Organic solar cells based on bulk heterojunction (BHJ) structures have attracted considerable attention because of their low fabrication cost, mechanical flexibility, and compatibility with solution-processing techniques. In BHJ organic photovoltaic devices, nanoscale morphology and crystallinity of the photoactive layer critically influence photovoltaic performance. In this study, the effects of solvent selection and thermal annealing on crystallization evolution and photovoltaic characteristics of P3HT:PCBM organic solar cells were systematically investigated. Three different solvents, including toluene, chlorobenzene (CB), and dichlorobenzene (DCB), were employed for active-layer fabrication, followed by post-thermal annealing treatment. UV–visible absorption spectroscopy revealed solvent-dependent differences in molecular ordering and intermolecular π–π interactions within the active layer. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed that thermal annealing significantly enhanced crystallinity and lamellar ordering of P3HT domains, particularly for CB-processed films. Electrical characterization demonstrated that solvent evaporation behavior strongly affects photovoltaic performance. Among the investigated devices, the thermally annealed CB-processed device exhibited the highest power conversion efficiency of 1.83% with an enhanced short-circuit current density of 7.057 mA cm⁻². The improved device performance is attributed to optimized crystallization behavior and balanced nanoscale phase separation induced by the moderate evaporation characteristics of CB. In contrast, although DCB-assisted films exhibited relatively strong optical absorption and enhanced crystallinity, excessively slow solvent evaporation likely induced excessive aggregation and coarse phase separation, limiting efficient photovoltaic characteristics. These results demonstrate that solvent engineering combined with thermal annealing is an effective strategy for controlling morphology evolution and crystallization behavior in P3HT:PCBM bulk heterojunction solar cells.
GaN nanowire (NW)-based hybrid structures have attracted attention for optoelectronic applications due to their high surface area and efficient carrier transport. However, the optical transparency of GaN NWs is often limited by unintended residual species accumulated on the surface and in the inter-wire regions, as well as defect-related absorption, leading to reduced light transmission. In this work, we demonstrate that thermal annealing significantly improves the optical transparency of GaN NWs grown on indium tin oxide (ITO)/glass substrates. The transmittance increased from 47.9% to 78.5% at 550 nm after rapid thermal annealing at 800oC for 3 min, while a comparable value (~75.5%) was achieved at 600oC for 5 min. PbBr3 was deposited onto the GaN NWs to form hybrid structures, and temperature-dependent photoluminescence (TDPL) measurements revealed enhanced emission stability with suppressed peak shift and reduced spectral broadening. Arrhenius analysis based on a two-channel model revealed that the activation energy of the dominant non-radiative recombination pathway increased from 62 meV in the as-grown sample to 85 meV after thermal annealing, while its relative contribution remained nearly unchanged. In contrast, the shallow trap-assisted pathway exhibited a similar activation energy of approximately 6 meV in both samples, but its contribution decreased from 0.35 to 0.17 after annealing. As a result, the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) improved from 75.9% to 87.4%. These results show that thermal annealing improves optical transparency by removing residuals and suppresses defect-related recombination, leading to enhanced carrier dynamics and improved optical performance of PbBr3-based hybrid structures.
As electric vehicles (EVs) are rapidly adopted worldwide, large numbers are now transported by sea on dedicated car carriers. With this trend, concerns are increasing about fires and explosions caused by battery thermal runaway during marine transport, while existing SOC limits before loading remain largely empirical. This study experimentally investigates gas generation and explosion characteristics of EV lithium-ion cells under thermal runaway conditions representative of enclosed vehicle decks. We identify and quantify the main off-gas components and clarify the flammability behavior and explosion limits of key combustible species. The results provide basic data for assessing EV battery accidents at sea and support the development of safer ventilation and gas-management strategies for ships.
