A Solar Photothermocatalytic approach for the CO2 conversion: Investigation of different synergisms on CoO-CuO/Brookite TiO2-CeO2 catalysts

Abstract The photoactive features of the least common polymorph of TiO2, i.e. brookite, were combined with the thermocatalytic redox ones of cerium oxide, focusing on the effects of the addition of small amounts of Co-Cu oxides for the solar CO2 conversion. By considering the characterization data, a surface segregation of the hosted metal oxides on the TiO2-CeO2 composite was evidenced, and their presence increased the amount of oxygen vacancies and improved the charge carriers separation. The bimetallic oxides-based sample was the most performing one in the photocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction at room temperature. The formation of carbon monoxide and methane was 5 and 0.5 μmol g−1h−1, …

Structural, electronic, and electrical properties of an Undoped n-Type CdO thin film with high electron concentration

Transparent conducting metal oxides (TCOs) combine the properties of optical transparency in the visible region with a high electrical conductivity. They are a critical component as the window electrode in liquid crystal and electroluminescent display devices, as well as in many designs of solar cells now under development. Sn-doped In2O3 is currently the most important TCO, but it suffers from some drawbacks. These include the high cost of indium, weak optical absorption in the blue-green region, as well as chemical instability that leads to corrosion phenomena in organic light-emitting devices. Indium tin oxide (ITO) films are also brittle and of relatively low durability. A number of oth…

A solar photothermo-catalytic combined process for the VOCs combustion and the subsequent CO2 valorization using noble metal-free catalysts

We here investigated a solar photothermo-catalytic combined process where the toluene (as volatile organic compound model) was first oxidized to CO2 which was subsequently converted into solar fuels in a second reactor. For this aim two noble-metal free catalytic systems were used, namely MnOx-ZrO2, which gave the best results for the toluene removal, and brookite TiO2-CeO2 mixed oxides which were the most efficient in the subsequent CO2 conversion. This latter reaction was further improved by the addition of small amounts of copper-based materials on brookite-ceria, acting as co-catalysts. The key point for both the examined reactions was the synergism between the thermocatalytic and the p…

Characterization of the defect density states in MoOx for c-Si solar cell applications

Thin layers of MoOx have been deposited by thermal evaporation followed by post-deposition annealing. The density of states distributions of the MoOx films were extracted deconvoluting the absorption spectra, measured by a photothermal deflection spectroscopy setup, including the small polaron contribution. Results revealed a sub-band defect distribution centered 1.1 eV below the conduction band; the amplitude of this distribution was found to increase with post-deposition annealing temperature and film thickness.

Density of States evaluation of Molybdenum Oxide for c-Si solar cell

Silicon-based heterojunction technology (HJT) is one of the most promising candidates for high performance and low cost solar cells with world-record efficiency close to 27% in IBC architecture. The HJT exploits the excellent passivation properties of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H); although, the use of doped a-Si:H has drawbacks such as parasitic absorption and low-thermal budget to cope with back-end metallization. Replacing the p-type a-Si:H with molybdenum oxide (MoOx) is a viable alternative. Optimizing this hole-selective layer is needed; however information on the defect density of states (DOS), linked to oxygen vacancies is still lacking.

Sb-implanted ZnO ultra-thin films

Mild heating of the Zn(C5F6HO2)(2)center dot 2H(2)O center dot CH3(OCH2CH2)(2)OCH3 precursor allowed MOCVD deposition of ZnO films, in a low-pressure horizontal hot-wall reactor, on ITO substrates. The ZnO films were subsequently implanted with Sb ions. XRD measurements provided evidence that they consist of hexagonal, (002) and (101) oriented, crystals. UV-vis spectra showed that the transmittance of these films in the visible region is about 90%. The Sb implanted ZnO film showed a current-voltage characteristic that resembles that of a rectifying diode. This study represents the first example of Sb-implantation in ZnO films obtained by MOCVD.

Exploring the photothermo-catalytic performance of brookite tio2-ceo2 composites

The thermocatalytic, photocatalytic and photothermo-catalytic oxidation of some volatile organic compounds (VOCs), 2-propanol, ethanol and toluene, was investigated over brookite TiO2-CeO2 composites. The multi-catalytic approach based on the synergistic effect between solar photocatalysis and thermocatalysis led to the considerable decrease in the conversion temperatures of the organic compounds. In particular, in the photothermo-catalytic runs, for the most active samples (TiO2-3 wt% CeO2 and TiO2-5 wt% CeO2), the temperature at which 90% of VOC conversion occurred was about 60 &deg

Covalently Conjugated Gold-Porphyrin Nanostructures

Gold nanoparticles show important electronic and optical properties, owing to their size, shape, and electronic structures. Indeed, gold nanoparticles containing no more than 30&ndash

Nanostructured CdO thin films for water treatments

Abstract CdO was the very first transparent conducting metal oxide discovered. CdO thin films show electrical and optical properties of interest as photosensitive anode materials for photochemical cells, phototransistors, photodiodes, window electrodes in liquid crystal displays, IR detectors, antireflection coatings, gas sensors and in other solar energy applications. In the present study we report on the spectroscopic, microscopic, electrical and photo-catalytic properties of CdO thin films prepared by a metal organic chemical vapor method. The degenerate semiconducting CdO thin films are useful as photocatalysts for water treatments.

Erratum to: Sub-gap defect density characterization of molybdenum oxide: An annealing study for solar cell applications

Sub-gap defect density characterization of molybdenum oxide: An annealing study for solar cell applications

AbstractThe application of molybdenum oxide in the photovoltaic field is gaining traction as this material can be deployed in doping-free heterojunction solar cells in the role of hole selective contact. For modeling-based optimization of such contact, knowledge of the molybdenum oxide defect density of states (DOS) is crucial. In this paper, we report a method to extract the defect density through nondestructive optical measures, including the contribution given by small polaron optical transitions. The presence of defects related to oxygen-vacancy and of polaron is supported by the results of our opto-electrical characterizations along with the evaluation of previous observations. As part…