VOC

Triple cation based perovskite solar cells offer enhanced moisture tolerance and stability compared to mixed perovskites. Slight substitution of methyl ammonium or formamidinium cation by cesium (Cs(+)), was also reported to eliminate halide segregation due to its smaller size. To elucidate the device kinetics and understand the role of the Cs, we undertook different modes of scanning probe microscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) experiments. Kelvin probe force microscopy revealed that the incorporation of the Cs cation increases the contact potential difference (CPD), this CPD further increases when Spiro-OMeTAD is used as a hole transport material...

Ternary bulk heterojunction (BHJ) is a brilliant photovoltaic technology for improving the performance of organic solar cells (OSCs), since the light absorption range can be significantly extended by using multiple donors or acceptor materials. In this paper, coumarin7 (C7), a small organic molecule typical led used in organic light-emitting diodes, was initially exploited as second electron-donor component in ternary bulk heterojunction OSCs along with conventional blend system spolythieno[3,4-b]-thiophene/benzodithiophene(PTB7) and [6,6]-phenyl-C71 -butyric acid methyl(PC71 BM)...

The genus Primula is the largest among the Primulaceae and is widespread mainly in the cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Since the beginning of the Twentieth century, several studies on the phytochemical composition of different species of Primula have been carried out. The main constituents examined were tissue and epicuticular flavonoids and saponins, which are of therapeutic significance. Only in recent years studies of the volatiles emitted by leaves and flowers have been carried out as well, but they are restricted to a small number of species...

In this work, nickel thin films were deposited on texture silicon by electroless plated deposition. The electroless-deposited Ni layers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), and sheet resistance measurement. The results indicate that the dominant phase was Ni₂Si and NiSi in samples annealed at 300-800 °C. Sheet resistance values were found to correlate well with the surface morphology obtained by SEM and the results of XRD diffraction...

We confirmed the influence of ZnO nanoparticle size and residual water on performance of all inorganic perovskite solar cells. By decreasing the size of the ZnO nanoparticles, the short-circuit current density (Jsc) and open circuit photovoltage (Voc) values are increased and the conversion efficiency is improved. Although the Voc value is not affected by the influence of residual water in the solution for preparing the ZnO layer, the Jsc value drops greatly. As a result, it was found that it is important to use the oxide nanoparticles with a small particle diameter and to reduce the water content in the oxide forming material in order to manufacture a highly efficient all inorganic perovskite solar cells...

Air pollution is air contaminated by anthropogenic or naturally occurring substances in high concentrations for a prolonged time, resulting in adverse effects on human comfort and health as well as on ecosystems. Major air pollutants include particulate matters (PMs), ground-level ozone (O3), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxides (NO2), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). During the last three decades, air has become increasingly polluted in countries like China and India due to rapid economic growth accompanied by increased energy consumption...

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from soil bacteria are likely to have an important role in the interactions among soil microorganisms. However, their effects on the soil microbial community have not been extensively studied. In this study, the effect of bacterial VOCs generated by growing Bacillus amyloliquefaciens NJN-6 on modified MS medium on soil microbial community was evaluated. B. amyloliquefaciens NJN-6 was able to produce 48 volatile compounds as determined by solid-phase microextraction-GC/MS. MiSeq sequencing data showed that bacterial VOCs could alter the composition of both soil bacterial and soil fungal communities and could decrease the alpha-diversity of the soil microbial community...

A series of polymer donor materials 1-5 based on diketopyrrolopyrrole and thiophene unit which have been widely used in organic solar cells (OSCs) were investigated based on quantum chemical calculations. The effect of fluorine and cyano substitutions in polymer donor materials was focused on. Based on the investigation on electronic structures and optical properties of the reported molecules 1 and 2 and the analysis on some parameters relevant to charge dissociation ability at donor/acceptor interface constituted by 1 and 2 with PC61BM such as intermolecular charge transfer and recombination, driving force and Coulombic bound energy, we explained why fluorine substitution can improve OPV efficiency through strengthening eletron-withdrawing ability from a theoretical perspective...

OBJECTIVE: To identify characteristics of pediatric sickle cell disease (SCD) hospitalizations and to examine admission demographics and medical expenditures. METHODS: Admissions with SCD were identified from the 2009 and 2012 releases of the Healthcare and Cost Utilization Project's Kids Inpatient Database. Disease-specific secondary diagnoses including acute chest syndrome (ACS), vaso-occlusive pain crisis (VOC), splenic sequestration, and stroke/transient ischemic attack were analyzed for patient and hospital demographics...

Migration of additives to organic/metal interfaces can be used to self-generate interlayers in organic electronic devices. To generalize this approach for different additives, metals and organic electronic devices it is first necessary to study the dynamics of additive migration from the bulk to the top organic/metal interface. In this study we focus a known cathode interlayer material, polyethylene glycol (PEG), as additive in P3HT:PC71BM blends and study its migration to the blend/Al interface during metal deposition, and its effect on organic solar cell (OSC) performance...

Verticillium wilt caused by Verticillium spp. results in severe yield losses in a broad range of crops. Verticillium outbreaks are challenging to control, and exacerbated by increases in soil temperatures and drought associated with global warming. Employing natural antagonists as biocontrol agents offers a promising approach to addressing this challenge. Paenibacillus polymyxa Sb3-1 was proven to reduce the growth of Verticillium longisporum during in vitro experiments and was shown to promote the growth of oilseed rape seedlings infested with V...

