1. Lattice-matched ▫$Ta_3N_5/Nb_5N_6$▫ interface enables a bulk charge separation efficiency of close to 100%Yitong Liu, Zeyu Fan, Ronghua Li, Andraž Mavrič, Iztok Arčon, Matjaž Valant, Gregor Kapun, Beibei Zhang, Chao Feng, Zemin Zhang, 2025, original scientific article Abstract: The interface between the semiconductor light absorber
and the metal electrode is critical for facilitating the extraction of photogenerated charges in photoelectrodes. Achieving a lattice-matched
semiconductor/electrode interface with low defect density is highly desirable but remains a challenge for Ta3N5 photoanodes. In this study, we synthesized niobium nitride thin film electrodes with controllable crystallographic phases to achieve a lattice-matched Ta3N5/Nb5N6 back contact. This results in an enhanced crystallinity of the Ta3N5 film and
reduced interfacial defect density. Consequently, the photoanode with the lattice-matched back contact attains a record half-cell solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 4.1%, attributed to the bulk carrier separation efficiency of nearly 100%. This work highlights lattice-matching as an effective strategy to enhance the efficiency of thin film-based solar energy conversion devices.
Keywords: photoelectrochemistry, photoanode, interface, semiconductors
Published in RUNG: 28.03.2025; Views: 454; Downloads: 8
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2. Understanding the in-situ transformation of ▫$Cu_xO$▫ interlayers to increase the water splitting efficiency in NiO/n-Si photoanodesChao Feng, Zhi Liu, Huanxin Ju, Andraž Mavrič, Matjaž Valant, Jie Fu, Beibei Zhang, Yanbo Li, 2024, original scientific article Abstract: The buried interface tens of nanometers beneath the solid-liquid junction is crucial for photocarrier extraction, influencing the overall efficiency of photoelectrochemical devices. Precise characterization of the interfacial properties is essential for device optimization but remains challenging. Here, we directly probe the in situ transformation of a CuxO interlayer at the NiO/n-Si interface by hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It is found that Cu(I) in the CuxO interlayer gradually transforms to Cu(II) with air exposure, forming an energetically more favorable interface and improving photoanode’s efficiency. Based on this finding, a reactive e-beam evaporation process is developed for the direct deposition of a CuO interlayer, achieving a half-cell solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 4.56% for the optimized NiO/CuO/n-Si heterojunction photoanode. Our results highlight the importance of precision characterization of interfacial properties with advanced hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in guiding the design of efficient solar water-splitting devices.
Keywords: photo anode, energy harvesting, nickel oxide, interface
Published in RUNG: 01.08.2024; Views: 2122; Downloads: 12
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3. Novel bispecific nanobody mitigates experimental intestinal inflammation in mice by targeting TNF-▫$\alpha$▫ and IL-23p19 bioactivitiesJiewen Wang, Guangbo Kang, Huiying Lu, Ario De Marco, Haibin Yuan, Zelin Feng, Mengxue Gao, Xiaoli Wang, Huahong Wang, Xiaolan Zhang, 2024, original scientific article Keywords: bispecific constructs, nanobodies, intestinal inflammation
Published in RUNG: 27.03.2024; Views: 2431; Downloads: 10
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4. Designing atomic interface in ▫$Sb_2S_3/CdS$▫ heterojunction for efficient solar water splittingMinji Yang, Zeyu Fan, Jinyan Du, Chao Feng, Ronghua Li, Beibei Zhang, Nadiia Pastukhova, Matjaž Valant, Matjaž Finšgar, Andraž Mavrič, Yanbo Li, 2024, original scientific article Abstract: In the emerging Sb2S3‐based solar energy conversion devices, a CdS buffer layer prepared by chemical bath deposition is commonly used to improve the separation of photogenerated electron‐hole pairs. However, the cation diffusion at the Sb2S3/CdS interface induces detrimental defects but is often overlooked. Designing a stable interface in the Sb2S3/CdS heterojunction is essential to achieve high solar energy conversion efficiency. As a proof of concept, this study reports that the modification of the Sb2S3/CdS heterojunction with an ultrathin Al2O3 interlayer effectively suppresses the interfacial defects by preventing the diffusion of Cd2+ cations into the Sb2S3 layer. As a result, a water‐splitting photocathode based on Ag:Sb2S3/Al2O3/CdS heterojunction achieves a significantly improved half‐cell solar‐to‐hydrogen efficiency of 2.78% in a neutral electrolyte, as compared to 1.66% for the control Ag:Sb2S3/CdS device. This work demonstrates the importance of designing atomic interfaces and may provide a guideline for the fabrication of high‐performance stibnite‐type semiconductor‐based solar energy conversion devices.
Keywords: alumina, defect passivation, interface engineering, photoelectrochemical water splitting
Published in RUNG: 11.03.2024; Views: 2323; Downloads: 5
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5. Beam Test Results of the ISS-CREAM CalorimeterH.G. Zhang, Jon Paul Lundquist, 2022, published scientific conference contribution Abstract: The Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass experiment for the International Space Station (ISS-CREAM) was installed on the ISS to measure high-energy cosmic-ray elemental spectra for the charge range Z=1 to 26. The ISS-CREAM instrument includes a tungsten scintillating-fiber calorimeter preceded by carbon targets for energy measurements. The carbon targets induces hadronic interactions, and showers of secondary particles develop in the calorimeter. The calorimeter was calibrated with electron beams at CERN. This beam test included position, energy, and angle scans of electron and pion beams together with a high-voltage scan for calibration and characterization. Additionally, an attenuation effect in the scintillating fibers was studied. In this paper, beam test results, including corrections for the attenuation effect, are presented.
