A significantly improved efficiency is achieved for solar cells based on hydro­thermally grown ZnO nanorods and P3HT. This efficiency is obtained by fine‐tuning morphological parameters and by adding electron and hole blocking layers. Insight into the mechanisms underlying the improvement lead to recommendations for further future improvements.

Here, we introduce deep eutectic solvent (DES)-silica composites as a promising candidate for solid composite electrolytes (SCEs). The proposed DES-based gel electrolytes, further referred to as eutectogels (ETGs), are characterized by high ionic conductivity (1.46 mS cm-1), thermal (up to 130 °C), and electrochemical stability (up to 4.8 volts) and are chemically inert to solvents and water. These ETGs can be easily processed and potentially at lower costs compared to ionicliquid-based composite electrolytes. The good prospects of ETGs for application in Li/Li-ion batteries are demonstrated by stable cycling of Li/ETG/LiFePO4 cells over 100 cycles at C/10.

A thorough analytical study on the thermal decomposition evolution of the metal-trifluoroacetate precursor toward high-performance YBa2Cu3O7 superconducting films is presented. Evolved gas analysis (EGA), using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and mass spectrometry (MS), as well as X-ray diffraction (XRD), was performed to determine the complete chemical decomposition reaction of the metal-trifluoroacetate precursors. It is noteworthy that, contrary to what had been previously described, HF was not detected in the released gas. Moreover, we present new processing conditions that successfully reduced and even eliminated the undesirable porosity of the pyrolyzed films. Focused-ion-beam (FIB) studies demonstrated that the formation of pores was related to a fast escape of the released gas during precursor decomposition. The oxygen partial pressure was determined to be a key parameter to control both the kinetics and thermodynamics of the decomposition reaction and, hence, the porosity. This is of great importance because dense films are required to achieve high critical current densities in YBa2Cu3O7 superconducting films.

This work introduces the polymeric eutectogel (P-ETG) solid composite electrolytes (SCEs) developed from the encapsulation of a liquid deep eutectic solvent (DES) electrolyte within a solid amide-based polymer backbone. Compared to their silica-based eutectogel counterparts, the P-ETGs can be efficiently processed by means of UV curing from liquid precursors and possess superior mechanical flexibility. The P-ETGs are characterized by a good electrochemical stability (up to 4.5 V vs Li) and high ionic conductivity up to 0.78 mS cm–1. The potentiality of P-ETG for application in Li/Li-ion batteries is substantiated by stable cycling results of Li/P-ETG/LiFePO4 cells over 100 cycles at C/5 to 1C rates. The fire-hazards analysis reveals the improved safety of P-ETGs in contrast to the conventional liquid electrolytes (1 M LiPF6 in EC/DEC).