Microfluidic Methods for Fabrication and Engineering of Nanoparticle Drug Delivery SystemsLu Zhang, Qinghua Chen, Yao Ma et al.|ACS Applied Bio Materials|2019 Microfluidic technologies with precise fluid control and rapid microscale mixing have attracted widespread interest in the fabrication and engineering of nanomaterials for drug delivery. The drug-loaded nanomaterials prepared by microfluidic methods can exhibit better monodispersity, higher drug encapsulation efficiency, and prolonged blood circulation time as compared to those by conventional bench methods. In this review, we summarize recent advances in microfluidic fabrication of a variety of nanomaterials, including organic, inorganic, and hybrid nanoparticles, as drug delivery systems. We discuss the microfluidic control of the physicochemical properties of these nanomaterials, such as size, shape, structure, rigidity, and surface modification, which can affect their therapeutic efficacy to some extent. Furthermore, a perspective of microfluidic fabrication of nanomaterials for targeted drug delivery is presented.
Crowning Lithium Ions in Hole‐Transport Layer toward Stable Perovskite Solar CellsYing Shen, Kaimo Deng, Qinghua Chen et al.|Advanced Materials|2022 Abstract State‐of‐the‐art perovskite solar cells (PSCs) exhibit comparable power conversion efficiency (PCE) to that of silicon photovoltaic devices. However, the device stability remains a major obstacle that restricts widespread application. Doping‐induced hygroscopicity, ion diffusion, and use of polar solvents in the hole‐transport layer are detrimental factors for performance degradation of PSCs. Here, phase‐transfer‐catalyzed LiTFSI doping in Spiro‐OMeTAD is developed to address these negative impacts. 12‐Crown‐4 as an efficient phase‐transfer catalyst promotes the dissolution of LiTFSI without requiring acetonitrile. A combined experimental and theoretical study demonstrates the host–guest interaction between Li + ions and 12‐crown‐4. Crowning Li + ions by forming more stable and less diffusive crown‐ether–Li + complexes retards the generation of hygroscopic lithium oxides and mitigates Li + ‐ion migration. Optimized PSCs deliver enhanced PCE and significantly improved stability under humid and thermal conditions compared with a control device. This method can also be applied to dope π‐conjugated polymer. The findings provide a facile avenue to improve the long‐term stability of PSCs.