Small SciencePub Date : 2025-05-15eCollection Date: 2025-06-01DOI: 10.1002/smsc.202500153
Krista G Steenbergen, Stephanie Lambie, Charlie Ruffman, Nicola Gaston
{"title":"Atomic-Scale Dynamics at the Interface of Doped Liquid Gallium: Contrasting Effects of Gallium Oxide and Vacuum.","authors":"Krista G Steenbergen, Stephanie Lambie, Charlie Ruffman, Nicola Gaston","doi":"10.1002/smsc.202500153","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smsc.202500153","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Liquid gallium exhibits a unique, geometrically structured surface that directly influences the diffusion and coalescence of metal solutes at its surface. The complex interplay between different chemical species and gallium's unusual interfacial properties remains poorly understood, yet it plays a crucial role in controlling dopant dynamics, with applications spanning catalysis, nanoscale fabrication, flexible electronics, and liquid metal batteries. Herein, large-scale simulations with <i>ab</i> <i>initio</i>-trained machine learning force fields reveal strikingly different interactions of Ag, Au, Bi, Li, Pt, and Sn with liquid gallium interfaces, including both liquid-vacuum and liquid-gallium oxide boundaries. For example, Bi dopants migrate strongly toward vacuum interfaces but are repelled by the oxide interface, while Au is repelled by both interfaces. The results have direct implications for applications involving doped liquid gallium systems, including optimizing Bi surface patterning in plasmonic and catalytic applications or the use of Li in liquid metal batteries. More broadly, these findings underscore the critical role of interfaces in modulating dopant dynamics, offering new pathways for tuning the properties and functionalities of liquid metal technologies.</p>","PeriodicalId":29791,"journal":{"name":"Small Science","volume":"5 6","pages":"2500153"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12168597/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144318154","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Targeted siRNA Delivery Using Cetuximab-Conjugated Starch for Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor-Driven Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.","authors":"Chen Benafsha, Limor Cohen, Leah Shimonov, Riki Goldbart, Tamar Traitel, Eliz Amar-Lewis, Ramesh Chintakunta, Manu Parasad, Uzi Hadad, Moshe Elkabets, Joseph Kost","doi":"10.1002/smsc.202500073","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smsc.202500073","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapy holds significant potential to disrupt oncogenic signaling pathways by targeting specific messenger RNA (mRNA) sequences. However, its clinical application is limited by challenges in developing effective delivery systems. In this study, starch, a biocompatible and biodegradable natural polysaccharide, is utilized as a carrier to enhance siRNA stability and delivery efficiency. By conjugating cetuximab to quaternized starch (Q-starch) complexed with the siRNA, an increased specificity is achieved toward cancer cells overexpressing the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). This research encompasses the synthesis, characterization, and biological evaluation of these targeted complexes, which demonstrate efficient cellular uptake and on-target knockdown in vitro. Furthermore, these complexes exhibit notable tumor-specific accumulation, significantly enhancing the active targeting of EGFR-overexpressing tumors in vivo. These findings highlight the potential of the complexes to accumulate in EGFR-expressing head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, advancing the development of starch-based delivery systems and paving the way for further diagnostic and therapeutic applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":29791,"journal":{"name":"Small Science","volume":"5 7","pages":"2500073"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12257885/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144643671","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Chiroptical Activities of Low-Dimensional Lead-Free Chiral Halide Perovskites with White-Light Emission.","authors":"Min-Han Tsai, Chia-Hsiang Chuang, Pei-Hsuan Lo, Wei-Yun Zeng, Chun-Yao Huang, Lan-Sheng Yang, Yu-Chiang Chao","doi":"10.1002/smsc.202500034","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smsc.202500034","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Chiral halide perovskites have attracted considerable attention