M Günther, D Blätte, A L Oechsle, S S Rivas, Yousefi A A Amin, P Müller-Buschbaum, T Bein, T Ameri Increasing Photostability of Inverted Nonfullerene Organic Solar Cells by Using Fullerene Derivative Additives Journal Article In: ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2021, ISSN: 1944-8244. Abstract | Links @article{,
title = {Increasing Photostability of Inverted Nonfullerene Organic Solar Cells by Using Fullerene Derivative Additives},
author = {M G\"{u}nther and D Bl\"{a}tte and A L Oechsle and S S Rivas and Yousefi A A Amin and P M\"{u}ller-Buschbaum and T Bein and T Ameri},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c00700},
doi = {10.1021/acsami.1c00700},
issn = {1944-8244},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-04-16},
journal = {ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces},
abstract = {Organic solar cells (OSCs) recently achieved efficiencies of over 18% and are well on their way to practical applications, but still considerable stability issues need to be overcome. One major problem emerges from the electron transport material zinc oxide (ZnO), which is mainly used in the inverted device architecture and decomposes many high-performance nonfullerene acceptors due to its photocatalytic activity. In this work, we add three different fullerene derivatives\textemdashPC71BM, ICMA, and BisPCBM\textemdashto an inverted binary PBDB-TF:IT-4F system in order to suppress the photocatalytic degradation of IT-4F on ZnO via the radical scavenging abilities of the fullerenes. We demonstrate that the addition of 5% fullerene not only increases the performance of the binary PBDB-TF:IT-4F system but also significantly improves the device lifetime under UV illumination in an inert atmosphere. While the binary devices lose 20% of their initial efficiency after only 3 h, this time is increased fivefold for the most promising ternary devices with ICMA. We attribute this improvement to a reduced photocatalytic decomposition of IT-4F in the ternary system, which results in a decreased recombination. We propose that the added fullerenes protect the IT-4F by acting as a sacrificial reagent, thereby suppressing the trap state formation. Furthermore, we show that the protective effect of the most promising fullerene ICMA is transferable to two other binary systems PBDB-TF:BTP-4F and PTB7-Th:IT-4F. Importantly, this effect can also increase the air stability of PBDB-TF:IT-4F. This work demonstrates that the addition of fullerene derivatives is a transferable and straightforward strategy to improve the stability of OSCs.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Organic solar cells (OSCs) recently achieved efficiencies of over 18% and are well on their way to practical applications, but still considerable stability issues need to be overcome. One major problem emerges from the electron transport material zinc oxide (ZnO), which is mainly used in the inverted device architecture and decomposes many high-performance nonfullerene acceptors due to its photocatalytic activity. In this work, we add three different fullerene derivatives—PC71BM, ICMA, and BisPCBM—to an inverted binary PBDB-TF:IT-4F system in order to suppress the photocatalytic degradation of IT-4F on ZnO via the radical scavenging abilities of the fullerenes. We demonstrate that the addition of 5% fullerene not only increases the performance of the binary PBDB-TF:IT-4F system but also significantly improves the device lifetime under UV illumination in an inert atmosphere. While the binary devices lose 20% of their initial efficiency after only 3 h, this time is increased fivefold for the most promising ternary devices with ICMA. We attribute this improvement to a reduced photocatalytic decomposition of IT-4F in the ternary system, which results in a decreased recombination. We propose that the added fullerenes protect the IT-4F by acting as a sacrificial reagent, thereby suppressing the trap state formation. Furthermore, we show that the protective effect of the most promising fullerene ICMA is transferable to two other binary systems PBDB-TF:BTP-4F and PTB7-Th:IT-4F. Importantly, this effect can also increase the air stability of PBDB-TF:IT-4F. This work demonstrates that the addition of fullerene derivatives is a transferable and straightforward strategy to improve the stability of OSCs. |
S Krause, E Ploetz, J Bohlen, P Schüler, R Yaadav, F Selbach, F Steiner, I Kamińska, P Tinnefeld Graphene-on-Glass Preparation and Cleaning Methods Characterized by Single-Molecule DNA Origami Fluorescent Probes and Raman Spectroscopy Journal Article In: ACS Nano, 2021, ISSN: 1936-0851. Abstract | Links @article{,
title = {Graphene-on-Glass Preparation and Cleaning Methods Characterized by Single-Molecule DNA Origami Fluorescent Probes and Raman Spectroscopy},
author = {S Krause and E Ploetz and J Bohlen and P Sch\"{u}ler and R Yaadav and F Selbach and F Steiner and I Kami\'{n}ska and P Tinnefeld},
url = {https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsnano.0c08383},
doi = {10.1021/acsnano.0c08383},
issn = {1936-0851},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-04-09},
journal = {ACS Nano},
