BaSnF4 fast ion conductor: Variations versus the method of preparation and anomalous temperature variation of the quadrupole splitting

A new method of preparation of high performance fluoride ion conductor, BaSnF₄, by water leaching of newly discovered barium tin(II) chloride fluorides, has been designed, and the materials have been studied and compared to the solid prepared by the usual dry method. The unit-cell parameters and crystallite dimensions were found to vary with the method of preparation. In addition, the crystallite dimensions were found to be highly anisotropic for the samples obtained by the wet method. The Mössbauer spectrum is made of a large tin(II) quadrupole doublet, and a broad tin(IV) oxide peak due to surface oxidation. The tin(II) spectrum is in agreement with covalently bonded tin(II) having a strongly stereoactive lone pair. An unusually high dependence of the quadrupole splitting at low temperatures was observed (5.8 times larger than for α-SnF₂).     

Dye-sensitized solar cells based on different nano-oxides on plastic PET substrate

Polyethylene-terephthalate (PET) foils and glass slides coated with thin conductive layers were used as substrates for TiO2 or ZnO based photoactive electrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) with organo-metallic Ru-dye, standard iodine electrolyte and Pt coated FTO/glass counterelectrode (CE). Different compositions of nanoparticle oxides in forms of alcohol pastes as well as the CE paste were applied onto the substrates by screen printing or by doctor blade techniques. Photocurrents and I–V loading characteristics were measured depending on the solar cell structure and preparation, including the oxide composition, electrode conductivity and the dye type. The influence of thin TiO2 blocking layer prepared by sol–gel technique is also discussed.     

膜层厚度对蓝宝石衬底上生长的ITO薄膜性质的影响

采用磁控溅射的方法在蓝宝石衬底上制备了氧化铟锡(ITO)透明氧化物薄膜;研究了不同厚度薄膜的结构、光学和电学特性。经X射线衍射(XRD)测量,发现在蓝宝石衬底上生长的ITO薄膜呈现了较高的(222)择优取向;随着膜层厚度的增加,该衍射峰对应的2θ衍射角逐渐向大角度方向移动,同时该衍射峰的半峰全宽逐渐减小,平均晶粒尺寸增大。 经光学透射光谱测量,发现随着膜层厚度的增加,光学透过率逐渐减小。膜层厚度为0.2 μm时,可见光透过率超过80%,当膜层厚度为0.8 μm时,可见光透过率下降到60%。电学测量结果表明,随着膜层厚度的增加,薄膜电阻率逐渐减小。膜层厚度为0.2 μm时,电阻率为9×10^-4 Ω·cm, 膜层厚度为0.8 μm时,电阻率为5.5×10^-4 Ω·cm。     

Patterning of thin tin oxide film with nano-size particle for two-dimensional micro-gas sensor array

Thin tin oxide film with nano-size particle was prepared on silicon substrate by hydrothermal synthetic method and successive sol–gel spin coating method. The fabrication method of tin oxide film with ultrafine nano-size crystalline structure was tried to be applied to fabrication of micro-gas sensor array on silicon substrate. The tin oxide film on silicon substrate was well patterned by chemical etching upto 5 μm width and showed very uniform flatness. The tin oxide film preparation method and patterning method were successfully applied to newly proposed two-dimensional micro-sensor fabrication.     

Dye-sensitized solar cells fabricated with black raspberry, black carrot and rosella juice

In this work, dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC’s) were constructed from black raspberry (Rubus Ideaus), black carrot (Daucuscarota L.) and rosella juice (Hibiscus Sabdariffa L.). In order to fabricate a DSSC the fluorine-doped tin (IV) oxide (FTO) thin films obtained by using spray pyrolysis technique were used as a substrate. TiO₂ films on FTO layers were prepared by doctor-blading technique. Platinum-coated counter electrode and liquid Iodide/Iodine electrolyte solution were used to fabricate DSSC’s. The efficiencies of solar cells produced with black carrot, rosella and black raspberry juice were calculated as 0.25%, 0.16% and 0.16% respectively, under a sunny day in Kahramanmaraş-Turkey.     