due to their intrinsic chirality-induced circular dichroism (CD), circularly polarized luminescence (CPL), and spin selectivity. However, chiroptical activities of low-dimensional lead-free chiral halide perovskites are hardly observed, especially for those with white-light emission. Herein, lead-free halide perovskites with different ratios of 0D Cs<sub>3</sub>Cu<sub>2</sub>I<sub>5</sub> and 1D CsCu<sub>2</sub>I<sub>3</sub> are realized. Chiroptical activities are introduced into these films by post-treatment with r-/s-methylbenzylammonium iodide to realize lead-free chiral halide perovskites. The absorption, photoluminescence, photoluminescence excitation, CD, and CPL spectra of these films are investigated. The Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage chromaticity coordinates (0.33, 0.33) are obtained when the excitation wavelength is 300 nm. Large Stokes shifts and broadband emission are observed and attributed to the presence of self-trapped excitons. At room temperature, intrinsic chirality-induced CD signals are observed without the application of an external magnetic field, indicating the presence of chirality in the low-dimensional lead-free chiral halide perovskites. Room-temperature CPL is also observed from the low-dimensional lead-free chiral halide perovskites, but only from the Cs<sub>3</sub>Cu<sub>2</sub>I<sub>5</sub> component. This is attributed to the fact that CsCu<sub>2</sub>I<sub>3</sub> does not produce CPL and spin-polarized excitons do not transfer from Cs<sub>3</sub>Cu<sub>2</sub>I<sub>5</sub> to CsCu<sub>2</sub>I<sub>3</sub>.</p>","PeriodicalId":29791,"journal":{"name":"Small Science","volume":"5 6","pages":"2500034"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12168611/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144318156","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Small SciencePub Date : 2025-05-15eCollection Date: 2025-07-01DOI: 10.1002/smsc.202500119
Megan A Parker, Raul Barbosa, Cynthia Cibaka-Ndaya, Alexander Castro-Grijalba, Maria Letizia De Marco, Brian A Korgel, David Montero, Sabrina Lacomme, Antoine Azéma, Vasyl G Kravets, Alexander N Grigorenko, Virginie Ponsinet, Philippe Barois, Lucien Roach, Glenna L Drisko
{"title":"Self-Assembled Silicon@Silica Metasurfaces with High-Quality Resonances in the Infrared.","authors":"Megan A Parker, Raul Barbosa, Cynthia Cibaka-Ndaya, Alexander Castro-Grijalba, Maria Letizia De Marco, Brian A Korgel, David Montero, Sabrina Lacomme, Antoine Azéma, Vasyl G Kravets, Alexander N Grigorenko, Virginie Ponsinet, Philippe Barois, Lucien Roach, Glenna L Drisko","doi":"10.1002/smsc.202500119","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smsc.202500119","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>2D assemblies of resonant dielectric particles constitute promising materials for the next generation of photonic devices, thanks to their low optical losses and intense electromagnetic response. However, bottom-up synthesis methods present many difficulties when targeting metasurface applications, particularly due to the high degree of positional disorder and the size dispersion of the resonant particles. This work presents the fabrication of core-shell silicon@silica particles with multipolar resonances in the visible and near-infrared. These resonant particles are then assembled at an air-water interface into a semi-ordered array with islands of crystallinity. The assembly is deposited on quartz and the optical properties are characterized with ellipsometry and optical microscopy. The effective medium of this material appears to display a magnetic resonance with a high-quality factor at ≈945 nm, as demonstrated by a Lorentzian resonance in the permeability. Thus, this is the first bottom-up synthesis of silicon particle assemblies known to generate optical magnetism, giving promise for the scalable production of high-performance metasurfaces, in spite of the imperfections associated with bottom-up fabrication.</p>","PeriodicalId":29791,"journal":{"name":"Small Science","volume":"5 7","pages":"2500119"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12257874/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144643669","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Small SciencePub Date : 2025-05-14eCollection Date: 2025-07-01DOI: 10.1002/smsc.202500081
Zhao Wang, Bhavani P Yalagala, Hadi Heidari, Andrew Feeney