Semantic segmentation tasks can be well modeled by Markov Random Field (MRF). This paper addresses semantic segmentation by incorporating high-order relations and mixture of label contexts into MRF. Unlike previous works that optimized MRFs using iterative algorithm, we solve MRF by proposing a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), namely Deep Parsing Network (DPN), which enables deterministic end-to-end computation in a single forward pass. Specifically, DPN extends a contemporary CNN to model unary terms and additional layers are devised to approximate the mean field (MF) algorithm for pairwise terms...

The HO2 radical is an important atmospheric molecule that can potentially influence the termination of autoxidation processes of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that lead to the formation of highly oxygenated multifunctional compounds (HOMs). In this work, we demonstrate the direct detection of the HO2 radical using an iodide-based chemical ionization mass spectrometer (iodide-CIMS). Expanding on the previously established correlation between molecule-iodide binding enthalpy and iodide-CIMS instrument sensitivity, the experimental detection of the HO2 radical was preceded by the quantum chemical calculation of the HO2*I(-) cluster (PBE/aug-cc-pVTZ-PP level), which showed a reasonably strong binding enthalpy of 21...

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) with reactive {001} facet-dominant TiO2 have attracted a great deal of attention owing to their high solar cell performance, despite the origin and the variation of the results being controversial. Here, we report the characteristic charge transport properties of DSSCs composed of {001} and {101} facet-dominant TiO2 nanoparticles in order to explain the origin of solar cell performance. Based on transient photocurrent and photovoltage measurements and transient absorption spectroscopy, the energetics of TiO2 semiconductors and dye sensitizers are utilized to understand the electron diffusion, recombination, and injection kinetics to determine solar cell performance...

In this research work, numerical simulations are performed to correlate the photovoltaic parameters with various internal and external factors influencing the performance of solar cells. Single-diode modeling approach is utilized for this purpose and theoretical investigations are compared with the reported experimental evidences for organic and inorganic solar cells at various electrical and thermal conditions. Electrical parameters include parasitic resistances (Rs and Rp) and ideality factor (n), while thermal parameters can be defined by the cells temperature (T)...

Recent years have seen a rapid progress in the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of non-fullerene polymer solar cells (NF PSCs). However, the donor materials accordingly used are typical low or medium band gap polymers, some of which possess badly overlapped absorption spectra relative to the low band gap n-type acceptors, for example, 3,9-bis(2-methylene-(3-(1,1-dicyanomethylene)indanone)-5,5,11,11-tetrakis(4-hexylphenyl)dithieno[2,3-d:2',3'-d']-s-indaceno[1,2-b:5,6-b']dithiophene) (ITIC). To obtain polymers simultaneously owning a wide band gap, a highly extended π-conjugation system, and a low-lying highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO), a polymer (PBDTSi-TA) incorporating 2-(triisopropylsilylethynyl)thiophene substituted benzodithiophene (BDTSi) and fluorinated benzotriazole (FTAZ) units was designed and synthesized...

We report four NIR photosensitizers employing a low-recombination donor and a thieno[3,4-b]thiophene (3,4-TT) π-bridge for use in dye-sensitized solar cells. The inclusion of electron rich π-spacers red-shifts the dye absorbance with solution absorption onsets reaching 700 nm. Dyes were found to have suitable energy levels for rapid electron transfers via cyclic voltammetry and UV-Vis-NIR absorption spectroscopy. Computationally optimized ground-state geometries show an increased torsional angle between π-spacer and π-bridge brought about by an added alkyl chain resulting in a widened optical band gap and increased oxidation potentials due to a weakening of the electron accepting ability of 3,4-TT for solution measurements...

Biogenic secondary organic aerosol (SOA) and deposited secondary organic material (SOM) are formed by oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by plants. Many SOA compounds have much longer chemical lifetimes than the original VOC, and may accumulate on plant surfaces and in soil as SOM because of their low volatility. This suggests that they may have important and presently unrecognized roles in plant adaptation. Using reactive plant terpenoids as a model we propose a three-tier (atmosphere-vegetation-soil) framework to better understand the ecological and evolutionary functions of SOM...

Pine ( spp.) bedding has been shown to lower the concentration of odorous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and pathogenic bacteria compared with corn ( L.) stover bedding, but availability and cost limit the use of pine bedding in cattle confinement facilities. The objectives of this study were to determine if the addition of pine wood chips to laboratory-scaled bedded packs containing corn stover (i) reduced odorous VOC emissions; (ii) reduced total ; and (iii) changed the nutrient composition of the resulting manure-bedded packs...

The contribution of two starter (Lactobacillus delbrueckii and Streptococcus thermophilus) and nine non-starter (Enterococcus casselliflavus, Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus durans, Enterococcus gallinarum, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus paracasei, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Pediococcus acidilactici and Pediococcus pentosaceus) species of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) to the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of Caciocavallo Palermitano cheese was investigated. The strains used in this study were isolated during the production/ripening of the stretched cheese and tested in a cheese-based medium (CBM)...