Advances in stable and flexible perovskite solar cells

Roll-to-roll (R2R) production is an innovative approach and is fast becoming a very popular industrial method for high throughput and mass production of solar cells. Replacement of costly indium tin oxide (ITO), which conventionally has served as the transparent electrode would be a great approach for roll to roll production of flexible cost effective solar cells. Indium tin oxide (ITO) and fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) are brittle and ultimately limit the device flexibility. Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have been the centre of photovoltaic research community during the recent years owing to its exceptional performance and economical prices. The best reported PSCs fabricated by employing mesoporous TiO₂ layers require elevated temperatures in the range of 400–500 °C which limits its applications to solely glass substrates. In such a scenario developing flexible PSCs technology can be considered a suitable and exciting arena from the application point of view, them being flexible, lightweight, portable, and easy to integrate over both small, large and curved surfaces.     

具有阵列-簇双层结构的TiO2纳米棒的光电性能（英文）

选择硫酸氧钛(TiOSO4)作为无机钛源前驱体,通过温和的水热法在掺氟氧化锡导电玻璃基底(FTO)上直接合成单晶金红石相TiO2纳米棒薄膜,呈现阵列-簇双层结构。在模拟太阳光照射下,该纳米棒薄膜的短路电流可达到0.17 mA/cm2,是相同条件下由四异丙醇钛[Ti(iPro)4]为有机钛源而制备的TiO2纳米棒薄膜的2倍多。实验结果表明,多维层状结构和无机硫酸氧根离子(OSO4-4)的存在对TiO2纳米棒薄膜的光电流响应有促进作用。     

采用高传导率银铜镍网格电极的柔性聚合物太阳能电池

采用一种新的阳极材料:银、铜、镍的复合金属网格阳极,利用旋涂法制成了活性层为P3HT (poly(3-hexylthiophene)):PCBM([6,6]-phenylC61-butyricacidmethylester)的柔性衬底聚合物太阳能电池.制备了5种不同结构的柔性聚合物太阳能电池器件,将采用新型阳极材料的柔性衬底聚合物太阳能电池与传统ITO(Indium tin oxide)阳极的柔性衬底聚合物太阳能电池进行对比,发现新型阳极材料所制成的器件性能得到大幅度的提高,其电池器件在50 mW/cm~2强度光照下,开路电压(V_(oc))为0.54 V,短路电流密度(J_(sc))为5.39 mA/cm~2,能量转换效率为2.060%.     

Growth of Sn(O,S)2 buffer layers and its application to Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells

Sn-based thin films as new buffer layer for Cd-free Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGS) solar cells were developed. The Sn(O,S)₂ films were formed on CIGS substrates by chemical bath deposition from an alkaline ammonia solution by reacting tin(IV) chloride with thiourea. Optimization of the growth process allowed the smooth and conformal coverage of the films on the CIGS substrates with a thickness of 20 nm that was a self-limited thickness in the chemical bath deposition process. XPS analysis revealed that the as-deposited films contained Sn–O, Sn–OH, and Sn–S bondings and the ratio of Sn–S bonding to Sn–O bonding was 0.3. The CIGS solar cell fabricated with a 20-nm thick Sn(O,S)₂ buffer layer had the best efficiency of 11.5% without AR coating. The open circuit voltage, short circuit current, and fill factor were 0.55 V, 34.4 mA/cm², and FF = 0.61, respectively. The open circuit voltage and fill factor were low compared to the conventional CIGS solar cell with a 50-nm thick CdS buffer due to too thin Sn(O,S)₂ buffer layer.     

Study on the photovoltaic property of Cu4SnS4 synthesized by mechanochemical process

Photovoltaic property of Cu₄SnS₄ (CTS) is studied by employing a superstrate solar cell structure of Mo/CTS/In₂S₃/TiO₂/fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass for the first time. The CTS absorber layer was prepared by a combination of mechanochemical and doctor blade processes. The annealing effects on the structural, optical and electronic properties of the CTS absorber layer were investigated. The novel CTS absorber layer shows conversion efficiency as high as 2.34% under the standard AM 1.5 condition.     