{"title":"Highly Sensitive Parylene C-Based Flexible Pressure Sensors for Wearable Systems.","authors":"Zhao Wang, Bhavani P Yalagala, Hadi Heidari, Andrew Feeney","doi":"10.1002/smsc.202500081","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smsc.202500081","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Flexible pressure sensors based on piezoelectric materials are being extensively investigated, but the potential of Parylene C in this application has rarely been explored, even though it has superior electrical insulation, excellent chemical inertness, flexibility, biocompatibility, and biostability. This study utilizes Parylene C as the piezoelectric layer, sandwiched between two copper electrodes and encapsulated with polyimide to fabricate a piezoelectric pressure sensor. Different Parylene C films of thicknesses comprising 10, 25, and 45 μm are prepared for the fabrication of the pressure sensors. The pressure sensors exhibit high sensitivities, with maximum pressure and frequency sensitivities of 87.62 and 580.95 mV Hz<sup>-1</sup>. Interestingly, increasing the Parylene C thickness results in an ≈300% increase in output voltage at a frequency of 9 Hz due to improved piezoelectric coefficients (<i>d</i> <sub>33</sub>). This study further presents a fully flexible and biocompatible Parylene C-based dynamic pressure sensor array for integration in intelligent and smart gloves, enabling real-time pressure monitoring and wireless data transmission using low-range Bluetooth technology. This research should significantly advance the use of Parylene C in flexible wearable sensing technologies, with promise for applications in human-machine interfaces, healthcare, and other smart wearables.</p>","PeriodicalId":29791,"journal":{"name":"Small Science","volume":"5 7","pages":"2500081"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12257884/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144643662","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Small SciencePub Date : 2025-05-14eCollection Date: 2025-07-01DOI: 10.1002/smsc.202500149
Jürgen Strasser, Nikolaus Frischauf, Lukas Schustereder, Andreas Karner, Sieto Bosgra, Aran F Labrijn, Frank J Beurskens, Johannes Preiner
{"title":"A Kinetic Model of Antigen-Dependent IgG Oligomerization and Complement Binding.","authors":"Jürgen Strasser, Nikolaus Frischauf, Lukas Schustereder, Andreas Karner, Sieto Bosgra, Aran F Labrijn, Frank J Beurskens, Johannes Preiner","doi":"10.1002/smsc.202500149","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smsc.202500149","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The classical complement pathway (CCP) is an essential part of the immune system, activated when complement protein C1 binds to IgG antibody oligomers on the surface of pathogens, infected or malignant cells, culminating in the formation of the membrane attack complex and subsequent cell lysis. IgG oligomers also engage immune effector cells through Fcγ receptors or complement receptors, facilitating antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and phagocytosis. Understanding the factors that drive IgG oligomerization is thus crucial for improving IgG-based therapies. Herein, a kinetic model to predict oligomer formation based on IgG concentration, antigen density, IgG subclass, Fc mutants, and oligomerization inhibitors like staphylococcal protein A is developed. The underlying molecular interactions in single molecule force spectroscopy and grating coupled interferometry experiments are characterized. By fitting experimental data from high-speed atomic force microscopy experiments, key rate constants and thermodynamic parameters, including free energy changes associated with oligomerization and apply the model to predict complement-mediated lysis in liposomal vesicle-based assays, are further quantified. The presented mechanistic framework may serve as a basis for optimizing antibody engineering and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modeling in the context of immunotherapies exploiting the CCP.</p>","PeriodicalId":29791,"journal":{"name":"Small Science","volume":"5 7","pages":"2500149"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12257888/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144643708","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Small SciencePub Date : 2025-05-09eCollection Date: 2025-07-01DOI: 10.1002/smsc.202500027
Sang Youn Chae, Myeong Jin Choi, Si Young Lee, Ja Yoon Choi, Dae Won Kim, Je Seung Lee, Eun Duck Park, Jong Suk Yoo, Oh-Shim Joo
