Polyethylene oxide‐poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEO‐PEDOT) nanocomposite films ‐ incorporated with NiZnFeO4 nanoparticles (NPs) were deposited using a dip‐coating technique. X‐ray diffraction ...(XRD) analysis revealed peaks at 35.4, 43.2, 54.5, and 56.3° diffraction angles, corresponding to NiZnFeO4NPs diffraction planes of 311, 400, 422, and 511, respectively. The PEO‐PEDOT film exhibited a smooth amorphous nature with a sheet nanostructure behavior. The incorporation of NiZnFeO4NPs NPs into the PEO‐PEDOT nanocomposite films led to an increase in surface roughness and thermal stability. The nanocomposite films also exhibited sheet nanostructure behavior as observed by SEM micrographs. The bandgap energies of the films, as deduced from the Tauc plot, exhibited a monotonic decrease from 3.91 to 3.60 eV as the NiZnFeO4NPs concentration increased from 0 to 8 wt%. A mathematical model was formulated to predict the bandgap energies versus NiZnFeO4NPs concentration. Additionally, the electrical conductivity of the nanocomposite films increased monotonically from 0.46 to 1.30 mS cm−1 as the NiZnFeO4NPs concentration increased from 0 to 8 wt%, as determined by 4‐point probe. The observed correlation between the optical and electrical properties of the nanocomposite films indicates promising prospects for utilizing these materials in optoelectronic devices.
Characterizations of PEO‐PEDOT/NiZnFeO4 NPs nanocomposite films.
PEO/B
4
C nanocomposite films with various concentrations of B
4
C-NPs are fabricated by the casting method. The chemical and crystal structure, thermal, optical, electrical, and morphological ...properties of PEO/B
4
C nanocomposites films are examined. The PEO/B
4
C nanocomposite films have semicrystalline nature, and the amorphous phase is dominant in all PEO/B
4
C nanocomposite nature. Moreover, the crystallinity degree and the melting enthalpy (
Δ
H
m
) decrease as revealed by the XRD and DSC analysis, and the crystallinity behavior is the same, whether deduced from XRD or DSC. The slight shifting in the vibrational bands upon introducing B
4
C-NPs into PEO films confirms the formation of the charge transfer between the two materials. Furthermore, the transmittance (
T
) spectra, refractive index, and packing density values exhibited a substantial reduction due to adding different concentrations of B
4
C-NPs into the PEO films. Further, the conductivity value of PEO/B
4
C nanocomposite increases due to the increase in B
4
C-NPs contents in PEO nanocomposite. The SEM micrographs revealed that the pure PEO film has a very smooth surface with tiny cracks compared to others. The PEO/B
4
C nanocomposite films with B
4
C-NPs are composed of nanoparticles within the polymer matrix, accumulative nanoparticles on the surface, and cracks. These PEO/B
4
C nanocomposite films may be employed as an anti-corrosion coating.
Polymer electrolytes based on poly(ethylene oxide)-aluminium chloride (PEO-AlCl
3
) are synthesized by the casting method. The crystal structure, chemical bonding, thermal, and electrical properties ...are investigated and correlated. Particularly, the interplay between the electrical conductivity, crystallinity, and thermal properties of the nanocomposite thin films is tested. Incorporating of suitable amounts of AlCl
3
into PEO thin films reduces the crystallinity degree and the crystallite size of the resulting nanocomposite thin films. The measured FTIR profiles confirm the complexation between Al
−3
ions and the ether oxygen of the PEO host polymer. Furthermore, the melting temperature and melting enthalpy are significantly reduced by adding the ionic salt into the PEO thin films. Electrical characterization of the PEO-AlCl
3
thin films is performed using the four-point probe. The electrical conductivity, the conductivity maps, and activation energy of PEO-AlCl
3
nanocomposite films are investigated to elucidate the effect of the complexation between Al
−3
ions and the ether oxygen of the host polymer. The room temperature conductivity of the pure PEO thin films is measured to be
1.67
×
10
-
4
S/cm
. The highest value of the conductivity is attained for PEO doped by 5 wt% of AlCl
3
. Moreover, electrical conductivity of all PEO-AlCl
3
nanocomposite thin films is found to enhance with increasing temperature. The optimized conductivity of PEO nanocomposite films doped by 20 wt% AlCl
3
at 328 K is attained. The enhancement of physical and chemical properties of PEO-AlCl
3
may pave the way to manufacture polymer nanocomposite films that could be potential candidates to fabricate high-efficiency photovoltaic devices.
