Oxyhydrides of rare-earth metals (REMOHs) exhibit notable photochromic behaviors. Among these, yttrium oxyhydride (YHO) stands out for its impressive transparency and swift UV-responsive color change, positioning it as an optimal material for self-cleaning window applications. Although semiconductor photocatalysis holds potential solutions for critical environmental issues, optimizing the photocatalytic efficacy of photochromic substances has not been adequately addressed. This research advances the study of REMOHs, focusing on the properties of gadolinium oxyhydride (GdHO) both theoretically and experimentally. The electronic and structural characteristics of GdHO, vital for ceramic technology, are thoroughly examined. Explicitly determined work functions for GdH2, GdHO, and Gd2O3 stand at 3.4 eV, 3.0 eV, and 4.3 eV, respectively. Bader charge analysis showcases GdHO’s intricate bonding attributes, whereas its electron localization function majorly presents an ionic nature. The charge neutrality level is situated about 0.33 eV below the top valence band, highlighting these materials’ inclination for acceptor-dominant electrical conductivity. Remarkably, this research unveils GdHO films’ photocatalytic capabilities for the first time. Even with their restricted surface due to thinness, these films follow the Langmuir–Hinshelwood degradation kinetics, ensuring total degradation of methylene blue in a day. It was observed that GdHO’s work function diminishes with reduced deposition pressure, and UV exposure further decreases it by 0.2 eV—a change that reverts post-UV exposure. The persistent stability of GdHO films, hinting at feasible recyclability, enhances their potential efficiency, underlining their viability in practical applications. Overall, this study accentuates GdHO’s pivotal role in electronics and photocatalysis, representing a landmark advancement in the domain.

Unencapsulated organic solar cells are prone to severe performance losses in the presence of moisture. Accelerated damp heat (85 °C/85% RH) studies are presented and it is shown that the hygroscopic hole-transporting PEDOT:PSS layer is the origin of device failure in the case of prototypical inverted solar cells. Complementary measurements unveil that under these conditions a decreased PEDOT:PSS work function along with areas of reduced electrical contact between active layer and hole-transport layer are the main factors for device degradation rather than a chemical reaction of water with the active layer. Replacements for PEDOT:PSS are explored and it is found that tungsten oxide (WO3) or phosphomolybdic acid (PMA)—materials that can be processed from benign solvents at room temperature—yields comparable performance as PEDOT:PSS and enhances the resilience of solar cells under damp heat. The stability trend follows the order PEDOT:PSS << WO3 < PMA, with PEDOT:PSS-based devices failing after few minutes, while PMA-based devices remain nearly pristine over several hours. PMA is thus proposed as a robust, solution-processable hole extraction layer that can act as a one to one replacement of PEDOT:PSS to achieve organic solar cells with significantly improved longevity.

Oxyhydride of yttrium (YHO) belongs to an emerging class of materials, with oxide and hydride anions sharingthe same sites in the lattice. Under sunlight irradiation, the material is transparent to visible light with trans-parency exceeding 85% and can absorb about 10% of sunlight. Furthermore, increasing light transmittance in thevisible light enhanced the self-cleaning properties of the coated materials, making these materials promisingcandidates for smart windows applications. However, the light-absorbing properties of the materials wereincreased with exposure time, and in the photodarkening state, they can absorb about 40% of sunlight. Kelvinprobe measurements show work function values between 2.9 and 4.2 eV for YHO, depending on the H2/Arpressure in the deposition chamber. Using the Kelvin probe, we demonstrate that the work function decreaseswith decreasing deposition pressure and hydrogen flow. Measurements under solar light reveal a decrease of workfunction by 0.2 eV followed by a slow relaxation with the light off. Moreover, the self-cleaning test shows that theoxyhydroxide thin films have excellent photocatalytic activity and total self-cleaning in 40 h.

