in conversion efficiency. The maximum V OC achieved is 875 mV, which is 120 mV higher than that of an Au-only cell. Incorporating CMT in CdTe solar cells improves heterojunction quality and facilitates selective carrier transport. The cell with CMT has a transfer resistance of around 2.84 ohm ecm 2 and a recombination resistance of approximately 3.1 x 10 5 ohm ecm 2 . The carrier lifetime related to the interfacial recombination is obviously increased. Therefore, CMT is a suitable buffer that holds the potential for producing highly efficient CdTe solar cells with a high V OC .

Composite materials based on reduced graphene oxide decorated with cuprous telluride nanoparticles (Cu2Te NPs@rGO) were fabricated using a facilitated two-step method. A back-contact layer was formed using a spin-coating method for cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cells. This research is aimed to improve the photovoltaic performance of a device containing Cu2Te NPs@rGO/Au back contacts. Cu2Te NPs, as the active copper diffusion source, dope and passivate the interfaces and grain boundaries of CdTe to form the p+layer, which can reduce the recombination centers and back-contact barrier height. Simultaneously, the reduced graphene oxide (rGO), as a buffer and carrier transport layer, prevents excessive copper diffusion during the annealing process and improves the hole collection capacity. The p-type layer formed by the rGO contact with the Au film enhances hole transport and facilitates a low-resistance contact formation, forming a quasi-ohmic contact, and increases the open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current density. Cu2Te NPs@ rGO/Au back contacts significantly improved the photovoltaic performance (Eff: 16.5%, Voc: 830 mV, Jsc: 27.13 mA/cm2, fill factor: 73.3%, area: 0.24 cm2). The composites retain properties of Cu2Te NPs and rGO. Their multifunctional properties reveal the potential of Cu2Te NPs@rGO as the back contact and broaden the application of graphene-based composites in photovoltaic devices. Additionaly, the preparation of graphene-based composites and their application as back contact is simple and convenient.(c) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The energy storage device of the microgrid plays a crucial role in reducing the peak regulation pressure and strengthening the economic benefit of the microgrid. Under the consideration the volatility of photovoltaic and wind power, an optimization model, involving the maintenance and management costs of each power supply in the operation of the microgrid, is established with the lowest operating cost as the objective. Additionally, the influence of different penetrations of renewable energy on the battery charge and discharge is investigated. Then, an appropriate penetration of renewable energy is selected to explore the impact of batteries in different capacities on the microgrid.

Back buffer materials play a significant role in improving both open-circuit voltage and fill factor, and developing new materials and structures can be essential for further improvement. In this paper, we have compared the different cases with only one buffer and concluded that single buffer layer always has some innate defects because of the actual constraints. And on the foundation of detailed energy band analysis, we propose that a double- or multi- back buffer structure has the potential to fully mitigate the disadvantage of a single layer and combine the strengths of different materials. The simulation based on this theory demonstrates that the combination of different layers behaves as what we expected and outputs much better performance. It is shown that two layers with reasonable alignment and suitable carrier density are nearly enough for most cases while for extreme cases, more layers are required. Our further simulation provides real designs based on different kinds of back buffer materials, and this work might be instructional for designing new back buffer structures.

Renewable energy can address the issues of energy shortage and carbon emissions. However, high penetration of renewable generation will pose severe challenges to the security of power systems, due to the uncertainty of renewable energy generation (REG). In this paper, a host of scenarios are generated via Monte-Carlo approach to describe the uncertainty of REG. For the purposes of balancing the accuracy and efficiency, back-substitution method is used to reduce scenarios and internment representative ones. Consequently, an optimal scheduling model, considering the uncertainty of photovoltaic and wind power, is established with the lowest operating cost as the objective. Additionally, the influence of uncertainty of REG on the dispatch of microgrid and the setting of battery capacity is investigated.

Multilayered MoO3/Cu thin films were prepared by thermal evaporation in combination with the thermal treatments. As-deposited multilayers are amorphous structure. With the increase of temperature, Mo4O11 phase forms in the thin films without copper while MoO2 phase with the weak reduced molybdenum oxide appears in the copper-containing thin films. After annealing at the temperature higher than 450. C predominant MoO2 appears in the multilayered MoO3/Cu thin films. Meanwhile, CuO and Cu2O are also present in the thin films. The formation mechanism of reduced molybdenum suboxide can be explained by the oxygen-vacancy generation reaction or the reduction of MoO3 to MoO3-x via the inter-diffusion at the MoO3/Cu interfaces. The band gaps and conductivity activation energies of multilayered MoO3/Cu thin films decrease as the annealing temperature increases, in which the smallest band gap of similar to 2.05 eV and activation energy of similar to 0.02 eV for the MoO2 thin films are found. Our results open a new road to broaden the application of reduced molybdenum suboxides as a back contact material for CdTe solar cells.

Three-dimensional (3D) flexible electrodes of stringed hollow nitrogen-doped (N-doped) carbon nanospheres as graded sulfur reservoirs and conductive frameworks were elaborately designed via a combination of the advantages of hollow structures, 3D electrodes and flexible devices. The as-prepared electrodes by a synergistic method of electrospinning, template sacrificing and activation for Li-S batteries without any binder or conductive additives but a 3D interconnected conductive network offered multiple transport paths for electrons and improved sulfur utilization and facilitated an easy access to Li+ ingress/egress. With the increase of density of hollow carbon spheres in the strings, the self-supporting composite electrode reveals an enhanced synergistic mechanism for sulfur confinement and displays a better cycling stability and rate performance. It delivers a high initial specific capacity of 1422.6 mAh g(-1) at the current rate of 0.2C with the high sulfur content of 76 wt.%, and a much higher energy density of 754Wh kg(-1) and power density of 1901 Wh kg(-1), which greatly improve the energy/power density of traditional lithium-sulfur batteries and will be promising for further commercial applications. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A coagulation-flocculation as pre-treatment combined with mFe/Cu/O3 (CF-mFe/Cu/O3) process was developed to degrade the pollutants in automobile coating wastewater (ACW). In coagulation-flocculation (CF) process, high turbidity removal efficiency (97.1%) and low COD removal efficiency (10.5%) were obtained under the optimal conditions using Al2(SO4)3·18H2O and CaO. The effluent of CF process (ECF) was further disposed by mFe/Cu/O3 process, and its key operating parameters were optimized by batch experiments. Optimally, COD removal efficiency of ECF obtained by the mFe/Cu/O3 process (i.e., 87.6% after 30 min treatment) was much higher than those of mFe/Cu alone (8.3%), ozone alone (46.6%), and mFe/Cu/air (6.1%), which confirms the superiority of the mFe/Cu/O3 process. In addition, the analysis results of UV-vis, excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectra and GC/MS further confirm that the phenol pollutants of ECF had been effectively decomposed or transformed after CF-mFe/Cu/O3 process treatment. Meanwhile, B/C ratio of ACW increased from 0.19 to 0.56, which suggests the biodegradability was improved significantly. Finally, the operating cost of CF-mFe/Cu/O3 process was about 1.83 USD t-1 for ACW treatment. Therefore, the combined process is a promising treatment technology for the coating wastewater from automobile manufacturing.