scholarly journals Synthesis of Binary Bi2S3/ZnO Nanorod Array Heterostructure and Their Photoelectrochemical Performance

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asla A. AL-Zahrani ◽  
Zulkarnain Zainal ◽  
Zainal Abidin Talib ◽  
Hong Ngee Lim ◽  
Laimy Mohd Fudzi ◽  
...  

One of the most effective strategies to improve the photoconversion efficiency in the photoelectrochemical cell is by using an assembly of heterostructures. To do so, a simple and inexpensive method, that is successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR), is used to deposit the narrow band gap energy semiconductor Bi2S3 on ZnO nanorod arrays (NRAs) at different SILAR cycles. The obtained binary heterostructure thin films were characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis Spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), Raman spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and linear sweep voltammogram (LSV) to prove the crystal structure, optical properties, band gap energy, morphological structure, composition of elements, and electrical properties. The XRD revealed that ZnO NRAs possessed a single wurtzite crystal structure while Bi2S3 possessed an orthorhombic crystal structure. The as-fabricated Bi2S3/ZnO heterostructure exhibited enhanced visible light absorption and charge separation efficiency of photoinduced electron-hole pairs. The band gap energy of binary heterostructure Bi2S3/ZnO NRAs is 3.11, 3.00, 2.33, 1.96, and 1.89 eV at 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 SILAR cycles, respectively, confirming the substantial improvement of ZnO NRA optical properties. The highest photocurrent density has been achieved by 1.92 mA/cm2 of Bi2S3/ZnO NRAs fabricated at 7 cycles, exhibiting sixfold enhancement compared to that of intrinsic ZnO NRAs (0.336 mA/cm2). This impressive enhancement was ascribed to the significant improvement in morphological structure, crystallinity, and optical properties of heterostructure photoanodes. Significant improvement was achieved in the photoelectrochemical cell (PEC) performance attributed to the fast separation, low recombination rate, and low impedance of the photoinduced electron-hole pairs as shown throughout the electrochemical impedance spectra.

Author(s):  
G. Pozina ◽  
I. G. Ivanov ◽  
B. Monemar ◽  
J.V. Thordson ◽  
T.G. Andersson

Optical properties of the GaNxAs1−x layers grown on (001) GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy have been studied. The samples can be classified into three categories with respect to the concentration of N, as determined by x-ray diffraction and secondary-ion mass spectrometry: (i) with doping nitrogen concentration, (ii) with average content of N less than 30 %, and (iii) with x close to 100 %. From optical measurements of photoluminescence and Raman scattering, combined with analysis of x-ray diffraction spectra, different phases are observed in the GaNxAs1−x layers: GaAs, GaN and the solid ternary solution GaNxAs1−x. We have estimated the fundamental band-gap energy in the GaNxAs1−x alloy with low nitrogen concentration (up to x = 0.04) from absorption measurements, and in GaNxAs1−x with low arsenic concentration (up to 1−x = 0.04) - from photoluminescence spectra. An analysis of the dependence of the experimental values of the GaNxAs1−x band-gap energy on the nitrogen composition indicates a constant bowing parameter b as large as b = -18 eV.


2020 ◽  
Vol 92 (2) ◽  
pp. 20402
Author(s):  
Kaoutar Benthami ◽  
Mai ME. Barakat ◽  
Samir A. Nouh

