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Sol–gel processed zinc oxide (ZnO) is one of the most widely used electron transport layers (ETLs) in inverted organic solar cells (OSCs). The high annealing temperature (≈200 °C) required for sintering to ensure a high electron mobility however results in severe damage to flexible substrates. Thus, flexible organic solar cells based on sol–gel processed ZnO exhibit significantly lower efficiency than rigid devices. In this paper, an indium‐doping approach is developed to improve the optoelectronic properties of ZnO layers and reduce the required annealing temperature. Inverted OSCs based on In‐doped ZnO (IZO) exhibit a higher efficiency than those based on ZnO for a range of different active layer systems. For the PM6:L8‐BO system, the efficiency increases from 17.0% for the pristine ZnO‐based device to 17.8% for the IZO‐based device. The IZO‐based device with an active layer of PM6:L8‐BO:BTP‐eC9 exhibits an even higher efficiency of up to 18.1%. In addition, a 1.2‐micrometer‐thick inverted ultrathin flexible organic solar cell is fabricated based on the IZO ETL that achieves an efficiency of 17.0% with a power‐per‐weight ratio of 40.4 W g−1, which is one of the highest efficiency for ultrathin (less than 10 micrometers) flexible organic solar cells. An indium‐doped zinc oxide (IZO) electron transport layer (ETL) is developed for high‐efficiency inverted organic solar cells, and indium doping can improve electron extraction and suppress charge recombination. A 1.2‐micrometer‐thick ultrathin flexible OSC achieves an efficiency of 17.0% with a power‐per‐weight ratio of 40.4 W g−1, which is one of the highest values among ultrathin flexible organic solar cells.

Electrostatic capacitors attract great interest in energy storage fields due to their advantages of high power‐density, fast charge/discharge speed, and great reliability. Intensive efforts have been placed on the development of high‐energy‐density of capacitors. Herein, a novel supercapacitor with Hf0.2Zr0.8O2/xAl2O3/Hf0.2Zr0.8O2 (HAHx) is designed to improve the breakdown strength (Eb) through optimizing Al2O3 (AO) film thickness. Low‐temperature annealing is first proposed to enhance the polarization difference (Pm−Pr) due to the formation of dispersed polar nanoregions, which is called “superparaelectric‐like” similar to previous super‐paraelectric behavior of perovskite structures. As results, both large Eb and Pm−Pr values are obtained, leading to an ultrahigh energy storage density of 87.66 J cm−3 with a high efficiency of 68.6%, as well as a reliable endurance of 107 cycles. This work provides a feasible pathway to improve both the polarization difference and breakdown strength of HfO2‐based films by the combination of insulation insertion layer and low‐temperature annealing. The proposed strategy can contribute to the realization of high‐performance electrostatic supercapacitors with excellent microsystem compatibility. Low‐temperature annealing combined with the insertion of Al2O3 insulating layer can promote the generation of smaller grain sizes with well‐dispersed polar nanoregions. Such characteristics can promise high maximum polarization and low remnant polarization (just like superparaelectric‐like performance), which can improve the energy storage properties of Hf0.2Zr0.8O2/Al2O3/Hf0.2Zr0.8O2 multilayer films.

Low‐temperature annealing is traditionally employed to relieve residual stresses in metallic materials, typically resulting in softening. However, a novel finding in the face‐centered‐cubic (fcc) CoNiV medium entropy alloy (MEA) is reported, where low‐temperature annealing induces significant hardening without sacrificing ductility. Specifically, after annealing at 530 °C, the yield strength increases from 503 to 653 MPa, while maintaining plasticity of ≈60%. The comprehensive analysis reveals that this unexpected strengthening is attributed to the development of multi‐scale chemical short‐range orderings (SROs) during the annealing process. These SROs, particularly a newly formed L12‐type ordered structure (SRO‐2), enhance material strength by promoting dislocation slip planarity and reducing dislocation entanglement. This study demonstrates that low‐temperature annealing can effectively optimize atomic‐scale structures in complex alloys distinct from that in conventional alloys, thereby improving their mechanical properties. These findings extend the conventional understanding of annealing effects and highlight the potential for leveraging SROs to design high‐performance materials. Low‐temperature annealing enhances strength, ductility, and work hardening in CoNiV MEA. This originates from multi‐scale chemical short‐range orderings (SROs) formed during annealing, which promote dislocation slip planarity and reduce entanglement, enabling balanced mechanical properties through ordering strengthening.