abstract = {Graphene exhibits outstanding fluorescence quenching properties that can become useful for biophysics and biosensing applications, but it remains challenging to harness these advantages due to the complex transfer procedure of chemical vapor deposition-grown graphene to glass coverslips and the low yield of usable samples. Here, we screen 10 graphene-on-glass preparation methods and present an optimized protocol. To obtain the required quality for single-molecule and super-resolution imaging on graphene, we introduce a graphene screening method that avoids consuming the investigated sample. We apply DNA origami nanostructures to place fluorescent probes at a defined distance on top of graphene-on-glass coverslips. Subsequent fluorescence lifetime imaging directly reports on the graphene quality, as deviations from the expected fluorescence lifetime indicate imperfections. We compare the DNA origami probes with conventional techniques for graphene characterization, including light microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. For the latter, we observe a discrepancy between the graphene quality implied by Raman spectra in comparison to the quality probed by fluorescence lifetime quenching measured at the same position. We attribute this discrepancy to the difference in the effective area that is probed by Raman spectroscopy and fluorescence quenching. Moreover, we demonstrate the applicability of already screened and positively evaluated graphene for studying single-molecule conformational dynamics on a second DNA origami structure. Our results constitute the basis for graphene-based biophysics and super-resolution microscopy.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Graphene exhibits outstanding fluorescence quenching properties that can become useful for biophysics and biosensing applications, but it remains challenging to harness these advantages due to the complex transfer procedure of chemical vapor deposition-grown graphene to glass coverslips and the low yield of usable samples. Here, we screen 10 graphene-on-glass preparation methods and present an optimized protocol. To obtain the required quality for single-molecule and super-resolution imaging on graphene, we introduce a graphene screening method that avoids consuming the investigated sample. We apply DNA origami nanostructures to place fluorescent probes at a defined distance on top of graphene-on-glass coverslips. Subsequent fluorescence lifetime imaging directly reports on the graphene quality, as deviations from the expected fluorescence lifetime indicate imperfections. We compare the DNA origami probes with conventional techniques for graphene characterization, including light microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. For the latter, we observe a discrepancy between the graphene quality implied by Raman spectra in comparison to the quality probed by fluorescence lifetime quenching measured at the same position. We attribute this discrepancy to the difference in the effective area that is probed by Raman spectroscopy and fluorescence quenching. Moreover, we demonstrate the applicability of already screened and positively evaluated graphene for studying single-molecule conformational dynamics on a second DNA origami structure. Our results constitute the basis for graphene-based biophysics and super-resolution microscopy. |
C Griesser, H Li, E-M Wernig, D Winkler, Shakibi N Nia, T Mairegger, T Götsch, T Schachinger, A Steiger-Thirsfeld, S Penner, D Wielend, D Egger, C Scheurer, K Reuter, J Kunze-Liebhäuser True Nature of the Transition-Metal Carbide/Liquid Interface Determines Its Reactivity Journal Article In: ACS Catalysis, pp. 4920-4928, 2021. Abstract | Links @article{,
title = {True Nature of the Transition-Metal Carbide/Liquid Interface Determines Its Reactivity},
author = {C Griesser and H Li and E-M Wernig and D Winkler and Shakibi N Nia and T Mairegger and T G\"{o}tsch and T Schachinger and A Steiger-Thirsfeld and S Penner and D Wielend and D Egger and C Scheurer and K Reuter and J Kunze-Liebh\"{a}user},
url = {https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acscatal.1c00415},
doi = {10.1021/acscatal.1c00415},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-04-07},
journal = {ACS Catalysis},
pages = {4920-4928},
abstract = {Compound materials, such as transition-metal (TM) carbides, are anticipated to be effective electrocatalysts for the carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) to useful chemicals. This expectation is nurtured by density functional theory (DFT) predictions of a break of key adsorption energy scaling relations that limit CO2RR at parent TMs. Here, we evaluate these prospects for hexagonal Mo2C in aqueous electrolytes in a multimethod experiment and theory approach. We find that surface oxide formation completely suppresses the CO2 activation. The oxides are stable down to potentials as low as −1.9 V versus the standard hydrogen electrode, and solely the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is found to be active. This generally points to the absolute imperative of recognizing the true interface establishing under operando conditions in computational screening of catalyst materials. When protected from ambient air and used in nonaqueous electrolyte, Mo2C indeed shows CO2RR activity.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Compound materials, such as transition-metal (TM) carbides, are anticipated to be effective electrocatalysts for the carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) to useful chemicals. This expectation is nurtured by density functional theory (DFT) predictions of a break of key adsorption energy scaling relations that limit CO2RR at parent TMs. Here, we evaluate these prospects for hexagonal Mo2C in aqueous electrolytes in a multimethod experiment and theory approach. We find that surface oxide formation completely suppresses the CO2 activation. The oxides are stable down to potentials as low as −1.9 V versus the standard hydrogen electrode, and solely the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is found to be active. This generally points to the absolute imperative of recognizing the true interface establishing under operando conditions in computational screening of catalyst materials. When protected from ambient air and used in nonaqueous electrolyte, Mo2C indeed shows CO2RR activity. |