Zhengjun Luo, Lei Yu, Tingting Zheng, Xiaofei Dong, Fengxia Yang, Jiangtao Chen, Xuqiang Zhang, Yunteng Zhao, Yan Li
{"title":"Promoting effect of lanthanum doping on photovoltaic performance of CZTSSe solar cells.","authors":"Zhengjun Luo, Lei Yu, Tingting Zheng, Xiaofei Dong, Fengxia Yang, Jiangtao Chen, Xuqiang Zhang, Yunteng Zhao, Yan Li","doi":"10.1063/5.0204906","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0204906","url":null,"abstract":"A large open-circuit voltage (VOC) deficit is the major challenge hindering the efficiency improvement of Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) solar cells. Cation substitution, or doping, is usually an effective strategy to achieve carrier regulation and improve efficiency. In this work, we developed a rare-earth element lanthanum (La) doped CZTSSe thin-film solar cell by directly introducing La3+ ions into the CZTS precursor solution. Such a proposed La doping approach could effectively enhance light harvesting, adjust the bandgap, and increase the electron diffusion length. Furthermore, appropriate concentrations of La doping can reduce harmful defect cluster. Benefiting from the La doping, the VOC significantly increases from 431 to 497 mV. Consequently, the power conversion efficiency is enhanced significantly from 6.54% (VOC = 431 mV, JSC = 25.50 mA/cm2, FF = 58.28%) for the reference cell to 10.21% (VOC = 497 mV, JSC = 35.20 mA/cm2, FF = 58.41%) for the optimized La-doped cell. This research provides a new direction for enhancing the performance of CZTSSe cells, offering promising prospects for the future of CZTSSe thin-film solar cells.","PeriodicalId":501648,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Chemical Physics","volume":"37 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140662592","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
E. Masiewicz, Farman Ullah, Adrianna Mieloch, J. Godlewski, Danuta Kruk
{"title":"Dynamical properties of solid and hydrated collagen: Insight from nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry.","authors":"E. Masiewicz, Farman Ullah, Adrianna Mieloch, J. Godlewski, Danuta Kruk","doi":"10.1063/5.0191409","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0191409","url":null,"abstract":"1H spin-lattice Nuclear Magnetic Resonance relaxometry experiments have been performed for collagen and collagen-based artificial tissues in the frequency range of 10 kHz-20 MHz. The studies were performed for non-hydrated and hydrated materials. The relaxation data have been interpreted as including relaxation contributions originating from 1H-1H and 1H-14N dipole-dipole interactions, the latter leading to Quadrupole Relaxation Enhancement effects. The 1H-1H relaxation contributions have been decomposed into terms associated with dynamical processes on different time scales. A comparison of the parameters for the non-hydrated and hydrated systems has shown that hydration leads to a decrease in the dipolar relaxation constants without significantly affecting the dynamical processes. In the next step, the relaxation data for the hydrated systems were interpreted in terms of a model assuming two-dimensional translational diffusion of water molecules in the vicinity of the macromolecular surfaces and a sub-diffusive motion leading to a power law of the frequency dependencies of the relaxation rates. It was found that the water diffusion process is slowed down by at least two orders of magnitude compared to bulk water diffusion. The frequency dependencies of the relaxation rates in hydrated tissues and hydrated collagen are characterized by different power laws (ωH-β, where ωH denotes the 1H resonance frequency): the first of about 0.4 and the second close to unity.","PeriodicalId":501648,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Chemical Physics","volume":"65 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140663844","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mohammed Alhissi, Andreas Zumbusch, Matthias Fuchs
{"title":"Observation of liquid glass in molecular dynamics simulations","authors":"Mohammed Alhissi, Andreas Zumbusch, Matthias Fuchs","doi":"10.1063/5.0196599","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0196599","url":null,"abstract":"Molecular anisotropy plays an important role in the glass transition of a liquid. Recently, a novel bulk glass state has been discovered by optical microscopy experiments on suspensions of ellipsoidal colloids. “Liquid glass” is a disordered analog of a nematic liquid crystal, in which rotation motion is hindered but particles diffuse freely. Global nematic order is suppressed as clusters of aligned particles intertwine. We perform Brownian dynamics simulations to test the structure and dynamics of a dense system of soft ellipsoidal particles. As seen in the experiments and in accordance with predictions from the mode coupling theory, on the time scale of our simulations, rotation motion is frozen but translation motion persists in liquid glass. Analyses of the dynamic structure functions for translation and rotation corroborates the presence of two separate glass transitions for rotation and translation, respectively. Even though the equilibrium state should be nematic, aligned structures remain small and orientational order rapidly decays with increasing size. Long-wavelength fluctuations are remnants of the isotropic-nematic transition.","PeriodicalId":501648,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Chemical