Under acidic conditions, IrO₂ exhibits high catalytic activity with respect to the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). However, the practical application of Ir-based catalysts is significantly limited owing to their high cost in addition to the scarcity of the metal. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the efficiency of the utilization of such catalysts. In this study, IrO₂-coated Ti felt (IrO₂/Ti) electrodes were prepared as high-efficiency catalysts for the OER under acidic conditions. By controlling the surface roughness of the Ti substrate via wet etching, the optimum Ti substrate surface area for application in the IrO₂/Ti electrode was determined. Additionally, the IrO₂ film that was electrodeposited on the 30 min etched Ti felt had a large surface area and a uniform morphology. Furthermore, there were no micro-cracks and the electrode obtained (IrO₂/Ti-30) exhibited superior catalytic performance with respect to the OER, with a mass activity of 362.3 A ${\text{g}}_{\text{Ir}}^{-1}$ at a potential of 2.0 V (vs. RHE) despite the low Ir loading (0.2 mg cm⁻²). Therefore, this proposed strategy for the development of IrO₂/Ti electrodes with substrate surface control via wet etching has potential for application in the improvement of the efficiency of catalyst utilization with respect to the OER.

Flexible and transparent thin-film silicon solar cells were fabricated and optimized for building-integrated photovoltaics and bifacial operation. A laser lift-off method was developed to avoid thermal damage during the transfer of light-scattering structures onto colorless polyimide substrates and thus enhance front-incidence photocurrent, while a dual n-type rear window layer was introduced to reduce optical losses, facilitate electron transport for rear incidence, and thus enhance performance during bifacial operation. The introduction of the window layer increased the rear-to-front power conversion efficiency ratio to ~86%. The optimized bifacial power conversion efficiency for front and rear irradiances of 1 and 0.3 sun, respectively, equaled 6.15%, and the average transmittance within 500–800 nm equaled 36.9%. Additionally, the flexible and transparent solar cells fabricated using laser lift-off exhibited good mechanical reliability (i.e., sustained 500 cycles at a bending radius of 6 mm) and were therefore suitable for building-integrated photovoltaics.

Despite extensive investigations of a wide variety of artificial synapse devices aimed at realizing a neuromorphic hardware system, the identification of a physical parameter that modulates synaptic plasticity is still required. In this context, a novel two-dimensional architecture consisting of a NbSe₂/WSe₂/Nb₂O₅ heterostructure placed on an SiO₂/p+ Si substrate was designed to overcome the limitations of the conventional silicon-based complementary metal-oxide semiconductor technology. NbSe₂, WSe₂, and Nb₂O₅ were used as the metal electrode, active channel, and conductance-modulating layer, respectively. Interestingly, it was found that the post-synaptic current was successfully modulated by the thickness of the interlayer Nb₂O₅, with a thicker interlayer inducing a higher synapse spike current and a stronger interaction in the sequential pulse mode. Introduction of the Nb₂O₅ interlayer can facilitate the realization of reliable and controllable synaptic devices for brain-inspired integrated neuromorphic systems.