Interface Science Research Articles

Numerical Assessment of Highly Efficient Tin-Halide Perovskite Solar Cell

Interface science of Perovskite Solar cells (PSCs) has a very crucial role in increasing the efficiency of solar cells. The process of numerical simulation has also helped the solar cell’s efficiency to grow rapidly from 3.8% in 2009 to around 11% in 2010 in such a short period. This was a great achievement at that time and from then it kept on improving. Not only its rapid increase in efficiency attracted the researchers but also its low manufacturing cost and high Voc. In this work, we will discuss the Lead-Free Perovskite Solar Cell (PSC) due to its non-toxic nature. A lot of research has already been done on Perovskite Solar Cell that has led to an increase in its efficiency. Despite the truth that they are toxic and can harm us anyway. The prime motive of producing electricity by using solar cells is to provide a cleaner way to produce electricity but if we are using toxic materials in the manufacturing of the cell, we are getting diverted. That’s why this research paper will focus on the cell having Sn in its absorber layer. The model we are discussing here will have CH3NH3SnI3 (Absorber) as the Perovskite Layer which is non-toxic also the following different layers were also used in simulating our device such as ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) as the front contact, ZnO (Zinc Oxide) as electron transporting layer (ETL), CuI is acting as Hole transport layer (HTL) and we are using Gold (Au) as a back contact. The motive of this research is to make it non-toxic that we have already achieved and to make it highly efficient and the efficiency of the proposed device is 24.72%.

Interfacial activity and micellar morphology of an imidazolium ring containing zwitterionic surfactants

AbstractZwitterionic surfactants based on 3‐(1‐alkyl‐3‐imidazolio) propane‐sulfonate ([ImS3‐R] where R is octyl or dodecyl) is an emerging and important class of amphiphile due to their relevance as nano reactors for the synthesis of metallic nanoparticles and accelerated acid hydrolysis. The physicochemical properties of such synthesized imidazolium ring‐containing zwitterionic surfactants have been characterized by surface tension and small‐angle neutron scattering (SANS) techniques. Surface tension measurements were used to calculate several thermodynamic parameters over a range of concentrations and temperatures (298–313 K). The results obtained showed a weak signature representing the critical micelle concentration (CMC) for ImS3‐8, however, by increasing the alkyl length of the hydrophobic group to dodecyl, that is, ImS3‐8 to ImS3‐12, the signature of the CMC was much more evident. As expected, the CMC for ImS3‐12 shifted to a lower concentration. An increase in temperature increased the surface activity and decreased the CMC of both zwitterionic surfactants, although the changes were small. Compared to classical surfactants, that is, sodium dodecyl sulfate and dodecyl trimethylammonium bromide, the CMC of ImS3‐12 is much lower. Modeling of SANS data demonstrated that the morphology of the micelles formed by these amphiphiles may be described by the “classical” model, a central hydrophobic core, with a shell of hydrated headgroups. Due to their widespread applications in colloidal and interfacial science, the present study adds new insight to the fundamental understanding of these interesting imidazolium‐based surface‐active ionic liquids (ImS3‐R).

A Review of Physics of Droplet Impact on Various Solid Surfaces Ranging from Hydrophilic to Superhydrophobic and from Rigid to Flexible and its Current Advancements in Interfacial Science

A Review of Physics of Droplet Impact on Various Solid Surfaces Ranging from Hydrophilic to Superhydrophobic and from Rigid to Flexible and its Current Advancements in Interfacial Science

Analytical solutions of critical oil film thickness of negative spreading coefficient in a capillary corner

In this paper, by combining applications of minimum surface free energy with capillary force balance equations, and considering that the total free energy change is zero at thermodynamic equilibrium, an analytical equation of the oil film critical thickness to spread over a water film in a three-dimensional capillary corner is derived. The derivation is based on the analysis proposed by Dong et al. [Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 172 (1995) 21–36]. This analytical solution allows the critical oil film thickness in three-phase systems to be calculated conveniently without lengthy calculation and be readily applied in simulation of three-phase systems in porous media using predictive models. The equation was examined by comparing the analytical solutions with the numerical results by Dong et al. Using the analytical solution, the reason why the oil phase spreads between the gas and water phases in three-phase systems in porous media was analyzed. The spreading of oil phase is controlled by the free energy change, and the spreading of oil phase only occurs in the system when the free energy change during the oil spreading process is negative. Also, there is a critical oil film thickness controlling this process that is a function of interfacial tension, contact angles, and corner angles. This analytical solution of critical oil film thickness can also be utilized to find the correlation of three-phase capillary pressure when the system is in thermodynamic equilibrium for water-wet porous media. This correlation should be useful in pore-scale simulation of three-phase flow of spreading oil.

