High FF Research Articles

Effects of florfenicol on the midgut physiological function of Bombyx mori, based on the diversity of intestinal microbiota

AbstractFlorfenicol (FF) is a new antibiotic commonly used in sericulture. This study aimed to examine the effects of low (LC: 0.06 g/L), medium (MC: 0.12 g/L), and high (HC: 1.2 g/L) concentrations of FF on the midgut physiological functions of the silkworm, Bombyx mori (L.) (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae). The results showed that the body weight and the whole cocoon weight of silkworms decreased and the development duration of the fifth instar was prolonged in the HC group. The structure of intestinal microbiota of silkworm larvae was changed by high FF exposure. Specifically, the abundance of conditional pathogens (Curtobacterium, Sanguibater, etc.) was significantly increased, whereas the abundance of Pseudomonas and Pedobacter was decreased significantly. Additionally, the intestinal reactive oxygen species level at 72 h was significantly elevated, and the muscle layer had become loose, together with the appearance of gut goblet cell atrophy. We observed that the increase in Lactobacillus abundance led to a reduction in intestinal fluid pH, resulting in decreased α‐amylase and protease activities, whereas lipase activity exhibited an elevation. The results demonstrated that the accumulation of peroxides induced by exposure to 1.2 g/L FF caused intestinal damage, and the decrease in pH resulting from alterations in microbial composition and structure affected digestive enzyme activity, collectively leading to physiological impairment of the silkworm midgut. These findings provide a valuable reference for the safe use of FF in sericulture.

3D Crystal Framework Regulation Enables Se‐Functionalized Small Molecule Acceptors Achieve Over 19% Efficiency

AbstractSe‐functionalized small molecule acceptors (SMAs) exhibit unique advantages in constructing materials with near‐infrared absorption, but their photovoltaic performance lags behind that of S‐containing analogs in organic solar cells (OSCs). Herein, two new Se‐containing SMAs, namely Se‐EH and Se‐EHp, are designed and synthesized by regulating bifurcation site of outer alkyl chain, which enables Se‐EH and Se‐EHp to form different 3D crystal frameworks from CH1007. Se‐EH displays tighter π–π stacking and denser packing framework with smaller‐sized pore structure induced by larger steric hindrance effect of outer alkyl chain branched at 2‐position, and a higher dielectric constant of PM6:Se‐EH active layer can be obtained. OSCs based on PM6:Se‐EH achieved very high PCEs of 18.58% in binary and 19.03% in ternary devices with a high FF approaching 80% for Se‐containing SMAs. A more significant alkyl chain steric hindrance effect in Se‐EH adjusts the molecular crystallization to form a favorable nanofiber interpenetrating network with an appropriate domain size to reduce rate of sub‐ns recombination and promote balanced transport of carriers. This work provides references for further design and development of highly efficient Se‐functionalized SMAs.

Improved interface microstructure between crystalline silicon and nanocrystalline silicon oxide window layer of silicon heterojunction solar cells

N-type hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon oxide (nc-SiOx:H) is potential to enhance the performance of silicon heterojunction solar cells, but the raised plasma damage on underlying layer during the nc-SiOx:H deposition with a high-volume fraction of hydrogen is a burning issue. The underlying intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon (i-a-Si:H) bilayer between n-type crystalline silicon (c-Si) and n-type nc-SiOx:H has been investigated by modulating silane (SiH4) gas flow rate (GFR) of interface porous layer. It has been found that the initial H-rich i-a-Si:H bilayer deposited by interfacial 1600 sccm GFR with relatively stable larger voids diameter and less voids number density can not only withstand hydrogen ions bombardment but also passivate c-Si surface well. Meanwhile, it also has been verified that the optimal n-seed deposition can further enhance both total hydrogen content and hydrogen content in compact structure to promote c-Si surface passivation and carrier transportation. The optimized SiH4 GFR for the interfacial i-a-Si:H growth and the appropriate deposition time of n-seed layer have been applied into the front passivation layer of silicon heterojunction solar cells, thus a high efficiency of approximate 25 % with high VOC and FF has been achieved.

