• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.68-79
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• 2016

The power conversion efficiency of perovskite solar cells has remarkably increased from 3.81% to 22.1% in the past 6 years. Perovskite solar cells, which are based on the perovskite crystal structure, are fabricated using organic-inorganic hybrid materials. The advantages of these solar cells are their low cost and simple fabrication procedure. Also, they have a band gap of about 1.6 eV and effectively absorb light in the visible region. For the commercialization of perovskite solar cells in the field of photovoltaics, the issue of their long term stability cannot be overlooked. Although the development of perovskite solar cells is unprecedented, their main drawback is the degradation of the perovskite structure by moisture. This degradation is accelerated by exposure to UV light, temperature, and external bias. This paper reviews the aforesaid reasons for perovskite solar cell degradation. We also discuss the research directions that can lead to the development of perovskite solar cells with high stability.

• Solar Energy
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.10-20
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• 1992

In this experiment, photochemical reaction has been applied to destroy TCE in water phase. The main target of this work is to investigate the technical feasibility of large scale of solar detoxification reactor for water treatment. The results have revealed that solar detoxification utilizing photon energy from the sun is the most attractive process to decompose organic toxins in water phase at room temperature. The detailed results from this work are as follows; (1) The highest conversion ratio of TCE was obtained by using $TiO_2$, annatase as a photocatalyst among $TiO_2$ anatase, $TiO_2$ rutile and $V_2O_5$ under the same experimental condition. The anatase crystal structure was confirmed with XRD analysis, and its surface area was 7.748 $m^2/g$ from the BET-$N_2$ measurement (2) 0.1 wt% of $TiO_2$ anatase has been adopted as optimal quantity for batch slurry reactor at this experimental conditions. (3) The effect of hydrogen peroxide on the conversion of TCE was investigated. Its optimal quantity was 0.06 vol. % under this experimental conditions. (4) The effect of oxygen on the conversion of TCE also was studied by controlling the head space in photoreactor. Results indicated that sufficient amount of oxygen should be supplied to accomplish the highest conversion rate of TCE in water phase.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.63 no.6
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• pp.453-458
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• 2019

Synthesis of ZnCo₂O₃ oxide is performed by sol-gel method via nitrate-citrate route. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) study shows monoclinic unit cell having lattice parameters: a = 5.721(1) Å, b = 8.073(2) Å, c = 5.670(1) Å, β = 93.221(8)°, space group P_2/m and Z = 4. Average crystallite sizes determined by Scherrer equation are the range ~14-32 nm, whereas SEM micrographs show nano-micro meter size particles formed in ZnCo₂O₃. Endothermic peak at ~798 K in the Differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) trace without weight loss could be due to structural transformation and the endothermic peak ~1143 K with weight loss is due to reversible loss of O₂ in air atmosphere. Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis profile shows the presence of elements Zn, Co and O which indicates the purity of the sample. Magnetic measurements in the range of +12 kOe to -12 kOe at 10 K, 77 K, 120 K and at 300 K by PPMS-II Physical Property Measurement System (PPMS) shows hysteresis loops having very low values of the coercivity and retentivity which indicates the weakly ferromagnetic nature of the oxide. Observed X-band EPR isotropic lineshapes at 300 K and 77 K show positive g-shift at g_iso ~2.230 and g_iso ~2.217, respectively which is in agreement with the presence of paramagnetic site Co²⁺(3d⁷) in the oxide. DC conductivity value of 2.875 ×10^-8 S/cm indicates very weakly semiconducting nature of ZnCo₂O₃ at 300 K. DRS absorption bands ~357 nm, ~572 nm, ~619 nm and ~654 nm are due to the d-d transitions ⁴T_1g(⁴F)→²E_g(²G), ⁴T_1g(⁴F)→⁴T_1g(⁴P), ⁴T_1g(⁴F)→⁴A_2g(⁴F), ⁴T_1g(⁴F)→⁴T_2g(⁴F), respectively in octahedral ligand field around Co²⁺ ions. Direct band gap energy, E_g~ 1.5 eV in the oxide is obtained by extrapolating the linear part of the Tauc plot to the energy axis indicates fairly strong semiconducting nature of ZnCo₂O₃.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.199-204
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• 2000

