Extending photoelectric response to the near-infrared (NIR) region using upconversion luminescent (UCL) materials is one promising approach to obtain high-efficiency perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, challenges remain due to the shortage of highly efficient UCL materials and device structure. NaCsWO3 nanocrystals exhibit near-infrared absorption arising from the local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect, which can be used to boost the UCL of rare-earth-doped upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs). In this study, using NaCsWO3 as the LSPR center, NaCsWO3@NaYF4@NaYF4:Yb,Er nanoparticles were synthesized and the UCL intensity could be enhanced by more than 124 times when the amount of NaCsWO3 was 2.8 mmol %. Then, such efficient UCNPs were not only doped into the hole transport layer but also used to modify the perovskite film in PSCs, resulting in the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) reaching 18.89% (that of the control device was 16.01% and the PCE improvement was 17.99%). Possible factors for the improvement of PSCs were studied and analyzed. It is found that UCNPs can broaden the response range of PSCs to the NIR region due to the LSPR-enhanced UCL and increase the visible light reabsorption of PSCs due to the scattering and reflection effect, which generate more photocurrent in PSCs. In addition, UCNPs modify the perovskite film by effectively filling the holes and gaps at the grain boundary and eliminating the perovskite surface defects, which lead to less carrier recombination and then effectively improve the performance of PSC devices.

As a neutron star spins down, the nuclear matter continuously is converted into quark matter due to the core density increase and then latent heat is released. We have investigated the thermal evolution of neutron stars undergoing such deconfinement phase transition. We have taken into account the conversion in the frame of the general theory of relativity. The released energy has been estimated as a function of change rate of deconfinement baryon number. Numerical solutions to cooling equation are obtained to be very different from the without heating effect. The results show that neutron stars may be heated to higher temperature which is well-matched with pulsar's data despite onset of fast cooling in neutron stars with quark matter core. It is also found that heating effect has magnetic field strength dependence. This feature could be particularly interesting for high temperature of low-field millisecond pulsar at late stage. The high temperature could fit the observed temperature for PSR J0437-4715.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure

We study the bulk viscosity of strange quark matter(SQM) in density dependent quark mass model(DDQM) under the background of selfconsistent thermodynamics. The correct formulae, with which the viscosity can be evaluated, are derived. We also find that the viscosity in DDQM can be higher by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude than MIT bag model. We calculate the damping time scales due to viscosity coupled to r-modes. The numerical results show the time scale can't be shorter than 10 −1 s.

We study the bulk viscosity of strange quark matter (SQM) in a quasiparticle model at finite chemical potential by extrapolating the previous quasiparticle model of finite temperature lattice QCD. The more proper bulk viscosity coefficient can be given in this model where chemical potential µ and coupling constant g are interdependent. We also apply our result to determine the critical rotation of strange stars by r-mode instability window. Our model is compatible to the millisecond pulsar data for a wide range of mass and radius of the stars.

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