Quenching method to prepare ultra-low loading high-entropy catalyst for furfural selectively hydrogenation at ambient temperature

Herein, the quenching method was employed to prepare ultra-low loading high-entropy catalyst for highly active, chemoselective, and robust furfural hydrogenation. The metals (Pd, Pt, Ru, Mo, Zn) in the form of a complex were vacancy anchored and strongly interacted with the support (TiO2) during the quenching and reduction process, ultimately forming the high entropy catalyst PdPtRuMoZn-TiO2 with strong metal and support interaction (SMSI) driven encapsulated layer. Moreover, this catalyst exhibits excellent catalytic performance for furfural selective hydrogenation with 90.82% conversion and 91.3% selectivity toward furfuryl alcohol at ambient temperature. The catalytic mechanism showed that high-entropy alloy (HEA) enhanced the hydrogen dissociation and migration capacity, and adjusted the electron environment of the interface between TiO2 and HEA, causing rich oxygen vacancies in the TiO2 SMSI driven encapsulated layer and the reduction of the horizontal furfural adsorption configuration, resulting in high FF conversion and furfuryl alcohol selectivity. The work reported ultra-low loading high-entropy catalyst and their superior performance in bio-cellulose-derived product conversion.

Thigh muscle fat fraction is independently associated with impaired glucose metabolism in individuals with obesity.

The aim of this study was to address the intramuscular adipose tissue (IMAT) accumulation in the lower extremities and further detect the relationship between adipose tissue (AT) distribution in the muscle and glucose metabolism in subjects with obesity. We conducted a cross-sectional study in 120 Chinese obese adults (80 male and 40 female) with BMI ≥ 28 kg/m2. MRI was applied to access the IMAT content in lower extremities. The oral glucose tolerance test was used to evaluate the glucose metabolism and insulin secretion in all individuals. The correlations between glucose metabolism and the fat content of the lower extremities were further assessed. Among 120 included subjects, 54 were classified as subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) and 66 with impaired glucose regulation (IGR). We presented that those with IGR had higher fat accumulation in semitendinosus, adductor magnus, gracilis and sartorius than those with NGT (all P < 0.05). In sex-specific analyses, females have higher IMAT in adductor magnus than males (P < 0.001). Males with IGR had higher fat fraction of semitendinosus and sartorius than those with NGT (P = 0.020, P = 0.014, respectively). Logistic regression analyses revealed that IMAT content in semitendinosus was the independent factor of IGR in individuals with obesity after adjustment for age, gender, triglycerides, creatinine and albumin (odds ratio: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.02-1.26, P = 0.024). Increased adipose tissue accumulation in thigh muscles was associated with glucose dysregulation in patients with obesity. IMAT content in semitendinosus may serve as a possible risk factor for impaired glucose metabolism.

Silver doped ZnSnO3/SnO hybrid nanostructures as DSSC photoanodes: Charge injection dynamics, slow recombination kinetics and simulation studies