Perspectives on Marine Data Science as a Blueprint for Emerging Data Science Disciplines

Earth System Sciences have been generating increasingly larger amounts of heterogeneous data in recent years. We identify the need to combine Earth System Sciences with Data Sciences, and give our perspective on how this could be accomplished within the sub-field of Marine Sciences. Marine data hold abundant information and insights that Data Science techniques can reveal. There is high demand and potential to combine skills and knowledge from Marine and Data Sciences to best take advantage of the vast amount of marine data. This can be accomplished by establishing Marine Data Science as a new research discipline. Marine Data Science is an interface science that applies Data Science tools to extract information, knowledge, and insights from the exponentially increasing body of marine data. Marine Data Scientists need to be trained Data Scientists with a broad basic understanding of Marine Sciences and expertise in knowledge transfer. Marine Data Science doctoral researchers need targeted training for these specific skills, a crucial component of which is co-supervision from both parental sciences. They also might face challenges of scientific recognition and lack of an established academic career path. In this paper, we, Marine and Data Scientists at different stages of their academic career, present perspectives to define Marine Data Science as a distinct discipline. We draw on experiences of a Doctoral Research School, MarDATA, dedicated to training a cohort of early career Marine Data Scientists. We characterize the methods of Marine Data Science as a toolbox including skills from their two parental sciences. All of these aim to analyze and interpret marine data, which build the foundation of Marine Data Science.

Temperature-triggered switchable superwettability on a robust paint for controllable photocatalysis

Superwettability and photocatalysis are two important properties in interfacial science. Photocatalysts with stable (super)hydrophilicity and (super)hydrophobicity have been widely studied. However, to endow long-term switchable superwetting and photocatalysis on the same surface is rarely reported. Here, we prepare temperature (T)-triggered superwetting transitions on a paint for controlled photodegradation. The superwetting switches can be reversibly cycled 50 times after sandpaper abrasion, knife scratch, finger wipe, and ultra-long UV irradiation. Meanwhile, UV resistance ensures long-termed coexistence of switchable superwetting and photocatalysis. As for water-based dyes (methyl blue, methyl orange), our paint shows T-regulated photodegradation. The superhydrophobic surface at 50°C possesses less-contacted catalytic sites and exhibits the lowest degradation rate (DR), 15.0%. Inversely, the highest DR of 95.5% is obtained on a 10°C-sensitive superhydrophilic surface because of the sufficiently contacted catalytic sites. This work indicates promising applications in various fields of materials science and chemistry. • Superwettable responsive paint shows mechanical robustness • Superhydrophobicity and superhydrophilicity temperature cycled 50 times • Long timescale simultaneous responsive superwettablility and photocatalysis • Temperature regulation of photodegradation of water-based organic dyes on the paint For applications such as the controllable photodegradations of water-based organic dyes, controllability over the wettability of materials can be useful. Zhu et al. show here the fabrication of a temperature-sensitive superwettable paint, which shows reversible switching between superhydrophobicity and superhydrophilicity.

Recent Advances in Photocatalysis Based on Bioinspired Superwettabilities

In the field of interface science, superwettability and photocatalysis are two significant research hot spots. Currently, wettability has been proved to be a decisive factor to enhance photocatalyt...

