Surface Reconstruction Engineering with Synergistic Effect of Mixed-Salt Passivation Treatment toward Efficient and Stable Perovskite Solar Cells

Surface passivation treatment is a widely used strategy to resolve trap-mediated nonradiative recombination toward high-efficiency metal-halide perovskite photovoltaics. However, a lack of passivation with mixture treatment has been investigated, as well as an in-depth understanding of its passivation mechanism. Here, a systematic study on a mixed-salt passivation strategy of formamidinium bromide (FABr) coupled with different F-substituted alkyl lengths of ammonium iodide is demonstrated. It is obtained better device performance with decreasing chain length of the F-substituted alkyl ammonium iodide in the presence of FABr. Moreover, they unraveled a synergistic passivation mechanism of the mixed-salt treatment through surface reconstruction engineering, where FABr dominates the reformation of the perovskite surface via reacting with the excess PbI₂. Meanwhile, ammonium iodide passivates the perovskite grain boundaries both on the surface and top perovskite bulk through penetration. This synergistic passivation engineer results in a high-quality perovskite surface with fewer defects and suppressed ion migration, leading to a champion efficiency of 23.5% with mixed-salt treatment. In addition, the introduction of the moisture resisted F-substituted groups presents a more hydrophobic perovskite surface, thus enabling the decorated devices with excellent long-term stability under a high humid atmosphere as well as operational conditions.     

Nanogrooved carbon microtubes for wet three‐dimensional printing of conductive composite structures

Recent advances in three‐dimensional (3D) printing have enabled the fabrication of interesting structures which are not achievable using traditional fabrication approaches. The 3D printing of carbon microtube composite inks allows fabrication of conductive structures for practical applications in soft robotics and tissue engineering. However, it is challenging to achieve 3D printed structures from solution‐based composite inks, which requires an additional process to solidify the ink. Here, we introduce a wet 3D printing technique which uses a coagulation bath to fabricate carbon microtube composite structures. We show that through a facile nanogrooving approach which introduces cavitation and channels on carbon microtubes, enhanced interfacial interactions with a chitosan polymer matrix are achieved. Consequently, the mechanical properties of the 3D printed composites improve when nanogrooved carbon microtubes are used, compared to untreated microtubes. We show that by carefully controlling the coagulation bath, extrusion pressure, printing distance and printed line distance, we can 3D print composite lattices which are composed of well‐defined and separated printed lines. The conductive composite 3D structures with highly customised design presented in this work provide a suitable platform for applications ranging from soft robotics to smart tissue engineering scaffolds. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry     

Fire safe,sustainable loose furnishing

The aim of this exploratory study has been to investigate the fire properties and environmental aspects of different upholstery material combinations, mainly for domestic applications. An analysis of the sustainability and circularity of selected textiles, along with lifecycle assessment, is used to qualitatively evaluate materials from an environmental perspective. The cone calorimeter was the primary tool used to screen 20 different material combinations from a fire performance perspective. It was found that textile covers of conventional fibres such as wool, cotton and polyester, can be improved by blending them with fire resistant speciality fibres. A new three‐dimensional web structure has been examined as an alternative padding material, showing preliminary promising fire properties with regard to ignition time, heat release rates and smoke production.     

The Antibacterial Drug Candidate SBC3 is a Potent Inhibitor of Bacterial Thioredoxin Reductase

Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem for public health and associated with increasing economic costs and mortality rates. Silver and silver-related compounds have been used for centuries due to their antimicrobial properties. In this work, we show that 1,3-dibenzyl-4,5-diphenyl-imidazol-2-ylidene silver(I) acetate/NHC*-Ag-OAc (SBC3) is a reversible, high affinity inhibitor of E. coli thioredoxin reductase (TrxR; K_i=10.8±1.2 nM). Minimal inhibition concentration (MIC) tests with different E. coli and P. aeruginosa strains demonstrated that SBC3 can efficiently inhibit bacterial cell growth, especially in combination with established antibiotics like gentamicin. Our results show that SBC3 is a promising antibiotic drug candidate targeting bacterial TrxR.     

Quality enhancement of the abundant under‐valued crustacean,lobster krill (Munida spp.), during its chilled storage

Lobster krill (Munida genus) represents an under‐valued crustacean frequently caught on European fishing banks. In this work, its sensory, microbiological and biochemical qualities were evaluated during chilled storage. Additionally, the effects of a prestorage antimelanosic treatment consisting of soaking in sodium metabisulphite (SMB) solutions at two different concentrations (0.25% and 0.75%) were also studied. SMB prestorage treatment provided lobster specimens that still exhibited acceptable sensory quality after 10 days of storage, while control specimens were unacceptable at that time. SMB treatment also resulted in a significant (P < 0.05) inhibition of microbial growth, mainly of Enterobacteriaceae, psychrotrophes and proteolytic bacteria. Low lipid oxidation levels were observed for all batches; however, a significantly higher (P < 0.05) retention of polyunsaturated fatty acids was found in SMB‐treated lobster, especially in the 0.75% SMB batch. The results presented here open the way to the potential commercialisation of currently under‐utilised lobster krill as a chilled product.