Interfacial charge transfer processes in 2D and 3D semiconducting hybrid perovskites: azobenzene as photoswitchable ligand

• Nicole Fillafer,
• Tobias Seewald,
• Lukas Schmidt-Mende and
• Sebastian Polarz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 466–479, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.38

• synthesis of 2D and 3D hybrid perovskite phases. The energy transfer mechanisms are influenced by the length of the molecular spacer moiety, which determines the distance between the π system and the semiconductor surfaces. We find huge differences in the photoswitching behaviour between the free, surface

• -coordinated and integrated ligands between the perovskite layers. Photoswitching of azobenzene ligands incorporated in 2D phases is nearly quenched, while the same mechanism for surface-coordinating ligands is greatly improved, compared to the free ligands. The improvement originates from an energy transfer

• from perovskite to azobenzene, which is strongly distance-dependent. This study provides evidence for the photoswitching of azobenzenes as ligands of hybrid perovskites, which depends on the spacing between the chromophore and the perovskite phase. Keywords: interface design; molecular switches

Implementation of data-cube pump–probe KPFM on organic solar cells

• Benjamin Grévin,
• Olivier Bardagot and
• Renaud Demadrille

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 323–337, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.24

• -processed organic donor–acceptor blends called bulk heterojunctions (BHJ), for polycrystalline direct bandgap semiconductors such as CdTe, CuInxGa(1−x)Se2 and Cu2ZnSnS4 and for hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite solar cells. Whatever material used, improving the performance of the solar cell requires a

• -based devices, hybrid perovskite thin films and single crystals as well as type-II van der Waals heterojunctions based on transition metal dichalcogenides. Experimental Nc-AFM and pp-KPFM Noncontact-AFM (nc-AFM) experiments were performed with a ScientaOmicron VT-AFM setup in UHV at room temperature (RT

Recent progress in perovskite solar cells: the perovskite layer

• Xianfeng Dai,
• Ke Xu and
• Fanan Wei

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 51–60, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.5

• Xianfeng Dai Ke Xu Fanan Wei School of Information & Control Engineering, Shenyang Jianzhu University, Shenyang, China School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, China 10.3762/bjnano.11.5 Abstract Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are set to be game changing

• components in next-generation photovoltaic technology due to their high efficiency and low cost. In this article, recent progress in the development of perovskite layers, which are the basis of PSCs, is reviewed. Achievements in the fabrication of high-quality perovskite films by various methods and

• techniques are introduced. The reported works demonstrate that the power conversion efficiency of the perovskite layers depends largely on their morphology and the crystalline quality. Furthermore, recent achievements concerning the scalability of perovskite films are presented. These developments aim at

Semitransparent Sb₂S₃ thin film solar cells by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis for use in solar windows

• Jako S. Eensalu,
• Atanas Katerski,
• Erki Kärber,
• Lothar Weinhardt,
• Monika Blum,
• Clemens Heske,
• Wanli Yang,
• Ilona Oja Acik and
• Malle Krunks

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2396–2409, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.230

• building electricity demand can be produced on site [1]. Solar windows can be split into two groups: perforated grids of opaque solar cells, such as silicon, or one continuous semitransparent thin film solar cell (dye-sensitized, perovskite, quantum dot, etc.) [1]. Perforated solar windows, comprised of

• following for reference: dye-sensitized – PCE of 9.2% at 60% AVT [5]; polymer – PCE of 4.0% at 66% AVT [6]; halide perovskite – PCE of 6.4% at 30% AVT [7]. Dye-sensitized, organic, and halide perovskite absorbers are generally sensitive to moisture, especially in combination with sunlight and air [8][9][10

Polyvinylpyrrolidone as additive for perovskite solar cells with water and isopropanol as solvents

• Chen Du,
• Shuo Wang,
• Xu Miao,
• Wenhai Sun,
• Yu Zhu,
• Chengyan Wang and
• Ruixin Ma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2374–2382, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.228

• and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, PR China Beijing Key Laboratory of Special Melting and Preparation of High-End Metal Materials, Beijing 100083, PR China 10.3762/bjnano.10.228 Abstract The recent years have witnessed a fast-paced development of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Unfortunately, the

• 0.1 cm2. The PCE continued to be over 80% of the initial PCE after 60 days of storage. FInally, the introduced PVP-doped PSCs present a low-cost and low-toxicity way to commercialize perovskite solar cells. Keywords: additive; lead nitrate aqueous solution; low-toxicity process; perovskite solar