Nanocomposite (NCP) films of polycarbonate-polybutylene terephthalate (PC-PBT) blend as a host material to Cr2O3 and CdS nanoparticles (NPs) were fabricated by both thermolysis and casting techniques. Samples from the PC-PBT/Cr2O3 and PC-PBT/CdS NCPs were irradiated using different doses (20–110 kGy) of γ radiation. The induced modifications in the optical properties of the γ irradiated NCPs have been studied as a function of γ dose using UV Vis spectroscopy and CIE color difference method. Optical dielectric loss and Tauc's model were used to estimate the optical band gaps of the NCP films and to identify the types of electronic transition. The value of optical band gap energy of PC-PBT/Cr2O3 NCP was reduced from 3.23 to 3.06 upon γ irradiation up to 110 kGy, while it decreased from 4.26 to 4.14 eV for PC-PBT/CdS NCP, indicating the growth of disordered phase in both NCPs. This was accompanied by a rise in the refractive index for both the PC-PBT/Cr2O3 and PC-PBT/CdS NCP films, leading to an enhancement in their isotropic nature. The Cr2O3 NPs were found to be more effective in changing the band gap energy and refractive index due to the presence of excess oxygen atoms that help with the oxygen atoms of the carbonyl group in increasing the chance of covalent bonds formation between the NPs and the PC-PBT blend. Moreover, the color intensity, ΔE has been computed; results show that both the two synthesized NCPs have a response to color alteration by γ irradiation, but the PC-PBT/Cr2O3 has a more response since the values of ΔE achieved a significant color difference >5 which is an acceptable match in commercial reproduction on printing presses. According to the resulting enhancement in the optical characteristics of the developed NCPs, they can be a suitable candidate as activate materials in optoelectronic devices, or shielding sheets for solar cells.


2015 ◽  
Vol 1784 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingu Kim ◽  
Gwanghyo Choi ◽  
Daeheung Yoo ◽  
Kwangmin Lee

ABSTRACTThe band gap energy of the TiO2 photocatalytic is high at 3.2 eV. Ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation (<388nm) is required for the photocatalytic application. The lowering the band gap energy of TiO2 and enlarging light absorbing area are effective ways to enhance the efficiency of photocatalytic activity. Furthermore, the morphology and crystal structure of nanosized TiO2 considerably influences its photocatalytic behavior.In this study, sodium titanate nanorods were formed using an alkali-treatment and were heat treated at different temperatures. The photoelectrochemical properties of sodium titanate nanorods was measured as a function of heat treatment temperature. The nanorods were prepared on the surface of Ti disk with a diameter of 15mm and a thickness of 3mm. Ti disk was immersed in 5 M NaOH aqueous solution at a temperature of 60 °C for 24 h. Morphology of sodium titanate nanorods was observed using FE-SEM. Crystal structure of sodium titanate nanorods was analyzed using X-ray diffractometer. Photoluminescence (PL) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was used to evaluate photoelectrochemical properties of sodium titanate nanorods. The thin amorphous sodium titanate layer was formed during alkali-treatment. The sodium titanate layer was changed to nanorods after heat treatment at a temperature of 700 °C. The thickness and length of sodium titanate nanorods obtained at 700 °C were around 100 nm and 1μm, respectively. The crystal structure of sodium titanate was identified with Na2Ti6O13. Above 900 °C, the morphology of nanorods changed to agglomerated shape and the thickness of nanorods increased to 1 μm. The lowest value of PL was obtained at a temperature of 700 °C, while nonalkali treated specimen showed the highest value of PL. EIS revealed that polarization resistance at interface between sodium titanate nanorods and electrolyte was increased with increasing heat treatment temperature.


2016 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-161
Author(s):  
M Alauddin ◽  
MM Islam ◽  
MA Aziz

The structural, spectroscopic (IR, NMR and UV-Vis), electronic and optical properties of monohydrated adenine (monohydrated 6-aminopurine, C5H5N5.H2O) are investigated theoretically using DFT/B3LYP level of theory. Three minimum energy structures have been identified for monohydrated of adenine where H2O molecule is doubly hydrogen bonded with adenine.1H NMR analysis shows that the protons which are hydrogen bonded become deshielded and chemical shift moves to the higher frequency region.Five IR active mode of vibrations were found at 3108, 3295, 3665, 3676 and 3719 cm-1 which are assigned as bonded -OH vibration of H2O, Bonded -NH vibration of NH2, Free -NH vibration of adenine (9 N), Free -NH vibration of NH2, Free -OH vibration of H2O, respectively and agree well with the available experimental results. The investigation of electronic properties shows that the HOMO-LUMO band gap energy of monohydrated adenine at B3LYP level is 5.15 eV. The major electronic transition (from HOMO to LUMO (83%) (π→π*)) occurs at 258 nm (4.80 eV) with a minor transition at 237 nm (5.23 eV). Theoretically it is observed that the HOMO-LUMO band gap energy is for monohydrated adenine is lower than that of adenine. Dhaka Univ. J. Sci. 64(2): 157-161, 2016 (July)


