Light–Matter interactions on the nanoscale

• Mohsen Rahmani and
• Chennupati Jagadish

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2125–2127, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.201

• , including emission, detection, amplification and control of light. Photonics offers a wide range of applications in different areas ranging from sensing and imaging, to solar cells and optical communication [1]. It is no surprise that many consider photonics to be the technology revolution of the 21st

Spin-coated planar Sb₂S₃ hybrid solar cells approaching 5% efficiency

• Pascal Kaienburg,
• Benjamin Klingebiel and
• Thomas Kirchartz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2114–2124, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.200

• Pascal Kaienburg Benjamin Klingebiel Thomas Kirchartz IEK5-Photovoltaics, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany Faculty of Engineering and CENIDE, University of Duisburg-Essen, Carl-Benz-Str. 199, 47057 Duisburg, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.9.200 Abstract Antimony sulfide solar cells have

• conditions, the role of the polymeric hole transport material is discussed. The efficiency of our best solar cells exceeds previous reports for each processing route, and our champion device displays one of the highest efficiencies reported for planar antimony sulfide solar cells. Keywords: antimony sulfide

• ; hole transport material; solar cell; Introduction Antimony sulfide (Sb2S3) is a promising high band gap light absorber for solar cells [1][2][3][4][5]. The record efficiency of 7.5% [6] is comparable to that of other less investigated materials, such as the best lead-free perovskites [7], Cu2O [8] and

A scanning probe microscopy study of nanostructured TiO₂/poly(3-hexylthiophene) hybrid heterojunctions for photovoltaic applications

• Laurie Letertre,
• Roland Roche,
• Olivier Douhéret,
• Hailu G. Kassa,
• Denis Mariolle,
• Nicolas Chevalier,
• Łukasz Borowik,
• Philippe Dumas,
• Benjamin Grévin,
• Roberto Lazzaroni and
• Philippe Leclère

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2087–2096, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.197

• -UGA, 17 rue des Martyrs F-38054, Grenoble, France 10.3762/bjnano.9.197 Abstract The nanoscale morphology of photoactive hybrid heterojunctions plays a key role in the performances of hybrid solar cells. In this work, the heterojunctions consist of a nanocolumnar TiO2 surface covalently grafted with a

• for their fabrication, these devices are deposited on rigid substrates and involve relatively heavy and costly materials of possibly low abundance and/or toxicity [4]. New PV technologies, such as organic photovoltaics (OPV) and hybrid solar cells, are now being developed [2] to cope with such issues

• . In particular, hybrid solar cells can possibly benefit from the low economic and energy costs of production, high absorbance and tailorable absorption spectrum of the organic materials on the one hand, and from the good stability, absorption and electrical properties of the inorganic materials on the

Metal-free catalysis based on nitrogen-doped carbon nanomaterials: a photoelectron spectroscopy point of view

• Mattia Scardamaglia and
• Carla Bittencourt

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2015–2031, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.191

• splitting of water to molecular hydrogen via hydrogen and oxygen evolution reaction (HER and OER, respectively) are fundamental working mechanisms at the cathode of fuel cells, metal–air batteries and dye-sensitized solar cells [2]. However, the current working catalysts are based on expensive metals, such

• -sensitized solar cells [67]. A high-performance anode material for lithium-ion batteries was obtained using graphene co-doped with nitrogen and fluorine, which was prepared by a hydrothermal reaction of an aqueous dispersion of graphene oxide with trimethylamine trihydrofluoride [68]. In nitrogen-doped

Improving the catalytic activity for hydrogen evolution of monolayered SnSe_2(1−x)S_2x by mechanical strain

• Sha Dong and
• Zhiguo Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1820–1827, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.173

• ], electronics [28], and catalysis [29], as well as in the fabrication of solar cells and film electrodes [30]. A good electro-catalyst for HER should have sufficient active sites for catalysis. Furthermore, because electrons participate in the HER process, an ideal catalyst for HER should have good electronic

Know your full potential: Quantitative Kelvin probe force microscopy on nanoscale electrical devices

• Amelie Axt,
• Ilka M. Hermes,
• Victor W. Bergmann,
• Niklas Tausendpfund and
• Stefan A. L. Weber

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1809–1819, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.172

• investigate the influence of the operation method in Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) on the measured potential distribution. KPFM is widely used to map the nanoscale potential distribution in operating devices, e.g., in thin film transistors or on cross sections of functional solar cells. Quantitative

• mode; AM off resonance; AM second eigenmode; cross section; crosstalk; field effect transistor; FM-KPFM; frequency modulation heterodyne; frequency modulation sideband; quantitative Kelvin probe force microscopy; solar cells; Introduction In this study, we compare the most commonly used amplitude