In this study, the ZnS nanosized thin films that could be used for fabrication of blue light-emitting diodes, electro-optic modulators, and n-window layers of solar cells were grown by the solution growth technique (SGT), and their structural and optical properties were examined. Based on these results, the quantum size effects of ZnS were systematically investigated. Governing factors related to the growth condition were the concentration of precursor solution, growth temperature, concentration of aq. ammonia, and growth duration. X-ray diffraction patterns showed that the ZnS thin film obtained in this study had the cubic structure ($\beta$-ZnS). When the growth temperature was $75^{\circ}C$, the surface morphology and the grain size uniformity were the best. The energy band gaps of samples were determined from the optical transmittance valued, and were shown to vary from 3.69 eV to 3.91 eV. These values were substantially higher than 3.65 eV of bulk ZnS, demonstrating that the quantum size effect of SGT grown ZnS is remarkable. Photoluminescence (PL) peaks were observed at the positions corresponding to the lower energy than that to energy band gap, illustrating that the surface states were induced by the ultra-fineness of grains in ZnS films. Particularly, for the first time, it is reported for the SGT grown ZnS that the PL peaks were shifted depending on the grain size.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.155-160
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• 2013

ZnO thin films co-doped with Mg and Ga (MxGyZzO, x + y + z = 1, x = 0.05, y = 0.02 and z = 0.93) were prepared on glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering with different sputtering powers ranging from 100W to 200W at a substrate temperature of $350^{\circ}C$. The effects of the sputtering power on the structural, morphological, electrical, and optical properties of MGZO thin films were investigated. The X-ray diffraction patterns showed that all the MGZO thin films were grown as a hexagonal wurtzite phase with the preferred orientation on the c-axis without secondary phases such as MgO, $Ga_2O_3$, or $ZnGa_2O_4$. The intensity of the diffraction peak from the (0002) plane of the MGZO thin films was enhanced as the sputtering power increased. The (0002) peak positions of the MGZO thin films was shifted toward, a high diffraction angle as the sputtering power increased. Cross-sectional field emission scanning electron microscopy images of the MGZO thin films showed that all of these films had a columnar structure and their thickness increased with an increase in the sputtering power. MGZO thin film deposited at the sputtering power of 200W showed the best electrical characteristics in terms of the carrier concentration ($4.71{\times}10^{20}cm^{-3}$), charge carrier mobility ($10.2cm^2V^{-1}s^{-1}$) and a minimum resistivity ($1.3{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}cm$). A UV-visible spectroscopy assessment showed that the MGZO thin films had high transmittance of more than 80 % in the visible region and that the absorption edges of MGZO thin films were very sharp and shifted toward the higher wavelength side, from 270 nm to 340 nm, with an increase in the sputtering power. The band-gap energy of MGZO thin films was widened from 3.74 eV to 3.92 eV with the change in the sputtering power.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.487-496
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• 2014

In this study, three kinds of polymers based on phenothiazine-benzothiadiazole were synthesized by a Suzuki coupling reaction, and the various side-chains were substituted at the nitrogen of phenothiazine. The optical and electrochemical properties of synthesized polymers were analyzed. The results indicate that their absorption ranged from 300 to 700 nm, and also confirmed the ideal highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level was about -5.4 eV with low band-gap energy. Photovoltaic devices were fabricated using a photoactive layer composed of a blended solution of the polymer and $PC_{71}BM$ in ortho-dichlorobenzene The device with P2HDPZ-bTP-OBT containing the branched side-chain and long chain showed the best performance; the maximum power conversion efficiency of this device was 2.4% (with $V_{OC}$ : 0.74 V, $J_{SC}$ : $6.9mA/cm^2$, FF : 48.0%).

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.1485-1490
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• 2014

We have designed and developed a new ladder type tetrafused ${\pi}$-conjugated building block such as dihydroindolo[3,2-b]indole (DINI) and investigated its role as an electron rich unit. The photovoltaic properties of a new semiconducting ${\pi}$-conjugated polymer, poly[[5,10-bisoctyl-5,10-dihydroindolo[3,2-b]indole-[5,6- bis(octyloxy)-4,7-di(thiophen-2-yl)benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole]], represented by PDINI-OBTC8 are described. The new polymer PDINI-OBTC8 was synthesized in donor-acceptor (D-A) fashion, where fused ${\pi}$-conjugated tetracyclic DINI, and 5,6-bis(octyloxy)-4,7-di(thiophen-2-yl) benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole (OBTC8) were employed as electron rich (donor) and electron deficient (acceptor) moieties, respectively. The conventional bulk heterojunction (BHJ) device structure ITO/PEDOT:PSS/PDINI-OBTC8:PCB71M/LiF/Al was utilized to fabricate polymer solar cells (PSCs), which comprises the blend of PDINI-OBTC8 and [6,6]-phenyl-$C_{71}$-butyric acid methyl ester ($PC_{71}BM$) in BHJ network. A BHJ PSC that contain PDINI-OBTC8 delivered power conversion efficiency (PCE) value of 1.68% with 1 vol% of 1,8-diidooctane (DIO) under the illumination of A.M 1.5G 100 $mW/cm^2$.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.481-493
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• 2020

