Femtosecond laser-assisted fabrication of chalcopyrite micro-concentrator photovoltaics

• Franziska Ringleb,
• Stefan Andree,
• Berit Heidmann,
• Jörn Bonse,
• Katharina Eylers,
• Owen Ernst,
• Torsten Boeck,
• Martina Schmid and
• Jörg Krüger

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 3025–3038, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.281

• state of the art. The electric back contact (molybdenum) covered with the highly-efficient light-absorber (CIGSe) on top is deposited on a carrier material (glass). A buffer layer (CdS), a window layer consisting of an intrinsic ZnO layer (ZnO) and an aluminum-doped ZnO layer (Al:ZnO) as transparent

• . A process to realize such a system is illustrated in Figure 12. Before buffer layers (CdS, ZnO) and front contact (Al:ZnO) can be deposited, the electric insulation between back and front contact in-between the microabsorbers must be ensured. Due to its high (thermal) stability, ease of use and low

• etching (22 min at 250 W in Ar atmosphere), for example, is sufficient to uncover the islands while keeping the molybdenum substrate isolated (Figure 12c). Finally, the buffer layers (CdS, ZnO) and the front contact (Al:ZnO) were deposited (Figure 12d). CdS was applied by a wet-chemical bath deposition

Optimization of Mo/Cr bilayer back contacts for thin-film solar cells

• Nima Khoshsirat,
• Fawad Ali,
• Vincent Tiing Tiong,
• Mojtaba Amjadipour,
• Hongxia Wang,
• Mahnaz Shafiei and
• Nunzio Motta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2700–2707, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.252

• developed in this work seems to be a good option to be used as a back contact in thin-film solar cells. In order to prove this a CZTS thin-film solar cell has been made by stacking the ITO/ZnO/CdS/Cu2ZnSnS4 on top of Mo/Cr bilayer back contact on the SLG substrate. A 1.5 μm thick CZTS was deposited through

• a two-step process of sulfurization of stacked metallic layers of Cu/Sn/Zn. Then a 60 nm CdS buffer layer was deposited using chemical bath deposition (CBD). This was followed by sputtering of a 30 nm ZnO layer and a 350 nm ITO layer as transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layers. As the last step, a

• silver collection grid was deposited on top using electron-beam evaporation. It is worth mentioning that the fabrication of a cell on a single-layer Mo-coated glass also has been tried. However, the Mo films were peeled-off from the substrate during CdS CBD. Thus, herein only the performance of a cell

Two-dimensional semiconductors pave the way towards dopant-based quantum computing

• José Carlos Abadillo-Uriel,
• Belita Koiller and
• María José Calderón

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2668–2673, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.249

• analysed materials. The range of values for masses and gaps available in the literature and summarised in Table 1 are shown by the extended symbols next to the corresponding material composition. Effective masses and band-gap energies of selected 2D materials. ZnS, CdS, CdSe and SiC have a direct band gap

Nanoantenna structures for the detection of phonons in nanocrystals

• Alexander G. Milekhin,
• Sergei A. Kuznetsov,
• Ilya A. Milekhin,
• Larisa L. Sveshnikova,
• Tatyana A. Duda,
• Ekaterina E. Rodyakina,
• Alexander V. Latyshev,
• Volodymyr M. Dzhagan and
• Dietrich R. T. Zahn

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2646–2656, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.246

• of organic and inorganic materials deposited onto the arrays to be analyzed. The Langmuir–Blodgett technology was used for homogeneous deposition of CdSe, CdS, and PbS NC monolayers on the antenna arrays. The structural parameters of the arrays were confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. 3D full

• ], nanorings [28], and nanoslits [29]. A detailed description of various nanoantenna geometries can be found in the comprehensive review [30]. In this paper, we report on a systematic study of the effect of SEIRA by the phonon response from monolayers of CdSe, CdS, and PbS NCs deposited on periodic arrays of

• region. The monolayers (MLs) of CdS and PbS NCs fabricated and MLs of commercially available colloidal CdSe NCs were homogeneously deposited on the prepared plasmonic substrates using the Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) technique as described earlier [23][33][34][35]. The size, shape, and areal density of NCs, as

Nanocellulose: Recent advances and its prospects in environmental remediation

• Katrina Pui Yee Shak,
• Yean Ling Pang and
• Shee Keat Mah

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2479–2498, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.232

• nanoparticles and cellulose chains are compatible due to covalent bonds, which can improve the rigidity of the polymer chain and increase the energy required to break down the polymer chain [121]. Similar enhancement results were also obtained with cadmium sulphide (CdS) nanocrystals deposited on NCC which was

Thickness-dependent photoelectrochemical properties of a semitransparent Co₃O₄ photocathode

