Showing papers on "Ternary operation published in 2019"

16.67% Rigid and 14.06% Flexible Organic Solar Cells Enabled by Ternary Heterojunction Strategy.

Abstract: Ternary heterojunction strategies appear to be an efficient approach to improve the efficiency of organic solar cells (OSCs) through harvesting more sunlight. Ternary OSCs are fabricated by employing wide bandgap polymer donor (PM6), narrow bandgap nonfullerene acceptor (Y6), and PC71 BM as the third component to tune the light absorption and morphologies of the blend films. A record power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 16.67% (certified as 16.0%) on rigid substrate is achieved in an optimized PM6:Y6:PC71 BM blend ratio of 1:1:0.2. The introduction of PC71 BM endows the blend with enhanced absorption in the range of 300-500 nm and optimises interpenetrating morphologies to promote photogenerated charge dissociation and extraction. More importantly, a PCE of 14.06% for flexible ITO-free ternary OSCs is obtained based on this ternary heterojunction system, which is the highest PCE reported for flexible state-of-the-art OSCs. A very promising ternary heterojunction strategy to develop highly efficient rigid and flexible OSCs is presented.

Route to a Superconducting Phase above Room Temperature in Electron-Doped Hydride Compounds under High Pressure

Abstract: The recent theory-orientated discovery of record high-temperature superconductivity (T_{c}∼250 K) in sodalitelike clathrate LaH_{10} is an important advance toward room-temperature superconductors. Here, we identify an alternative clathrate structure in ternary Li_{2}MgH_{16} with a remarkably high estimated T_{c} of ∼473 K at 250 GPa, which may allow us to obtain room-temperature or even higher-temperature superconductivity. The ternary compound mimics a Li- or electron-doped binary hydride of MgH_{16}. The parent hydride contains H_{2} molecules and is not a good superconductor. The extra electrons introduced break up the H_{2} molecules, increasing the amount of atomic hydrogen compared with the parent hydride, which is necessary for stabilizing the clathrate structure or other high-T_{c} structures. Our results provide a viable strategy for tuning the superconductivity of hydrogen-rich hydrides by donating electrons to hydrides via metal doping. Our approach may pave the way for finding high-T_{c} superconductors in a variety of ternary or quaternary hydrides.

16.7%-efficiency ternary blended organic photovoltaic cells with PCBM as the acceptor additive to increase the open-circuit voltage and phase purity

Abstract: The field of organic photovoltaics (OPVs) has seen rapid development in the past few years, particularly, with reports on the use of a high performance nonfullerene electron acceptor (named Y6) in binary devices. In this paper, we demonstrate a simple yet effective ternary approach that can simultaneously increase the open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current-density, and fill factor of a binary device based on Y6 and a donor polymer named PM6. By adding a small amount of PCBM into the PM6:Y6 system, we achieved a high efficiency of 16.7%, which is the best value reported for an OPV device to date. Importantly, this ternary material approach has wide-ranging applicability, as we demonstrated the same beneficial effects in multiple systems, including PM6:IT-4F, PM7:IT-4F, PM6:Y6, and PM7:Y6. The LUMO energy (−3.9 eV) of PCBM lies between the LUMO (−3.6 eV) of PM6/PM7 and the LUMO (−4.1 eV) of IT-4F/Y6, which is one reason for the increased Voc. After blending with PCBM, the homogenous fine-film morphology and the π–π stacking patterns of the host binary structure are maintained, while the phase purity is increased, the hole and electron mobilities are increased, and monomolecular recombination is reduced, all of which, plus the visible absorption of PCBM, are the reasons for the concurrently improved fill-factor and increased short-circuit current density. This approach can be used in other OPV systems and should have wide applicability.

Ternary Organic Solar Cells with Efficiency >16.5% Based on Two Compatible Nonfullerene Acceptors.

Abstract: A ternary structure has been demonstrated as being an effective strategy to realize high power conversion efficiency (PCE) in organic solar cells (OSCs); however, general materials selection rules still remain incompletely understood. In this work, two nonfullerene small-molecule acceptors 3TP3T-4F and 3TP3T-IC are synthesized and incorporated as a third component in PM6:Y6 binary blends. The photovoltaic behaviors in the resultant ternary OSCs differ significantly, despite the comparable energy levels. It is found that incorporation of 15% 3TP3T-4F into the PM6:Y6 blend results in facilitating exciton dissociation, increasing charge transport, and reducing trap-assisted recombination. All these features are responsible for the enlarged PCE of 16.7% (certified as 16.2%) in the PM6:Y6:3TP3T-4F ternary OSCs, higher than that (15.6%) in the 3TP3T-IC containing ternary devices. The performance differences are mainly ascribed to the compatibility between the third component and the host materials. The 3TP3T-4F guest acceptor exhibits an excellent compatibility with Y6, tending to form well-mixed phases in the ternary blend without disrupting the favored bicontinuous transport networks, whereas 3TP3T-IC displays a morphological incompatibility with Y6. This work highlights the importance of considering the compatibility for materials selection toward high-efficiency ternary organic OSCs.

