One of nature’s most common organic materials – lignin – can be used to create stable and environmentally friendly organic solar cells. Researchers at Linköping University and the Royal Institute .
The simulation hypothesis posits that everything we experience was coded by an intelligent being, and we are part of that computer code.
But we cannot accurately reproduce natural laws with computer simulations.
Faith is fine, but science requires evidence and logic. p em [Note: The following is a transcript of the video embedded at the bottom of this article.] /em /p p I quite like the idea that we live in a computer simulation. It gives me hope that things will be better on the next level. Unfortunately, the idea is unscientific. But why do some people believe in the simulation hypothesis? And just exactly what s the problem with it? That s what we ll talk about today. br br According to the simulation hypothesis, everything we experience was coded by an intelligent being, and we are part of that computer code. That we live in some kind of computation in and by itself is not unscientific. For all we currently know, the laws of nature are mathematical, so you could say the u
p-type semiconductor) and an electron transport layer (
n-type semiconductor) on top. If the perovskite film preferentially features a
p-type surface, it will cause nonradiative recombination across the interface with the electron transport layer. Manipulating the surface energetics, however, from intrinsic
p- to
n-type will better match the top electron transport layer, improving charge transport and thus device performance.
Limiting nonradiative-recombination losses by “electronically passivating perovskite bulk and interface defects and energetically modifying the interface,” explains senior author Qinye Bao at East China Normal University, Shanghai, China, are therefore “highly critical issues to improve both efficiency and stability” of PSCs.
A spicy solution
A touch of chili peppers can spice up just about any dish – and maybe, it turns out, even solar cells. Researchers have now found that adding a sprinkle of capsaicin to a perovskite precursor can improve the efficiency of solar cells.
Jin Yang
Solar cells treated with capsaicin – the compound that makes chilli peppers hot – have been found to be more efficient at converting solar energy.
Ultra-thin solar cells made with lead-based materials can absorb light more efficiently than silicon-based solar cells, but they often can’t convert energy as efficiently because they lose some of it to heat. It turns out the solution is to add a bit of heat.
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Qinye Bao at East China Normal University in Shanghai and his colleagues added capsaicin to these ultra-thin perovskite solar cells during the manufacturing process. Bao and his team suspected that capsaicin might have an energy-boosting effect because it can free up electrons that can go on to carry charge.