• remarkable light absorption capacity [5] and the tunable band gap [6] of inorganic–organic lead halide perovskite crystals make them suitable for the production of organic semiconductors [7], photodetectors [8], and photovoltaics [5]. In 2009, Kojima et al. achieved a breakthrough in using mesoporous TiO2 as

Nontoxic pyrite iron sulfide nanocrystals as second electron acceptor in PTB7:PC₇₁BM-based organic photovoltaic cells

• Olivia Amargós-Reyes,
• José-Luis Maldonado,
• Omar Martínez-Alvarez,
• María-Elena Nicho,
• José Santos-Cruz,
• Juan Nicasio-Collazo,
• Irving Caballero-Quintana and
• Concepción Arenas-Arrocena

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2238–2250, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.216

• inside the CdS/CdTe inorganic heterojunction improved the conversion efficiency of the PV device by up to 8% [19]. Moreover, FeS2 has also been used in perovskite solar cells as a hole transport layer (HTL) to reduce the fabrication cost, reaching efficiencies of up to 11.2% [20]. On the other hand, OPVs

• hybrid solar cells, as hole transport layers in perovskite solar cells, and as a second electron acceptor in OPVs. For instance, when slightly spherical iron pyrite NPs of 10–25 nm size were used as acceptors in P3HT-based solar cells, very poor PV parameters were attained [10][14][15][61]. When

• implemented as second electron acceptors in P3HT:PCBM solar cells, the current density increased from 6.69 to 7.63 mA/cm2 using a concentration of only 0.3 wt % FeS2 with respect to the acceptor [18]. Furthermore, FeS2 NPs have been used as a HTL in CdS/CdTe and perovskite solar cells [19][20], among other

Green and scalable synthesis of nanocrystalline kuramite

• Andrea Giaccherini,
• Giuseppe Cucinotta,
• Stefano Martinuzzi,
• Enrico Berretti,
• Werner Oberhauser,
• Alessandro Lavacchi,
• Giovanni Orazio Lepore,
• Giordano Montegrossi,
• Maurizio Romanelli,
• Antonio De Luca,
• Massimo Innocenti,
• Vanni Moggi Cecchi,
• Matteo Mannini,
• Antonella Buccianti and
• Francesco Di Benedetto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2073–2083, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.202

• -hungry processes and they are not compatible with flexible devices. For example, materials such as copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) and perovskite materials have raised several concerns. They contain rare/scarce raw materials and involve production and decommissioning processes which are

Kelvin probe force microscopy work function characterization of transition metal oxide crystals under ongoing reduction and oxidation

• Dominik Wrana,
• Karol Cieślik,
• Wojciech Belza,
• Christian Rodenbücher,
• Krzysztof Szot and
• Franciszek Krok

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1596–1607, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.155

• superior for many cases in both fundamental research and applications, such as the identification of adsorption geometries of molecules on oxide surfaces [7], probing energetics of electron transfer within single molecules [8] and operation of prototypical electronic devices, such as perovskite solar cells

• ]). Strontium titanate, SrTiO3, is a perfect example of a semiconductor with a wide bandgap of 3.2 eV and also a model perovskite oxide. Ti4+ cations provide no electrons for the d-band, which can participate in conductivity. Strontium titanate finds many applications as a dielectric ceramic material [15] but

• neighboring Ti sites. In the case of cubic TiO, the Ti–Ti distance is slightly above 2 Å, which is enough to have a significant overlap given the d-orbital extension. On the other hand, in the ideal SrTiO3 perovskite there are no d-electrons on Ti sites. Thus a TiO network on SrTiO3 constitutes a metallic

Materials nanoarchitectonics at two-dimensional liquid interfaces

• Katsuhiko Ariga,
• Michio Matsumoto,
• Taizo Mori and
• Lok Kumar Shrestha

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1559–1587, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.153

• -dimensional CuO petal assemblies (by Abe and co-workers [133]), perovskite nanosheets and their layer-by-layer assemblies as high-k dielectric/ferroelectric materials (by Osada and Sasaki [134]), the manipulation of transition-metal dichalcogenides nanosheets for the usage in energy storage/conversion

Ultrasonication-assisted synthesis of CsPbBr₃ and Cs₄PbBr₆ perovskite nanocrystals and their reversible transformation

• Longshi Rao,
• Xinrui Ding,
• Xuewei Du,
• Guanwei Liang,
• Yong Tang,
• Kairui Tang and
• Jin Z. Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 666–676, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.66

• perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs) and their reversible transformation. The as-prepared CsPbBr3 PNCs and Cs4PbBr6 PNCs exhibit different optical properties that depend on their morphology, size, and structure. The photoluminescence (PL) emission and quantum yield (QY) of the CsPbBr3 PNCs can be tuned by changing

• ; ultrasonication; Introduction Metal halide perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs) are promising candidates for application in the fields of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) [1][2], high-efficiency solar cells [3], low-threshold lasers [4], and photodetectors [5]. Compared to traditional semiconductors, colloidal PNCs

• PNCs in their technical applications, especially in optoelectronics. Although the focus has been on the CsPbX3 structure, researchers start to turn their attention on synthesizing new perovskite materials, such as Cs4PbX6 PNCs. Under Cs-rich or Pb-poor synthesis conditions, zero-dimensional (0D

Integration of LaMnO_3+δ films on platinized silicon substrates for resistive switching applications by PI-MOCVD

• Raquel Rodriguez-Lamas,
• Dolors Pla,
• Odette Chaix-Pluchery,
• Benjamin Meunier,
• Fabrice Wilhelm,
• Andrei Rogalev,
• Laetitia Rapenne,
• Xavier Mescot,
• Quentin Rafhay,
• Hervé Roussel,
• Michel Boudard,
• Carmen Jiménez and
• Mónica Burriel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 389–398, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.38

• -MOCVD) technique, as it allows for a controlled growth of the perovskite phase over large areas (at wafer level) with high film uniformity and conformal coverage using liquid precursors at room temperature and under an inert atmosphere [11][12]. Both conventional MOCVD [13][14][15] and PI-MOCVD [16][17

• , these substrates undergo dewetting when exposed to high temperatures for long times. The high temperatures required to grow perovskite thin films by techniques such as PI-MOCVD or PLD are a drawback because the continuity of the Pt bottom electrode can be lost [25]. In this work, we explore a number of

• representative LMO films deposited by the three strategies are shown in Figure 5. All diffraction peaks can be attributed to the polycrystalline LMO perovskite phase without any clear preferential orientation and no impurities. Therefore, pure LMO can be obtained through all three deposition strategies

Geometrical optimisation of core–shell nanowire arrays for enhanced absorption in thin crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells

• Robin Vismara,
• Olindo Isabella,
• Andrea Ingenito,
• Fai Tong Si and
• Miro Zeman

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 322–331, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.31

• ], and recently perovskite [38][39][40][41]. In this contribution, the performance of crystalline silicon (c-Si) nanowire arrays is investigated. The study is divided in two parts. First, a proof-of-concept device was realised, consisting of a heterojunction of amorphous silicon on a p-type c-Si nanowire

Relation between thickness, crystallite size and magnetoresistance of nanostructured La_1−xSr_xMn_yO_3±δ films for magnetic field sensors

• Rasuole Lukose,
• Valentina Plausinaitiene,
• Milita Vagner,
• Nerija Zurauskiene,
• Skirmantas Kersulis,
• Virgaudas Kubilius,
• Karolis Motiejuitis,
• Birute Knasiene,
• Voitech Stankevic,
• Zita Saltyte,
• Martynas Skapas,
• Algirdas Selskis and
• Evaldas Naujalis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 256–261, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.24

• : colossal magnetoresistance; crystallites; magnetic field sensors; MOCVD growth; nanostructured films; Introduction Perovskite manganite materials are an interesting topic of research since they can be applied as sensors for measuring the magnetic field due to the colossal magnetoresistance (CMR

• show no secondary phases, only the characteristic peaks associated with the Al2O3 substrate and polycrystalline LSMO films with a perovskite-like crystal structure with rhombohedral distortions (the space group ) for both deposition series. The shift of the characteristic LSMO peaks to higher θ/2θ

Scanning probe microscopy for energy-related materials

• Rüdiger Berger,
• Benjamin Grévin,
• Philippe Leclère and
• Yi Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 132–134, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.12

• time-dependent changes of the surface potential occurring under illumination. This work also unravels lattice expansion phenomena under illumination in perovskite structure forming photo-absorbing materials [2]. Pablo A. Fernández Garrillo and co-workers go one step further by addressing photocarrier

Improved catalytic combustion of methane using CuO nanobelts with predominantly (001) surfaces