This study explores the effects of excess Al and annealing at high temperature on the purity of Ti3AlC2 MAX phase synthesized by the mechanochemical route. In this regard, a constant stoichiometric ratio of Ti: Al: C = 3: 1: 2 along with three blends of nonstoichiometric ratios with excess Al (Ti: Al: C = 3: X: 2, X = 1.1, 1.2, and 1.5) were ball milled. Then, to examine the annealing at high‐temperature effects, the compacted ball‐milled powders were heated at 900 and 1200°C for 1 h. The phase identification revealed that 10 h of ball milling caused a reaction between the elemental powders, and Ti3AlC2 and TiC were formed. The mechanism of the reaction during the high‐energy ball milling process is assigned to a mechanically induced self‐propagating reaction. Addition of excess Al to primary powders caused to increase the purity of Ti3AlC2 significantly. Furthermore, annealing at high temperature leading to complete reactions of the ball‐milled powders and increased Ti3AlC2 purity. The maximum Ti3AlC2 content of 88% was obtained of initial powder of Ti: Al: C = 3: 1.2: 2 ratio after annealing at 1200°C. The Ti3AlC2 and TiC compounds were successfully synthesized after 10 h ball milling of elemental powders of Ti, Al, and C. The effects of excess Al and annealing at high temperature on the purity of Ti3AlC2 MAX phase synthesized by mechanochemical route were evaluated. Maximum Ti3AlC2 content of 88% was obtained from the initial powder of 3Ti/1.2Al/2C ratio and after annealing at 1200°C. The Ti3AlC2 cannot be obtained from 3Ti/1.5Al/2C ratio as starting mixture by MSR mechanism after 10 h ball milling process.

In this study, we examined the optimal pre- and post-annealing conditions for soft magnetic composites (SMCs) using amorphous flake powders produced through ball milling of amorphous Fe-Si-B ribbons, leading to enhanced magnetic properties. The SMCs, which utilized flake powders created via melt spinning, displayed outstanding DC bias characteristics, as well as increased permeability, primarily due to high saturation magnetization and the flaky morphology of the powders. Pre-annealing was performed not only to remove residual stress formed during the melt spinning process but also to improve pulverizing efficiency, which ultimately affected the particle size of the flake powders. Core annealing was performed to reduce core losses and improve permeability by relieving the residual stress generated during the pressing process. As a result, pre-annealing and core annealing temperatures were identified as crucial factors influencing the magnetic properties of the SMCs. We meticulously analyzed the particle size, the morphology of the flake powder, and the magnetic properties of the SMCs in relation to the annealing temperatures. In conclusion, we demonstrated that flake powder SMCs achieved superior soft magnetic properties, including significantly reduced core loss and heightened permeability, through optimal pre- and core-annealing at 370 °C and 425 °C, respectively.

Ag–TiO2 nanocomposite films, based of Ag and TiO2 nanoparticles, were fabricated in a one-step aerosol route employing the simultaneous plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition and physical vapor deposition systems. The as-fabricated films were subjected to different heating rates (3 to 60 °C/min) with a constant annealing temperature of 600 °C to observe the significant changes in the properties (e.g., nanoparticle size, crystalline size, crystallite phase, surface area) toward the photocatalytic performance. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by the measurement of the degradation of a methylene blue aqueous solution under UV light irradiation, and the results revealed that it gradually increased with the increase in the heating rate, caused by the increased Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) specific surface area and total pore volume.

We constructed ZnO/PbS quantum dot (QD) heterojunction solar cells using liquid-phase ligand exchange methods. Colloidal QD solutions deposited on ZnO-dense layers were treated at different temperatures to systematically study how thermal annealing temperature affected carrier transport properties. The surface of the layers became dense and smooth as the temperature approached approximately 80 °C. The morphology of layers became rough for higher temperatures, causing large grain-forming PbS QD aggregation. The number of defect states in the layers indicated a valley-shaped profile with a minimum of 80 °C. This temperature dependence was closely related to the amount of residual n-butylamine complexes in the PbS QD layers and the active layer morphology. The resulting carrier diffusion length obtained on the active layers treated at 80 °C reached approximately 430 nm. The solar cells with a 430-nm-thick active layer produced a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 11.3%. An even higher PCE is expected in solar cells fabricated under optimal annealing conditions.