The negative stiffness spring and inerter are both characterized by the negative stiffness effect in the force-displacement relationship, potentially yielding an amplifying mechanism for dashpot deformation by being incorporated with a series tuning spring. However, resisting forces of the two mechanical elements are dominant in different frequency domains, thus leading to necessary complementarity in terms of vibration control and the amplifying benefit. Inspired by this, this study proposes a Negative Stiffness Inerter System (NSIS) as an earthquake protection system and developed analytical design formulae by fully utilizing its advantageous features. The NSIS is composed of a sub-configuration of a negative stiffness spring and an inerter in parallel, connected to a tuning spring in series. First, closed-form displacement responses are derived for the NSIS structure, and a stability analysis is conducted to limit the feasible domains of NSIS parameters. Then, the dual advantageous features of displacement reduction and the dashpot deformation amplification effect are revealed and clarified in a parametric analysis, stimulating the establishment of a displacement-based optimal design framework, correspondingly yielding the design formulae in analytical form. Finally, a series of examples are illustrated to validate the derived formulae. In this study, it is confirmed that the synergistic incorporation of the negative stiffness spring and the inerter has significant energy dissipation efficiency in a wide frequency band and an enhanced control effect in terms of the displacement and shear force responses. The developed displacement-based design strategy is suitable to utilize the dual benefits of the NSIS, which can be accurately implemented by the analytical design formulae to satisfy the target vibration control with increased energy dissipation efficiency.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.382-382
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• 2010

$TaO_2$ thin films as gate dielectrics have been proposed to overcome the problems of tunneling current and degradation mobility in achieving a thin equivalent oxide thickness. An extremely thin $SiO_2$ layer is used in order to separate the carrier in MOSFETchannel from the dielectric field fluctuation caused by phonons in the dielectric which decreases the carrier mobility. The electronic and optical properties influenced the device performance to a great extent. The atomic structure of amorphous and crystalline Tantalum oxide ($TaO_2$) gate dielectrics thin film on Si (100) were grown by utilizing atomic layer deposition method was examined using Ta-K edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy. By using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy (REELS) the electronic and optical properties was obtained. In this study, the band gap (3.400.1 eV) and the optical properties of $TaO_2$ thin films were obtained from the experimental inelastic scattering cross section of reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy (REELS) spectra. EXAFS spectra show that the ordered bonding of Ta-Ta for c-$TaO_2$ which is not for c-$TaO_2$ thin film. The optical properties' e.g., index refractive (n), extinction coefficient (k) and dielectric function ($\varepsilon$) were obtained from REELS spectra by using QUEELS-$\varepsilon$(k, $\omega$)-REELS software shows good agreement with other results. The energy-dependent behaviors of reflection, absorption or transparency in $TaO_2$ thin films also have been determined from the optical properties.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.385-399
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• 2023

Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), commonly referred to as Boron Nitride Nanoribbons (BNNRs), is an electrical insulator characterized by high thermal stability and a wide bandgap semiconductor property. This study delves into the electronic properties of two BNNR configurations: Armchair BNNRs (ABNNRs) and Zigzag BNNRs (ZBNNRs). Utilizing the nearest-neighbour tight-binding approach and numerical methods, the electronic properties of BNNRs were simulated. A simplifying assumption, the Hamiltonian matrix is used to compute the electronic properties by considering the self-interaction energy of a unit cell and the interaction energy between the unit cells. The edge perturbation is applied to the selected atoms of ABNNRs and ZBNNRs to simulate the electronic properties changes. This simulation work is done by generating a custom script using numerical computational methods in MATLAB software. When benchmarked against a reference study, our results aligned closely in terms of band structure and bandgap energy for ABNNRs. However, variations were observed in the peak values of the continuous curves for the local density of states. This discrepancy can be attributed to the use of numerical methods in our study, in contrast to the semi-analytical approach adopted in the reference work.