Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have attracted tremendous interest because of their rapid improvement in power conversion efficiency (PCE) from the initial PCE of 3.8% for the first prototype to the certified PCE of 25.2% in 2019. However, the inherent chemical instability of organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite halides influenced by moisture, heat and ultraviolet light is still a critical issue for them to meet application-specific requirements owing to the weak-bonded organic components in the hybrid crystal structure. The use of all-inorganic perovskites CsPbI_3−xBr_x (x = 0, 1, 2, and 3) as light-harvesters by completely substituting organic species with inorganic Cs⁺ ions has been recently regarded as a promising solar conversion technology. Since the initial efficiency of 2.9% achieved in 2015, the highest PCE record for inorganic PSCs has risen to 18.4% through structure optimization, compositional engineering, interfacial engineering, solvent control and surface passivation, etc. This article is dedicated to providing an up-to-date review on the development of inorganic PSCs tailored by various inorganic perovskite materials with gradually changed optical properties and stability, as well as the film-making methods and interfacial engineering technologies. Their limited efficiencies in theory and recombination mechanisms are also predicted with a detailed balance model. Finally, we focused on the state-of-the-art strategies for enhancing the photovoltaic performance and identified new challenges and outlooks for future studies in this field.

Substitution of Pb²⁺ sites with smaller isovalent ions is used to optimize the crystal lattice of inorganic CsPbBr₃ perovskite through releasing lattice strain, increasing the formation energy of vacancies and tuning the bandgap energy distribution.

The rapid development of the Internet of Things has resulted in the harvesting of distributed sustainable energy receiving increasing attention. Recently, a study on triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) for collecting low-frequency and irregular-amplitude ocean wave energy has attracted significant interest. Herein, a self-powered seesaw-structured spherical triboelectric–electromagnetic hybrid nanogenerator (SSTE-HNG) combining various working modes is presented for harvesting wide-frequency wave energy from different directions and self-powered sea surface wireless positioning. The electrical output performances were systematically investigated and optimized via studying the effects of the configuration parameters, including the central slider mass, oscillation frequency, and swing amplitude of each module and the entire device; the instantaneous maximum output power densities of the origami zigzag-multilayer structured (OZ), freestanding layer rolling (FL), and electromagnetic generator (EMG) modules can reach 17, 4.8, and 9.8 W m⁻³, respectively, at an oscillation frequency of 0.7 Hz, and around 410 LEDs can be lit when operating the SSTE-HNG. Finally, the output voltage of the SSTE-HNG was stabilized using a transistor-controlled power management circuit for charging a 4.7 mF commercial capacitor in the range of 2.7 to 3.3 V; the seesaw-structured spherical buoy was used to drive a global positioning system (GPS) module for dynamic sea surface real-time wireless positioning, and our lab building on campus was successfully located upon installing the SSTE-HNG in a water tank. This study provides an ingenious design for achieving synchronized movements among hybrid effect/mode-based generators, and a self-powered buoy with a hybrid nanogenerator for sea surface wireless positioning was realized, which has the potential to be integrated with distributed electronics, such as sensors that collect sea surface meteorological information, in the future in the field of smart marine technology.

A maximum power density of 1.838 W m⁻² is achieved and 30 LEDs can be lighted up by the cumulative water droplets driven freestanding triboelectric nanogenerator demonstrating the great potential for hydrodynamic energy harvesting from rain.

Multimodal haptic perception is essential for enhancing perceptual experiences in augmented reality applications. To date, several artificial tactile interfaces have been developed to perceive pressure and precontact signals, while simultaneously detecting object type and softness with quantified modulus still remains challenging. Here, inspired by the campaniform sensilla on insect antennae, we proposed a hemispherical bimodal intelligent tactile sensor (BITS) array using the triboelectric effect. The system is capable of softness identification, modulus quantification, and material type recognition. In principle, due to the varied deformability of materials, the BITS generates unique triboelectric output fingerprints when in contact with the tested object. Furthermore, owing to the different electron affinities, the BITS array can accurately recognize material type (99.4% accuracy), facilitating softness recognition (100% accuracy) and modulus quantification. It is promising that the BITS based on the triboelectric effect has the potential to be miniaturized to provide real-time accurate haptic information as an artificial antenna toward applications of human-machine integration.