Effectiveness of 2-Terminal Perovskite/Perovskite/c-Si Triple-Junction Solar Cells: An Integrated Study with an Emphasis on Methylammonium Bismuth Iodide.

The growing interest in high-efficiency solar energy technologies has driven research on multijunction solar cells to flourish over the last several years. This study sheds light on the optical, structural, and morphological aspects of the (CHNH)BiI ((MA)BiI) film by fabricating and analyzing it experimentally. This thorough investigation lays the groundwork for more research into the film's possible uses in solar cell technology.

Effect of Low to High Pressure on the Structural, Mechanical, Electrical, and Optical Properties of Inorganic Material CaAsBr: An Ab Initio Investigation.

Inorganic metal halide solar cells made from perovskite stand out for having outstanding efficiency, cheap cost, and simple production processes and recently have generated attention as a potential rival in photovoltaic technology. Particularly, lead-free CaAsBr inorganic materials have a lot of potential in the renewable industry due to their excellent qualities, including thermal, electric, optoelectronic, and elastic features. In this work, we thoroughly analyzed the stress-driven structural, mechanical, electrical, and optical properties of CaAsBr utilizing first-principles theory.

Recent Progress on Functionalized Graphene Quantum Dots and Their Nanocomposites for Enhanced Gas Sensing Applications.

Gas-sensing technology has witnessed significant advancements that have been driven by the emergence of graphene quantum dots (GQDs) and their tailored nanocomposites. This comprehensive review surveys the recent progress made in the construction methods and applications of functionalized GQDs and GQD-based nanocomposites for gas sensing. The gas-sensing mechanisms, based on the Fermi-level control and charge carrier depletion layer theory, are briefly explained through the formation of heterojunctions and the adsorption/desorption principle.

First-Principles Calculations to Investigate the Stability and Thermodynamic Properties of a Newly Exposed Lithium-Gallium-Iridium-Based Full-Heusler Compound.

The structural, optical, electrical, thermodynamic, superconducting, and mechanical characteristics of LiGaIr full-Heusler alloys with the MnCuAl configuration were comprehensively examined in this work using the first-principles computation approach premised upon density functional analysis. This theoretical approach is the first to investigate the influence of pressure on the mechanical and optical characteristics of LiGaIr. The structural and chemical bonding analysis shows that hydrostatic pressure caused a decrease in the lattice constant, volume, and bond length of each cell.

Carbon nanotubes from waste cooking palm oil as adsorbent materials for the adsorption of heavy metal ions.

In this work, waste cooking palm oil (WCPO)-based carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with encapsulated iron (Fe) nanoparticles have been successfully produced via modified thermal chemical vapor deposition method. Based on several characterizations, the dense WCPO-based CNT was produced with high purity of 89% and high crystallinity proven by low I/I ratio (0.43).

Photocatalytic performance improvement by utilizing GO_MWCNTs hybrid solution on sand/ZnO/TiO-based photocatalysts to degrade methylene blue dye.

In this work, sand/zinc oxide (ZnO)/titanium dioxide (TiO)-based photocatalysts were hybridized with graphene oxide (GO) and GO_multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) hybrid solution. The novel hybrid was then used in photocatalysis to degrade dye contamination. The nanocomposite photocatalyst was initially fabricated by growing ZnO nanorods (NRs) via sol-gel immersion followed by synthesizing TiO NRs for different times (5 and 20 h) using a hydrothermal method on sand as a substrate.

The Potential of Leaves Extract in Fabrication of Dense and Uniform ZnO Microrods.

Zinc oxide (ZnO) micro and nanorods were successfully prepared using and hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) separately as stabilizers using the solution immersion method. Two types of ZnO seed layer were prepared using the same pre-cursor with the different stabilizers. The fabricated ZnO microrods exhibit absorption at ~375 nm as revealed from the UV-Visible absorption spectrum, and this is comparable with ZnO nanorods synthesized using HMTA.

