Solution-processed optoelectronic and electronic devices are attractive owing to the potential for low-cost fabrication of large-area devices and the compatibility with lightweight, flexible plastic substrates. Solution-processed light-emitting diodes (LEDs) using conjugated polymers or quantum dots as emitters have attracted great interest over the past two decades. However, the overall performance of solution-processed LEDs--including their efficiency, efficiency roll-off at high current densities, turn-on voltage and lifetime under operational conditions-remains inferior to that of the best vacuum-deposited organic LEDs. Here we report a solution-processed, multilayer quantum-dot-based LED with excellent performance and reproducibility. It exhibits colour-saturated deep-red emission, sub-bandgap turn-on at 1.7 volts, high external quantum efficiencies of up to 20.5 per cent, low efficiency roll-off (up to 15.1 per cent of the external quantum efficiency at 100 mA cm(-2)), and a long operational lifetime of more than 100,000 hours at 100 cd m(-2), making this device the best-performing solution-processed red LED so far, comparable to state-of-the-art vacuum-deposited organic LEDs. This optoelectronic performance is achieved by inserting an insulating layer between the quantum dot layer and the oxide electron-transport layer to optimize charge balance in the device and preserve the superior emissive properties of the quantum dots. We anticipate that our results will be a starting point for further research, leading to high-performance, all-solution-processed quantum-dot-based LEDs ideal for next-generation display and solid-state lighting technologies.

A lightweight, flexible, and highly efficient energy management strategy is needed for flexible energy-storage devices to meet a rapidly growing demand. Graphene-based flexible supercapacitors are one of the most promising candidates because of their intriguing features. In this report, we describe the use of freestanding, lightweight (0.75 mg/cm(2)), ultrathin (<200 μm), highly conductive (55 S/cm), and flexible three-dimensional (3D) graphene networks, loaded with MnO(2) by electrodeposition, as the electrodes of a flexible supercapacitor. It was found that the 3D graphene networks showed an ideal supporter for active materials and permitted a large MnO(2) mass loading of 9.8 mg/cm(2) (~92.9% of the mass of the entire electrode), leading to a high area capacitance of 1.42 F/cm(2) at a scan rate of 2 mV/s. With a view to practical applications, we have further optimized the MnO(2) content with respect to the entire electrode and achieved a maximum specific capacitance of 130 F/g. In addition, we have also explored the excellent electrochemical performance of a symmetrical supercapacitor (of weight less than 10 mg and thickness ~0.8 mm) consisting of a sandwich structure of two pieces of 3D graphene/MnO(2) composite network separated by a membrane and encapsulated in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) membranes. This research might provide a method for flexible, lightweight, high-performance, low-cost, and environmentally friendly materials used in energy conversion and storage systems for the effective use of renewable energy.

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Solution processability of nanocrystals coated with a stable monolayer of organic ligands (nanocrystal-ligands complexes) is the starting point for their applications, which is commonly measured by their solubility in media. A model described in the other report (10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b00737) reveals that instead of offering steric barrier between inorganic cores, it is the rotation/bending entropy of the C-C σ bonds within typical organic ligands that exponentially enhances solubility of the complexes in solution. Dramatic ligand chain-length effects on the solubility of CdSe-n-alkanoates complexes shall further reveal the power of the model. Subsequently, "entropic ligands" are introduced to maximize the intramolecular entropic effects, which increases solubility of various nanocrystals by 10(2)-10(6). Entropic ligands can further offer means to greatly improve performance of nanocrystals-based electronic and optoelectronic devices.