Synthesis, optical, mechanical, and structural characterization of organic–inorganic nanocomposite thin films based on polyethylene oxide and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) polymers incorporated with ...(1:0), (0.75:0.25), (0.5:0.5), (0.25:0.75), and (0:1) content percentage ratios of ZnO-NPs: Al
2
O
3
-NPs nanoparticles are reported. The optical properties, including the absorption coefficient, refractive index, extinction coefficient, dielectric function, and optical band gap for the films, are investigated from the measured transmittance and reflectance using a newly derived mathematical model. The as-grown PVA-PEO polymeric thin films exhibit transmittance of 87% while it decreases down to 75% with ZnO-NPs and decreases in between by the addition of Al
2
O
3
-NPs. However, the refractive index increases from 2.0 with ZnO-NPs to 2.7 with Al
2
O
3
-NPs. The band gap energy is from 3.98 to 3.89 eV accordingly. The dislocation density
,
crystallite size, and average internal strain obtained from the X-ray diffraction patterns exhibit abnormal behavior for equal ratio (0.5:0.5) of the two types of NPs compared with other ratios. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy measurements to elucidate the major vibrational modes and bonding in the nanocomposite thin films. A redshift of the major peaks has been observed for all investigated compositional ratios indicating a shift of the absorption edge confirming the band gap reduction. The SEM micrographs show a clear form of nanocomposites with PVA-PEO/ZnO-NPs compared to those when Al
2
O
3
-NPs or a combination of the two kinds of NPs are introduced to the complex matrix. Our detailed analysis of the physical properties of PVA-PEO/ZnO-Al
2
O
3
indicates their potential to be candidate materials for modern optical and optoelectronic devices.
High reflection and dust are an unwanted loss process in the applications of solar panels. However, using antireflective hydrophobic solar panels improves their photovoltaic efficiency and reveals to ...self-cleaning, time-consuming and cost-effective results. The design, synthesis, modification, and characterization of the nano hydrophobic and antireflective films of solar modules are reported. Simple method for producing ZnO/TiO2/SiO2 antireflection (AR) multilayered coating by sol-gel technique was synthesized. The optical properties of the multilayers have been investigated via Wemple–DiDomenico (WDD), Sellmeier, Spatzer-Fan and Drude models. The low refractive index (1.4–1.6 in the visible region) of ZnO/TiO2/SiO2 multilayers improves the transmittance of the anti-reflected coating while coral-like hierarchical structure of ZnO fabricated via hydrothermal technique produces hydrophobicity for the surface panel.
We report the synthesis and comprehensive characterization of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA)/polyvinylalcohol (PVA) polymeric blend doped with different concentrations of Copper oxide (CuO) ...nanoparticles (NPs). The PMMA–PVA/CuO nanocomposite hybrid thin films containing wt.% = 0%, 2%, 4%, 8%, and 16% of CuO NPs are deposited on glass substrates via dip-coating technique. Key optical parameters are measured, analyzed, and interpreted. Tauc, Urbach, Spitzer–Fan, and Drude models are employed to calculate the optical bandgap energy (Eg) and the optoelectronic parameters of PMMA–PVA/CuO nanocomposites. The refractive index and Eg of undoped PMMA–PVA are found to be (1.5–1.85) and 4.101 eV, respectively. Incorporation of specific concentrations of CuO NPs into PMMA–PVA blend leads to a considerable decrease in Eg and to an increase of the refractive index. Moreover, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) transmittance spectra are measured and analyzed for undoped and doped polymeric thin films to pinpoint the major vibrational modes in the spectral range (500 and 4000 cm−1) as well as to elucidate the nature of chemical network bonding. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) is conducted under appropriate conditions to ensure the thermal stability of thin films. Doped polymeric thin films are found to be thermally stable below 105 °C. Therefore, controlled tuning of optoelectronic and thermal properties of doped polymeric thin films by introducing an appropriate concentration of inorganic fillers leads to a smart design of scaled multifunctional devices.