Sol-gel synthesis was used to develop a new hybrid photoanode material, a spherical zinc stannate/tin oxide nanorod named ZSTP. The subsequent step involves doping ZSTP with silver using a precursor called silver nitrate. The undoped sample was labelled as ZSTP, whereas silver-doped composites containing 1, 2, and 3 wt% silver were labelled as ZSTP-Ag1, ZSTP-Ag2 and ZSTP-Ag3 respectively. The pattern of powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) with 2θ values of 26.52 and 33.84 confirms the orthorhombic structure of ZSTP and silver-doped samples. In the FT-IR spectra of the ZSTP and their silver-doped samples, the stretching frequency for Zn–O–Sn is observed at 1100 and 1464 cm−1. In addition, the surface-adsorbed Ag peaks at 1384 cm−1. The XPS spectra of ZSTP-Ag3 confirms the existence and structure of SnO and Ag. Examining the morphology with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) reveals a porous structure with adsorbed Ag on the surface. Doped silver appears as tiny spherical particles on the surfaces, whereas SnO nanorod zinc stannate appears as spherical particles in the TEM image. In-depth optical experiments were conducted to evaluate the characteristics of hybrid composites for DSSC applications. It was explored how the dye aggregates on the surface of silver-doped ZSTP. On the basis of the energy levels of their conductance bands, the electron transfer kinetics and energy transfer mechanism were predicted. Under a conventional one-sun illumination condition, the output photocurrent and photovoltage of these DSSC materials are evaluated. ZSTP-Ag3 offered the highest PCE at 1.38%. Due to the role of Ag2O in electron transfer, silver doped samples based devices offer a high FF (0.7) and steady photovoltage. Using the photovoltage decay curve, the recombination time (τrec) and rate (krec) were calculated to confirm a slower rate of recombination. Using simulated results, the overall performance of the DSSC is compared and validated.

Fine tuning the optoelectronic properties of Dibenzo[b,d]Furan-Centered linear hole transporting materials for perovskite solar cells

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have received a lot of interest recently due to their high efficiency, affordable manufacture, and band gap turn capacity. Reports on PSCs efficiency rose dramatically from its initial value of 3.8% in 2009 to 24% in 2022. The absence of suitable materials for hole transportation is a significant barrier to further improving efficiency. To be used as potential components of photovoltaic systems, we have designed a series of small molecules serving as hole transport materials (HTMs) namely MT1, MT2, MT3, MT4, MT5, and MT6 having dibenzo furan based donor core with end capped acceptor moieties linked by thiophene as a bridge. The photovoltaic and optoelectronic properties of the molecules have been investigated by comparing them to a reference molecule (R). All of the designed molecules (MT1-MT6) showed lower bandgaps (1.98 eV–2.61 eV) than reference molecule (3.81 eV), indicating improved electron density transfer. All designed molecules (MT1-MT6) have high open-circuit voltage (1.28 V–1.41 V) and downshifted peak occupied molecular orbital energies (−5.41 eV to −5.28 eV) when electron-withdrawing acceptor moieties are chosen. High dipole moments (5.18 D to 21.70 D) proved that designed molecules (MT1-MT6) are highly soluble and are anticipated to make it easier to fabricate multilayered films. All designed molecules have effective charge transport capabilities, as evidenced by the reorganization energy values. All HTMs (MT1-MT6) have higher FF (0.9032–0.9102) and superior power conversion efficiency of 27.40%–30.42% compared to R (24.62%). This study established the viability of fabricating high performance PSCs using all proposed molecules (MT1-MT6).

Effects of demographic and sleep-related factors on snoring sound parameters

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of frequently reported between-individual (viz., age, gender, body mass index [BMI], and apnea-hypopnea index [AHI]) and within-individual (viz., sleep stage and sleep position) snoring sound-related factors on snoring sound parameters in temporal, intensity, and frequency domains. MethodsThis study included 83 adult snorers (mean ± SD age: 42.2 ± 11.3 yrs; male gender: 59%) who underwent an overnight polysomnography (PSG) and simultaneous sound recording, from which a total of 131,745 snoring events were extracted and analyzed. Data on both between-individual and within-individual factors were extracted from the participants’ PSG reports. ResultsGender did not have any significant effect on snoring sound parameters. The fundamental frequency (FF; coefficient = −0.31; P = 0.02) and dominant frequency (DF; coefficient = −12.43; P < 0.01) of snoring sounds decreased with the increase of age, and the second formant increased (coefficient = 22.91; P = 0.02) with the increase of BMI. Severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA; AHI ≥30 events/hour), non-rapid eye movement sleep stage 3 (N3), and supine position were all associated with more, longer, and louder snoring events (P < 0.05). Supine position was associated with higher FF and DF, and lateral decubitus positions were associated with higher formants. ConclusionsWithin the limitations of the current patient profile and included factors, AHI was found to have greater effects on snoring sound parameters than the other between-individual factors. The included within-individual factors were found to have greater effects on snoring sound parameters than the between-individual factors under study.

