Metal-halide perovskites have been widely investigated in the photovoltaic sector due to their promising optoelectronic properties and inexpensive fabrication techniques based on solution processing. Here we report the development of inorganic CsPbBr 3 -based photoanodes for direct photoelectrochemical oxygen evolution from aqueous electrolytes. We use a commercial thermal graphite sheet and a mesoporous carbon scaffold to encapsulate CsPbBr 3 as an inexpensive and efficient protection strategy. We achieve a record stability of 30 h in aqueous electrolyte under constant simulated solar illumination, with currents above 2 mA cm −2 at 1.23 V RHE . We further demonstrate the versatility of our approach by grafting a molecular Ir-based water oxidation catalyst on the electrolyte-facing surface of the sealing graphite sheet, which cathodically shifts the onset potential of the composite photoanode due to accelerated charge transfer. These results suggest an efficient route to develop stable halide perovskite based electrodes for photoelectrochemical solar fuel generation.

T. (2017). One-step deposition by slot-die coating of mixed lead halide perovskite for photovoltaic applications. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 159,[362][363][364][365][366][367][368][369] http://dx. AbstractRecent advances in the performance and stability of lead halide perovskite solar cells announce a promising future for this technology. As the understanding of lab scale device fabrication progresses technology developments in the area of up-scaling are required to demonstrate their viability on an industrial and pre-commercial scale. These developments include replacing slow spin coated deposition techniques with continuous roll to roll compatible slot-die methods. In this work we demonstrate the suitability of a one-step slot-die coating method for the deposition of lead halide perovskite layers, in particular for infiltration into a mesoporous titania scaffold. Appropriate crystallisation dynamics of the perovskite are achieved by careful control of the substrate temperature in combination with a post-processed rapid air knife application. We show that devices fully processed in air using this method deliver a photovoltaic conversion efficiency up to 9.2% , this is comparable to those manufactured using a spin coating process.

mesoporous stack-titania (m-TiO 2 ), zirconia (ZrO 2 ), carbon (C)-is printable, C-PSCs are ideal for large scale production and, interestingly, some features that prevent degradation, i.e., lack of metal cathode [9] and organic HTM, [10] are also responsible for the simpler manufacturing process, paving the way for C-PSCs to move quickly from the lab to the market. This module architecture not only uses low-cost materials but can be produced by equipment that has a very low-capital cost thus reducing the barrier to commercialization of perovskite modules. Constraining the grain growth of the perovskite completely within the three mesoporous structures enables crystallization of the perovskite over large areas without the need for dynamic drying [11,12] to mimic the spin coating process. [13] There have been some reports demonstrating that C-PSC modules can be produced by screen printing, via registration of the overlapping layers, and can deliver between 10 and 11% power conversion efficiency (PCE) on 10 × 10 cm 2 substrates, with active areas ranging from 47.6 [7,14] to 70 cm 2 , [15] and, in particular, showing over 1 year stability under illumination, as reported by Grancini et al. [7] These results for C-PSC modules are even more remarkable, considering that modules with comparable active areas (>45 cm 2 ) and different device architecture, yielded respectively 12.6% PCE on 50.6 cm 2 (FTO/c-TiO 2 /graphene+m-TiO 2 / GO-Li/perovskite/spiro-OMeTAD/Au), [16] 8.7% PCE on 60 cm 2 (ITO/PEDOT:PSS/perovskite/PCBM/Au), [17] and 4.3% PCE on 100 cm 2 (FTO/c-TiO 2 /m-TiO 2 /perovskite/spiro-OMeTAD/ Au) [11] ; moreover, the record for PSC modules overall is Microquanta's 16% PCE [18,19] on just 16.29 cm 2 aperture area (active area + dead area for interconnections).Upscaling C-PSC manufacture from 10 × 10 cm 2 to larger substrate dimensions, e.g., A4 size as in our case, is far from trivial. Spraying the TiO 2 blocking layer (BL) at temperatures as high as 300 °C causes the large substrates to crack in the worst case or to bend, compromising the thickness homogeneity over the substrate of the printed layers, mostly and more crucially for the thinnest of the three, the sub-micrometric m-TiO 2 . Any change in the layers' thickness across the substrate can affect the performance of individual cells constituting the module Perovskite solar cells based on an all printable mesoporous stack, made of overlapping titania, zirconia, and carbon layers, represent a promising device architecture for both simple, low-cost manufacture, and outstanding stability. Here a breakthrough in the upscaling of this technology is reported: Screen printed modules on A4 sized conductive glass substrates, delivering power conversion efficiency (PCE) ranging from 3 to 5% at 1 sun on an unprecedented 198 cm 2 active area. An increase in the PCE, due to higher V OC and fill factor, is demonstrated by patterning the TiO 2 blocking layer. Furthermore, an unexpected increase of the performance is observed over time, while storing the modules in the dark,...

Tin selenide (SnSe) has attracted much attention in the field of thermoelectrics since the discovery of the record figure of merit (ZT) of 2.6 ± 0.3 along the b‐axis of the material. The record ZT is attributed to an ultralow thermal conductivity that arises from anharmonicity in bonding. While it is known that nanostructuring offers the prospect of enhanced thermoelectric performance, there have been minimal studies in the literature to date of the thermoelectric performance of thin films of SnSe. In this work, preferentially orientated porous networks of thin film SnSe nanosheets are fabricated using a simple thermal evaporation method, which exhibits an unprecedentedly low thermal conductivity of 0.08 W m−1 K−1 between 375 and 450 K. In addition, the first known example of a working SnSe thermoelectric generator is presented and characterized.

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