• Qingquan Kong,
• Yichun Yin,
• Bing Xue,
• Yonggang Jin,
• Wei Feng,
• Zhi-Gang Chen,
• Shi Su and
• Chenghua Sun

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2526–2532, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.235

• , such as transition metal (TM) oxides and various complex structures (e.g., perovskite, spinel and hexaaluminate) have been tested as catalysts for CH4 oxidation. But so far their performance is still much lower than noble metals. An ideal catalyst for CH4 oxidation should have a high capacity to adsorb

Performance analysis of rigorous coupled-wave analysis and its integration in a coupled modeling approach for optical simulation of complete heterojunction silicon solar cells

• Ziga Lokar,
• Benjamin Lipovsek,
• Marko Topic and
• Janez Krc

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2315–2329, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.216

• photovoltaic modules, such as perovskite-crystalline silicon tandem solar cells [31] including nano, micro and combined textures. In this paper, we focus only on heterojuction silicon solar cells. CMA simulations were performed for different discretization steps in the polar and azimuth angle to determine the

Metal–dielectric hybrid nanoantennas for efficient frequency conversion at the anapole mode

• Valerio F. Gili,
• Lavinia Ghirardini,
• Davide Rocco,
• Giuseppe Marino,
• Ivan Favero,
• Iännis Roland,
• Giovanni Pellegrini,
• Lamberto Duò,
• Marco Finazzi,
• Luca Carletti,
• Andrea Locatelli,
• Aristide Lemaître,
• Dragomir Neshev,
• Costantino De Angelis,
• Giuseppe Leo and
• Michele Celebrano

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2306–2314, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.215

• orders of magnitude higher than in optimized plasmonic nanoantennas pumped at similar intensities [12]. Concurrently, promising studies on enhanced SHG at the nanoscale have also been performed on perovskite nanoparticles [31][32]. Several strategies that involve coupled nanosystems have been employed to

Lead-free hybrid perovskites for photovoltaics

• Oleksandr Stroyuk

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2209–2235, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.207

• perovskites (HPs) and applications of these exciting materials as light harvesters in photovoltaic systems. Special emphasis is placed on the influence of the spatial organization of HP materials both on the micro- and nanometer scale on the performance and stability of perovskite-based solar light converters

• . This review also discusses HP materials produced by isovalent lead(II) substitution with Sn2+ and other metal(II) ions, perovskite materials formed on the basis of M3+ cations (Sb3+, Bi3+) as well as on combinations of M+/M3+ ions aliovalent to 2Pb2+ (Ag+/Bi3+, Ag+/Sb3+, etc.). The survey is concluded

• with an outlook highlighting the most promising strategies for future progress of photovoltaic systems based on lead-free perovskite compounds. Keywords: light harvesting; low-toxic materials; organo-inorganic perovskites; solar cells; Review Introduction The field of photovoltaics and photochemical

A scanning probe microscopy study of nanostructured TiO₂/poly(3-hexylthiophene) hybrid heterojunctions for photovoltaic applications

• Laurie Letertre,
• Roland Roche,
• Olivier Douhéret,
• Hailu G. Kassa,
• Denis Mariolle,
• Nicolas Chevalier,
• Łukasz Borowik,
• Philippe Dumas,
• Benjamin Grévin,
• Roberto Lazzaroni and
• Philippe Leclère

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2087–2096, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.197

• other hand. Hybrid PV devices include various technologies such as perovskite cells, dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC), with power efficiencies up to 13% [5] and hybrid bulk heterojunctions (HBHJ), which combine an organic matrix and inorganic semiconducting nanostructures such as quantum dots. Among

Know your full potential: Quantitative Kelvin probe force microscopy on nanoscale electrical devices

• Amelie Axt,
• Ilka M. Hermes,
• Victor W. Bergmann,
• Niklas Tausendpfund and
• Stefan A. L. Weber

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1809–1819, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.172

• cross sections of a range of different solar cell devices, including organic [3][4][5], and inorganic [6] as well as hybrid perovskite solar cells [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. In the course of one of our KPFM studies on a cross section of a perovskite solar cell under operating conditions [7] we

• distribution, which we assigned to unbalanced charge extraction from the perovskite layer. The absence of local features in the potential distribution imaged with AM lift mode KPFM, the potential offset of +1 V, as well as the reduced potential increase upon illumination suggested that the spatial and

• understand the differences in the potential distributions on the perovskite solar cell cross section that we presented in the introduction: The lower contrast in the lift mode AM-KPFM image and the shift in the absolute potential as compared to the FM sideband KPFM measurement can be explained by the