• electric potential landscape with local topographic information. Thus, KPFM is ideally suited to characterize of a variety of nanostructured semiconducting systems such as electronic devices [1] and solar cells [2]. To understand and improve the charge carrier generation and extraction within a solar cell

Direct AFM-based nanoscale mapping and tomography of open-circuit voltages for photovoltaics

• Katherine Atamanuk,
• Justin Luria and
• Bryan D. Huey

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1802–1808, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.171

• including many sensor and solar cell designs. For thin film solar cells such as CdTe, the open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current are especially critical performance indicators, often varying between and even within individual grains. A new method for directly mapping the open-circuit voltage

• and ensemble photovoltaic performance. Furthermore, direct open-circuit voltage mapping is compatible with tomographic AFM, which additionally leverages gradual nanoscale milling by the AFM probe essentially for serial sectioning. The two-dimensional and three-dimensional results for CdTe solar cells

• performance; solar cell; tomographic AFM; Introduction Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) is an inexpensive thin-film photovoltaic with ca. 5% of the 2017 global market share for solar cells. To optimize the efficiency and reliability of these, or any electronic devices, a thorough understanding of their composition

Uniform cobalt nanoparticles embedded in hexagonal mesoporous nanoplates as a magnetically separable, recyclable adsorbent

• Can Zhao,
• Yuexiao Song,
• Tianyu Xiang,
• Wenxiu Qu,
• Shuo Lou,
• Xiaohong Yin and
• Feng Xin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1770–1781, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.168

• Can Zhao Yuexiao Song Tianyu Xiang Wenxiu Qu Shuo Lou Xiaohong Yin Feng Xin School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China Tianjin Key Laboratory of Organic Solar Cells and Photochemical Conversion, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Tianjin

Multimodal noncontact atomic force microscopy and Kelvin probe force microscopy investigations of organolead tribromide perovskite single crystals

• Yann Almadori,
• David Moerman,
• Jaume Llacer Martinez,
• Philippe Leclère and
• Benjamin Grévin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1695–1704, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.161

• small-molecule bulk-heterojunction solar cells [32], and have been recently explained by considering the contribution of interface recombination processes [33]. More precisely, this recent model predicts that slopes lower than the thermal voltage can be observed in the presence of surface recombination

• Solar Cells by Complementary Characterization Techniques (StableNextSol)”. D.M. is grateful to FRS-FNRS for a post-doctoral fellowship. Ph.L. is a Senior Research Associate of FRS-FNRS (Belgium).

Photoluminescence of CdSe/ZnS quantum dots in nematic liquid crystals in electric fields

• Margarita A. Kurochkina,
• Elena A. Konshina and
• Daria Khmelevskaia

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1544–1549, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.145

• demonstrate unique properties such as high quantum yield, narrow symmetric luminescence peak and high photostability, which are used in optical molecular sensor systems [1], bioanalysis [2], solar cells [3][4], and light-emitting devices [5]. The application of external electric fields to semiconductor NPs

Absence of free carriers in silicon nanocrystals grown from phosphorus- and boron-doped silicon-rich oxide and oxynitride

• Daniel Hiller,
• Julian López-Vidrier,
• Keita Nomoto,
• Michael Wahl,
• Wolfgang Bock,
• Tomáš Chlouba,
• František Trojánek,
• Sebastian Gutsch,
• Margit Zacharias,
• Dirk König,
• Petr Malý and
• Michael Kopnarski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1501–1511, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.141

• efficient impurity doping of Si nanovolumes and complicate applications of Si NCs in devices based on p–n-junctions such as solar cells or light emitting devices [5][6]. Furthermore, semiconductor device fabrication technology nodes target the sub-10 nm scale in the near future, i.e., length scales where

Electrodeposition of reduced graphene oxide with chitosan based on the coordination deposition method

• Mingyang Liu,
• Yanjun Chen,
• Chaoran Qin,
• Zheng Zhang,
• Shuai Ma,
• Xiuru Cai,
• Xueqian Li and
• Yifeng Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1200–1210, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.111

• and good adsorption capacity [1][2].Graphene has a diverse range of applications in solar cells, hydrogen storage materials, electroluminescent devices and electrode materials [3][4][5]. In particular, graphene or reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and biopolymer (e.g., gellan gum, chitosan, and alginate

Semi-automatic spray pyrolysis deposition of thin, transparent, titania films as blocking layers for dye-sensitized and perovskite solar cells

• Hana Krýsová,
• Josef Krýsa and
• Ladislav Kavan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1135–1145, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.105

• function of the negative electrode of dye-sensitized and perovskite solar cells, the deposition of a nonporous blocking film is required on the surface of F-doped SnO2 (FTO) glass substrates. Such a blocking film can minimise undesirable parasitic processes, for example, the back reaction of photoinjected

