Two low-cost spiro[fluorene-9,9 0 -xanthene] (SFX)-based 3D organic hole transport materials (HTMs), termed X54 and X55, were tailor-made by a one-pot synthesis approach for perovskite solar cells (PSCs). PSC devices based on X55 as the HTM show a very impressive power-conversion efficiency of 20.8% under 100 mW$cm À2 AM1.5G solar illumination, which is much higher than the PCE of the reference devices based on X54 (13.6%) and the standard HTM-Spiro-OMeTAD (18.8%) under the same conditions. HIGHLIGHTS Two SFX-based 3D oligomers were tailor-made by a one-pot synthesis approachOne of the oligomers, X55, was successfully applied in highly efficient PSCs High efficiency of 20.8% was achieved with X55 as the hole transport material The low-cost 3D HTMs can render a PCE close to 21% in PSCs Xu et al., Chem 2, 676-687 May 11, 2017 ª 2017 Elsevier Inc. http://dx. SUMMARYThe power-conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have increased rapidly from about 4% to 22% during the past few years. One of the major challenges for further improvement of the efficiency of PSCs is the lack of sufficiently good hole transport materials (HTMs) to efficiently scavenge the photogenerated holes and aid the transport of the holes to the counter-electrode in the PSCs. In this study, we tailor-made two low-cost spiro[fluorene-9,9 0xanthene] (SFX)-based 3D oligomers, termed X54 and X55, by using a one-pot synthesis approach for PSCs. One of the HTMs, X55, gives a much deeper HOMO level and a higher hole mobility and conductivity than the state-of-theart HTM, Spiro-OMeTAD. PSC devices based on X55 as the HTM show a very impressive PCE of 20.8% under 100 mW$cm À2 AM1.5G solar illumination, which is much higher than the PCE of the reference devices based on Spiro-OMeTAD (18.8%) and X54 (13.6%) under the same conditions.

Although photodynamic therapy (PDT) has thrived as a promising treatment, highly active photosensitizers (PSs) and intense light power can cause treatment overdose. However, extra therapeutic response probes make the monitoring process complicated, ex situ and delayed. Now, this challenge is addressed by a self-reporting cationic PS, named TPE-4EP+, with aggregation-induced emission characteristic. The molecule undergoes mitochondria-to-nucleus translocation during apoptosis induced by PDT, thus enabling the in situ real-time monitoring via fluorescence migration. Moreover, by molecular charge engineering, we prove that the in situ translocation of TPE-4EP+ is mainly attributed to the enhanced interaction with DNA imposed by its multivalent positive charge. The ability of PS to provide PDT with real-time diagnosis help control the treatment dose that can avoid excessive phototoxicity and minimize potential side effect. Future development of new generation of PS is envisioned.

Ap articular challenge in the design of organic photosensitizers (PSs) with donor-acceptor (D-A) structures is that it is based on trial and error rather than specific rules.Now these challenges are addressed by proposing two efficient strategies to enhance the photosensitization efficiency:p olymerization-facilitated photosensitization and the D-A evenodd effect. Conjugated polymers have been found to exhibit ah igher 1 O 2 generation efficiency than their small molecular counterparts.F urthermore,P Ss with A-D-A structures show enhanced photosensitization efficiency over those with D-A-D structures.T heoretical calculations suggest an enhanced intersystem crossing (ISC) efficiency by these strategies.B oth in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrate that the resulting materials can be used as photosensitizers in image-guided photodynamic anticancer therapy. These guidelines are applicable to other polymers and small molecules to lead to the development of new PSs.

(1 of 5) 1600834 transition, where different nanocrystal materials were tested. Under blue/UV excitation the resulting 2 × 2 × 0.2 cm slabs exhibited diffused red and green luminescence arising from the embedded Si and CdSe QDs, respectively. Structures containing Si QDs offer a unique opportunity to evaluate scattering losses because the optically active Si QDs have negligible reabsorption at the emission wavelength. [15] The scattering strength of the luminescence was found to be dependent on the wood fiber direction, consistent with the original wood structure being preserved. High scattering values (i.e., up to ≈ 10 dB cm −1 ) indicate strong suppression of the total internal reflection required for emitted light propagation. This luminescent transparent wood nanocomposite offers interesting possibilities for applications, which can benefit from its unique structural and optical properties. Examples would be furniture for general lighting or luminescent solar concentrators for building integration, [16][17][18][19] where the proven mechanical strength of this transparent wood [11] is a clear advantage. The nontoxicity and material abundance of Si QDs further enables sustainable and large scale manufacturing of this new luminescent material.Silicon QDs were synthesized upon processing of hydrogen silsesquioxane by thermal annealing. [20] The resulting nanocrystal-containing silicon oxide composites were treated with ethanolic hydrofluoric acid to extract hydride terminated nanocrystals. It was followed by surface passivation using wellestablished hydrosilylation procedures described elsewhere. [21,22] Toluene dispersions of the resulting alkyl-passivated Si QDs feature external photoluminescence quantum yields in the range 30%-60%. [23] Samples used here had peak positions in the red (720 nm) and near infrared (870 nm) spectral range. To demons trate the possibility of incorporating different types of QDs commercially available CdSe/ZnS core/shell quantum dots with green emission (540 nm, Evident Technologies) were used.The wood template was obtained by delignification of wood veneer (balsa, Ochroma pyramidale, purchased from Wentzels Co. Ltd, Sweden) with dimension of 2 × 2 × 0.2 cm to remove the main light-absorbing component. [24] The thickness direction of the veneer is the tangential direction of the cross-section of the tree stem. Specifically, wood veneer was treated using 1 wt% of sodium chlorite (NaClO 2 , Sigma-Aldrich) in acetate buffer solution (pH 4.6) at 80 °C. The reaction was stopped when the wood appeared almost uniformly white. The delignified samples were washed with deionized water and kept in water until further use. Prior to polymer infiltration, wood samples were dehydrated upon sequential exposure to ethanol and acetone with each solvent exchange step repeated three times. The MMA monomer was pre-polymerized before mixing with QDs. The prepolymerization was completed by heating the MMA at 75 °C for 15 min with 0.3 wt% 2,2′-azobis (2-methylpropionitrile) followed by cooling to room temp...

