BREAKTHROUGH TOWARDS CHEAP AND EFFICIENT SOLAR CELLS

Scientists from EPFL and CSEM have made remarkable progress in the photovoltaics field, specifically in perovskite-on-silicon tandem solar cells, by achieving an impressive efficiency of 31.25%. This noteworthy accomplishment is a result of advancements in materials and processes that have successfully unlocked the true potential of this emerging technology. Studies at NCD-SWEET beamline of ALBA have been carried out to analyse these materials. The scientific breakthrough behind this milestone has been published in Science, representing a significant step towards a greener, cleaner energy future and the ongoing energy transition.

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UNDERSTANDING HOW NANOPARTICLES INTERACT IS KEY TO IMPROVE METAL NANOCATALYSTS

Nanocatalysts are key for the future of sustainable chemistry, yet, they typically suffer from rapid deactivation caused by a process called sintering. In a recent study led by the ALBA Synchrotron and Ghent University, researchers have developed an integrated approach where they complement the use of several characterization techniques to study platinum nanoparticle sintering at the micro-, meso- and macroscale. The demonstrated approach shows that mesoscale heterogeneities in the nanoparticle population drive sintering. This work will help broaden the fundamental understanding of nanoparticle sintering and thus design better strategies for catalyst fabrication.

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RESEARCHERS PROPOSE A NEW STRUCTURAL MODEL FOR POLYMER MATERIALS

Researchers from Spain and the United States, in collaboration with ALBA, have developed a new structural model for polymer materials: the semi-paracrystallinity. The experiments performed at NCD-SWEET beamline were key to reveal the semi-paracrystalline organization of the polymers, which is of paramount importance for the further development of these materials in organic electronic technologies.

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ALBA AND ICMAB, TOGETHER FOR DEVELOPING GREEN ENERGY APPLICATIONS MORE EFFICIENTLY

The ALBA Synchrotron and the Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC) are developing a new system to manufacture low-cost and ultrafast superconducting tapes (key in the field of green energy since they allow the transport and generation of energy in a much more efficient way). The NCD-SWEET beamline has recently hosted the first experiments. This project has received funding under the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and the NextGenerationEU funds.

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CYBORG PLANTS: ROOTS CAN STORAGE ENERGY

Researchers of the HyPhOE European Project have developed biohybrid plants with an electronic root system, which could be used to store energy or as electronic sensors. This study proved the integration of circuits and electrochemical devices into the plants without damaging them, so that they continued to grow and adapt to their new hybrid state. Experiments at the NCD-SWEET beamline of the ALBA Synchrotron were crucial to shed light on the plant-based technology field.

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SPACE LABORATORIES CONDITIONS SIMULATED ON EARTH TO EXPERIMENT WITH MATERIALS

A team of researchers demonstrated that 2D porous crystalline molecular frameworks can be grown with excellent control over their morphology and homogeneity by using a custom-made microfluidic device. This approach recreates on Earth the microgravity environment of laboratories on the International Space Stations. Measurements at the NCD-SWEET beamline at the ALBA Synchrotron allowed studying crystallinity, structure and orientation of the created 2D material.

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ALBA, AN EFFECTIVE TOOL TO IMPROVE HEALTH

Large research facilities like the ALBA Synchrotron have become versatile infrastructures at the service of the scientific community to develop knowledge and join forces in the fight against the pandemic caused by Covid-19 and other diseases. On the World Health Day, ALBA takes stock of the experiments carried out in the last year that help to find answers to improve our living conditions.

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CONTROL OF TEXTURE FORMATION IN PEROVSKITE-BASED MATERIALS FOR MORE EFFICIENT SOLAR CELLS

A team of scientists has shown that Bromine (Br) incorporation in polycrystalline cesium lead triiodide (CsPbI3) thin films, with composition CsPbI3-xBrx, modifies the crystal structure by changing the symmetry of the lattice. This change, in turn, governs the formation of the different, energetically favored textures within the thin film. Controlling grain orientations within polycrystalline all‐inorganic halide perovskite solar cells can help increase conversion efficiencies, which would represent great progress in the field of renewable energies. This discovery comes directly from synchrotron X‐ray diffraction experiments carried out at the ALBA Synchrotron and the European Radiation Facility in Grenoble.

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TOWARDS MORE EFFICIENT ORGANIC SOLAR CELLS

Plastic solar cells are comprised of two materials: a semiconductor polymer and another electron-accepting compound. To obtain the maximum performance from the solar cell, it is necessary that regions where the compounds are intermixed and regions where the materials are pure coexist. This new research presents for the first time an experimental methodology based on nanocalorimetry that allows quantifying the degree of intermixing of solar cells, a fundamental knowledge for the design of more efficient and stable devices. Some of the experiments were carried out in the ALBA Synchrotron's NCD-SWEET beamline.

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RESEARCHERS FROM ALBA UNRAVEL A STRUCTURAL MECHANISM  INVOLVED IN BACTERIAL CONJUGATION

A study led by scientists from the XALOC beamline of the ALBA Synchrotron reports an in-depth structural analysis of bacterial proteins involved in conjugation: Rap and Rco, at various levels of atomic detail. They have demonstrated that Rap tetramerization is induced by peptide binding, through a novel “foot-2-foot” interaction, not previously seen in other proteins of the Rap family. Tetramerization hampers Rap-Rco interaction, releasing Rco, which is a repressor protein, and thereby blocking conjugation, the transfer of genetic material between bacteria.

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