Prashant Kamat

Disentangling Environmental Effects on Perovskite Solar Cell Performance via Interpretable Machine Learning Despite the rapid increase in efficiency of perovskite photovoltaics, poor reproducibility remains a barrier to their commercialization. Film processing and device performance are highly sensitive to environmental factors during fabrication, yet these interactions are not well understood. Here, we present a systematic methodology to investigate the direct and coupled effects of environmental variables on the perovskite solar cell performance. To do this, we developed an integrated fabrication platform to independently control solvent partial pressure, absolute humidity, and temperature during spin-coating and thermal-annealing of perovskite films and combined it with a closed-loop Bayesian optimization framework to efficiently explore the multidimensional processing space. Efficiency maps reveal coupled nonlinear effects of these variables on device performance, validated by in situ structural characterization, which showed that humidity–solvent interactions affect film crystallization. To overcome the limitations of conventional SHapley Additive exPlanations in disentangling strongly coupled variables, we distilled the knowledge of a Gaussian teacher regressor into multiple student models within an interpretable machine learning framework that employs Shapley interaction analysis to decipher these coupled interactions. This study demonstrates active learning with interpretable machine learning as a powerful tool to explore complex processing landscapes and highlights the importance of environmental control for robust and generalizable processing protocols to accelerate scalable, high-performance, and reproducible perovskite solar cell manufacturing.

Disentangling Environmental Effects on Perovskite Solar Cell Performance via Interpretable Machine Learning | ACS Energy Letters pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
From Tianran Liu, Nicky Evans, Kangyu Ji, Moungi Bawendi,Vladimir Bulović, Tonio Buonassisi and other MIT researchers

Room Temperature Size Tuning of CsPbI3 Quantum Dots Size quantization in halide perovskite nanocrystals provides a versatile strategy to tune their optical and electronic properties. We have now synthesized CsPbI3 quantum dots (QDs, 5–13.5 nm) by first...

Room Temperature Size Tuning of CsPbI3 Quantum Dots | ACS Materials Letters
We have CsPbI3 quantum dots (5–13.5 nm) are synthesized by first preparing CsPbBr3 QDs at room temp., followed by halide exchange with iodide ions and characterize excited state properties.
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Opinion | Don’t Trust the Rankings That Put China’s Universities on Top

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/o...

Opinion | Don’t Trust the Rankings That Put China’s Universities on Top

Don’t Trust the Rankings That Put China’s Universities on Top www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/o...

Is “THIS WORK ★” Really the Best?
The Trouble with Figure-Driven Claims of Excellent Performance | Editorial by Phil Christopher in ACS Energy Letters pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Why authors should not feel that every paper must show champion performance without standardization in measurements

As we celebrate "International Day of Women and Girls in Science" today, ACE Energy Letters recognizes these outstanding scientists for their impactful contributions to energy research. Read their inspiring stories
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
pubs.acs.org/page/aelccp/...

Measuring pH Changes Inside a Bipolar Membrane Junction The local pH environment within bipolar membrane (BPM) junctions is complex and not well understood, yet it is important to control for advancing the performance of BPM-based electrochemical systems. We report a voltammetric strategy using an ultrathin Ni mesh pH probe to spatially resolve pH changes in the BPM junction during model BPM electrolyzer operation. Under reverse bias, we observe depletion of OH– at the anion-exchange layer (AEL) interface, with a degree diminishing with increasing distance from the AEL. These gradients correlate with current-dependent water dissociation (WD) and are modulated by the electric field and the surface charge state of the catalyst. By correlating spatial pH profiles with the surface-charging behavior of WD catalysts, we explore a mechanism of catalyst-mediated H+ and OH– transfer facilitated by hydrogen-bonding networks. These findings highlight the role of local chemistry and electrostatics in BPM performance and offer new methods to probe and engineer catalytic junctions in electrochemical energy devices.

Just published from @boettcherlab.bsky.social
Measuring pH Changes Inside a Bipolar Membrane Junction | ACS Energy Letters pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Citation cartels use fake author names to target chemistry journals Dubious entities masquerade as researchers in war zones or low-income countries to obtain journal fee waivers

Citation cartels use fake author names to target chemistry journals cen.acs.org/research-int...

Pressure-Aware Operando X-ray Methods Reveal True Mechanistic Pathways in Solid-State Batteries Operando studies of solid-state batteries (SSBs) must capture device-relevant stack pressure and temperature, since uncontrolled conditions can cause relaxation artifacts and lead to false mechanistic...