A hydrated regular cellulose paper filter modified with nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) hydrogel was successfully fabricated for water/oil separation. The fabricated filter's hydrophilic and oleophobic properties resulted in increased filter life and decreased environmental impact, while displaying water flux of 89.6 L h(-1) m(-2) with efficiency ≥99% under gravitational force.

Novel propeller-like AIEgens with tunable emission were readily prepared and used as a fluorescent thermometer and selective chemosensor for Cd(ii) detection.

Viologen derivatives have been developeda sn egative electrolyte for neutrala queous organic redox flow batteries (AOFBs), but the structure-performancer elationship remains unclear. Here, it was investigated how the structure of viologens impacts their electrochemical behavior and thereby the battery performance, by taking hydroxylated viologensa se xamples. Calculations of frontierm olecular orbitale nergy and molecular configuration promise to be an effective tool in predicting potential, kinetics, and stability,a nd may be broadly applicable. Specifically,amodified viologen derivative, BHOP-Vi, was provedt ob et he most favorable structure, enablingaconcentrated 2 m battery to exhibit ap owerd ensity of 110.87 mW cm À2 and an excellent capacityr etention rate of 99.953 %h À1 .Renewable energy plays an indispensable role in replacing fossil fuel energy and provides ap ossible solution for as ustainable future. [1] However,t he large-scale adoption of renewable energy,s uch as solar and wind energy,i si mpeded by their intermittent and fluctuating features. The fluctuation in renewable energy supply can be solved by electrochemical energystoraget echnology,w hich stores electricity in electrochemically active materials and provides stable electricity output when needed. [2] As an emerging energy-storage technology,a queous organic redoxf low batteries (AOFBs) exploit the reversible redox reaction of low-cost organic compounds dissolved in aqueous solutions. [3] AOFBs that operate under neutral conditions do not involveh ighly basic or acidic solutionsa nd are therefore safe to handle and have fewer requirementso nb attery components. [4] The electrolyte solutionso faneutralA OFB flow along opposite sides of an ion-selective membrane and are circulated between cell stacksa nd externalt anks. The tanks can be as large as possible to provide long-duration energy supply,a nd the powerc apability can be independently tuned. Powerc apability and cycle lifetime of an eutral AOFB can be effectively tailoredb ye ngineering the chemical structure of redox-active organic electrolytes.Viologens, the characteristicn egative electrolytes (negolytes) for neutral AOFBs, have attracted increasingr esearch interests because of their diverse structure and straightforward chemical modification. The simplest viologen,m ethyl viologen,i sc ommerciallya vailablea nd can also be readily synthesized on a large scale with high yield by reacting bipyridine with either methyli odide or chloroacetic acid. [5] When paired with 4-OH-TEMPO [TEMPO = (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-yl)oxyl],i tc an deliver ab attery capacity of 13.4 Ah L À1 and ac apacity loss rate of 3.6 %p er day.T his high capacity loss rate is owing to the dimerization of the intermediate, the cationic viologen radical. [6] To prevent the dimerization, Aziz and co-workers took advantage of coulombic repulsion, [7] and after adding quaternary ammonium groups to the viologen core they reporteda much lower capacity loss rate of 0.03 %p er day for the BTMAP-Vi/BTMAP-Fc cell ...

Quantifying cell-type proportions and their corresponding gene expression profiles in tissue samples would enhance understanding of the contributions of individual cell types to the physiological states of the tissue. Current approaches that address tissue heterogeneity have drawbacks. Experimental techniques, such as fluorescence-activated cell sorting, and single cell RNA sequencing are expensive. Computational approaches that use expression data from heterogeneous samples are promising, but most of the current methods estimate either cell-type proportions or cell-type-specific expression profiles by requiring the other as input. Although such partial deconvolution methods have been successfully applied to tumor samples, the additional input required may be unavailable. We introduce a novel complete deconvolution method, CDSeq, that uses only RNA-Seq data from bulk tissue samples to simultaneously estimate both cell-type proportions and cell-type-specific expression profiles. Using several synthetic and real experimental datasets with known cell-type composition and cell-type-specific expression profiles, we compared CDSeq’s complete deconvolution performance with seven other established deconvolution methods. Complete deconvolution using CDSeq represents a substantial technical advance over partial deconvolution approaches and will be useful for studying cell mixtures in tissue samples. CDSeq is available at GitHub repository (MATLAB and Octave code): https://github.com/kkang7/CDSeq.