A map of the inorganic ternary metal nitrides

Abstract: Exploratory synthesis in new chemical spaces is the essence of solid-state chemistry. However, uncharted chemical spaces can be difficult to navigate, especially when materials synthesis is challenging. Nitrides represent one such space, where stringent synthesis constraints have limited the exploration of this important class of functional materials. Here, we employ a suite of computational materials discovery and informatics tools to construct a large stability map of the inorganic ternary metal nitrides. Our map clusters the ternary nitrides into chemical families with distinct stability and metastability, and highlights hundreds of promising new ternary nitride spaces for experimental investigation-from which we experimentally realized seven new Zn- and Mg-based ternary nitrides. By extracting the mixed metallicity, ionicity and covalency of solid-state bonding from the density functional theory (DFT)-computed electron density, we reveal the complex interplay between chemistry, composition and electronic structure in governing large-scale stability trends in ternary nitride materials.

A nonfullerene acceptor with a 1000 nm absorption edge enables ternary organic solar cells with improved optical and morphological properties and efficiencies over 15

Abstract: Ternary organic solar cells (OSCs) have shown tremendous potential in improving the photovoltaic performance of single-junction OSCs. Here, a series of ternary OSCs are fabricated with PM7:ITC-2Cl as the host system and an ultra-low bandgap acceptor named IXIC-4Cl that has an absorption edge reaching 1000 nm as the third component. The optimal ternary OSC shows a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 15.37%, which is significantly higher than those of the binary counterparts based on PM7:ITC-2Cl (13.72%) or PM7:IXIC-4Cl (12.01%). The excellent PCE is mainly attributed to the increased short-circuit current (JSC), which mainly arises from the complementary absorption of the third component and thus the overall broadened absorption profile. In addition, the addition of IXIC-4Cl into the PM7:ITC-2Cl binary system suppresses bimolecular recombination, improves charge dissociation and the collection efficiency, balances charge transport and reduces the domain size, which are responsible for the enhanced JSC. Noticeably, the optimized ternary device shows a PCE over 15% with a quite small energy loss, which are the best results for ternary OSCs to date. These results offer more insight into the role of an ultra-low bandgap non-fullerene acceptor as the third component in promoting the device performance of ternary OSCs.

SPR-Measured Dissociation Kinetics of PROTAC Ternary Complexes Influence Target Degradation Rate.

Abstract: Bifunctional degrader molecules, known as proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs), function by recruiting a target to an E3 ligase, forming a target/PROTAC/ligase ternary complex. Despite the importance of this key intermediate species, no detailed validation of a method to directly determine binding parameters for ternary complex kinetics has been reported, and it remains to be addressed whether tuning the kinetics of PROTAC ternary complexes may be an effective strategy to improve the efficiency of targeted protein degradation. Here, we develop an SPR-based assay to quantify the stability of PROTAC-induced ternary complexes by measuring for the first time the kinetics of their formation and dissociation in vitro using purified proteins. We benchmark our assay using four PROTACs that target the bromodomains (BDs) of bromodomain and extraterminal domain proteins Brd2, Brd3, and Brd4 to the von Hippel–Lindau E3 ligase (VHL). We reveal marked differences in ternary complex off-rates for different PROTACs t...

CeO2 nanocrystal-modified layered MoS2/g-C3N4 as 0D/2D ternary composite for visible-light photocatalytic hydrogen evolution: Interfacial consecutive multi-step electron transfer and enhanced H2O reactant adsorption

Abstract: Developing low-cost and high-performance catalysts is significant to solar-to-fuel conversion. Here, the synthesis of zero-dimensional (0D) CeO2 nanocrystal-decorated two-dimensional (2D) layered hybrids of MoS2/g-C3N4 was reported for the first time. In the absence of noble-metal cocatalyst, the optimized ternary CeO2@MoS2/g-C3N4 still manifested high photocatalytic activity toward H2 generation, with a rate of 65.4 μmol/h, which is approximately 8.3 and 17.5-fold greater than g-C3N4 and CeO2, respectively. The corresponding apparent external quantum efficiency reached 10.35% at a wavelength of 420 nm. The superior photocatalytic behavior of CeO2@MoS2/g-C3N4 heterojunction could be ascribed to the positive synergetic effects of well-matched energy-level positions and effective charge separation arose from the multi-step electron transfer processes between Ce4+/Ce3+ reversibility pairs and heterostructures. Furthermore, the adsorption ability of reactant H2O molecules on CeO2@MoS2/g-C3N4 was investigated. Due to the interfacial electronic interaction and Ce3+ species, CeO2@MoS2/g-C3N4 presented more reaction active sites with enhanced adsorption capacity and decreased energy barrier for reactant H2O molecules adsorption, which collaboratively promoted photocatalytic water splitting. This study provides new insights into the rational design of inexpensive ternary photocatalyst with multilevel electron transfer for efficiently converting solar energy into hydrogen without noble metals.