Direct Synthesis of Large-Area Graphene on Insulating Substrates at Low Temperature using Microwave Plasma CVD.

With a combination of outstanding properties and a wide spectrum of applications, graphene has emerged as a significant nanomaterial. However, to realize its full potential for practical applications, a number of obstacles have to be overcome, such as low-temperature, transfer-free growth on desired substrates. In most of the reports, direct graphene growth is confined to either a small area or high sheet resistance.

Silicon Nanowire Heterojunction Solar Cells with an AlO Passivation Film Fabricated by Atomic Layer Deposition.

Silicon nanowires (SiNWs) show a great potential for energy applications because of the optical confinement effect, which enables the fabrication of highly efficient and thin crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells. Since a 10-μm-long SiNW array can absorb sufficient solar light less than 1200 nm, the 10-μm-long SiNW was fabricated on Si wafer to eliminate the influence of the Si wafer. On the other hand, Surface passivation of the SiNWs is a crucial problem that needs to be solved to reduce surface recombination and enable the application of SiNWs to c-Si solar cells.

Synthesis of GeSn Alloy Thin Films by Rapid Thermal Annealing of Sputtered Ge/Sn/Ge Layers on Si Substrates.

In this work, nanocrystalline GeSn alloy formation from a rapid thermal annealed Ge/Sn/Ge multilayer has been presented. The multilayer was magnetron sputtered onto the Silicon substrate. This was followed by annealing the layers by rapid thermal annealing, at temperatures of 300 °C, 350 °C, 400 °C, and 450 °C, for 10 s.

Intrinsic ferromagnetism in nanocrystalline Mn-doped ZnO depending on Mn concentration.

The physical properties of Zn(1-x)Mn(x)O nanoparticles synthesized by thermal decomposition are extensively investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman light scattering and Hysteresis measurements. XRD and XPS spectra reveal the absence of secondary phase in nanocrystalline ZnO doped with 5% or less Mn; and, later confirms that the valance state of Mn to be 2+ for all the samples. Raman spectra exhibit a peak at 660 cm(-1) which we attribute to the intrinsic lattice defects of ZnO with increasing Mn concentration.

Poly[(3-hexylthiophene)-block-(3-semifluoroalkylthiophene)] for polymer solar cells.

We report the synthesis of poly[(3-hexylthiophene)-block-(3-(4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,7-nonafluoroheptyl)thiophene)], P(3HT-b-3SFT), carried out by the Grignard Metathesis Method (GRIM). The copolymers composition was determined by (1)H and (19)F NMR spectroscopies, and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The thin films of P(3HT-b-3SFT) were investigated by ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM).

New diarylmethanofullerene derivatives and their properties for organic thin-film solar cells.

A number of diarylmethanofullerene derivatives were synthesized. The cyclopropane ring of the derivatives has two aryl groups substituted with electron-withdrawing and -donating groups, the latter with long alkyl chains to improve solubility in organic solvents, an important property in processing cells. First reduction potentials of most derivatives were less negative than that of [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), which is possibly ascribed to their electron-withdrawing nature.

Effect of sulfur concentration on the morphology of carbon nanofibers produced from a botanical hydrocarbon.

Carbon nanofibers (CNF) with diameters of 20-130 nm with different morphologies were obtained from a botanical hydrocarbon: Turpentine oil, using ferrocene as catalyst source and sulfur as a promoter by simple spray pyrolysis method at 1,000 °C. The influence of sulfur concentration on the morphology of the carbon nanofibers was investigated. SEM, TEM, Raman, TGA/DTA, and BET surface area were employed to characterize the as-prepared samples.

A different regime of nanostructured diamond film growth.

A different regime of diamond growth was found out in microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition by applying a different combination of growth conditions (pressure, microwave power, bias voltage, and bias current). This different regime of growth was identified by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. In this regime, at lower bias current density (BCD), nanocrystals of diamond were confined in a form of nano-diamond rods 10-30 nm in diameter and several hundred nanometers long.