There have been many articles on the degradation of pollutants by binary and ternary nanocomposites in the field of photocatalysis. However, there has been no research comparing the photocatalytic performance of Rhodamine B (Rh B) between (M(M=Pt, Ag and Au)-TiO₂)@MoS₂ nanocomposites and binary nanocomposites. To this end, we prepared and studied (M(M=Pt, Ag and Au)-TiO₂)@MoS₂ nanocomposites and compared their photocatalytic degradation efficiency with binary composites and parent materials for Rhodamine B. We concluded that the best ternary polymer nanocomposite for degrading Rhodamine B is (Pt(5 wt%)-TiO₂(15 wt%))@MoS₂. In this work, a series of MoS₂, TiO₂@MoS₂, and (M(M=Pt, Ag and Au)-TiO₂)@MoS₂ nanocomposites with various compositions were synthesized by the hydrothermal and deposition–precipitation methods, and their photocatalytic characteristics were studied in depth using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) photoluminescence spectra (PL), FTIR spectra, UV–Vis DRS spectra, and BET analyzer. The results confirmed that TiO₂ and M(Pt, Ag and Au) nanoparticles (NPs) were evenly distributed on MoS₂ nanosheets (NSs) to form (M(M=Pt, Ag and Au)-TiO₂)@MoS₂ nanocomposite heterojunction. The UV–Vis absorption spectrum test results indicated that (Pt(5 wt%)-TiO₂(15 wt%))@MoS₂ ternary heterojunction nanocomposites exhibited the highest photocatalysis activity, with the maximum value of 99.0% compared to 93% for TiO₂(15 wt%)@MoS₂, 96.5% for (Ag(5 wt%)-TiO₂(15 wt%))@MoS₂, and 97.8% for (Au(5 wt%)-TiO₂(15 wt%))@MoS₂ within 9 min. The advanced structure of (Pt-TiO₂)@MoS₂ improved both light harvesting and electron transfer in the photocatalytic composites, contributing to remarkable catalytic effectiveness and extended durability for the photodegradation of Rhodamine B (Rh B). In-depth discussions of the potential growth and photocatalytic mechanism, which will help improve the energy and environmental fields, are included.

The stability issue of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has long been of concern to researchers. Poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) is commonly used as a hole transport layer (HTL) in the inverted PSCs to achieve efficient and stable performance. However, PEDOT:PSS can corrode ITO, affecting device efficiency. Moreover, the hydrophilic nature of PEDOT:PSS compromises device stability. In this work, Poly (3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT), known for its good hydrophobicity, was used to modify the surface of PEDOT:PSS, reducing its water absorption and thereby enhancing the efficiency and stability of PSCs. The results reveal that incorporating P3HT effectively enhances the hydrophobicity of PEDOT:PSS. Furthermore, it fosters the development of large-grain perovskite film on the PEDOT:PSS/P3HT bilayer. This enhancement leads to a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 19.78% for PSCs, with an increase by 16% than that of reference cells (17.04% of PCE). Following a duration of 1000 h, the PCE for the device modified with P3HT remains above 90%, while the PCE of the reference device is below 70%. These findings suggest that using P3HT in conjunction with PEDOT:PSS as a bilayer HTL can concurrently and proficiently improve the efficiency and stability of PSCs.

The geometrical structure, stability, electronic properties, and hydrogen storage capabilities of a titanium-doped B₇ cluster was calculated using density functional theory computations. The results show that the TiB₇ cluster is predicted to be stable under near-ambient conditions based on an ab initio molecular dynamic simulation. The transition state analysis found that the H₂ molecule can dissociate on the TIB₇ cluster surface to form a hydride cluster. The Ti atom within the TiB₇ cluster demonstrates an impressive capacity to adsorb up to five H₂ molecules, achieving a peak hydrogen storage mass fraction of 7.5%. It is worth noting that the average adsorption energy of H₂ molecules is 0.27–0.32 eV, which shows that these configurations are suited for reversible hydrogen storage under mild temperature and pressure regimes. In addition, calculations found that both polarization and hybridization mechanisms play pivotal roles in facilitating the adsorption of H₂ molecules onto the TiB₇ cluster. Our research results show that the TiB₇ cluster has potential for hydrogen storage applications under near-ambient conditions.

In our study, by developing the diluted PEDOT:PSS (D-PEDOT:PSS) to replace PEDOT:PSS stock solution as hole transport layer (HTL) materials for fabricating the inverted perovskite solar cells (PSCs), the performance of developed device with ITO/D-PEDOT:PSS/MAPbI_3−xCl_x/C₆₀/BCP/Ag structure is enhanced distinctly. Experimental results reveal that when the dilution ratio is 10:1, the optimal power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the D-PEDOT:PSS device can reach up to 17.85% with an increase of 11.28% compared to the undiluted PEDOT:PSS device. A series of investigations have confirmed that the efficiency improvement is mainly attributed to the two aspects: on one hand, the transmittance and conductivity of D-PEDOT:PSS HTL are improved, and the density of defect states at the interface is reduced after dilution, promoting the separation and transmission of charges, thus the short-circuit current (J_SC) is significantly increased; on the other hand, the work function of D-PEDOT:PSS becomes more consistent with perovskite layer, and the voltage loss is reduced, so that the higher open circuit voltage (V_OC) is obtained. Our research has indicated that diluting HTL develops a simpler, more efficient and cost-effective method to further improve performance for inverted PSCs.