Design and control of pressure-swing distillation for separating ternary systems with three binary minimum azeotropes

Abstract: The separation of ternary nonideal systems with multi‐azeotrope is very important because they are often found in the waste of chemical and pharmaceutical industries, which is much more difficult due to the formation of multi‐azeotrope and distillation boundary. We propose a systematic procedure for design and control of a triple‐column pressure‐swing distillation for separating ternary systems with three binary minimum azeotropes. This procedure involves thermodynamic insights, a two‐step optimization method, and effective control strategy. The separation of tetrahydrofuran (THF)/ethanol/water is used to illustrate the capability of the proposed procedure. It is found that the pressure limits in columns can be determined through the analysis of residue curve maps, distillation boundary, and isovolatility curves. The optimal triple‐column pressure‐swing distillation is generated with the minimum total annual cost (TAC) of $2.181 × 106 in sequence A. The operating conditions are well controlled approaching their desired specifications in an acceptable time when disturbances occur.

Synthesis of doped, ternary, and quaternary materials by atomic layer deposition: a review

Abstract: In the past decade, atomic layer deposition (ALD) has become an important thin film deposition technique for applications in nanoelectronics, catalysis, and other areas due to its high conformality...

Boosting electrochemical water splitting via ternary NiMoCo hybrid nanowire arrays

Abstract: Hydrogen production by electrochemical water splitting is a technology with the potential to meet the growing worldwide demand for sustainable and clean energy. However, the development of cost-effective catalysts to replace noble metals, such as platinum or ruthenium, remains crucial for large-scale hydrogen production. This study presents the synthesis of a transition non-noble metal-based ternary NiMoCo hybrid nanowire array as an efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting in 1.0 M KOH electrolyte. The catalyst exhibits a low cell voltage of 1.56 V to achieve a water-splitting current density of 10 mA cm−2 together with long-term stability with only 5% of the initial current lost after 100 hours. X-ray absorption spectroscopy confirms that the addition of Co to the binary Ni–Mo system results in a highly mixed chemical binding state with modulated electronic structures. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the Co atoms on the ternary alloy become catalytically active sites and facilitate adsorption of intermediates by ensuring preferable interactions between the reactants and the catalyst surface in comparison to the binary counterpart. This work provides a new direction along which to activate binary alloys to further enhance their catalytic abilities in overall water splitting.

Identifying and Addressing Critical Challenges of High-Voltage Layered Ternary Oxide Cathode Materials

Abstract: Layered ternary oxide cathode materials LiNixMnyCo1–x–yO2 (NMC) and LiNixCoyAl1–x–yO2 (NCA) (referred to as ternary cathode materials, TCMs) with large reversible capacity, high operating voltage a...

Achieving 14.11% efficiency of ternary polymer solar cells by simultaneously optimizing photon harvesting and exciton distribution

Abstract: The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 13.00% was achieved in PBDB-T:Y16-based polymer solar cells (PSCs). On this basis, PCE of ternary PSCs was improved to 14.11% by incorporating 15 wt% MeIC1 in acceptors, resulting from simultaneously enhanced short circuit current (JSC) of 22.76 mA cm−2 and fill factor (FF) of 68.22%. The observed 14.11% PCE is among the highest values for all ternary PSCs. Y16 and MeIC1 preferred to form an alloyed acceptor due to good compatibility, which is beneficial to the formation of efficient electron transport channels in ternary active layers. Photon harvesting, exciton dissociation and charge transport could be synergistically optimized by incorporating 15 wt% MeIC1 in the acceptors. The optical field and photogenerated exciton distribution in active layers were calculated according to their intrinsic properties, which could provide more intuitive evidence of JSC and FF improvement. The photogenerated exciton distribution in active layers could also be optimized by employing a ternary strategy, which was beneficial for better balance charge collection efficiency and for achieving high FF of the ternary PSCs. This work further demonstrates that ternary strategies have great potential for improving the PSC performance by simultaneously optimizing photon harvesting and photogenerated exciton distribution in active layers.

Direct 12-Electron Oxidation of Ethanol on a Ternary Au(core)-PtIr(Shell) Electrocatalyst.

Abstract: Understanding the roles of metals and atomic structures in activating various elementary steps of electrocatalytic reactions can help rational design of binary or ternary catalysts for promoting activity toward desirable products via favorable pathways. Here we report on a newly developed ternary Au@PtIr core-shell catalyst for ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) in alkaline solutions, which exhibits an activity enhancement of 6 orders of magnitude compared to AuPtIr alloy catalysts. Analysis of in situ infrared reflection absorption spectra for Au@PtIr and its bimetallic subsets, Au@Pt and PtIr alloy, found that monatomic steps and Au-induced tensile strain on PtIr facilitate C-C bond splitting via ethanol dissociative adsorption and Ir promotes dehydrogenation at low potentials. As evidenced by the CO band being observed only for the PtIr alloy that is rather inactive for ethanol dissociative adsorption, we propose that splitting the C-C bond at the earliest stage of EOR activates a direct 12-electron full oxidation pathway because hydrogen-rich fragments can be fully oxidized without CO as a poisoning intermediate. The resulting synergy of complementary effects of Au core and surface Ir leads to an outstanding performance of Au@PtIr for EOR as characterized by a low onset potential of 0.3 V and 8.3 A mg-1all-metals peak current with 57% currents generated via full ethanol oxidation.