Xiaoyang Liang

Antimony selenide (Sb ₂ Se ₃ ) has emerged as a promising photovoltaic absorber owing to its suitable bandgap, high absorption coefficient, and low‐toxicity elemental composition. However, high‐efficiency Sb ₂ Se ₃ solar cells commonly rely on CdS electron‐transport layers, whereas Cd‐free alternatives often suffer from pronounced recombination losses at the Sb ₂ Se ₃ /buffer heterojunction. Herein, we introduce a sub‐nanometer atomic‐layer‐deposited aluminum oxide (Al ₂ O ₃ ) interlayer at the Sb ₂ Se ₃ /Zn _x Sn _1‐x O heterojunction to improve its interfacial electronic quality. Spectroscopic and theoretical analyses indicate that the ultrathin Al ₂ O ₃ induces interfacial chemical interaction and charge redistribution, thereby modifying the local electronic structure and interfacial energetics. Complementary surface and device‐level measurements reveal a more homogeneous near‐surface electronic response, reduced field‐dependent carrier‐collection losses, and mitigated trap‐assisted recombination. Temperature‐dependent V _OC measurements show an increase in the recombination activation energy from 0.910±0.018 to 1.045±0.021 eV, while intensity‐dependent V _OC measurements reveal a decrease in the effective ideality factor from 1.37 to 1.21, consistently indicating a reduced contribution of trap‐assisted recombination, although interface‐related recombination remains an important loss pathway. Consequently, the optimized Sb ₂ Se ₃ /Al ₂ O ₃ /Zn _x Sn _1‐x O device achieves a champion power conversion efficiency of 9.28% with an enhanced open‐circuit voltage. These results demonstrate that ultrathin Al ₂ O ₃ interfacial modification provides an effective strategy for mitigating recombination‐related losses in high‐performance Cd‐free Sb ₂ Se ₃ solar cells.

The hybrid two-step (evaporation-spin coating) fabrication method demonstrates substantial promise for achieving conformal perovskite growth on highly textured surfaces, such as industrially textured silicon heterojunction (SHJ) substrates with pyramidal features exceeding 1 μm. However, the presence of numerous process control parameters complicates the determination of optimal synthesis conditions. In this study, we employ a central composite design (CCD) based on response surface methodology (RSM) to systematically design and optimize the fabrication process. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) identifies substrate temperature during the evaporation step as a critical parameter governing device performance. We further explore the evaporation and perovskite formation kinetics to elucidate the impact of substrate temperature on film morphology and quality. Under optimized conditions, conformal perovskite growth on the textured surfaces is successfully realized. Wide band gap (1.68 eV) perovskite solar cells (PSCs) fabricated via this approach exhibited a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 18.63% in the absence of additional treatments and 19.24% with phenylethyl ammonium iodide (PEAI) vapor passivation.

A novel interface engineering strategy with a photo-annealing treatment is proposed for regulating the interface of the Sb ₂ Se ₃ /CdS heterojunction.

To overcome the autophagy compromised mechanism of protective cellular processes by “eating”/“digesting” damaged organelles or potentially toxic materials with autolysosomes in tumor cells, lysosomal impairment can be utilized as a traditional autophagy dysfunction route for tumor therapy; however, this conventional one‐way autophagy dysfunction approach is always limited by the therapeutic efficacy. Herein, an innovative pharmacological strategy that can excessively provoke autophagy via endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is implemented along with lysosomal impairment to enhance autophagy dysfunction. In this work, the prepared tellurium double‐headed nanobullets (TeDNBs) with controllable morphology are modified with human serum albumin (HSA) which facilitates internalization by tumor cells. On the one hand, ER stress can be stimulated by upregulating the phosphorylation eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 (P‐eIF2α) owing to the production of tellurite (TeO₃²⁻) in the specifical hydrogen peroxide‐rich tumor environment; thus, autophagy overstimulation occurs. On the other hand, OME can deacidify and impair lysosomes by downregulating lysosomal‐associated membrane protein 1 (LAMP1), therefore blocking autolysosome formation. Both in vitro and in vivo results demonstrate that the synthesized TeDNBs‐HSA/OME (TeDNBs‐HO) exhibit excellent therapeutic efficacy by autophagy dysfunction through ER stress induction and lysosomal damnification. Thus, TeDNBs‐HO is verified to be a promising theranostic nanoagent for effective tumor therapy.

Low‐symmetric and structurally anisotropic materials are of widespread research interest. Antimony selenide and analogues from group V₂−VI₃ metal chalcogenides, have emerged recently due to their distinctive crystalline symmetries, highly anisotropic electronic and physical properties, Earth abundance, and environmentally friendly characteristics. Its intrinsic quasi‐1D crystal structure leads to much easier and efficient carrier transport along the [hk1] orientation than in other directions. Effective manipulation of the growth orientation and concomitant natural features of the anisotropic materials, which are crucial for the device performance based on the anisotropic Sb₂Se₃, is still poorly developed. Herein, the growth of monocrystalline Sb₂Se₃ nanorod arrays (NRAs) along the [hk1] orientation on polycrystalline and mixed‐oriented fluorine‐doped tin oxide (SnO₂:F, FTO) glass is carried out under different growth conditions. The thermodynamic and kinetic processes behind the growth of Sb₂Se₃ NRAs on polycrystalline surfaces are discussed. Solar cells based on the [hk1]‐oriented Sb₂Se₃ NRAs achieve a power conversion efficiency of 9.0%, comparable with the conversion efficiency of the state‐of‐the‐art Sb₂Se₃ solar cells. Moreover, these Sb₂Se₃ NRA solar cells exhibit quasiomnidirectional light absorption characteristics, showing high potential as solar cells with high output power over extended daytime operating hours.