The interface structural, electronic and optical properties of ZnO nanowires/Graphene nanohybrid (ZnO NWs/G): Experimental and theoretical DFT investigations

In this work, a ZnO nanowires/graphene nanohybrid was synthesized by a three steps approach. Copper substrates were covered with graphene by chemical vapor deposition, further ZnO nanowires were electrochemically deposited on the as grown graphene on copper and finally a transfer process was employed for moving the heterostructure onto a...

Molecular-level understanding of interfacial carbonates in stabilizing CuO-ZnO(Al₂O₃) catalysts

A descriptor of active CuO-ZnO(Al₂O₃) methanol-synthesis and water–gas-shift catalysts is the presence of high-temperature carbonates (HT-CO₃) in the oxidic catalyst precursor. Previous reports have shown that such HT-CO₃ lead to an appropriate interaction between the oxides; as a result, a high Cu...

Spark Ablated Metal Oxide Nanoparticles for Gas Sensing

Metal oxide nanoparticle gas sensors showpromise due to their high sensitivity towards a wide range of gases, low costs, and low complexity. Particle sizes at nanometers offer a high surface-to-volume ratio which provides more areas on the surface where reactions can occur. This work presents the application of spark ablated nanoparticles on...

CZTSe-Based Solar Cell Performance Improvement Using the CSLO Technique

Here we investigated a novel layer-based optimization technique to improve the performance of a CZTSe solar cell. By using this technique, the optical behavior and electrical properties of the proposed solar cell improved significantly as a result of the changes in the layer specifications and the layer materials. The structure of the cell...

Controlling the Morphology of Barrel-Shaped Nanostructures Grown via CuZn Electro-Oxidation

Herein, we report a feasible method for forming barrel-like hybrid Cu(OH)₂-ZnO structures on α-brass substrate via low-potential electro-oxidation in 1 M NaOH solution. The presented study was conducted to investigate the electrochemical behavior of CuZn in a passive range (−0.2 V–0.5 V) and its morphological changes that occur...

Nanoscale Electrical Probes on a Single Facet of a ZnO Microwire: Device Fabrication and Local Electrical Characteristics

The electrical properties of a single facet of an individual ZnO microwire were investigated. Electrode patterns with a Hall bar structure were deposited on the surface of the top facet of the ZnO microwire. Using a suspended and cross-linked poly(methyl methacrylate) ribbon structure, it was possible to define the electrical connections only...

Investigating Organic Vapor Sensing Properties of Composite Carbon Nanotube-Zinc Oxide Nanowire

The low operating temperature of nanowire gas sensors along with their high surface-to-volume ratio are two factors that make gas sensors more practical. In this paper, the growth of ZnO nanowires on a vertically aligned CNT forest is reported. The utilized method for ZnO growth was a rapid microwave-assisted hydrothermal route, which...

Tailoring the Performance of ZnO for Oxygen Evolution by Effective Transition Metal Doping

In the quest for active and inexpensive (photo)electrocatalysts, atomistic simulations of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are essential for understanding the catalytic process of water splitting at solid surfaces. In this paper, the enhancement of the OER by first-row transition-metal (TM) doping of the abundant semiconductor ZnO was...

Nanoscale Optical Addressing of Valley Pseudospins through Transverse Optical Spin

Valley pseudospin has emerged as a good quantum number to encode information, analogous to spin in spintronics. Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (2D TMDCs) recently attracted enormous attention for their easy access to the valley pseudospin through valley-dependent optical transitions. Different ways have been reported to read...

Synthesis of a hybrid nanostructure of ZnO-decorated MoS₂ by atomic layer deposition

We introduce the synthesis of hybrid nanostructures comprised of ZnOnanocrystals (NCs) decorating nanosheets and nanowires (NWs) of MoS2prepared byatomic layer deposition (ALD). The concentration, size, and surface-to-volume ratio ofthe ZnO NCs can be systematically engineered by controlling both the number of ZnOALD cycles and the properties of...

Positron Annihilation Studies on Thin Film Solar Cells: CdSe and PbSe Quantum Dot Thin Films and Cu(In1-xGax)Se2 Layered Systems

High efficiency, low cost, and long stability are three key factors for the wide application of photovoltaics (PV) which are currently intensively studied in order to meet the increasing global renewable energy demand. Currently, the PV market is mainly based on silicon. However, solar cells based on silicon may not be capable to meet the long...

Optical scattering properties of a nano-textured ZnO-silicon interface

The scattering properties of transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layers are fundamentally related to the performance of thin film silicon solar cells. In this study we introduce an experimental technique to access light scattering properties at textured TCO-silicon interfaces. Therefore we prepared a sample with a polished microcrystalline...

Lanthanide impurity level location in GaN, AlN, and ZnO

A method that has proven succesful in locating the energy levels of divalent and trivalent lanthanide ions (Ce, Pr,..., Eu,...Yb, Lu) in wide band gap inorganic compounds like YPO4 and CaF2 is applied to locate lanthanide levels in the wideband semiconductors GaN, AlN, their solid solutions AlxGa1-xN, and ZnO. The proposed schemes provide a...