Efficiency enhancement of CZTSe solar cells based on in situ K-doped precursor

High FF: in situ K-doped precursors make large-grain and void-free absorbers. The doping-enhanced Sn diffusion eliminates the local content vibration, suppresses deep level defects, and to higher cell efficiency with greatly improved FF.

19.10% Efficiency and 80.5% Fill Factor Layer-by-Layer Organic Solar Cells Realized by 4-Bis(2-Thienyl)Pyrrole-2,5-Dione Based Polymer Additives for Inducing Vertical Segregation Morphology.

The morphology plays a key role in determining the charge generation and collection process, thus impacting the performances of organic solar cells (OSCs). The limited selection pool of additives to optimize the morphology of OSCs, especially for the emerging layer-by-layer (LbL) OSCs, impeding the improvements of photovoltaic performances. Herein, a new method of using conjugated polymers as the additives to optimize the morphology for improving the photovoltaic performances of LbL-OSCs is reported. Four polymers of PH, PS, PF, and PCl are developed with different side chains. These polymers exhibit poor performances as donor materials and additives in the BHJ devices, due to the unsuitable energy level alignment and unfavorable molecular interactions. By contrast, they can be served as efficient additives to optimize the PM6 fibril matrix for facilitating the penetration of BTP-eC9 and forming an intertwined D/A bicontinuous network with a vertical segregation. Such morphology is optimized by side chain engineering, which enables the progressive improvement of the charge separation and collection. As a result, adding a small amount of PCl as the additive, the optimized morphology contributes to a champion PCE of 19.10% with a high FF of 80.5%.

The Investigation of the Influence of a Cu2O Buffer Layer on Hole Transport Layers in MAPbI3-Based Perovskite Solar Cells.

The passivation engineering of the hole transport layer in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has significantly decreased carrier accumulation and open circuit voltage (Voc) loss, as well as energy band mismatching, thus achieving the goal of high-power conversion efficiency. However, most devices incorporating organic/inorganic buffer layers suffer from poor stability and low efficiency. In this article, we have proposed an inorganic buffer layer of Cu2O, which has achieved high efficiency on lower work function metals and various frequently used hole transport layers (HTLs). Once the Cu2O buffer layer was applied to modify the Cu/PTAA interface, the device exhibited a high Voc of 1.20 V, a high FF of 75.92%, and an enhanced PCE of 22.49% versus a Voc of 1.12 V, FF of 69.16%, and PCE of 18.99% from the (PTAA/Cu) n-i-p structure. Our simulation showed that the application of a Cu2O buffer layer improved the interfacial contact and energy alignment, promoting the carrier transportation and reducing the charge accumulation. Furthermore, we optimized the combinations of the thicknesses of the Cu2O, the absorber layer, and PTAA to obtain the best performance for Cu-based perovskite solar cells. Eventually, we explored the effect of the defect density between the HTL/absorber interface and the absorber/ETL interface on the device and recommended the appropriate reference defect density for experimental research. This work provides guidance for improving the experimental efficiency and reducing the cost of perovskite solar cells.

Multifunctional Ionic Fullerene Additive for Synergistic Boundary and Defect Healing of Tin Perovskite to Achieve High-Efficiency Solar Cells.

