Observing the impact of urban morphology and building geometry on thermal environment by high spatial resolution thermal images

Urban surface temperature is a very important variable in the observation and understanding of energy exchange. A comprehensive understanding of the urban thermal environment is of great significance towards the adaptability of urban areas to climate hazards. The heterogeneity of urban space increases the complexity of the urban surface...

Ultra-thin electron collectors based on nc-Si:H for high-efficiency silicon heterojunction solar cells

Low parasitic absorption and high conductivity enable (n)-type hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon [(n)nc-Si:H], eventually alloyed with oxygen [(n)nc-SiO_x:H], to be deployed as window layer in high-efficiency silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells. Besides the appropriate opto-electrical properties of these nanocrystalline...

Strategy to mitigate the dipole interfacial states in (i)a-Si:H/MoOxpassivating contacts solar cells

Electrical simulations show that the dipole formed at (i)a-Si:H/MoOx interface can explain electrical performance degradation. We experimentally manipulate this interface by a plasma treatment (PT) to mitigate the dipole strength without harming the optical response. The optimal PT + MoOx stack results in strongly improved electrical...

Strategy to mitigate the dipole interfacial states in (i)a-Si:H/MoO_x passivating contacts solar cells

Molybdenum oxide (MoO_x) is attractive for applications as hole-selective contact in silicon heterojunction solar cells for its transparency and relatively high work function. However, the integration of MoO_x stacked on intrinsic amorphous silicon (i)a-Si:H layer usually exhibits some issues that are still not fully...

Doped hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon oxide layers for high-efficiency c-Si heterojunction solar cells

Hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon oxide (nc-SiO_x:H) layers exhibit promising optoelectrical properties for carrier-selective-contacts in silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells. However, achieving high conductivity while preserving crystalline silicon (c-Si) passivation quality is technologically challenging for growing thin...

Macro-meso dynamic analysis of railway transition zone: Hybrid DEM/FDM simulation and experimental validation

To probe into the mechanical behaviour of railway transition zone from the macro-meso aspects, a numerical model of transition zone is built that hybrids the Discrete Element Method (DEM) and Finite Difference Method (FDM). The DEM is utilised to simulate the ballast bed and sleeper, because it can consider the realistic ballast shapes and...

The role of heterointerfaces and subgap energy states on transport mechanisms in silicon heterojunction solar cells

The contact resistivity is a key parameter to reach high conversion efficiency in solar cells, especially in architectures based on the so-called carrier-selective contacts. The importance of contact resistivity relies on the evaluation of the quality of charge collection from the absorber bulk through adjacent electrodes. The electrode...

A systematic literature review on safety research related to chemical industrial parks

The increasing demand for chemical products has driven the construction and development of chemical industrial areas, or so-called 'chemical industrial parks' (CIPs), but this has intrinsically raised the risk of major accidents. Therefore, it is significant and urgent to summarize the state of art and research needs in the field of CIP...

Realizing the Potential of RF-Sputtered Hydrogenated Fluorine-Doped Indium Oxide as an Electrode Material for Ultrathin SiO _x/Poly-Si Passivating Contacts

In high-efficiency silicon solar cells featuring carrier-selective passivating contacts based on ultrathin SiOx/poly-Si, the appropriate implementation of transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layers is of vital importance. Considerable deterioration in passivation quality occurs for thin poly-Si-based devices owing to the sputtering damage...

High-Mobility Hydrogenated Fluorine-Doped Indium Oxide Film for Passivating Contacts c-Si Solar Cells

Broadband transparent conductive oxide layers with high electron mobility (μ_e) are essential to further enhance crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cell performances. Although metallic cation-doped In₂O₃ thin films with high μ_e (>60 cm² V^-1 s^-1) have been extensively...

How To Break the Janus Effect of H ₂ O ₂ in Biocatalysis? Understanding Inactivation Mechanisms To Generate more Robust Enzymes

H ₂ O ₂ , is an attractive oxidant for synthetic chemistry, especially if activated as percarboxylic acid. H ₂ O ₂ , however, is also a potent inactivator of enzymes. Protein engineering efforts to improve enzyme resistance against H ₂ O ₂ in the past have mostly focused on...

High temperature oxidation pre-treatment of textured c-Si wafers passivated by a-Si:H

This work shows an alternative surface cleaning method for c-Si wafers to replace the standard chemical procedures as RCA or HNO ₃ which involve hazardous chemicals or unstable processes. The method consists in a high-temperature oxidation treatment (HTO) performed in a classical tube furnace that incorporates organic and metal...

Set organic pollution as an impact category to achieve more comprehensive evaluation of life cycle assessment in wastewater-related issues

For wastewater-related issues (WRI), life cycle assessment (LCA) is often used to evaluate environmental impacts and derive optimization strategies. To promote the application of LCA for WRI, it is critical to incorporate local impact of water pollutants. Organic pollution, a main type of water pollution, has not been given much consideration...

Optimization of culturing conditions for isolated Arthrobacter sp. ZXY-2, an effective atrazine-degrading and salt-adaptive bacterium

The increasing salinity in aquatic environments has had a negative impact on the biodegradation of atrazine, an extensively used herbicide which has been proven to pollute soil and water ecosystems. In the present study, a novel atrazine-degrading strain (ZXY-2) was isolated from industrial wastewater and identified as the Arthrobacter genus...

Analytical approach for determining the mean water level profile in an estuary with substantial fresh water discharge

The mean water level in estuaries rises in the landward direction due to a combination of the density gradient, the tidal asymmetry, and the backwater effect. This phenomenon is more prominent under an increase of the fresh water discharge, which strongly intensifies both the tidal asymmetry and the backwater effect. However, the interactions...

Visualization for the Coherent Set of 3D Property Units

There are many 3D objects with denser aggregation that they are fully/partly coherent touched with each other through shared facets, which we called coherent set of 3D objects. Visualization for 3D property unit is an effective way to understand 3D spatial occupation, location and relationship in urban space, particularly in the coherent set of...

Coupled analysis of nonlinear sloshing and ship motions

Hydrodynamics of a 2D vessel including internal sloshing flows