• properties that were not influenced by post-calcination. These results will surely find use in the fabrication of large-scale dye-sensitized and perovskite solar cells. Keywords: blocking films; FTO; solar cells; spray pyrolysis deposition; titanium dioxide; Introduction Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs

• ), solid state dye-sensitized solar cells (SSDSSCs) and perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are attractive alternatives to solid state photovoltaics at competitive cost. The general concept of a DSSC is based on a liquid junction photo-electrochemical cell with a nanocrystalline TiO2 photoanode that is

P3HT:PCBM blend films phase diagram on the base of variable-temperature spectroscopic ellipsometry

• Barbara Hajduk,
• Henryk Bednarski,
• Bożena Jarząbek,
• Henryk Janeczek and
• Paweł Nitschke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1108–1115, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.102

• ][2][3]. Their properties are widely reported in literature [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. Usually the OPV devices are constructed as sandwich structures with active layers located between cathode and anode. The most extensively studied and characterized OPV devices are bulk solar cells, with the

• donor P3HT and the acceptor PCBM. Such solar cells can be fabricated from mixed P3HT and PCBM solutions deposited on transparent electrodes by spin-coating [13][14]. Besides, bulk solar cells based on P3HT and PCBM blends became the benchmark for comparisons with maximum values of reported power

Theoretical study of strain-dependent optical absorption in a doped self-assembled InAs/InGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dot

• Tarek A. Ameen,
• Hesameddin Ilatikhameneh,
• Archana Tankasala,
• Yuling Hsueh,
• James Charles,
• Jim Fonseca,
• Michael Povolotskyi,
• Jun Oh Kim,
• Sanjay Krishna,
• Monica S. Allen,
• Jeffery W. Allen,
• Rajib Rahman and
• Gerhard Klimeck

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1075–1084, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.99

• intermediate-band solar cells (IBSCs) [3][4]. The optical properties of quantum dots (QDs) can be tuned through shape, dimensions and composition of the dots making them attractive for optoelectronic applications. Moreover, their sensitivity to normally incident light make them advantageous over other

Review on nanoparticles and nanostructured materials: history, sources, toxicity and regulations

• Jaison Jeevanandam,
• Ahmed Barhoum,
• Yen S. Chan,
• Alain Dufresne and
• Michael K. Danquah

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1050–1074, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.98

• creating enhanced Earth-based astronomical telescopes with adaptive optics and magnetic mirrors with the shape-shifting capability made up of ferrofluids [38][39]. TiO2 NPs are commercially used in solar cells with dye-sensitization ability [40]. In summer 2012, Logitech brought an external iPad keyboard

• powered by light on the market, representing the first major commercial use of dye-sensitized solar cells. In 2005, Abraxane™, which is a human serum albumin NP material containing paclitaxel, was manufactured, commercialized and released in the pharmaceutical market [41]. In 2014, there were about 1814

Electro-optical interfacial effects on a graphene/π-conjugated organic semiconductor hybrid system

• Karolline A. S. Araujo,
• Luiz A. Cury,
• Matheus J. S. Matos,
• Thales F. D. Fernandes,
• Luiz G. Cançado and
• Bernardo R. A. Neves

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 963–974, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.90

• microscopy; self-assembly; Introduction Organic semiconductors offer a wide range of possible applications, from thin-film transistors to sensors and solar cells [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Their optical and electronic properties are strongly linked to intermolecular interaction parameters associated with molecular

• -doped graphene. The most stable structure α (Figure 2) leads to a charge density of 1.10 × 1013 cm−2 (1.17 × 1013 cm−2) which was estimated via Mulliken population analysis (Hirshfeld method) [19][20][21]. Retinoic acid is a well-known dye molecule with potential applications in solar cells [22][23][24

Nanoscale mapping of dielectric properties based on surface adhesion force measurements

• Ying Wang,
• Yue Shen,
• Xingya Wang,
• Zhiwei Shen,
• Bin Li,
• Jun Hu and
• Yi Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 900–906, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.84

• properties [21]. This approach is expected to provide a simple and convenient method to characterize the dielectric distribution of graphene-based materials, and will further facilitate their application in energy generation and storage devices, i.e., super-capacitor, lithium ion battery, solar cells, and

Surface-plasmon-enhanced ultraviolet emission of Au-decorated ZnO structures for gas sensing and photocatalytic devices

• T. Anh Thu Do,
• Truong Giang Ho,
• Thu Hoai Bui,
• Quang Ngan Pham,
• Hong Thai Giang,
• Thi Thu Do,
• Duc Van Nguyen and
• Dai Lam Tran

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 771–779, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.70

• are expected to serve as a potential photocatalysts with highly effective performance. For instance, plasmonic Au NP/vertically aligned ZnO nanorod structures were proposed for water splitting, solar cells, and environmental remediation [17][18][19]. Ag/ZnO nanohybrid structures were synthesized and

