Using rice husk ash as a SiO source in the preparation of SiO/NbO and SiO/ZnS heterostructures for photocatalytic application.

This work presents the synthesis of SiO/NbO and SiO/ZnS heterostructures using the microwave-assisted hydrothermal (MAH) method, which is fast and has low temperature. The silica used in the synthesis was obtained by burning the rice husk without any pre- or post-treatments. The obtained samples were characterized using various techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and UV-visible.

KNbO photoelectrode for DSSC: a structural, optical and electrical approach.

In this work, we present the potassium niobate (KNbO) nanoparticles as a suitable mesoporous photoelectrode for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The KNbO particles were synthesized by the microwave-assisted hydrothermal method using mild conditions and characterized by SEM, XRD, Raman, and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance. The particles presented a pyramidal tower-like shape with an orthorhombic structure and an indirect bandgap of (3.

Properties of zinc titanates synthesized by microwave assisted hydrothermal method.

Zinc titanates are compounds that have shown great application versatility, including in the field of semiconductors. Solid state reactions, the polymeric precursor method and the hydrothermal method are the most mentioned synthesis of these compounds in the literature. In the present work, we use microwave assisted hydrothermal method (MAH) to synthesize zinc titanate and evaluate its potential for solar cell applications through structural and optical characterization techniques.

Europium doped zinc sulfide: a correlation between experimental and theoretical calculations.

This paper presents the correlation among electronic and optical property effects induced by the addition of different concentrations of europium (Eu3+) in zinc sulfide (ZnS) by microwave-assisted solvothermal (MAS) method. A shift of the photoluminescence (PL) emission was observed with the increase of Eu3+. The periodic DFT calculations with the B3LYP hybrid functional were performed using the CRYSTAL computer code.

Photocatalytic activity of semiconductor sulfide heterostructures.

This paper reports a theoretical and experimental study of the heterostructure photocatalytic activity in a CdS or ZnS and CdS@ZnS decorated system prepared by a microwave assisted solvothermal (MAS) method. A theoretical model of the decorated system was created in order to analyze the electronic transition mainly in their interface. The results show that CdS and ZnS interfaces produce an electron charge transfer from the CdS electron-populated clusters to the ZnS hole-populated clusters which helps to enhance the photocatalytic activity of the CdS@ZnS decorated system.