{"title":"Highly Active and Stable Immobilized Iridium Complexes via Thermochemically Assisted Dangling Oxygen Participation for Electrochemical Oxygen Evolution Reaction.","authors":"Sang Youn Chae, Myeong Jin Choi, Si Young Lee, Ja Yoon Choi, Dae Won Kim, Je Seung Lee, Eun Duck Park, Jong Suk Yoo, Oh-Shim Joo","doi":"10.1002/smsc.202500027","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smsc.202500027","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study investigates the immobilization of dinuclear iridium-imidazole complexes onto indium tin oxides for the electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in acidic media. The immobilized iridium complexes show exceptional catalytic activity and stability, which are attributed to the facile cleavage of the elongated <i>μ</i>-O bonds between the two iridium metal centers. This cleavage leads to the formation of dangling oxygen, which plays a crucial role in facilitating thermochemical water dissociation. O<sub>2</sub> is released through a dangling oxygen-participated mechanism, accompanied by the regeneration of the <i>μ</i>-O bonds. This unique OER mechanism, possibly specific to immobilized (strained) molecular catalysts, resembles the lattice oxygen participation mechanism reported for unstable oxides, but with the advantage of high stability in acidic media. This study not only identifies a new mechanism but can also inform the design of immobilized molecular catalysts with enhanced performance.</p>","PeriodicalId":29791,"journal":{"name":"Small Science","volume":"5 7","pages":"2500027"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12257893/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144643719","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Small SciencePub Date : 2025-05-08eCollection Date: 2025-07-01DOI: 10.1002/smsc.202500054
Fátima Guerrero, Francisco G Moscoso, Joaquín Silvestre-Albero, Alejandro Martin-Malo, Carolina Carrillo-Carrión
{"title":"Fluorinated Zirconium-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks as Novel Sorbents to Improve the Efficacy of Hemodialysis Treatment.","authors":"Fátima Guerrero, Francisco G Moscoso, Joaquín Silvestre-Albero, Alejandro Martin-Malo, Carolina Carrillo-Carrión","doi":"10.1002/smsc.202500054","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smsc.202500054","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>People with end-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD) require routine dialysis treatments to remove uremic toxins from the blood in order to minimize toxic symptoms. However, some hydrophobic toxins cannot be effectively removed using conventional hemodialysis techniques, especially when they are bound to plasma proteins. This work reports the first experimental evidence addressing this issue through the incorporation of perfluoroligands into a zirconium-based metal-organic framework, taking advantage of the favorable interactions between fluorine atoms and albumin proteins. The as-designed fluorinated NU-1000 particles (NU@F) demonstrate their capability to remove not only free hydrophobic uremic toxins, specifically p-cresyl sulfate (pCS) and indoxyl sulfate (IS), but also a large fraction of those bound to human serum albumin, notably without causing significant hypoalbuminemia. The NU@F particles incorporated into a cartridge also exhibit good performance under dynamic flow conditions, mimicking the real scenario of hemodialysis. Finally, the NU@F dialysis system is tested in a pooled sample from CKD patients, confirming the actual application potential of the developed prototype system.</p>","PeriodicalId":29791,"journal":{"name":"Small Science","volume":"5 7","pages":"2500054"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12257890/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144643716","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Small SciencePub Date : 2025-05-06eCollection Date: 2025-07-01DOI: 10.1002/smsc.202500046
Yu Lin, Xi Luo, Xu Shen, Xiao-Lin Fu, Li-Rong Lin, Tian-Ci Yang