Aggregate Materials beyond AIEgens

ConspectusAggregate materials focus on the materials that are constituted by more than a single entity. It could be dimers, trimers, or multimers formed by the group of same molecules or mixtures formed by different molecules. Although materials have different forms such as liquid, hydrogel, colloidal suspension, and powder, aggregates undisputedly are among the most commonly existing forms, which involve many aspects of human daily life such as the clothes we wear, the drugs we take, the food we eat, and the tools and devices we use. Sciences related to aggregate materials are also rich. From molecules to aggregates, different aspects of science such as crystallography, interfacial science, supramolecular science, and engineering science may be involved. Therefore, research on aggregate materials and related mechanisms that dominate the properties of aggregate materials is significant.However, it is noteworthy that reductionism is the dominant research philosophy for the design of traditional materials, and it claims that a molecule is the smallest particle of a substance that retains all of the properties of the substance. Consequently, scientists have expended a lot of effort to develop new molecules and to study the relationships between molecular structure and properties without paying attention to aggregate tuning. Actually, more and more research supports the fact that aggregate control such as the tuning of the packing mode, self-assembly, and morphology could work as a more versatile and effective strategy to endow materials with rich properties and functions. A prototype of the aggregate research is the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) phenomenon and materials. AIE research mainly focuses on the luminescence change accompanied by the aggregation process. After more than 20 years of flourishing development, AIE research has made great advances in new material development, mechanism studies, and high-technology applications. More importantly, AIE research opens the window to aggregate science and demonstrates that new behaviors and functions that are absent in single molecular species can be generated in molecular aggregates.In this Account, we highlight our efforts toward aggregate materials beyond AIE luminogens (AIEgens), with a special focus on new properties in addition to luminesce endowed by aggregation. We first summarize the chirality that is induced by the aggregation process of prochiral molecules. Then we present the aggregation resulting from the transformation between hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity. After that, the aggregation-induced generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is described and the regulation of the aggregation state for tuning the ROS generation efficiency is discussed. We also discuss how to achieve the switch between radiative decay and nonradiative decay through the regulation of the aggregation extent to afford luminescence and photothermy (photothermal effect), respectively. Additionally, different strategies to accelerate the solid-state molecular motion are presented and could be used to produce efficient photothermal materials. In particular, the concept of intramolecular motion-induced photothermy has been proposed, which worked as a reliable strategy to generate photothermal materials. At the end of the Account, a brief summary of this area and outlooks in this field are presented.

Computational prediction of microstructures in α‐alumina/PMMA composites and its experimental verification

AbstractProcessing, structure, property, and performance have been acknowledged in a linearly linked picture for materials manufacturing. It is promising to harness the processing‐structure relationship to accelerate the development of functional materials. In the present study, we attempted to predict microstructures of a polymer composite via computational simulations, because functions of the polymer composite would respond to its microstructures. A program KAPSEL, which has been widely utilized to calculate dynamics of solid particles in coherent fluids, was slightly amended to handle parameters related to interfacial science. Constituents of the target polymer composite were α‐alumina and poly(methyl methacrylate). When proper parameter values are given, the program yielded microstructural features similar to those found in an experiment. Nimbleness and affordability of the simulation scheme would allow us to omit experimental trial‐and‐error for functional polymer composites.

Polyelectrolyte multilayer formation on protein layer supports

Polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) have been intensively studied as a straightforward means to modify surfaces for a variety of applications. Their study using advanced tools of interfacial science has underpinned their potential as surface coatings, however, this degree of characterisation is greater for PEMs on solid substrates. The formation of multilayers on soft/deformable interfaces is not so heavily studied, and to a great extent the formation characteristics are simply assumed. In this work, we have studied comparatively the formation of a polyelectrolyte multilayer on both a solid support and upon a pre-adsorbed layer of a protein (β-lactoglobulin – BLG). The study of a protein support for PEMs is a useful intermediate step between a solid support and truly deformable interfaces (such as the air-water or oil-water interface). Our investigation has revealed that, compared to build-up on a solid support, a polyelectrolyte multilayer formed from polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (PDADMAC) and poly(sodium styrene sulfonate) (PSS) on a pre-adsorbed layer of BLG displays more regular growth from the very first layer, with overall higher mass deposited. The protein-supported film also displays more regular outer layer effects (in this case mechanical properties), at an earlier stage of build-up. For applications that require relatively thin PEMs, the use of a soft cushion support as an initial layer may produce better coatings.