Structural studies of supported tin catalysts

Tin oxide was supported on aluminium oxide, titanium oxide, magnesium oxide and silicon oxide, and the resulting interactions between the components in the prepared samples and after reduction were characterized by Mössbauer spectroscopy. It was observed that in the oxide state, tin is present as SnO₂ on alumina, magnesia and silica, but on titania tin occupies Ti sites in the structure. After hydrogen treatment at high temperatures, tin is reduced from Sn(4) to Sn(2) on alumina and titania; it is reduced from Sn(4) to Sn(0) on silica, and is practically not reduced on magnesia. These results reveal the degree of interaction between tin and the different supports studied.     

Doctor-bladed Cu2ZnSnS4 light absorption layer for low-cost solar cell application

The doctor-blade method is investigated for the preparation of Cu2ZnSnS4 films for low-cost solar cell application.Cu2ZnSnS4 precursor powder,the main raw material for the doctor-blade paste,is synthesized by a simple ball-milling process.The doctor-bladed Cu2ZnSnS4 films are annealed in N2 ambient under various conditions and characterized by X-ray diffraction,ultraviolent/vis spectrophotometry,scanning electron microscopy,and current-voltage(J-V) meansurement.Our experimental results indicate that(i) the X-ray diffraction peaks of the Cu2ZnSnS4 precursor powder each show a red shift of about 0.4°;(ii) the high-temperature annealing process can effectively improve the crystallinity of the doctor-bladed Cu 2 ZnSnS 4,whereas an overlong annealing introduces defects;(iii) the band gap value of the doctor-bladed Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 is around 1.41 eV;(iv) the short-circuit current density,the open-circuit voltage,the fill factor,and the efficiency of the best Cu2ZnSnS4 solar cell obtained with the superstrate structure of fluorine-doped tin oxide glass/TiO2/In2S3/Cu2ZnSnS4/Mo are 7.82 mA/cm2,240 mV,0.29,and 0.55%,respectively.     

The origin of haze in CVD tin oxide thin films

The origin of haze was investigated in antimony-doped tin oxide thin films, and in double-stack thin films of fluorine-doped tin oxide/antimony-doped tin oxide, both deposited by chemical vapor deposition onto soda-lime–silica float glass substrates. These transparent conductive oxide thin films are of great importance in the production of solar control architectural glazing units. Therefore, understanding the origins of haze is necessary to the development of coated, IR-reflecting glass windows with low overall haze levels. Haze measurements of as-prepared and polished samples were correlated with surface roughness and concentration of internal hole defects. Surface roughnesses were evaluated by atomic force microscopy, and characterized by estimated RMS values. In thin tin oxide films (<2000 Å) internal hole defects caused haze, while in thick tin oxide films (>4000 Å) surface roughness was the primary source of haze.     

Structure of ultrathin oxide layers on metal surfaces from grazing scattering of fast atoms

The structure of ultrathin oxide layers grown on metal substrates is investigated by grazing scattering of fast atoms from the film surface. We present three recent experimental techniques which allow us to study the structure of ordered oxide films on metal substrates in detail. (1) A new variant of a triangulation method with fast atoms based on the detection of emitted electrons, (2) rainbow scattering under axial surface channeling conditions, and (3) fast atom diffraction (FAD) for studies on the structure of oxide films. Our examples demonstrate the attractive features of grazing fast atom scattering as a powerful analytical tool in surface physics.     

Tin-119 Mössbauer spectroscopic studies of novel tin oxide pillared clays

¹¹⁹Sn Mössbauer spectroscopy has shown that attempts to intercalate three aryltin compounds (Ph₃SnCl, (Ph₃Sn)₂O, Ph₂SnCl₂) into the synthetic smectite clay laponite under ambient conditions result in the formation of tin(IV) oxide pillared clays. The Mössbauer data indicate that the effectiveness of conversion to tin(IV) oxide pillars is in the order Ph₃SnCl> (Ph₃Sn)₂O>Ph₂SnCl₂. The organic product of the pillaring reaction has been identified by¹³C m.a.s. n.m.r. spectroscopy as benzene trapped within the pillared clay. The pillaring in these new materials is achieved via neutral precursors rather than by sacrificial reaction of the exchanged cation. Measurements by A.C. conductivity measurements (12 Hz–100 kHz) show significant precursor related increases in conductivity for the new pillared materials as compared with sodium-exchanged laponite.     

