Organic-inorganic lead halide based perovskites solar cells are by far the highest efficiency solution-processed solar cells, threatening to challenge thin film and polycrystalline silicon ones. Despite the intense research in this area, concerns surrounding the long-term stability as well as the toxicity of lead in the archetypal perovskite, CH3NH3PbI3, have the potential to derail commercialization. Although the search for Pb-free perovskites have naturally shifted to other transition metal cations and formulations that replace the organic moiety, efficiencies with these substitutions are still substantially lower than those of the Pb-perovskite. The perovskite family offers rich multitudes of crystal structures and substituents with the potential to uncover new and exciting photophysical phenomena that hold the promise of higher solar cell efficiencies. In addressing materials beyond CH3NH3PbI3, this Perspective will discuss a broad palette of elemental substitutions, solid solutions, and multidimensional families that will provide the next fillip toward market viability of the perovskite solar cells.
Additive manufacturing (AM) has brought about a revolution in the way we can manufacture complex products with customized features. AM has paved its way in the application areas ranging from aerospace, automotive, consumer to biomedical. AM of composites has attracted special attention due to its promise in improving, modifying, and diversifying the properties of generic materials through introducing reinforcements. This review provides a detailed landscape of fiber‐reinforced composites processed via AM techniques. Different AM processes, various material formulations, and strengths and drawbacks of AM methods are discussed. Emphasis is paid to AM techniques focusing on continuous fibers, as they hold the promise of becoming the next‐generation composite fabrication methodology. The article also tries to identify the potential of AM technology for fiber‐reinforced composites and delves into challenges facing the area.
Flexible and stretchable strain sensors are in great demand for many applications like wearables and home health. This work reports a strain sensor fabricated using aerosol jet printing technology on a commercially available bandage to be used as a low-cost wearable. Laser light is explored to sinter the silver nanoparticle ink on low-temperature bandage substrate. The laser parameters, their effects on the microstructure of the film, and the resulting sensor performance are systematically investigated. The results showed that the sensor is stretchable, has good sensitivity, and stability for 700 cycles of repeated bending.
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