Synthesis and characterization of two new TiO₂-containing benzothiazole-based imine composites for organic device applications

• Anna Różycka,
• Agnieszka Iwan,
• Krzysztof Artur Bogdanowicz,
• Michal Filapek,
• Natalia Górska,
• Damian Pociecha,
• Marek Malinowski,
• Patryk Fryń,
• Agnieszka Hreniak,
• Jakub Rysz,
• Paweł Dąbczyński and
• Monika Marzec

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 721–739, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.67

• organic devices such as solar cells or light emitting diodes, the air-stable organic compounds with special architecture are needed to obtain suitable values of the various important photovoltaic parameters (Voc – open circuit voltage, Jsc – short circuit current density, FF – fill factor, PCE – power

• conversion efficiency, lifetime) and luminescence parameters (e.g., quantum yield, lifetime) [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. In recent years, the efficiency of bulk heterojunction organic solar cells has shown great improvement, from 2.5 to 13%. Such rapid progress brings us closer to actual commercialization

• heterocycles with electron-rich sulfur atoms and electron-withdrawing nitrogen atoms, exhibit good hole transporting properties with a low ionization potential, making them widely used electron-accepting materials in organic solar cells [15][16][17]. Nowadays, imines (azomethines), being condensation products

Electron interaction with copper(II) carboxylate compounds

• Michal Lacko,
• Peter Papp,
• Iwona B. Szymańska,
• Edward Szłyk and
• Štefan Matejčík

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 384–398, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.38

• -induced deformation, and electromigration resistance which is higher than for aluminum [24][25][26][27]. Copper nanostructures, especially nanowires, are applied in opto-electronic devices, solar cells, field-emission displays, catalysis, electronic skins, and sensor devices. Moreover, they can find

Sugarcane juice derived carbon dot–graphitic carbon nitride composites for bisphenol A degradation under sunlight irradiation

• Lan Ching Sim,
• Jing Lin Wong,
• Chen Hong Hak,
• Jun Yan Tai,
• Kah Hon Leong and
• Pichiah Saravanan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 353–363, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.35

• drawn the attention of researchers. Such green CDs are widely applied in bioimaging [6][12], sensing [13] and solar cells [14]. However, the obtained CDs showed superior water solubility, limiting their down-to-earth applicability for photocatalysis in aqueous solution. It is well-known that the organic

Anchoring of a dye precursor on NiO(001) studied by non-contact atomic force microscopy

• Sara Freund,
• Antoine Hinaut,
• Nathalie Marinakis,
• Edwin C. Constable,
• Ernst Meyer,
• Catherine E. Housecroft and
• Thilo Glatzel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 242–249, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.26

• hybrid devices such as dye-sensitized solar cells. However, a key parameter for optimized interfaces is not only the choice of the compounds but also the properties of adsorption. Here, we investigated the deposition of an organic dye precursor molecule on a NiO(001) single crystal surface by means of

• photovoltaics such as dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) [1][2][3][4]. In the latter field, the wide band gap n-type semiconductor TiO2 has become one of the most common metal oxides for the design of classical n-type DSSCs, and is therefore a widely studied material, in particular in the field of scanning

• discussed [15][16]. Such p-type DSSCs are a first step towards the fabrication of hybrid tandem solar cells where both electrodes will be photoactive allowing for higher open-circuit voltages and energy conversion efficiencies [15][17]. The first reported p-type wide band gap metal oxide material was NiO

Dielectric properties of a bisimidazolium salt with dodecyl sulfate anion doped with carbon nanotubes

• Doina Manaila Maximean,
• Viorel Cîrcu and
• Constantin Paul Ganea

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 164–174, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.19

• -sensitized solar cells, battery materials, electrochemical sensors or energy storage devices. Their interesting properties result from the combination of liquid crystal (LC) and ionic liquid (IL) properties. The recent progress and development in the field of ILCs were reviewed in several publications [1][2

Dopant-stimulated growth of GaN nanotube-like nanostructures on Si(111) by molecular beam epitaxy

• Alexey D. Bolshakov,
• Alexey M. Mozharov,
• Georgiy A. Sapunov,
• Igor V. Shtrom,
• Nickolay V. Sibirev,
• Vladimir V. Fedorov,
• Evgeniy V. Ubyivovk,
• Maria Tchernycheva,
• George E. Cirlin and
• Ivan S. Mukhin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 146–154, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.17

• the field of photovoltaics. In case of silicon-based solar cells (SCs), reflection can be reduced from 30% (pure Si) down to 3% without deposition of multilayer antireflection coatings or involvement of complicated postgrowth techniques generally used for modification of the SC surface roughness [9