A series of new ionic fullerene derivatives (C60-RNH3-X; X = Cl, Br, or I) were designed especially for using as additives for tin perosvkite (TPsk, with chemical formula of FA0.98EDA0.01SnI3) to form TPsk-C60-RNH3-X bulk heterojunction (BHJ) films. Inverted tin-perovskite solar cells (TPSCs) based on BHJ TPsk-C60-RNH3-Br absorber achieved the highest power conversion efficiency up to 11.74% with very high FF of 73%, without current hysteresis and stable in a glovebox. The designed spherical ionic fullerene halide additive, sitting in the grain boundaries of the TPsk film, can not only improve the quality of the TPsk film and change the valence band energy to match better with the PEDOT:PSS hole transporter but also be a carrier transporting connector between tin-perovskite grains, the defects/traps passivation/healing agent by interacting with Sn2+ ions and filling the halogen vacancies. The functions of the ionic fullerene halide additive were revealed with XRD patterns, SEM images, element mapping, UPS spectra, infrared spectra, AFM, and SCLC data. Being able to passivate newly generated defects during device operation or sitting on the shelf is an important step to improve the long-term stability of TPSCs. If a passivation agent can move dynamically during cell operation or storage to heal the defects of perovskite, the instability problem of TPSCs can be alleviated. The spherical ionic fullerene halide could be one of the ideal passivation agents satisfying this purpose.

Rational tuning of intermolecular and intramolecular interactions enabling high-efficiency indoor organic photovoltaics

Indoor organic photovoltaics (IOPVs) are one of promising candidates for transferring artificial illumination to power the Internet of Things (IoT). However, their power conversion efficiencies (PCE) are limited by the fact that only a few efficient non-fullerene acceptors are available for IOPVs. Herein, new strategy is adopted to tune the intramolecular charge transfer (intra-CT) and intermolecular charge transfer (inter-CT) to achieve high PCEs under indoor environment in the combination of changing skeleton from symmetry to asymmetry and end group from chlorination to non-chlorination. The study reveals that, in comparison with symmetric molecule BTP-2ThCl, asymmetric structure TB-SCl possesses a smaller intra-CT resulting in higher VOC and strengthened inter-CT for neighboring acceptors resulting in more efficient carrier collection and thus higher FF. Moreover, the non-chlorine molecule TB-S exhibits smaller intra and inter-CT leading to further promoting VOC but smaller FF compared with TB-SCl under 1-sun illumination. When the illumination is switched to artificial light, the mitigated trap state, minimized leakage current, and suppressed non-radiative energy loss (∆Enonrad) enable a novel acceptor TB-S yielding high-efficiency rigid PCE of 23.3 % which surpasses TB-SCl and flexible PCE of 20.02% which is one of the best PCE for flexible IOPVs. Our observation provides a new insight into molecule structure modification to promote the indoor photovoltaic performance.

Tautomeric Dual‐Site Passivation for Carbon‐Based Printable Mesoscopic Perovskite Solar Cells

AbstractAlthough ionic conjugated passivation systems, such as ionic liquids (ILs), have been used to passivate perovskite in carbon‐based printable mesoscopic perovskite solar cells (FP‐PSCs), their tautomerism process and synergistic effect of multifunctional groups have not yet caused enough attention. In this work, a series of novel ILs including 1‐allyl‐3‐methylimidazole tetrafluoroborate ([AMIm]BF4) and 1‐benzyl‐3‐methylimidazole tetrafluoroborate ([BzMIm]BF4) used as passivants for FP‐PSCs are reported. Combining Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and density functional theory (DFT) calculation, it is found that one of its tautomers (positive ion at the near end N atom of conjugated side chain) plays a key role on dual‐site simultaneous passivation. As the conjugation degree of side chain increases from allyl to benzyl, it not only effectively inhibits the non‐radiative charge recombination, but also reduces the passivation adsorption energy and increases the charge transfer rate. A high efficiency of 16.87% has been achieved with a high FF (&gt;0.7), a Jsc of 23.88 mA cm–2 value and Voc value up to 1.0 V, by using the “tautomeric dual‐site passivation” strategy.