Background Determining the role of DNA methylation in various biological processes is dependent on the accurate representation of often highly complex patterns. Accurate representation is dependent on unbiased PCR amplification post bisulfite modification, regardless of methylation status of any given epiallele. This is highly dependent on primer design. Particular difficulties are raised by the analysis of CpG-rich regions, which are the usual regions of interest. Here, it is often difficult or impossible to avoid placing primers in CpG-free regions, particularly if one wants to target a specific part of a CpG-rich region. This can cause biased amplification of methylated sequences if the C is placed at those positions or to unmethylated sequences if a T is placed at those positions. Methods We examined the effect of various base substitutions at the cytosine position of primer CpGs on the representational amplification of templates and also examined the role of the annealing temperature during PCR. These were evaluated using methylation-sensitive high-resolution melting and Pyrosequencing. Results For a mixture of fully methylated and unmethylated templates, amplification using the C-, C/T (Y-) and inosine-containing primers was biased towards amplification of methylated DNA. The bias towards methylated sequences increased with annealing temperature. Amplification using primers with an A/C/G/T (N) degeneracy at the cytosine positions was not biased at the lowest temperature used but became increasingly biased towards methylated DNA with increased annealing temperature. Using primers matching neither C nor T was in the main unbiased but at the cost of poor PCR amplification efficiency. Primers with abasic sites were also unbiased but could only amplify DNA for one out of the two assays tested. However, with heterogeneous methylation, it appeared that both the primer type and stringency used have a minimal influence on PCR bias. Conclusions This is the first comprehensive analysis of base substitutions at CpG sites in primers and their effect on PCR bias for the analysis of DNA methylation. Our findings are relevant to the appropriate design of a wide range of assays, including amplicon-based next-generation sequencing approaches that need to measure DNA methylation.

Adjusting the Schottky barrier height is an important approach to enhancing the gas-sensing performance of TiO2 Schottky sensors. In this study, micro TiO2 nanotube Schottky sensors were fabricated via magnetron sputtering and anodic oxidation, with their Schottky barrier height adjusted by varying the annealing temperature. The morphology, phase composition, oxygen vacancy concentration, band structure, and Schottky junction of the samples were investigated using SEM, GIXRD, EPR, Hall effect measurements, XPS, I-V curves, and AC impedance. The sensor annealed at 500 °C demonstrated the highest gas-sensing response, outperforming sensors treated at other temperatures by over 100 times. Its response value to 1 ppm H2 was 242. The annealing temperature significantly affects the TiO2 phase and oxygen vacancy concentration, resulting in the highest Schottky barrier height in the 500 °C-annealed sensor, which contributes to its superior sensing performance. AC impedance measurements revealed no significant Fermi-level pinning in TiO2. Based on the gas-sensing mechanism analysis, the response of the TiO2 sensor can be divided into three regimes: Schottky junction control, TiO2 resistance control, and co-control.

This paper presents the influence of Mn2+ substitution by Ni2+ on the structural, morphological and magnetic properties of Mn1−xNixFe2O4@SiO2 (x = 0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.00) nanocomposites (NCs) obtained by a modified sol-gel method. The Fourier transform infrared spectra confirm the formation of a SiO2 matrix and ferrite, while the X-ray diffraction patterns show the presence of poorly crystalline ferrite at low annealing temperatures and highly crystalline mixed cubic spinel ferrite accompanied by secondary phases at high annealing temperatures. The lattice parameters gradually decrease, while the crystallite size, volume, and X-ray density of Mn1−xNixFe2O4@SiO2 NCs increase with increasing Ni content and follow Vegard’s law. The saturation magnetization, remanent magnetization, squareness, magnetic moment per formula unit, and anisotropy constant increase, while the coercivity decreases with increasing Ni content. These parameters are larger for the samples with the same chemical formula, annealed at higher temperatures. The NCs with high Ni content show superparamagnetic-like behavior, while the NCs with high Mn content display paramagnetic behavior.