Tuning Supramolecular Polymers' Amphiphilicity via Host-Guest Interfacial Recognition for Stabilizing Multiple Pickering Emulsions.

Supramolecular host-guest chemistry bridging the adjustable amphiphilicity and macromolecular self-assembly is well advanced in aqueous media. However, the interfacial self-assembled behaviors have not been further exploited. Herein, we designed a β-cyclodextrin-grafted alginate/azobenzene-functionalized dodecyl (Alg-β-CD/AzoC12) supra-amphiphilic system that possessed tunable amphiphilicity by host-guest interfacial self-assembly. Especially, supra-amphiphilic aggregates could be utilized as highly efficient soft colloidal emulsifiers for stabilizing water-in-oil-water (W/O/W) Pickering emulsions due to the excellent interfacial activity. Meanwhile, the assembled particle structures could be modulated by adjusting the oil-water ratio, resulting from the tunable aggregation behavior of supra-amphiphilic macromolecules. Additionally, the interfacial adsorption films could be partially destroyed/reconstructed upon ultraviolet/visible irradiation due to the stimuli-altering balance of amphiphilicity of Alg-β-CD/AzoC12 polymers, further constructing the stimulus-responsive Pickering emulsions. Therefore, the supramolecular interfacial self-assembly-mediated approach not only technologically advances the continued development of creative templates to construct multifunctional soft materials with anisotropic structures but also serves as a creative bridge between supramolecular host-guest chemistry, colloidal interface science, and soft material technology.

Study on Nucleation and Growth Mechanism of Electrodeposited Pt-Ni Alloy

Pt-M (M=Ni, Co, Fe, et.al) alloy nanoparticle catalysts have been proved to be effective oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts with reduced Pt loading in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Electrodeposition methods have shown potential application on large-scale preparation of Pt catalysts by simplifying the synthetic settings as well as high controllability1,2. While their performance is unsatisfied due to the over-large particles and the difficulty of Pt-M co-deposition in aqueous solution. We herein modified the current electrodeposition method by switching aqueous electrolyte to water-soluble N, N-Dimethylformamide (DMF) for electrochemically co-depositing Pt-Ni alloy nanoparticles. Highly monodispersed Pt-Ni alloy nanoparticles are directly deposited on carbon substrate (Pt-Ni/C) via a facile potentiostatic technique from the selected DMF solution system and show promising specific activity towards ORR. Physiochemical characterizations, electrochemical tests and computational evaluations via density functional theory (DFT) were applied to uncover the internals of formation of highly monodispersed nanoparticles as well as the nucleation and growth of Pt-Ni nanoparticles. Our finding provides a hopeful extended Pt-M catalyst layer production strategy for PEMFCs and a new idea for the nucleation and growth mechanism for electrodeposited Pt-M alloy. Keywords: electrodeposition, Pt-Ni alloy nanoparticles, nucleation and growth mechanism, density functional theory Reference [1] A.J. Martín, A.M. Chaparro, M.A. Folgado, B. Gallardo, L. Daza, ECS Transactions, 2008, 13, 13.[2] P. Dhanasekaran, K. Lokesh, P.K. Ojha, A.K. Sahu, S.D. Bhat, D. Kalpana, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 2020, 572, 198. Acknowledgements This work was supported in part by National Natural Science Foundation of China (21975157) and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFB0101201 and 2016YFB0101312). Figure 1

How do terminal modifications of short designed IIKK peptide amphiphiles affect their antifungal activity and biocompatibility?