Perovskite light-emitting diodes (PELEDs) are emerging as promising candidates for next-generation displays, thanks to their narrow full width at half maximum and low-cost solution processing capabilities. Blue PeLEDs are essential for achieving a full-color gamut; however, efficiency and stability challenges limit their practical use. A primary bottleneck arises from interfacial issues between the perovskite emissive and charge transport layers. This review summarizes the key interfacial challenges hindering the performance of blue PeLEDs and highlights recent advances in interfacial engineering strategies. By focusing on interfacial engineering between the hole-transport layer and perovskite, this review compares different strategies and outlines future directions for developing high-performance blue light-emitting devices.
We have developed inverted green phosphorescent organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) using 1,1-bis[(di-4- tolylamino)phenyl]cyclohexane (TAPC) and bis(carbazole-9-yl)biphenyl (CBP) hole transport layers. The driving voltage, current efficiency, power efficiency, and emission characteristics of devices were investigated. While the driving voltage for the same current density was about 1~2 V lower in the devices with the TAPC layer, the maximum luminance was higher in the device with the CBP layer. The maximum current efficiency and power efficiency were 3.2 and 2.7 times higher in the device with the CBP layer, respectively. The higher efficiency in the CBP device resulted from the enhanced hole-electron balance although weak parasitic recombination takes place in the CBP hole transport layer.
Defects in solids play a vital role on thermoelectric properties through the direct impacts of electronic band structure and electron/phonon transports, which can improve the electronic and thermal properties of a given thermoelectric semiconductor. Defects in semiconductors can be divided into four different types depending on their geometric dimensions, and thus understanding the effects on thermoelectric properties of each type is of a vital importance. This paper reviews the recent advances in the various thermoelectric semiconductors through defect engineering focusing on the charge carrier and phonon behaviors. First, we clarify and summarize each type of defects in thermoelectric semiconductors. Then, we review the recent achievements in thermoelectric properties by applying defect engineering when introducing defects into semiconductor lattices. This paper ends with a brief discussion on the challenges and future directions of defect engineering in the thermoelectric field.
The development of efficient electron donor (or hole-transporting) molecules that can be used in various optoelectronic device fields is highly demanded. In this work, a novel class of triptycene-based three-dimensional (3D) triphenylamine (TI-TPA) derivatives with different end substituents was designed and prepared for transparent electron donor materials. Owing to the rigid 3D triptycene framework, the obtained TI-TPA derivatives had an amorphous morphology with high thermal decomposition temperature. The oxidation potential of these TI-TPA derivatives decreased as the electron donating strength of the end substituent increased. Among TI-TPA derivatives, TI-TPA-OMe exhibited the highest HOMO level (-5.31 eV) which is similar to that of Spiro-OMeTAD (-5.22 eV). In addition, TI-TPA-OMe was found to form a strong charge transfer complex with the triptycene-based acceptor TI-BQ, leading to a new absorption band at around 640 nm. These results can be applied for developing efficient electron donor materials that can mimic the advantages of the spiro-linked structure and TPA units of Spiro-OMeTAD.
A poly[bis(4-butypheny)-bis(phenyl)benzidine] (poly-TPD) and poly(9-vinylcarbazole) (PVK) bilayer was employed as a hole transport layer (HTL) in solution-processed CdSe/ZnS quantum dot light-emitting diodes (QLEDs). The thickness of the PVK layer spin-coated onto the poly-TPD layer, whose thickness was fixed to 40 nm, was varied, with PVK layer thicknesses of 0 nm, 35 nm, 45 nm, and 55 nm. Because the thickness of the PVK can determine the hole transport properties of the HTL, a PVK thickness that maximizes the performance of the HTL for the QLEDs was investigated. By employing the optimized PVK thickness of 45 nm, the current efficiency of the QLED exhibited a 1.74 times improvement when compared with that of the QLED with poly-TPD based HTL without PVK. This was mainly attributed to the decrease in the energy barrier between the HTL and the quantum dot (QD) emitting layer (EML).