Physics","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140801177","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Collapse and expansion kinetics of a single polyelectrolyte chain with hydrodynamic interactions","authors":"Jiaxing Yuan, Tine Curk","doi":"10.1063/5.0201740","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0201740","url":null,"abstract":"We investigate the collapse and expansion dynamics of a linear polyelectrolyte (PE) with hydrodynamic interactions. Using dissipative particle dynamics with a bead–spring PE model, long-range electrostatics, and explicit ions, we examine how the timescales of collapse tcol and expansion texp depend on the chain length N and obtain scaling relationships tcol ∼ Nα and texp ∼ Nβ. For neutral polymers, we derive values of α = 0.94 ± 0.01 and β = 1.97 ± 0.10. Interestingly, the introduction of electrostatic interaction markedly shifts α to α ≈ 1.4 ± 0.1 for salt concentrations within c = 10−4 to 10−2 M. A reduction in the ion-to-monomer size ratio noticeably reduces α. On the other hand, the expansion scaling remains approximately constant, β ≈ 2, regardless of the salt concentration or ion size considered. We find β > α for all conditions considered, implying that expansion is always slower than collapse in the limit of long polymers. This asymmetry is explained by distinct kinetic pathways of collapse and expansion processes.","PeriodicalId":501648,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Chemical Physics","volume":"244 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140801288","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
D. R. Alcoba, O. Oña, A. Torre, L. Lain, Guadalupe Sierra, G. Massaccesi
{"title":"A variance-based optimization for determining ground and excited N-electron wave functions within the doubly occupied configuration interaction scheme.","authors":"D. R. Alcoba, O. Oña, A. Torre, L. Lain, Guadalupe Sierra, G. Massaccesi","doi":"10.1063/5.0191857","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0191857","url":null,"abstract":"This work describes optimizations of N-electron system wave functions by means of the simulated annealing technique within the doubly occupied configuration interaction framework. Using that technique, we minimize the energy variance of a Hamiltonian, providing determinations of wave functions corresponding to ground or excited states in an identical manner. The procedure that allows us to determine electronic spectra can be performed using treatments of restricted or unrestricted types. The results found in selected systems, described in terms of energy, spin, and wave function, are analyzed, showing the performance of each method. We also compare these results with those arising from more traditional approaches that minimize the energy, in both restricted and unrestricted versions, and with those obtained from the full configuration interaction treatment.","PeriodicalId":501648,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Chemical Physics","volume":"49 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140663147","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Suppression of cracking in drying colloidal suspensions with chain-like particles.","authors":"Zhaoxia Niu, Yiping Zhao, Qiuting Zhang, Zhiyuan Zhao, Dengteng Ge, Jiajia Zhou, Ye Xu","doi":"10.1063/5.0203112","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0203112","url":null,"abstract":"The prevention of drying-induced cracking is crucial in maintaining the mechanical integrity and functionality of colloidal deposits and coatings. Despite exploring various approaches, controlling drying-induced cracking remains a subject of great scientific interest and practical importance. By introducing chain-like particles composed of the same material and with comparable size into commonly used colloidal suspensions of spherical silica nanoparticles, we can significantly reduce the cracks formed in dried particle deposits and achieve a fivefold increase in the critical cracking thickness of colloidal silica coatings. The mechanism underlying the crack suppression is attributed to the increased porosity and pore sizes in dried particle deposits containing chain-like particle, which essentially leads to reduction in internal stresses developed during the drying process. Meanwhile, the nanoindentation measurements reveal that colloidal deposits with chain-like particles exhibit a smaller reduction in hardness compared to those reported using other cracking suppression approaches. This work demonstrates a promising technique for preparing colloidal coatings with enhanced crack resistance while maintaining desirable mechanical properties.","PeriodicalId":501648,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Chemical Physics","volume":"7 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140660782","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hideaki Takahashi, Raffaele Borrelli, Maxim F. Gelin, Lipeng Chen