Synthesis, characterizations and photovoltaic applications of a thickness-insensitive benzodifuran based copolymer

Low toleration of thickness variations in the organic solar cells (OSCs), is currently becoming bottleneck challenges to achieve power conversion efficiencies (PCE) and large-scaled roll-to-roll device fabrication. In this work, a new thienyl-free furan-based copolymer of PBDFDFBO was synthesized via Stille copolymerization of benzodifuran (BDF) and 4,7-di(furan-2-yl)benzo[c][1,2,5]oxadiazole monomers. It exhibited a high hole mobility of 2.46 × 10−3 cm2 V−1 S−1, which could be attributed to a planar molecular conformation of the polymer. When the polymer was selected as donor and small molecular ITIC-F as acceptor, the photovoltaic device results showed a champion PCE of 11.53% with a high Voc and FF. Impressively, device efficiency is insensitive to the variation of photoactive layer thickness and can maintain over 10.98% efficiency as film thickness increases to 600 nm, which is the best result for furan-based OSCs. The features of all furan-based polymer of PBDFDFBO provide great potential in developing thick film photovoltaic device and the efficient molecular design strategy also could be referenced to other photovoltaic materials.

Evaluation of integrated ultrasound and CaCl2 in hydrocooling water on the quality of ‘Bing’, ‘Lapins’, and ‘Sweetheart’ cherries stored in modified atmosphere packaging

Sweet cherry is a highly perishable fruit with a short storage life. Although CaCl2 dips positively affect the quality of sweet cherries, traditional sanitizer (i.e. NaClO) in the cleaning step contributes to fruit oxidation. The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate whether integrated applications of a chemical-free sanitizing technology (ultrasound) and CaCl2 in hydrocooling water (0 °C) had the potential in improving the quality of ‘Bing’, ‘Lapins’, and ‘Sweetheart’ cherries either packing in polyethylene (PE) or modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) bags. Regardless of cultivar and packaging type, ultrasound showed a similar effect as NaClO on quality attributes, decay, and antioxidant compounds (i.e. DPPH free radicals scavenging capacity, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), total phenolics (TP), and total flavonoids (TF)). However, NaClO induced high rates of stem browning (SB) and pitting in ‘Bing’ and ‘Lapins’ cherries packed with PE and MAP bags. Fortunately, Ultrasound + MAP provided a greater benefit in reducing SB in ‘Bing’ cherries. Adding 22.5–90 mM CaCl2 to hydrocooling water effectively enhanced calcium (Ca) and chloride (Cl) uptake in ‘Bing’ and ‘Lapins’, but not in ‘Sweetheart’. The cubic model showed high correlations between applied CaCl2 concentrations and postharvest disorders. Furthermore, CaCl2 concentration at 22.5–45 mM had stronger effects on reducing pitting and retaining TP in all three cultivars, irrespective of packaging type. However, increasing the application of CaCl2 concentration to 90 mM caused salt injury. Ultrasound did not provide an additional effect in increasing Ca and Cl uptake when it was combined with 22.5 mM CaCl2. However, this combination treatment retained high FF and SPF in all three cultivars packed with PE or MAP bags. Additionally, CaCl2 + ultrasound + MAP further reduced decay incidence in ‘Bing’ and ‘Lapins’ cherries and maintained high TP in ‘Lapins’ and ‘Sweetheart’ cherries, compared to the CaCl2 + ultrasound + PE treatment. Overall, the ultrasound with 22.5 mM CaCl2 in hydrocooling water slowed down quality deterioration, delayed disorders development, and improved antioxidant metabolism in MAP cherries.

Alternative alkali fluoride post‐deposition treatment under elemental sulfur atmosphere for high‐efficiency Cu(In,Ga)Se2‐based solar cells