The effect of hydrogen and nitrogen impurities on the physical properties of transparent conductive oxides is investigated in this study. Therefore, 5 wt.% of copper and 5 wt.% of nickel co-doped ...zinc oxide ((Cu–Ni)/ZnO) films were prepared using the sol–gel method. The (Cu–Ni)/ZnO films were annealed in an oven at 500 °C for 2 h under air, vacuum, nitrogen, and argon atmospheres. The synthesized zinc hydroxide film was transformed to zinc oxide film during the annealing by evaporating
H
2
O
. Films annealed under the mentioned atmosphere including as-prepared one were characterized by analyzing with UV–Vis and FTIR spectra in addition to the 2D mapping electrical conductivity of the surface measured by the 4-point probe. The annealed films under air, vacuum, and argon atmospheres led to generate H-related impurities bounded to the oxygen vacancy (
H
O
) which they act as shallow donor defects resulting in forming (Cu–Ni)/ZnO films into n-type materials. Whereas, the film annealed under a nitrogen atmosphere has N-related defects bounding to the zinc vacancy (
N
Zn
) which they act as shallow acceptor defects resulting in transforming the film from n-type to p-type. These defects affect the optical, electrical, and optoelectronic properties of the (Cu–Ni)/ZnO films.
We report on the synthesis and characterization of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films prepared at different annealing temperatures using the sol-gel method and deposited on glass substrates using the ...immersing method. The XRD analysis demonstrates that the films annealed at 450 °C exhibit the most stable tetrahedral kesterite structure. Computationally, the Vienna ab initio simulation package (VASP) has been implemented to calculate critical structural properties of as-prepared CZTS) thin films and compared with those extracted from the XRD patterns. An excellent agreement is obtained between the calculated and measured structural parameters. Optical measurement of key optical parameters of annealed CZTS thin films shows a drastic manipulation of all-optical properties compared to the as-prepared thin films. In particular, an optical band gap of 1.62 eV obtained for annealed CZTS thin films at 450 °C makes them eligible to be potential candidates for thin film-based high-efficiency solar cells. Calculations of elastic properties of annealed thin films reveal that crystallite size increases and microstrain decrease compared with those of as-prepared thin films. The sheet resistance of annealed CZTS thin films exhibits a significant decline as the annealing temperature is increased. The electrical properties of annealed CZTS thin films could match some conductors. Remarkably, at 450 °C annealing temperature, the sheet resistance decreases to 74 Ω.cm−1 indicating the possibility of using the annealed CZTS thin films for efficient and low cost solar cell applications.
Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS); Thin films; sol-gel; Optical properties; Structural properties; XRD; kesterite; DFT; VASP.
Synthesized PEO:I
2
complex composite films with different I
2
concentrations were deposited onto fused silica substrates using a dip-coating method. Incorporation of PEO films with I
2
increases the ...electrical conductivity of the composite, reaching a maximum of 46 mS/cm for 7 wt% I
2
. The optical and optoelectronic properties of the complex composite films were studied using the transmittance and reflectance spectra in the UV-Vis region. The transmittance of PEO decreases with increasing I
2
content. From this study, the optical bandgap energy decreases from 4.42 to 3.28 eV as I
2
content increases from 0 to 7 wt%. In addition, the refractive index for PEO films are in the range of 1.66 and 2.00.
1
H NMR spectra of pure PEO film shows two major peaks at 3.224 ppm and 1.038 ppm, with different widths assigned to the mobile polymer chains in the amorphous phase, whereas the broad component is assigned to the more rigid molecules in the crystalline phase, respectively. By adding I
2
to the PEO, both peaks (amorphous and crystal) are shifted to lower NMR frequencies indicating that I
2
is acting as a Lewis acid, and PEO is acting as Lewis base. Hence, molecular iodine reacts favorably with PEO molecules through a charge transfer mechanism, and the formation of triiodide (
I
3
-
), the iodite (
IO
2
-
) anion,
I
2
·
·
·
PEO
and
I
2
+
·
·
·
PEO
complexes. PEO:I
2
complex composite films are expected to be suitable for optical, electrical, and optoelectronic applications.
Achieving high-efficiency materials-coated electrocatalysts for water splitting is crucial to produce and store renewable energy. Herein, zinc oxide (ZnO) films with wide bandgap (3.12 eV), low ...absorption coefficient in the visible region, and high electrical conductivity (740 S cm
−1
) were presented after using two modification techniques: first, intensive thermal treatment by annealing the sample for 500 °C for 1 h, which decreases the bandgap energy from 3.94 to 3.33 eV and increases the electrical conductivity from 0.4 to 1.1 mS cm
−1
due to vanishing of the organic residuals, reducing H impurities, and increasing the crystal degree. Second, UV light-induced persistent doping by treating the sample using a UV light for 1000 s decreases the bandgap energy from 3.33 to 3.12 eV and increases the electrical conductivity from 1.1 to 740 S cm
−1
due to hole trapping by oxygen vacancies at the surface of ZnO film. Finally, the water-splitting activity of ZnO film increased from 68.95 to 88.85% after UV light-induced persistent doping.
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