An X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study of volatile tin compounds

Core-level X-ray photoelectron spectra of fifteen compounds of tin have been measured in the gas phase. The compounds include various organo and halo compounds as well as tin(IV) nitrate and Sn{N[Si(CH₃)₃]₂}₂. The tin binding energies span a range of 4.4 eV and are well correlated by the “transition-state” point-charge potential model equation using atomic charges calculated by the CHELEQ electro-negativity equalization method. As expected, the empirically determined parameter k for tin is smaller than the k values obtained in previous work for carbon, silicon, and germanium. For Sn(NO₃)₄, and Sn{N[Si(CH₃)₃]₂}₂, the bonding can be described as a weighted average of several resonance structures. In these cases the binding energy data were used in conjunction with the CHELEQ method to determine the resonance structure weightings.     

Novel type of indium oxide thin films sputtering for opto-electronic applications

Transparent conductive oxide (TCO) thin films play a significant role in recent optical technologies. Displays of various types, photovoltaic systems, and opto-electronic devices use these films as transparent signal electrodes. They are used as heating surfaces and active control layers. Oxides of TCO materials such as: tin, indium, zinc, cadmium, titanium and the like, exhibit their properties. However, indium oxide and indium oxide doped with tin (ITO) coatings are the most used in this technology.In this work, we present conductive transparent indium oxide thin films which were prepared using a novel triode sputtering method. A pure In₂O₃ target of 2 in. in diameter was used in a laboratory triode sputtering system. This system provided plane plasma discharge at a relatively low pressure 0.5-5 mTorr of pure argon. The substrate temperature was varied during the experiments from room temperature up to 200 °C. The films were deposited on glass, silicon, and flexible polyimide substrates. The films were characterized for optical and electrical properties and compared with the indium oxide films deposited by magnetron sputtering.     

Betterment in EDXRF analytical results for compositional characterization of mixed uranium thorium oxide samples with bead specimens compared with pressed pellet specimens

A comparative study on the energy dispersive X‐ray fluorescence analytical results of uranium determinations, in uranium and uranium–thorium mixed oxides, using specimens in the form of fused beads and pressed pellets, has been made. It was observed that in case of fusion bead specimens, the intensity of the analyte lines was approximately 1.6 times of that observed in pellet specimens under identical instrumental conditions. In case of uranium oxide samples, the analytical results with bead specimens were slightly better compared with the pellet specimens. However, in case of the uranium–thorium oxide mixtures, the average precision obtained with bead specimen was significantly better (1%, 1 s) in comparison with that achieved using pellet specimens (7%, 1 s). This difference may be due to the hardness of thorium oxide compared with uranium oxide, which affects the homogeneity of the pellet specimens prepared. In fusion bead method of sample preparation, even highly refractory material like ThO₂ forms uniform glass beads. Addition of internal standard further improves the analytical results, with reduction in the percent deviation of energy dispersive X‐ray fluorescence results from the expected values to 3% from 7% compared with that obtained using without internal standard. The fusion bead method of sample preparation will be very useful for characterization of sintered (U,Th)O₂ pellets, which are highly refractory and difficult to dissolve. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Structural, optical and electrical characterization of antimony-substituted tin oxide nanoparticles

Antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO) nanostructures were prepared using chemical precipitation technique starting from SnCl₂, SbCl₃ as precursor compounds. The antimony composition was varied from 5 to 20 wt%. The lower resistance was observed at composition of Sn:95 and Sb:05, when compared with undoped and higher doping concentration of antimony. The average crystalline size of undoped and doped tin oxide was calculated from the X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern and found to be in the range of 30-11 nm and it was further confirmed from the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed that the nanoparticles agglomerates forming spherical-shaped particles of few hundreds nanometers. The samples were further analyzed by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and electrical resistance measurements.     

Delayed observation of laser-induced fluorescence for imaging of tumors

We report on a technique to improve fluorescence images of superficially growing tumors marked with photosensitizers. Exploiting the longer fluorescence decay times of porphyrin-based photosensitizers compared to average decay times of tissue autofluorescence, delayed detection of laser-induced fluorescence allows to suppress the autofluorescence background. The feasibility of delayed fluorescence imaging of tumors has been demonstrated in-vitro. It follows from an analysis of delayed fluorescence spectra that autofluorescence background falling into the photosensitizer fluorescence band can be reduced by up to one order of magnitude.