HypothesisThe widespread and prolonged use of antifungal antibiotics has led to the rapid emergence of multidrug resistant Candida species that compromise current treatments. Natural and synthetic antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) offer potential alternatives but require further development to overcome some of their current drawbacks. AMPs kill pathogenic fungi by permeabilising their membranes but it remains unclear how AMPs can be designed to maximise their antifungal potency whilst minimising their toxicity to host cells. ExperimentsWe have designed a group of short (IIKK)3 AMPs via selective terminal modifications ending up with different amphiphilicities. Their antifungal performance was assessed by minimum inhibition concentration (MICs) and dynamic killing to 4 Candida strains and Cryptococcus neoformans, and the minimum biofilm-eradicating concentrations to kill 95% of the C. albicans biofilms (BEC95). Different antifungal actions were interpreted on the basis of structural disruptions of the AMPs to small unilamellar vesicles from fluorescence leakage, Zeta potential, small angle neutron scattering (SANS) and molecular dynamics simulations (MD). FindingAMPs possess high antifungal activities against the Candida species and Cryptococcus neoformans; some of them displayed faster dynamic killing than antibiotics like amphotericin B. G(IIKK)3I-NH2 and (IIKK)3II-NH2 were particularly potent against not only planktonic microbes but also fungal biofilms with low cytotoxicity to host cells. It was found that their high selectivity and fast action were well correlated to their fast membrane lysis, evident from data measured from Zeta potential measurements, SANS and MD, and also consistent with the previously observed antibacterial and anticancer performance. These studies demonstrate the important role of colloid and interface science in further developing short, potent and biocompatible AMPs towards clinical treatments via structure design and optimization.

The interface is a tunable dimension in electricity‐driven organic synthesis

AbstractPredictive control over the selectivity outcome of an organic synthetic method is an essential hallmark of reaction success. Electricity‐driven synthesis offers a reemerging approach to facilitate the design of reaction sequences toward increased molecular complexity. In addition to the desirable sustainability features of electroorganic processes, the inherent interfacial nature of electrochemical systems present unique opportunities to tune reaction selectivity. To illustrate this feature, we outline examples of mechanism‐guided interfacial control over CO2 electroreduction selectivity; a well‐studied and instructive electrochemical process with multiple reduction products that are thermodynamically accessible. These studies reveal how controlled proton delivery to the electrode surface and substrate electrosorption with the electrode dictate reaction selectivity. We describe and compare simple, yet salient, examples from the electroorganic literature, where we postulate that similar effects predominate the observed reactivity. This perspective highlights how the interface serves as a tunable dimension in electrochemical processes and delineates unique tools to study, manipulate, and achieve reaction selectivity in electricity‐driven organic synthesis.KEY POINTS Electricity‐driven synthesis enables chemical and industrial communities to contribute to sustainability goals. Electricity‐driven processes occur at phase boundaries, thus unveiling their molecular‐level roadmaps involves the synergistic study of materials, interfacial, and molecular science. Bridging concepts that transcend the topical nature of two electricity‐driven processes—CO2 reduction and electroorganic synthesis—reveals tools to manipulate reaction selectivity.

Preparation of Aspirin Nanosuspension by Antisolvent Precipitation Method

Preparation of Aspirin Nanosuspension by Antisolvent Precipitation Method

Microplastics through the Lens of Colloid Science.

Microplastics are sub-millimeter-sized fragments of plastics and a relatively new class of pollutant increasingly found in the environment. Due to their size and surface area to volume ratio, the physicochemical characteristics of microplastics can diverge from those of their macroscopic counterparts. This is partly why it is challenging to understand their origin, analyze their behavior, and predict their fates in the environment compared to large pollutants. We believe that adopting a view of microplastics as a colloid provides a holistic framework that connects their physical properties and surface chemistries with observations of their dynamics in the environment. In particular, we discuss the role of fundamental principles of colloid science in interpreting phenomena of wetting, adsorption, aggregation, and transport of microplastics. Colloid and interface science can provide the tools to couple or decouple the physicochemical behaviors of microplastics, which may aid in understanding the environmental challenge both from a fundamental perspective and with respect to practical remediation methods.

Membrane science emerging as a convergent scientific field with molecular origins and understanding, and global impact