Solution-processed organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have the advantages of low cost, fast fabrication, and large-area devices. However, most studies on solution-processed OLEDs have mainly focused on solution-processable hole transporting materials or emissive materials. Here, we report fully solution-processed green OLEDs including hole/electron transport layers and emissive layers. The electrical and optical properties of OLEDs based on solution-processed TPBi (2,2′,2″-(1,3,5-Benzinetriyl)-tris(1-phenyl-1-H-benzimidazole)) as the electron transport layer were investigated with respect to the spin speed and the number of layers. The performance of OLEDs with solution-processed TPBi exhibits a power efficiency of 9.4 lm/W. We believe that the solution-processed electron transport layers can contribute to the development of efficient fully solution-processed multilayered OLEDs.
We were designed the hole transport layer of the new composite skeleton structure having a high charge mobility and thermal stability. In this paper, a hole transport layer material based on thiophene molecular structure capable of hole mobility characteristics and high triplet energy was designed and synthesized. The structures and properties of the synthesized compounds were characterized by NMR, fluorescence spectroscopy and energy band gap. As a result of NMR measurement, it was confirmed that when analyzing the integrated type with the position where the measured peak is displayed, it agrees with the structure of hole transport materials. The emission characteristics of the hole transport layer material showed absorption characteristics at 412 nm and 426 nm, respectively, and exhibited emission characteristics in the range of 469 nm and 516 nm.
The effects of Al-substitution on thermoelectric and charge transport properties of BiCuOSe compounds were investigated. The compounds were prepared by a solid-state reaction and consolidated by SPS (spark plasma sintering). In spite of the increase in the hole concentration with increasing Al amounts in BiCuOSe compound, the electrical conductivity at room temperature was kept constant due to the reduction of mobility. However, electrical conductivities of Al-substituted BiCuOSe compounds at elevated temperature (> 600 K) were higher than those of BiCuOSe, and this result was discussed in terms of it``s the band gap energy. The Seebeck coefficient was drastically reduced when Al was substituted in Bi site, which indicated that the electronic structure was influenced by the Al-substitution into Bi-site.
In this study, we investigate the effect of high-energy ball milling on thermoelectric transport properties in double-filled CoSb3 skutterudite (In0.2Yb0.1Co4Sb12). In0.2Yb0.1Co4Sb12 powders are milled using high-energy ball milling for different periods of time (0, 5, 10, and 20 min), and the milled powders are consolidated into bulk samples by spark plasma sintering. Microstructure analysis shows that the high-energy ball milled bulk samples are composed of nano- and micro-grains. Because the filling fractions are reduced in the bulk samples due to the kinetic energy of the high-energy ball milling, the carrier concentration of the bulk samples decreases with the ball milling time. Furthermore, the mobility of the bulk samples also decreases with the ball milling time due to enhanced grain boundary scattering of electrons. Reduction of electrical conductivity by ball milling has a decisive effect on thermoelectric transport in the bulk samples, power factor decreases with the ball milling time.
The second-generation HTS wire its YBCO coated conductor is widely used in the superconducting power apparatus. The YBCO coated conductor uses the normal-superconducting junction to increase the transport capacity of superconducting power apparatus when it is applied. The normal-superconducting junction can be a cause of reducing the stability of the superconducting power apparatus when a fault current is applied. Thus, in this study we have conducted the effect analysing normal-superconducting junction for the fault current using transport current and quench resistance. From the experimental results when a fault current is applied, the effect on the normal-superconducting junction is reduced the larger the amplitude of the fault current and is helpful to maintain the thermal stability of the HTS wire.
Generally, MWCNT, with thermal, chemical and electrical superiority, is manufactured with CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition). Using MWCNT, it is comonly used as gas sensor of MOS-FET structure. In this study, in order to repeatedly detect gases, the author had to effectively eliminate gases absorbed in a MWCNT sensor. So as to eliminate gases absorbed in a MWCNT sesor, the sensor was applied heat of 423[K], and in order to observe how the applied heat was diffused within the sensor, the author interpreted the diffusion process of heat, using COMSOL interpretation program. In order to interpret the diffusion process of heat, the author progressed modeling with the structure of MWCNT gas sensor in 2-dimension, and defining heat transfer velocity(u=△T/△χ), accorded to governing equation within the sensor, the author proposed heat transfer mechanism.