{"title":"Finite temperature dynamics in a polarized sub-Ohmic heat bath: A hierarchical equations of motion-tensor train study","authors":"Hideaki Takahashi, Raffaele Borrelli, Maxim F. Gelin, Lipeng Chen","doi":"10.1063/5.0202312","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0202312","url":null,"abstract":"The dynamics of the sub-Ohmic spin-boson model under polarized initial conditions at finite temperatures is investigated by employing both analytical tools and the numerically accurate hierarchical equations of motion-tensor train method. By analyzing the features of nonequilibrium dynamics, we discovered a bifurcation phenomenon, which separates two regimes of the dynamics. It is found that before the bifurcation time, increasing temperature slows down the population dynamics, while the opposite effect occurs after the bifurcation time. The dynamics is highly sensitive to both initial preparation of the bath and thermal effects.","PeriodicalId":501648,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Chemical Physics","volume":"42 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140801334","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Laboratory study of rotationally inelastic collisions of CO2 at low temperatures.","authors":"C. Álvarez, G. Tejeda, J. M. Fernández","doi":"10.1063/5.0202588","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0202588","url":null,"abstract":"The rotational relaxation of CO2 by inelastic collisions has been studied in three supersonic jets. The jets were probed by means of Raman spectroscopy with high spectral and spatial resolutions, measuring the rotational populations and the total number density. The time evolution of the rotational populations was analyzed by means of a kinetic master equation, with the help of the energy-corrected sudden power law to relate the numerous state-to-state rate (STS rates) coefficients. In the thermal range investigated, 60-260 K, the STS rates decrease with increasing temperature and with increasing change in the rotational quantum number. Other quantities of interest for fluid dynamics, such as the rotational collision number, the relaxation cross section, and the bulk viscosity, have been derived from the STS rates.","PeriodicalId":501648,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Chemical Physics","volume":"101 26","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140670044","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cation effects in hydrogen evolution and CO2-to-CO conversion: A critical perspective.","authors":"Yu-Shen Hsu, Sachinthya T Rathnayake, M. Waegele","doi":"10.1063/5.0201751","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0201751","url":null,"abstract":"The rates of many electrocatalytic reactions can be strongly affected by the structure and dynamics of the electrochemical double layer, which in turn can be tuned by the concentration and identity of the supporting electrolyte's cation. The effect of cations on an electrocatalytic process depends on a complex interplay between electrolyte components, electrode material and surface structure, applied electrode potential, and reaction intermediates. Although cation effects remain insufficiently understood, the principal mechanisms underlying cation-dependent reactivity and selectivity are beginning to emerge. In this Perspective, we summarize and critically examine recent advances in this area in the context of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and CO2-to-CO conversion, which are among the most intensively studied and promising electrocatalytic reactions for the sustainable production of commodity chemicals and fuels. Improving the kinetics of the HER in base and enabling energetically efficient and selective CO2 reduction at low pH are key challenges in electrocatalysis. The physical insights from the recent literature illustrate how cation effects can be utilized to help achieve these goals and to steer other electrocatalytic processes of technological relevance.","PeriodicalId":501648,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Chemical Physics","volume":"27 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140671239","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Matthew Chan, T. Verstraelen, Alireza Tehrani, Michelle Richer, X. Yang, T. D. Kim, E. Vöhringer-Martinez, Farnaz Heidar-Zadeh, Paul W Ayers
{"title":"The tale of HORTON: Lessons learned in a decade of scientific software development.","authors":"Matthew Chan, T. Verstraelen, Alireza Tehrani, Michelle Richer, X. Yang, T. D. Kim, E. Vöhringer-Martinez, Farnaz Heidar-Zadeh, Paul W Ayers","doi":"10.1063/5.0196638","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0196638","url":null,"abstract":"HORTON is a free and open-source electronic-structure package written primarily in Python 3 with some underlying C++ components. While HORTON's development has been mainly directed by the research interests of its leading contributing groups, it is designed to be easily modified, extended, and used by other developers of quantum chemistry methods or post-processing techniques. Most importantly, HORTON adheres to modern principles of software development, including modularity, readability, flexibility, comprehensive documentation, automatic testing, version control, and quality-assurance protocols. This article explains how the principles and structure of HORTON have evolved since we started developing it more than a decade ago. We review the features and functionality of the latest HORTON release (version 2.3) and discuss how HORTON is evolving to support electronic structure theory research for the next decade.","PeriodicalId":501648,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Chemical Physics","volume":"123 20","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140669662","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}