Spin-cast intermolecular interactions in conjugated polymer films lead to the formation of excited states delocalized over a few oriented and tightly packed conjugated segments. The optoelectronic properties of conjugated polymers are strongly dependent on the presence of such oriented domains at a nanoscale level. We observe oriented domains as large as several micrometers in size spontaneously formed in spin-cast PBDT-TPD films. Two-dimensional polarization imaging of fresh and photodegraded films showed a much higher visibility of the oriented domains in the degraded samples. We propose that the film is a mixture of two phases with different degrees of chain alignment. The photoluminescence of the more anisotropic phase is more stable against photodegradation in comparison with the less anisotropic phase. Photodegradation predominately quenches photoluminescence of the less anisotropic phase making the oriented domains more visible in the polarization contrasts. Spectral and energy transfer properties of the more oriented phase allowed us to assign it to weakly coupled H-aggregates with the suppressed 0-0 vibronic transition. Stable photoluminescence of H-aggregates in comparison with that of nonaggregated (less oriented) chains may help to understand degradation mechanisms of polymer devices and shows the role of energy transfer in this process. Selective degradation-induced quenching can reveal hidden inhomogeneity of conjugated polymer films.

Blend thin films, prepared by dip-coating, of polyfluorene (F8 or PFO), acting as an electron donor, and [6,6]-phenyl-C-61-butyric acid methyl ester (PC60BM), acting as the electron acceptor, have been characterized by UV/VIS absorption spectroscopy, static and dynamic fluorescence, and atomic force microscopy. Four different solvents were used for the film preparation; the monohalogenated fluorobenzene and chlorobenzene and their dihalogenated counterparts o-difluorobenzene and o-dichlorobenzene, respectively. Fluid mechanics calculations were used to determine the withdrawal speed for each solvent, in order to prepare wet films of comparable thicknesses. The resulting dry films were also of similar thicknesses. It was found that the choice of solvent influences the ability for F8 to form its beta-phase.

A series of novel block copolymers, processable from single organic solvents and subsequently rendered amphiphilic by thermolysis, have been synthesized using Grignard metathesis (GRIM) and reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerizations and azide-alkyne click chemistry. This chemistry is simple and allows the fabrication of well-defined block copolymers with controllable block lengths. The block copolymers, designed for use as interfacial adhesive layers in organic photovoltaics to enhance contact between the photoactive and hole transport layers, comprise printable poly(3-hexylthiophene)-block-poly(neopentyl p-styrenesulfonate), P3HT-b-PNSS. Subsequently, they are converted to P3HT-b-poly(p-styrenesulfonate), P3HT-b-PSS, following deposition and thermal treatment at 150 degrees C. Grazing incidence small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS/GIWAXS) revealed that thin films of the amphiphilic block copolymers comprise lamellar nanodomains of P3HT crystallites that can be pushed further apart by increasing the PSS block lengths. The approach of using a thermally modifiable block allows deposition of this copolymer from a single organic solvent and subsequent conversion to an amphiphilic layer by nonchemical means, particularly attractive to large scale roll-to-roll industrial printing processes.

We report the increased crystallization of poly(3-hexylthiophene)(P3HT) in the donor−acceptor mixture of [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methylester (PCBM) with P3HT by the addition of a block copolymer, P3HT-b-PI, where PI refers to polyisoprene. The photovoltaic performance of devices created using this blendis markedly improved by the addition of the diblock copolymer. We have characterizedthe structure of thin films of the P3HT-b-PI containing mixtures using opticalmicroscopy, scanning force microscopy, UV−vis absorption spectroscopy, neutronreflectometry, and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD). The GIXD data providethe information on the crystallinity of the films, the absorption data were used toconfirm that the addition of the diblock was responsible for the increase in crystallization, neutron reflectometry data reveal a PCBM-rich region near the hole injection layer, and the two microscopy techniques revealed the structural effect of the crystallization at the surface of the films.

We have used neutron reflectivity to investigate the stratification of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and phenyl-C-61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) blend films. Films were spun-cast on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and titanium oxide (TiOx) layers to mimic the procedures followed for the fabrication of conventional and inverted organic photovoltaics respectively. The resultant scattering length density profiles reveal a PCBM-rich layer is formed in the vicinity of PEDOT: PSS or TiOx, while PCBM is depleted at the free surface of the film. PCBM segregation close to the substrate is further enhanced by annealing. This stratification is considered to be favorable only for inverted devices. (C) 2013 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.