In the past decade, the perovskite solar cell (PSC) has attracted tremendous attention thanks to the substantial efforts in improving the power conversion efficiency from 3.8% to 25.5% for single‐junction devices and even perovskite‐silicon tandems have reached 29.15%. This is a result of improvement in composition, solvent, interface, and dimensionality engineering. Furthermore, the long‐term stability of PSCs has also been significantly improved. Such rapid developments have made PSCs a competitive candidate for next‐generation photovoltaics. The electron transport layer (ETL) is one of the most important functional layers in PSCs, due to its crucial role in contributing to the overall performance of devices. This review provides an up‐to‐date summary of the developments in inorganic electron transport materials (ETMs) for PSCs. The three most prevalent inorganic ETMs (TiO2, SnO2, and ZnO) are examined with a focus on the effects of synthesis and preparation methods, as well as an introduction to their application in tandem devices. The emerging trends in inorganic ETMs used for PSC research are also reviewed. Finally, strategies to optimize the performance of ETL in PSCs, effects the ETL has on J–V hysteresis phenomenon and long‐term stability with an outlook on current challenges and further development are discussed.
The conversion of CO2 into
fuels and feedstock chemicals via photothermal catalysis
holds promise for efficient solar
energy utilization to tackle the global energy shortage and climate
change. Despite recent advances, it is of emerging interest to explore
promising materials with excellent photothermal properties to boost
the performance of photothermal CO2 catalysis. Here, we
report the discovery of MXene materials as superior photothermal supports
for metal nanoparticles. As a proof-of-concept study, we demonstrate
that Nb2C and Ti3C2, two typical
MXene materials, can enhance the photothermal effect and thus boost
the photothermal catalytic activity of Ni nanoparticles. A record
CO2 conversion rate of 8.50 mol·gNi
–1·h–1 is achieved for Nb2C-nanosheet-supported Ni nanoparticles under intense illumination.
Our study bridges the gap between photothermal MXene materials and
photothermal CO2 catalysis toward more efficient solar-to-chemical
energy conversions and stimulates the interest in MXene-supported
metal nanoparticles for other heterogeneous catalytic reactions, particularly
driven by sunlight.
In this paper, mesoporous nitrogen-doped TiO2 microspheres were prepared by a template-free solvothermal
method. The nitrogen-doped TiO2 mesoporous spheres show higher visible-light photocatalytic activity than
the undoped TiO2. The dual role of urea helps the formation of a mesoporous structure and the doping of
nitrogen into TiO2 to be completed simultaneously during the solvothermal process. The amount of urea
shows the crucial effect on the mesoporous structure and nitrogen doping in TiO2.
The efficiency of heterogeneous photocatalysis for converting solar to chemical energy is low on a per photon basis mainly because of the difficulty of capturing and utilizing light across the entire solar spectral wavelength range. This challenge is addressed herein with a plasmonic superstructure, fashioned as an array of nanoscale needles comprising cobalt nanocrystals assembled within a sheath of porous silica grown on a fluorine tin oxide substrate. This plasmonic superstructure can strongly absorb sunlight through different mechanisms including enhanced plasmonic excitation by the hybridization of Co nanoparticles in close proximity, as well as inter‐ and intra‐band transitions. With nearly 100% sunlight harvesting ability, it drives the photothermal hydrogenation of carbon dioxide with a 20‐fold rate increase from the silica‐supported cobalt catalyst. The present work bridges the gap between strong light‐absorbing plasmonic superstructures with photothermal CO2 catalysis toward the complete utilization of the solar energy.
In the past decade, perovskite photovoltaics have achieved impressive progress in both efficiency and stability, bringing new insights and excitement in industrial sectors. Transitioning this technology from the laboratory to the industrial level first needs to overcome the crucial barrier of scalable fabrication. Although various synthetic routes have been developed for obtaining high-quality perovskite layers, there remains a gap between small-scale fabrication and industrial-level manufacturing, as the incumbent processing usually requires complex and energy-consuming treatments to remove the non-volatile solvents from those conventional perovskite inks. In this perspective, we conceptualize the volatile solution as an alternative ink system serving as a roadmap toward reliable manufacturing in the future. We discuss, starting from crystallization thermodynamics to insights into the chemistry ink system, its compatibility with various deposition techniques, and the analytic feasibility of scalable/stream-lined manufacturing using this new ink system. With this comprehensive minireview on the ongoing research and a discussion of its hypothetical potential/challenge, we hope to bring new inspiration and to catalyze the transition.
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