{"title":"<i>Treponema pallidum</i> Protein Tp0136 Induces Spheroidization of Vascular Endothelial Cells, Resulting in Widened Intercellular Junctions and Enhanced Vascular Permeability.","authors":"Yu Lin, Xi Luo, Xu Shen, Xiao-Lin Fu, Li-Rong Lin, Tian-Ci Yang","doi":"10.1002/smsc.202500046","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smsc.202500046","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The <i>Treponema pallidum</i> membrane protein Tp0136 facilitates <i>Treponema pallidum</i> dissemination, and the permeability of vasculature is intricately linked to the density of the vascular endothelial barrier, which is strongly associated with the morphology of vascular endothelial cells. In this study, utilizing the approach of inoculating Tp0136 recombinant protein into the skin lesions of rabbits infected with <i>Treponema pallidum</i>, it was observed that the Tp0136 recombinant protein induced spheroidization of vascular endothelial cells and enlargement of intercellular junctions. By high-throughput RNA sequencing, the upregulation of the RNA-binding protein cysteine- and glycine-rich protein 1 (CSRP1) is identified, which modulated the alternative splicing of exon 19 of myosin X (MYO10), which in turn downregulated the expression of MYO10, ultimately inducing morphological spheroidization in vascular endothelial cells. Using CSRP1-specific shRNA to knock down CSRP1 or using the alternative splicing inhibitor, the spheroidized vascular endothelial cells revert to a flattened state, suggesting that Tp0136 regulates the alternative splicing of MYO10 through CSRP1, leading to a downregulation of MYO10, followed by the spheroidization of vascular endothelial cells and an enlargement of intercellular junctions. These findings contribute to elucidating a mechanism underlying the dissemination of <i>Treponema pallidum</i>.</p>","PeriodicalId":29791,"journal":{"name":"Small Science","volume":"5 7","pages":"2500046"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12257882/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144643707","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Small SciencePub Date : 2025-05-06eCollection Date: 2025-07-01DOI: 10.1002/smsc.202400578
Thomas W Gries, Davide Regaldo, Hans Köbler, Noor Titan Putri Hartono, Steven P Harvey, Maxim Simmonds, Chiara Frasca, Marlene Härtel, Gennaro V Sannino, Roberto Félix, Elif Hüsam, Ahmed Saleh, Regan G Wilks, Fengshuo Zu, Emilio Gutierrez-Partida, Zafar Iqbal, Zahra Loghman Nia, Fengjiu Yang, Paola Delli Veneri, Kai Zhu, Martin Stolterfoht, Marcus Bär, Stefan A Weber, Philip Schulz, Jean-Baptiste Puel, Jean-Paul Kleider, Eva Unger, Qiong Wang, Artem Musiienko, Antonio Abate
{"title":"Co-Doping Approach for Enhanced Electron Extraction to TiO<sub>2</sub> for Stable Inorganic Perovskite Solar Cells.","authors":"Thomas W Gries, Davide Regaldo, Hans Köbler, Noor Titan Putri Hartono, Steven P Harvey, Maxim Simmonds, Chiara Frasca, Marlene Härtel, Gennaro V Sannino, Roberto Félix, Elif Hüsam, Ahmed Saleh, Regan G Wilks, Fengshuo Zu, Emilio Gutierrez-Partida, Zafar Iqbal, Zahra Loghman Nia, Fengjiu Yang, Paola Delli Veneri, Kai Zhu, Martin Stolterfoht, Marcus Bär, Stefan A Weber, Philip Schulz, Jean-Baptiste Puel, Jean-Paul Kleider, Eva Unger, Qiong Wang, Artem Musiienko, Antonio Abate","doi":"10.1002/smsc.202400578","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smsc.202400578","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Inorganic perovskite CsPbI<sub>3</sub> solar cells hold great potential for improving the operational stability of perovskite photovoltaics. However, electron extraction is limited by the low conductivity of TiO<sub>2</sub>, representing a bottleneck for achieving stable performance. In this study, a co-doping strategy for TiO<sub>2</sub> using Nb(V) and Sn(IV), which reduces the material's work function by 80 meV compared to Nb(V) mono-doped TiO<sub>2</sub>, is introduced. To gain fundamental understanding of the processes at the interfaces between the perovskite and charge-selective layer, transient surface photovoltage measurements are applied, revealing the beneficial effect of the energetic and structural modification on electron extraction across the CsPbI<sub>3</sub>/TiO<sub>2</sub> interface. Using 2D drift-diffusion simulations, it is found that co-doping reduces the interface hole recombination velocity by two orders of magnitude, increasing the concentration of extracted electrons by 20%. When integrated into n-i-p solar cells, co-doped TiO<sub>2</sub> enhances the projected <i>T</i> <sub>S80</sub> lifetimes under continuous AM1.5G illumination by a factor of 25 compared to mono-doped TiO<sub>2</sub>. This study provides fundamental insights into interfacial charge extraction and its correlation with operational stability of perovskite solar cells, offering potential applications for other charge-selective contacts.</p>","PeriodicalId":29791,"journal":{"name":"Small Science","volume":"5 7","pages":"2400578"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12257902/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144643710","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}