Recently, waterproof and breathable materials have attracted extensive attention and have been used in a broad range of applications such as clothing, sports equipment, medical hygiene products, and other fields. In this study, an efficient chemical modification method was suggested to prepare polyurethane/SiO2 nanofibrous membranes with superhydrophobicity and durability. A polyurethane emulsion was treated with 4,4′-methylenebis­(phenyl isocyanate) and 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane. This emulsion process was combined with the emulsion electrospinning technique and a hydrothermal-assisted sol–gel process to prepare superhydrophobic polyurethane nanofibrous membranes. The final polyurethane/SiO2 nanofibrous membranes exhibited a hydrostatic pressure of 8.02 kPa, an air permeability of 3.89 mms–1, and a water vapor transmission rate of 10.12 kg m–2 d–1. Results also showed that the water contact angle of the nanofibrous membranes reached 154°, and the stress and strain were 5.3 MPa and 198%, respectively. In addition, the adhesion between SiO2 and the PU nanofibrous membranes was high, and the weight loss rate of SiO2 remained at approximately 9.72% after the ultrasonic cleaning time exceeded 24 h. These results suggested that the PU/SiO2 nanofibrous membranes were expected to provide a new perspective for waterproofing and moisture permeability.

Organic−inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are the prime candidates for photovoltaic technologies due to their superior photoelectric performance and low-temperature processability. The electron transport layer (ETL) is one of the most significant compositions for preparing PSCs. Herein, we innovatively introduce a strategy of poly(methyl vinyl ether-alt-maleic anhydride) (PVEM) complexes with SnO 2 to prepare an organic−inorganic hybrid PVEM-SnO 2 ETL. The preparation of a dense PVEM−SnO 2 ETL film with fewer defects and superior wetting property considerably increases the electron extraction and transportability and dramatically reduces the trap-state density of perovskite film. Correspondingly, the PCE of rigid PSCs based on PVEM−SnO 2 increases to 19.86% with negligible hysteresis and better long-term stability. Meanwhile, by adding PVEM into SnO 2 , the flexible device demonstrates a remarkable PCE of 16.86% and exhibits outstanding bending durability.

Organic small molecules such as 2,2′,7,7-tetrakis (N, N′-di-p-methoxyphenylamine)-9,9’-Spiro-OMeTAD-bifuorene (Spiro-OMeTAD) have been widely used as the hole-transport layer (HTL) for perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, the long-term stability of devices using Spiro-OMeTAD is low despite the high photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE). In this work, low-cost p-type CuGaO2 (CGO) nanosheets and CuCrO2 (CCO) nanoparticles were synthesized using a hydrothermal method, which was mixed with Spiro-OMeTAD to prepare uniform and well-covered HTLs. Correspondingly, a hierarchical energy arrangement was constructed between the perovskite layer and the Ag electrode. Hence, blended HTLs with lower interface trap density obtained better hole carrier extraction and transport performance, which inhibited charge recombination and thus improved the photoelectric performance of the devices. The experimental results show that the improvement of current density (J SC), especially the open-circuit voltage (V OC) and the filling factor (FF), for optimal devices based on blended HTLs, achieved a stable PCE of 19.50%. More importantly, the unsealed CCO/Spiro-OMeTAD devices maintained over 90% of the initial efficiency after 800 h of storage under 20 °C and an ambient humidity of 50–80%. Therefore, resistance to water erosion in the air could significantly improve the long-term stability of PSCs.

Currently, perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have achieved photoelectric conversion efficiencies (PCEs) comparable to silicon-based and GaAs solar cells. However, PSCs show relatively poor long-term stability, which inhibits their commercialization. Therefore, researchers have turned to inorganic hole-transport materials (HTMs) with more stable chemical properties, such as CuGaO2. It is well known that inorganic HTMs have uneven coverage and show agglomeration in thin films. This study is the first report of growing CuGaO2 nanosheet arrays (CGO arrays) using a simple, low-cost, and reproducible microwave hydrothermal method. This material acts as a hole-transport layer for inverted PSCs, which increases the hole extraction area and efficiency. Remarkably, the devices based on the CGO arrays showed excellent performance in terms of thermal stability and moisture corrosion resistance. After thermal aging in the glovebox for 240 h, the device still maintained more than 78% of the initial efficiency. After 400 h of storage in an environment with a humidity of 50–80%, the device retained more than 83% of its initial efficiency. Consequently, in this study, the CGO arrays were able to reduce the impact of the external factors on the device life of PSCs to maintain an efficient and stable output.

Organic−inorganic hybrid metal halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have made dramatic progress over the past few years. Fiber-shaped PSCs (FPSCs) extend the application of PSCs to wearable and portable electronics. The onedimensional flexible structure of the fiber substrate and the high efficiency photoelectric conversion ability of the perovskite materials make FPSCs promising for energy applications. However, FPSCs have limited preparation methods and show poorer optoelectronic performance compared to conventional PSCs. In our work, we present a multiple quantitative coating preparation method, which was optimized by controlling the PbI 2 concentration and the cycle number of coating process. We demonstrated the effectiveness of the methods in improving the film performance, with a photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.2% under air. The applicability of the multiple quantitative coating methods was studied by the FPSCs fabricated on reduced graphene fibers (rGFs), which present PCEs of about 1.5%. In addition, by extending the length of rGFs, the device performance was further improved. Thus, we demonstrated a stable fabrication method of FPSCs based on rGFs, which exhibited significant potential for using PSCs as a power source in wearable devices.