Membrane separations science concerns the selective transport of chemical species across molecularly designed barriers that are effectively two-dimensional. This interdisciplinary field has become the focus of many scientific communities in recent years, including researchers in supramolecular chemistry, materials science, environmental science, polymer science (chemistry and physics), colloid and interface science, nanofluidics, structural biology, and biophysics. The great attraction of membrane science is the connection and visibility of the broad impacts of the final application, which is even apparent while working at the smallest scales. The “big picture” challenges that membrane science seeks to address include water purification, wastewater treatment, desalination, carbon dioxide capture, food and dairy processing, removal of pathogens (including viruses), hydrocarbon processing, and resource recovery from wastes, among a wide variety of applications. These topics span many urgent societally relevant themes of clean water and air, public health, climate change, waste minimization, and energy production. The assembled special issue of PNAS illustrates the convergence emerging in the field across scales (from molecular self-assembly to industrial scale separations), disciplines (from biophysics to industrial scale hydrocarbon separations), materials (from membrane proteins to graphene), and approaches (molecular analysis to economic analysis). The issue also highlights emerging areas of interest, including biomimetics, ion–ion separations, membrane process residuals (brine) treatment, hydrocarbon separations using membranes, and technologies for wastewater resource recovery. The papers are organized by applications, and within each application area by scale and approach. In general, this special issue is roughly divided into three main sections: biologically inspired ideas and applications to separation processes in aqueous liquids, gas and hydrocarbon separations, and improving current membranes and membrane processes. The first section of this special issue is on biologically inspired ideas for designing more selective and energy-efficient membranes. A unique feature of biological membranes is the exceptional ion selectivity seen in membrane proteins … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: manish.kumar{at}utexas.edu or hastone{at}Princeton.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1

Temperature-Triggered Switchable Superwettability on a Robust Paint for Controllable Photocatalysis

Superwettability and photocatalysis are two important properties in interface science. Nowadays, photocatalysts with stable (super)hydrophilicity and (super)hydrophobicity have been widely studied. However, to endow long-termed switchable superwetting and photocatalysis on one surface is rarely reported. Herein, we prepared temperature (T)-triggered superwetting transitions on a paint for controlled photodegradations. The superwetting switches could be reversibly cycled for 50 times after sandpaper abrasion, knife scratch and finger wipe. Stable T-sensitive superwetting behaviors were observed for 50 hr UV irradiation. Meanwhile, UV-resistance ensured long-termed coexistence of switchable superwetting and photocatalysis. As for water-based dyes (Methyl blue, orange), our paint showed T-regulated photodegradations. The superhydrophobic surface at 50°C possessed less contacted catalytic sites and earned a lowest degradation rate (DR) of 15.0%. Inversely, a highest DR of 95.5% was obtained on 10°C-senstive superhydrophilic surface because of sufficient contacted catalytic sites. This work indicates the promising applications in various fields of materials and chemistry.

Cyclodextrin-based Pickering emulsions: functional properties and drug delivery applications.

Cyclodextrins (CDs) are biocompatible, cyclic oligosaccharides that are widely used in various industrial applications and have intriguing interfacial science properties. While CD molecules typically have low surface activity, they are capable of stabilizing emulsions by inclusion complexation of oil-phase components at the oil/water interface, which results in Pickering emulsion formation. Such surfactant-free formulations have gained considerable attention in recent years, owing to their enhanced physical stability, improved tolerability, and superior environmental compatibility compared to conventional, surfactant-based emulsions. In this review, we critically describe the latest insights into the molecular mechanisms involved in CD stabilization of Pickering emulsions, including covering practical aspects such as methods to prepare CD-based Pickering emulsions, lipid encapsulation, and relevant stability issues. In addition, the rheological and textural features of CD-based Pickering emulsions are discussed and particular attention is focused on promising examples for drug delivery, cosmetic, and nutraceutical applications. The functionality of currently developed CD-based Pickering emulsions is also summarised, including examples such as antifungal uses, and we close by discussing emerging possibilities to utilize the molecular encapsulation of CD-based emulsions for translational medicine applications in the antiviral and antibacterial spaces.

Synchrotron studies of functional interfaces and the state of the art: A perspective

The dramatic improvements in synchrotron light sources across the world imply tremendous opportunities for interface science. In this Perspective, we describe a variety of current scattering and spectroscopic techniques with an eye toward how these will evolve, particularly with the advent of diffraction-limited sources. We also note the importance of in situ and operando methods for both understanding interface creation and interface evolution in different environments. As interfaces are often where critical processes occur, whether in regard to energy/chemical/materials/quantum information science, understanding the utility of these x-ray techniques will be of considerable importance to the cultivation of next-generation scientists.