We have fabricated white organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) using several thicknesses ofelectron-transport layer. The multi-emission layer structure doped with red and blue phosphorescent guestemitters was used for achieving white emission. 2,9-dimethyl-4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (BCP) wasused as an electron-transport layer. The thickness of BCP layer was varied to be 20, 55, and 120 nm. The current efficiency, emission and recombination characteristics of multi-layer white OLEDs wereinvestigated. The BCP layer thickness variation results in the shift of emission spectrum due to therecombination zone shift. As the BCP layer thickness increases, the recombination zone shifts toward theelectron-transport layer/emission-layer interface. The white OLED with a 55 nm thick BCP layerexhibited a maximum current efficiency of 40.9 cd/A.
In this Paper, we have developed1 a low temperature process to make two type of Paste by using TIO2 nanoprticles(P25). The interconnections between substrate and TiO2 films or link between particles of free-binder Paste (FP1, FPZ, FP3) is very poor. Therefore, the Titanium(IV) isopropoxide was added to the TP paste to improve the interconnection. Electron transport time (Tt) and recombination time (Tr) are analyzed by IMPS (intensity-modulated photocurrent spectroscopy) and INIVS (Intensity-modulated photovltage spectroscopy). In the results, Tt of TP paste based DSSCs (about 4.3×10-3) is faster than other samples. Tt is Ionger from 2.7×10-2 s of FP2 to 3.0×10-2 s of TP. A solar conversion efficiency (DSSCs) of TP 15 3.54% for an incident solar energy of 100 mw cm-2(meanwhile, 2. 70% for DSSCs With FP2). The c아1versioIl efficiency is increased by 1.3 times.
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on titanium dioxide (TiO2) have been extensively studied because of their promising low-cost alternatives to conventional semiconductor based solar cells. DSSCs consist of molecular dye at the interface between a liquid electrolyte and a mesoporous wide-bandgap semiconductor oxide. Most efforts for high conversion efficiencies have focused on dye and liquid electrolytes. However, interface engineering between dye and electrode is also important to reduce recombination and improve efficiency. In this work, for interface engineering, we deposited semiconducting ferroelectric BiFeO3 with bandgap of 2.8 eV on TiO2 nanoparticles and nanotubes. Photovoltaic properties of DSSCs were characterized as a function of thickness of BiFeO3. We showed that ferroelectric BiFeO3-coated TiO2 electrodes enable to increase overall efficiency of DSSCs, which was associated with efficient electron transport due to internal electric field originating from electric polarization. It was suggested that engineering the dye-TiO2 interface using ferroelectric materials as inorganic modifiers can be key parameter for enhanced photovoltaic performance of the cell.
In order to investigate the emission characteristics of the phosphorescent white organic light-emitting diodes (PHWOLEDs) according to various hole transport layers (HTLs), PHWOLEDs composed of HTLs whose structure are NPB/TCTA, NPB/mCP and NPB/TCTA/mCP, two emissive layers (EMLs) which emit two-wavelengths of light (blue and red), and electron transport layer were fabricated. The applied voltage, power efficiency, and external quantum efficiency at a current density of 1 ㎃/㎠for the fabricated PHWOLEDs were 7.5 V, 11.5 lm/W, and 15%, in case of NPB/mCP, 5 V, 14.8 lm/W, and 13.7%, in case of NPB/TCTA, and 5.5 V, 14.6 lm/W, and 15%, in case of NPB/TCTA/mCP in the hole transport layer, respectively. High emission efficiency can be obtained when the amount of hole injection from anode is balanced out by the amount of electron injection from the cathode to EML by using NPB/TCTA/mCP structured HTL.