Two-dimensional (2D) halide perovskites have recently been recognized as a promising avenue in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) in terms of encouraging stability and defect passivation effect. However, the efficiency (less than 15%) of ultra-stable 2D Ruddlesden-Popper PSCs still lag far behind their traditional three-dimensional (3D) perovskite counterparts. Here, we report a rationally designed 2D-3D perovskite stacking-layered architecture by in-situ growing 2D PEA 2 PbI 4 capping layers on top of 3D perovskite film, which drastically improved the stability of PSCs without compromising their high performance. Such 2D perovskite capping layer induces larger Fermi-level splitting in the 2D-3D perovskite film under light illumination, resulting in an enhanced open-circuit voltage (V oc ) and thus a higher efficiency of 18.51% in the 2D-3D PSCs. The time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) decay measurements indicate the facilitated hole-extraction in the This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. 22D-3D stacking-layered perovskite films, which is ascribed to the optimized energy band alignment and reduced non-radiative recombination at the sub gap states. Benefiting from the high moisture resistivity as well as suppressed ion migration of the 2D perovskite, the 2D-3D PSCs show significantly improved long-term stability, retaining nearly 90% of the initial PCE after 1000 h exposure in the ambient conditions with a high relative humidity level of 60±10%.

The mixed caesium and formamidinium lead triiodide perovskite system (Cs1-xFAxPbI3) in the form of quantum dots (QDs) offers a new pathway towards stable perovskite-based photovoltaics and optoelectronics. However, it remains challenging to synthesize such multinary QDs with desirable properties for high-performance QD solar cells (QDSCs). Here we report an effective ligand-assisted cation exchange strategy that enables controllable synthesis of Cs1-xFAxPbI3 QDs across the whole composition range (x: 0-1), which is inaccessible in large-grain polycrystalline thin films. The surface ligands play a key role in driving the cross-exchange of cations for the rapid formation of Cs1-xFAxPbI3 QDs with suppressed defect density. The hero Cs0.5FA0.5PbI3 QDSC achieves a certified record power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 16.6% with negligible hysteresis. We further demonstrate that QD devices exhibit substantially enhanced photostability compared to their thin film counterparts because of the suppressed phase segregation, retaining 94% of the original PCE under continuous 1-sun illumination for 600 hours.

Atomic layer deposition of alumina enhanced the molecule sensing characteristics of fabricated nanopores by fine-tuning their surface properties, reducing 1/f noise, neutralizing surface charge to favor capture of DNA and other negative polyelectrolytes, and controlling the diameter and aspect ratio of the pores with near single Ångstrom precision. The control over the chemical and physical nature of the pore surface provided by atomic layer deposition produced a higher yield of functional nanopore detectors.

Bismuth vanadate (BiVO ) is a promising photoanode material for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. However, owing to the short carrier diffusion length, the trade-off between sufficient light absorption and efficient charge separation often leads to poor PEC performance. Herein, a new electrodeposition process is developed to prepare bismuth oxide precursor films, which can be converted to transparent BiVO films with well-controlled oxygen vacancies via a mild thermal treatment process. The optimized BiVO film exhibits an excellent back illumination charge separation efficiency mainly due to the presence of enriched oxygen vacancies which act as shallow donors. By loading FeOOH/NiOOH as the cocatalysts, the BiVO dual photoanodes exhibit a remarkable and highly stable photocurrent density of 5.87 mA cm at 1.23 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode under AM 1.5 G illumination. An artificial leaf composed of the BiVO /FeOOH/NiOOH dual photoanodes and a single sealed perovskite solar cell delivers a solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency as high as 6.5% for unbiased water splitting.

BiVO 4 films with (040) facet grown vertically on fluorine doped SnO 2 (FTO) glass substrates are prepared by as eed-assisted hydrothermal method. As imple electrochemical treatment process drastically enhances the photocatalytic activity of BiVO 4 ,e xhibiting ar emarkable photocurrent density of 2.5 mA cm À2 at 1.23 Vv s. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) under AM 1.5 Gi llumination, which is approximately 10-fold higher than that of the pristine photoanode.Loading cobalt borate (CoBi)ascocatalyst, the photocurrent density of the BiVO 4 photoanode can be further improved to 3.2 mA cm À2 ,d elivering an applied bias photonto-current efficiency (ABPE) of 1.1 %. Systematic studies reveal that crystal facet orientation also synergistically boosts both charge separation and transfer efficiencies,r esulting in remarkably enhanced photocurrent densities.T hese findings provideafacile and effective approach for the development of efficient photoelectrodes for photoelectrochemical water splitting.