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (22) ◽  
pp. 4775 ◽  
Author(s):  
Osama Saber ◽  
Nagih M. Shaalan ◽  
Aya Osama ◽  
Adil Alshoaibi

The plate-like structure is the most familiar morphology for conventional layered double hydroxides (LDHs) in case their structures consist of divalent and trivalent cations in their layers. In this study, nanofibers and nanoneedles of Co–Si LDHs were prepared for the first time. By the inclusion of zirconium inside the nanolayers of LDH structures, their plates were formed and transformed to nanofibers. These nanofibers were modified by the insertion of titanium to build again plate-like morphology for the LDH structure. This morphology controlling was studied and explained by a dual anions intercalation process. The optical properties of Co–Si LDHs indicated that the incorporation of zirconium within their nanolayers decreased the band gap energy from 4.4 eV to 2.9 eV. Following the same behavior, the insertion of titanium besides zirconium within the nanolayers of Co–Si LDHs caused a further reduction in the band gap energy, which became 2.85 eV. Although there is no data for the optical properties of Co–Si LDHs in the literature, it is interesting to observe the low band gap energy for Co–Si LDHs to become more suitable for optical applications. These results concluded that the reduction of the band gap energy and the formation of nanofibers introduce new optical materials for developing and designing optical nanodevices.


2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deuk Yong Lee ◽  
Ju-Hyun Park ◽  
Young-Hun Kim ◽  
Myung-Hyun Lee ◽  
Nam-Ihn Cho

2011 ◽  
Vol 364 ◽  
pp. 228-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Hafizuddin Haji Jumali ◽  
K. Mohamad Al Asfoor Firas ◽  
Shahidan Radiman ◽  
Akrajas Ali Umar

Optical properties of TiO2 dressed on the surface of MWCNTs have been investigated. The samples were prepared using modified microwave method and characterized using TEM, XRD and UV-Vis spectroscopy. A clear interface between MWCNT and TiO2 indicated strong attachment between these two nanostructures. Significant change in absorption spectra proved the absorption wavelength and band gap energy of TiO2 nanostructures can be controlled via dressing of MWCNT.


2016 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md Saiful Islam ◽  
Chitra Das ◽  
Mehnaz Sharmin ◽  
Kazi Md Amzad Hussain ◽  
Shamima Choudhury

Effects of indium doping (concentration 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4%) on the optical properties of GaAs thin films were studied. Thin films of 600 nm were grown onto chemically and ultrasonically cleaned glass substrate by thermal evaporation method in high vacuum (~10-4 Pa) at 50°C fixed substrate temperature. The samples were annealed for 15 minutes at a fixed temperature of 200°C. The thicknesses of films were being measured in situ by a quartz crystal thickness monitor during deposition. The transmittance and reflectance data were found using UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometer in the photon wavelength range of 310 ~ 2500 nm. These data were utilized to compute the absorption coefficient, refractive index, extinction co-efficient and band gap energy of the studied films. Here transmittance was found 78 for 0.2% indium doping concentration. The band gap energy decreased with the increase of doping concentration.Journal of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences, Vol. 40, No. 2, 179-186, 2016


2021 ◽  
Vol 1731 ◽  
pp. 012060
Author(s):  
H D Fahyuan ◽  
F Deswardani ◽  
N Nurhidayah ◽  
M F Afrianto ◽  
H Heriansyah ◽  
...  

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