Pressure-Aware Operando X-ray Methods Reveal True Mechanistic Pathways in Solid-State Batteries | ACS Energy Letters pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

The Tsunami of AI generated articles is coming! Majority of the reviews submitted for publication contain significant amount of AI generated text. Often these articles slip through the review process and get published! Even if they are rejected by one journal, there is another one to publish them.

🤭

Check Google Scholar -Very Prolific author
scholar.google.com/citations?hl...

Engineering Excited-State Dynamics in AgInS2 Quantum Dots by Gallium Incorporation and GaSy Shell Passivation Ternary I–III–VI semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are being explored as nontoxic alternatives to Cd- and Pb-based QDs for light-harvesting applications. Incorporation of Ga into AgInS2 reduces the num...

Engineering Excited-State Dynamics in AgInS2 Quantum Dots by Gallium Incorporation and GaSy Shell Passivation | Chemistry of Materials
The photocatalytic properties of ternary QDs suggest the importance of the GaSy shell in suppressing back electron transfer. pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

huh

Has anyone done analysis to check how many more CO2 molecules will be released into the atmosphere to capture one molecule of CO2?

Peer Review and AI:Your(Human)Opinion Is What Matters
ACS Nano Editorial pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
"No LLM can replicate critical thinking and experience of researchers. Editors specifically chose you because of your expertise; we value your unique perspective and evaluation,not that of an LLM"

The Strategic Role of 2D Nanomaterials in Grid Modernization

The Strategic Role of 2D Nanomaterials in Grid Modernization |Energy Focus discusses challenges, and opportunities related to 2D material utilization for energy generation, storage, transmission, and distribution that support grid efficiency and energy security
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Science journals retract 500 papers a month. This is why it matters A small team of volunteers is tracking thousands of falsified studies, including cases of bribery, fraud and plagiarism

SUNDAY TIMES: Science journals retract 500 papers a month
www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...

Women Scientists at the Forefront of Energy Research: Part 8
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Women Energy Researchers share personal reflections that inspired them to engage in energy research and discuss the successful career paths they have taken to become leaders. #Womeninscience #WomeninSTEM

We lost a great legend of nanoscience and an inspirational mentor.
In Memoriam: Professor Emeritus Louis Brus | Arts & Sciences fas.columbia.edu/news/memoria...

A Decade of Excellence Driving the Next Wave of Energy Research | ACS Energy Letters
As we step into the next decade, it is time to assess accomplishments and new challenges need attention in the next decade.This editorial presents some of these scientific issues
pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

Women Scientists at the Forefront of Energy Research: Part 8

Women Scientists at the Forefront of Energy Research: Part 8 | ACS Energy Letters
These scientists share their personal reflections that inspired them to engage in energy research and discuss the successful career paths they have taken to become leaders in the community
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

The chemist using curry to understand indoor air pollution Ashish Kumar's research reveals how cooking shapes the air we breathe indoors

The chemist using curry to understand indoor air pollution
www.chemistryworld.com/news/the-che...

🔋The Intercalation team on Substack reports that battery prices have increased slightly in 2025.

LFP increased by 2 $/kWh, while NMC rose by about 7 $/kWh.

Even so, pricing remains broadly consistent with BloombergNEF’s findings.

open.substack.com/pub/intercal...

#battchat #batteries #energysky

As a last minute type person, this seems EXTREMELY important.

Santa on a small chunk of ice looking at smoky factories say”MAYBE I SHOULD'VE BEEN GIVING ALL THE NAUGHTY KIDS SOLAR PANELS INSTEAD OF COAL.” -Stiles airbearenterrainment.com

🎅 ❤️ 🌏

Tunable n- and p-Type Behavior of Ruddlesden–Popper and Dion–Jacobson 2D Perovskites Interfacial band alignment in two-dimensional (2D)/three-dimensional (3D) perovskite heterostructures is crucial for maximizing separation, extraction, and collection of charge carriers, which, in tur...

Just Published in ACS Energy Lett with @gszabo.bsky.social and Junsang Cho
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
In-situ open circuit potential (OCP) responses of 2D perovskites, paired with redox couples (ferrocene/ferrocenium), reveal semiconducting polarizabilities of BA-RP (n-type) and BDA-DJ (p-type).

AI is saving time and money in research — but at what cost? Artificial-intelligence tools are boosting researchers’ productivity, but some worry about the effect of a growing reliance on them.

AI is saving time and money in research — but at what cost? www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Science’s 2025 Breakthrough of the Year: The unstoppable rise of renewable energy Clean energy infrastructure is being deployed with unmatched scale and speed—and China is leading the way

This is an incredible achievement. And it's only just getting started. www.science.org/content/arti...

Can ChatGPT and Other AI Bots Serve as Peer Reviewers? | ACS Energy Letters pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...