Multimodal noncontact atomic force microscopy and Kelvin probe force microscopy investigations of organolead tribromide perovskite single crystals

• Yann Almadori,
• David Moerman,
• Jaume Llacer Martinez,
• Philippe Leclère and
• Benjamin Grévin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1695–1704, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.161

• internal electric field distribution and photocarrier recombination mechanisms in polycrystalline perovskite thin films [6][7]. However, considering the results of earlier works shows that it is sometimes difficult to draw definitive conclusions about the detrimental (or beneficial) impact of the GBs on

• halide perovskite thin films remains a difficult task. Over the last few years single crystals [11][12] have constituted an interesting alternative for basic research on hybrid perovskites. Thanks to the absence of grain boundaries (and noncrystalline domains) they can be advantageously used to probe the

• , KPFM investigations of hybrid perovskite single crystals remain rather limited [14][15]. Another important point to consider is the existence of photostriction effects, which have actually been observed in MAPbI3 and MAPbBr3 single crystals [16][17]. In the most general terms, photostriction can be

Light extraction efficiency enhancement of flip-chip blue light-emitting diodes by anodic aluminum oxide

• Yi-Ru Huang,
• Yao-Ching Chiu,
• Kuan-Chieh Huang,
• Shao-Ying Ting,
• Po-Jui Chiang,
• Chih-Ming Lai,
• Chun-Ping Jen,
• Snow H. Tseng and
• Hsiang-Chen Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1602–1612, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.152

• dislocations in the LED structure were blocked, thus enhancing the general luminous efficiency by approximately 23% [15]. Cates et al. adopted laser etching to produce a repeated microstructure on the emitting surface of a yttrium aluminum perovskite scintillation crystal activated by cerium (formula YAlO3:Ce

Predicting the strain-mediated topological phase transition in 3D cubic ThTaN₃

• Chunmei Zhang and
• Aijun Du

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1399–1404, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.132

• compound generally presents three structural phases in cubic perovskite (c-PV), hypothetic orthorhombic perovskite (o-PV GdFeO3-type), and post-perovskite (PPV) forms [1]. Among them, c-PV ThTaN3 was first synthesized in early 1995 [2] and is known to crystallize in the space group Pm3m with a band gap of

• expected to substantially alter the electronic band structure and thus achieve an exotic topological property [26]. By using first-principles calculations, we demonstrate here, for the first time, that the cubic perovskite ThTaN3, a relatively large band gap semiconductor, can turn into a TI under moderate

• , by tuning the SOC strength, we predict that the topological feature actually starts to show up at a 5% compressive strain. The strain-mediated topological phase transition in the perovskite ThTaN3 compound is attributed to band inversion between the d-orbital of the heavy elements and the p-orbital

Semi-automatic spray pyrolysis deposition of thin, transparent, titania films as blocking layers for dye-sensitized and perovskite solar cells

• Hana Krýsová,
• Josef Krýsa and
• Ladislav Kavan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1135–1145, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.105

• function of the negative electrode of dye-sensitized and perovskite solar cells, the deposition of a nonporous blocking film is required on the surface of F-doped SnO2 (FTO) glass substrates. Such a blocking film can minimise undesirable parasitic processes, for example, the back reaction of photoinjected

• properties that were not influenced by post-calcination. These results will surely find use in the fabrication of large-scale dye-sensitized and perovskite solar cells. Keywords: blocking films; FTO; solar cells; spray pyrolysis deposition; titanium dioxide; Introduction Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs

• ), solid state dye-sensitized solar cells (SSDSSCs) and perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are attractive alternatives to solid state photovoltaics at competitive cost. The general concept of a DSSC is based on a liquid junction photo-electrochemical cell with a nanocrystalline TiO2 photoanode that is

Facile synthesis of a ZnO–BiOI p–n nano-heterojunction with excellent visible-light photocatalytic activity

• Mengyuan Zhang,
• Jiaqian Qin,
• Pengfei Yu,
• Bing Zhang,
• Mingzhen Ma,
• Xinyu Zhang and
• Riping Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 789–800, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.72

• semiconductor’s band gap. Bismuth(III)-containing semiconductors (such as bismuth oxide [17], bismuth vanadate [18][19], bismuth tungstate [20], bismuth perovskite [21], bismuth molybdate [22], etc.) have been extensively researched as a broad hybrid orbital composed of Bi 6s in the field of photocatalysis