AbstractUp to now, what we know about the impact of alkali post‐deposition treatment (PDT) on Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGSe) absorber thin films is largely based on treatments performed in selenium atmosphere and only few studies have addressed the critical role of the chalcogen atmosphere during the PDT. The present study deals with an innovative process of alkali fluoride PDT under elemental sulfur atmosphere on co‐evaporated Cu(In,Ga)Se2 absorbers. With the aim to understand the effects of different the incorporated alkali element incorporated during the PDT, we investigate four different PDTs: CsF, NaF/RbF, RbF, and In + RbF—all under sulfur atmosphere. The treated absorbers are characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy. Our results show that for CIGSe compositions close to stoichiometry, forming a slightly Cu‐poor CIGSe at the surface during the PDT is beneficial. Cu(In,Ga)Se2/RbF(S) and Cu(In,Ga)Se2/In + RbF(S) exhibit the higher photoluminescence response probably due to decreased surface recombination. The quasi‐Fermi‐level splitting is in good agreement with the observed Voc difference between the treated and reference samples. The electronic properties of the Cu(In,Ga)Se2/In + RbF(S)‐based solar cells show a significantly improved performance with high Voc and FF.

Oxygen‐alloyed poly‐Si passivating contacts for high‐thermal budget c‐Si heterojunction solar cells

AbstractCrystalline silicon solar cells with passivating contacts based on doped poly‐Si exhibit high optical parasitic losses. Aiming at minimizing these losses, we developed the oxygen‐alloyed poly‐Si (poly‐SiOx) as suitable material for passivating contacts. From passivation point of view, poly‐SiOx layers show excellent passivation quality and carrier selectivity for both n‐type (iVOC,flat = 740 mV, contact resistance ρc = 0.7 mΩ/cm2, iVOC,textured = 723 mV) and p‐type (iVOC,flat = 709 mV, ρc = 0.5 mΩ/cm2). Optically, due to the incorporation of oxygen, the absorption coefficient of poly‐SiOx becomes much lower than that of doped poly‐Si at long wavelength. Both n‐type and p‐type poly‐SiOx layers are concurrently deployed in front/back‐contacted (FBC) solar cells with a front indium tin oxide (ITO) layer to facilitate the lateral transport of carriers and minimize cell's reflection. A high cell FF of 83.5% obtained in double‐side flat FBC solar cell indicates an efficient carrier collection by these passivating contacts. An active‐area cell efficiency of 21.0% featuring JSC,EQE = 39.7 mA/cm2 is obtained in front‐side textured poly‐SiOx FBC cell, with the potential of further improvement in both VOC and FF. The optical advantage of poly‐SiOx over poly‐Si as passivating contact is also observed with a 19.7% interdigitated back‐contacted (IBC) solar cell endowed with poly‐SiOx emitter and back surface field. Compared to the reference 23.0% IBC solar cell with poly‐Si passivating contacts, the one based on poly‐SiOx passivating contacts shows higher IQE at wavelengths above 1100 nm. This indicates that for both FBC and IBC cells, poly‐SiOx passivating contacts hold potential in enhancing the cell JSC by maximizing the cell spectral response.

Investigating the reason for high FF from ternary organic solar cells

Abstract

High-throughput fetal fraction amplification increases analytical performance of noninvasive prenatal screening

PurposeThe percentage of a maternal cell-free DNA (cfDNA) sample that is fetal-derived (the fetal fraction; FF) is a key driver of the sensitivity and specificity of noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS). On certain NIPS platforms, >20% of women with high body mass index (and >5% overall) receive a test failure due to low FF (<4%).MethodsA scalable fetal fraction amplification (FFA) technology was analytically validated on 1264 samples undergoing whole-genome sequencing (WGS)–based NIPS. All samples were tested with and without FFA.ResultsZero samples had FF < 4% when screened with FFA, whereas 1 in 25 of these same patients had FF < 4% without FFA. The average increase in FF was 3.9-fold for samples with low FF (2.3-fold overall) and 99.8% had higher FF with FFA. For all abnormalities screened on NIPS, z-scores increased 2.2-fold on average in positive samples and remained unchanged in negative samples, powering an increase in NIPS sensitivity and specificity.ConclusionFFA transforms low-FF samples into high-FF samples. By combining FFA with WGS–based NIPS, a single round of NIPS can provide nearly all women with confident results about the broad range of potential fetal chromosomal abnormalities across the genome.