Organohalide-perovskite solar cells have emerged as a leading next-generation photovoltaic technology. However, despite surging efficiencies, many questions remain unanswered regarding the mechanisms of operation. Here we report a detailed study of the electro-optics of efficient CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 -perovskite-only planar devices. We report the dielectric constants over a large frequency range. Importantly, we found the real part of the static dielectric constant to be ∼70, from which we estimate the exciton-binding energy to be of order 2 meV, which strongly indicates a non-excitonic mechanism. Also, Jonscher's Law behaviour was consistent with the perovskite having ionic character. Accurate knowledge of the cell's optical constants allowed improved modelling and design, and using this information we fabricated an optimized device with an efficiency of 16.5%. The optimized devices have ∼100% spectrally flat internal quantum efficiencies and minimal bimolecular recombination. These findings establish systematic design rules to achieve silicon-like efficiencies in simple perovskite solar cells.

Three-dimensional (3D) organic-inorganic perovskite solar cells have undergone a meteoric rise in cell efficiency to > 22%. However, the perovskite absorber layer is prone to degradation in water, oxygen and UV light. Two-dimensional (2D) Ruddlesden−Popper layered perovskites have exhibited promising environmental stability, but perform less well in solar cells, possibly due to the inhibition of out-of-plane charge transport by the insulating spacer cations. Alternatively, moving away from methylammonium, to the mixed cation formamidinium-caesium based perovskites has led to considerably enhancement of the stability of 3D perovskite absorber layers. Here, we report highly efficient and stable perovskite solar cells based on a self-assembled butylammonium-Cs-formamidinium mixed-cation lead mixed-halide perovskite photoactive layer. Long-chain alkyl-ammonium halides added to the formamidinium-cesium based perovskite precursor solution strongly enhances the crystallinity of the 3D perovskite phase, while also inducing the formation of new layered-phases in the films. By carefully regulating the composition, we are able to achieve "plate-like" layered perovskite crystallites standing up between the host 3D perovskite grains. This spontaneously forming heterostructure allows the efficient charge carrier transport in the 3D perovskite phase, while reducing charge recombination via fortuitous grain boundary passivation. We also observe reduced current-voltage hysteresis and improved device stability, which we correlate to enhanced crystallinity and reduced crystal defects in the 3D perovskite phase. With the optimized composition, we achieved a power conversion efficiency of 20.6% (stabilised efficiency of 19.5%) from a narrow bandgap (1.61 eV) perovskite solar cell and of 17.2 % (stabilised efficiency of 17.3%) from a wider bandgap (1.72 eV) perovskite solar cell optimised for tandem applications. In addition to enhanced efficiency, the addition of butylammonium greatly enhances the long-term stability of the devices. For the first time, our cells sustain more than 80% of their "post burn-in" efficiency after 1,000 hrs of aging under simulated full spectrum sun light measured in an ambient environment without encapsulation. With additional sealing with a glass/polymer-foil/glass laminate, we extend this lifetime to close to 4,000 hrs. Our work illustrates that engineering heterostructures between 2D and 3D perovskite phases is both possible, and can lead to enhancement of both performance and stability of perovskite solar cells.

Wavelength selective light detection is crucial for many applications such as imaging and machine vision. Narrowband spectral responses are required for colour discrimination and current systems use broadband photodiodes combined with optical filters. This approach increases architectural complexity, and limits of the quality of colour sensing. Here we report filterless, narrowband red, green, and blue photodiodes with tuneable spectral responses. The devices have simple planar junction architectures with the photoactive layer being a solution processed mixture of either an organohalide perovskite or lead halide semiconductor, and a neutral or cationic organic molecule. The organic molecules modify the optical and electrical properties of the photodiode and facilitate narrowing charge collection narrowing of the device's external quantum efficiency. These red, green, and blue photodiodes all possess full-width-at-half-maxima of <100 nm and performance metrics suitable for many imaging applications.

Avoiding wound infection and retaining an appropriate level of moisture around woundz are major challenges in wound care management. Therefore, designing hydrogels with desired antibacterial performance and good water‐maintaining ability is of particular significance to promote the development of wound dressing. Thus a series of hydrogels are prepared by crosslinking of Ag/graphene composites with acrylic acid and N,N′‐methylene bisacrylamide at different mass ratios. The antibacterial performance and accelerated wound‐healing ability of hydrogel are systematically evaluated with the aim of attaining a novel and effective wound dressing. The as‐prepared hydrogel with the optimal Ag to graphene mass ratio of 5:1 (Ag5G1) exhibits stronger antibacterial abilities than other hydrogels. Meanwhile, Ag5G1 hydrogel exhibits excellent biocompatibility, high swelling ratio, and good extensibility. More importantly, in vivo experiments indicate that Ag5G1 hydrogel can significantly accelerate the healing rate of artificial wounds in rats, and histological examination reveals that it helps to successfully reconstruct intact and thickened epidermis during 15 day of healing of impaired wounds. In one word, the present approach can shed new light on designing of antibacterial material like Ag/graphene composite hydrogel with promising applications in wound dressing.

Quasi-two-dimensional (quasi-2D) Ruddlesden–Popper (RP) perovskites such as BA2Csn–1PbnBr3n+1 (BA = butylammonium, n > 1) are promising emitters, but their electroluminescence performance is limited by a severe non-radiative recombination during the energy transfer process. Here, we make use of methanesulfonate (MeS) that can interact with the spacer BA cations via strong hydrogen bonding interaction to reconstruct the quasi-2D perovskite structure, which increases the energy acceptor-to-donor ratio and enhances the energy transfer in perovskite films, thus improving the light emission efficiency. MeS additives also lower the defect density in RP perovskites, which is due to the elimination of uncoordinated Pb2+ by the electron-rich Lewis base MeS and the weakened adsorbate blocking effect. As a result, green light-emitting diodes fabricated using these quasi-2D RP perovskite films reach current efficiency of 63 cd A−1 and 20.5% external quantum efficiency, which are the best reported performance for devices based on quasi-2D perovskites so far.

Solution-processed organohalide perov-skite photodiodes that have performance metrics matching silicon, but are infrared-blind are reported. The perovskite photodiodes operate in the visible band, have low dark current and noise, high specific detectivity, large linear dynamic range, and fast temporal response. Their properties make them promising candidates for imaging applications.

Metal halide perovskites have fascinated the research community over the past decade, and demonstrated unprecedented success in optoelectronics. In particular, perovskite single crystals have emerged as promising candidates for ionization radiation detection, due to the excellent opto-electronic properties. However, most of the reported crystals are grown in organic solvents and require high temperature. In this work, we develop a low-temperature crystallization strategy to grow CsPbBr3 perovskite single crystals in water. Then, we carefully investigate the structure and optoelectronic properties of the crystals obtained, and compare them with CsPbBr3 crystals grown in dimethyl sulfoxide. Interestingly, the water grown crystals exhibit a distinct crystal habit, superior charge transport properties and better stability in air. We also fabricate X-ray detectors based on the CsPbBr3 crystals, and systematically characterize their device performance. The crystals grown in water demonstrate great potential for X-ray imaging with enhanced performance metrics.

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