Keywords: ISS-CREAM, calorimeter, particle accelerator, CERN, electron beam, direct detection, cosmic rays, energy spectrum, composition
Published in RUNG: 26.09.2023; Views: 2435; Downloads: 5
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6. Affinity maturation of antibody fragments : a review encompassing the development from random approaches to computational rational optimizationJiaqi Liu, Guangbo Kang, Jiewen Wang, Haibin Yuan, Yili Wu, Shuxian Meng, Ping Wang, Miao Zhang, Yuli Wang, Yuanhang Feng, He Huang, Ario De Marco, 2023, review article Keywords: deep learning, protein modeling, random mutagenesis, rational mutagenesis
Published in RUNG: 17.07.2023; Views: 2641; Downloads: 9
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7. Stable seawater oxidation with a self-healing oxygen-evolving catalystXiaojian Zhang, Chao Feng, Zeyu Fan, Beibei Zhang, Yequan Xiao, Andraž Mavrič, Nadiia Pastukhova, Matjaž Valant, Yi-Fan Han, Yanbo Li, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: Direct seawater electrolysis is key to massive hydrogen fuel production without the depletion of precious freshwater resources and the need for high-purity electrolytes. However, the presence of high-concentration chloride ions (Cl−) and alkaline-earth metal ions (Mg2+, Ca2+) poses great challenges to the stability and selectivity of the catalysts for seawater splitting. Here, we demonstrate a self-healing oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalyst for long-term seawater electrolysis. By suppressing the competitive chlorine evolution reaction and precipitating the alkaline-earth metal ions through an alkaline treatment of the seawater, stable seawater oxidation is achieved owing to the self-healing ability of the borate-intercalated nickel–cobalt–iron oxyhydroxides (NiCoFe-Bi) OER catalyst under highly-alkaline conditions. The self-healing NiCoFe-Bi catalyst achieves stable seawater oxidation at a large current density of 500 mA cm−2 for 1000 h with near unity Faraday efficiency. Our results have demonstrated strong durability and high OER selectivity of the self-healing catalyst under harsh conditions, paving the way for industrial large-scale seawater electrolysis.
Keywords: chemistry, electrocatalysis, seawater oxidation, oxygen evolution reaction
Published in RUNG: 08.05.2023; Views: 2806; Downloads: 7
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8. GRB minimum variability timescale with Insight-HXMT and Swift : implications for progenitor models, dissipation physics, and GRB classificationsA. E. Camisasca, Cristiano Guidorzi, Lorenzo Amati, F. Frontera, X. Y. Song, S. Xiao, S. L. Xiong, S. N. Zhang, Raffaella Margutti, Andreja Gomboc, 2023, original scientific article Keywords: astronomy, gamma ray burst, variability
Published in RUNG: 24.03.2023; Views: 2813; Downloads: 24
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9. Design of nanobody-based bispecific constructs by in silico affinity maturation and umbrella sampling simulationsZixuan Bai, Jiewen Wang, Jiaqi Liu, Haibin Yuan, Ping Wang, Miao Zhang, Yuanhang Feng, Xiangtong Cao, Xiangan Cao, Guangbo Kang, Ario De Marco, He Huang, 2023, original scientific article Keywords: nanobody rational design, bispecific binders, protein activity inhibition
Published in RUNG: 03.01.2023; Views: 2860; Downloads: 7
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10. Coevaporation of doped inorganic carrier-selective layers for high-performance inverted planar perovskite solar cellsJiexuan Jiang, Andraž Mavrič, Nadiia Pastukhova, Matjaž Valant, Qiugui Zeng, Zeyu Fan, Beibei Zhang, Yanbo Li, 2022, original scientific article Abstract: Inorganic carrier selective layers (CSLs), whose conductivity can be effectively tuned by doping, offer low-cost and stable alternatives for their organic counterparts in perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Herein, we employ a dual-source electron-beam co-evaporation method for the controlled deposition of copper-doped nickel oxide (Cu:NiO) and tungsten-doped niobium oxide (W:Nb2O5) as hole and electron transport layers, respectively. The mechanisms for the improved conductivity using dopants are investigated. Owing to the improved conductivity and optimized band alignment of the doped CSLs, the all-inorganic-CSLs-based PSCs achieves a maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 20.47%. Furthermore, a thin titanium buffer layer is inserted between the W:Nb2O5 and the silver electrode to prevent the halide ingression and improve band alignment. This leads to a further improvement of PCE to 21.32% and a long-term stability (1200 h) after encapsulation. Finally, the large-scale applicability of the doped CSLs by co-evaporation is demonstrated for the device with 1 cm2 area showing a PCE of over 19%. Our results demonstrate the potential application of the co-evaporated CSLs with controlled doping in PSCs for commercialization.
Keywords: carrier selective layers, Cu-doped nickel oxide, electron-beam evaporation, perovskite solar cells, W-doped niobium oxide
Published in RUNG: 17.03.2022; Views: 3844; Downloads: 128
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