• Malkeshkumar Patel and
• Joondong Kim

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2432–2442, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.228

• in such applications include CuxO [19][29], CdS [30], TiO2 [31], Fe2O3 [32], and BiVO4 [33][34]. To absorb light with Co3O4, an adequately thick film is required. However, the low mobility of photogenerated charge carriers in Co3O4 can result in a low carrier lifetime, which is detrimental for

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

• to move to the underlying n-type CdS layer [6]. Equivalent conclusions have been inferred from complementary techniques such as simple conductive AFM [27], surface-potential mapping [28], and electron beam induced currents [29], though the fully three-dimensional, directly acquired data of ISC* and

• micro-scale. Such novel SPM-based measurements can be crucial to advancing the fundamental understanding, and ultimately performance and reliability, of a wide range of photosensors, photoactivated catalysts, and photovoltaics. pcAFM measurement of a CdTe/CdS solar cell, during specimen illumination

Cathodoluminescence as a probe of the optical properties of resonant apertures in a metallic film

• Kalpana Singh,
• Evgeniy Panchenko,
• Babak Nasr,
• Amelia Liu,
• Lukas Wesemann,
• Timothy J. Davis and
• Ann Roberts

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1491–1500, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.140

• demonstrated [50]. The spectral properties of core–shell CdSe/CdS quantum dots have also been studied using CL in a transmission electron microscope [51]. The same technique has been used to generate single photons and to characterize quantum states and the nature of the emitted beam with subwavelength

Cr(VI) remediation from aqueous environment through modified-TiO₂-mediated photocatalytic reduction

• Rashmi Acharya,
• Brundabana Naik and
• Kulamani Parida

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1448–1470, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.137

• with given organic compounds under suitable reaction conditions facilitates the selective organic transformations. For example, Hu et al. demonstrated that photocatalytic, selective oxidation of alcohol to aldehyde can be carried out by hVB+ and O2•− on the surface of CdS/TiO2 nanocomposites under

• visible-light irradiation. The authors have also reported that •CO2− radicals (produced by the reaction of hVB+ with HCO2NH4) and eCB− are responsible for the reduction of 4-nitroaniline to p-phenylenediamine over CdS/TiO2 photocatalysts [56]. Photodegradation of pollutants The principle of photocatalysis

• conditions, low cost, high efficiency and reusability. It uses renewable and pollution-free solar energy and produces minimal secondary waste without using toxic chemicals that follow the rules of green chemistry [59][60][61]. Various semiconductor photocatalysts such as CdS, ZnO, WO3, SnO2, and TiO2 have

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

• ], and metal sulfide quantum dots such as CdS [148][149] and ZnS [150], were synthesized using different strains of bacteria. Other than bacteria, actinomycetes such as Thermomonospora sp and Rhodococcus sp. [151] are also used to produce NPs. This bacteria-mediated NP formation was found to be highly

• supports the formation of Ag NPs [168], phytochelatin-coated CdS by Phaeodactylum tricornutum [169], and nanocomposite and nanoporous structures via coccoliths and diatoms [139]. Since very limited studies are available, the possible mechanisms for algae-mediated nanoparticle formation are still

• synthezing NPs with various sizes and shapes. It is noted that Fusarium oxysporum and Verticillium sp. of fungi have been noted to aid in Au, Ag and Au–Ag alloy NP synthesis [141][172][173]. Enzymes in Fusarium oxysporum fungi also help in the synthesis of CdS quantum dots [174] and serve as a source of

Cyclodextrin inhibits zinc corrosion by destabilizing point defect formation in the oxide layer

• Abdulrahman Altin,
• Maciej Krzywiecki,
• Adnan Sarfraz,
• Cigdem Toparli,
• Claudius Laska,
• Philipp Kerger,
• Aleksandar Zeradjanin,
• Karl J. J. Mayrhofer,
• Michael Rohwerder and
• Andreas Erbe

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 936–944, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.86

• conversion [9]. β-CD is not surface-active [10]. Although the use in food, medical, and pharmaceutical applications, including drug delivery, is well documented [11], application of CDs in corrosion protection is rare [8][12][13][14]. These applications mostly use CDs to solubilize hydrophobic corrosion

Cyclodextrin-assisted synthesis of tailored mesoporous silica nanoparticles

• Fuat Topuz and
• Tamer Uyar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 693–703, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.64

• of pristine CD (β-CD) or hydroxypropyl-functionalized CDs (HP-γ-CD and HP-β-CD). Depending on the formulation conditions, differently shaped MSNs, such as bean-like, spherical, ellipsoid, aggregate and faceted were generated. The morphology and size of MSNs varied with the CD-type used. Generally

• , spherical particles were obtained with β-CD, while a faceted morphology was observed for the particles synthesized using HP-CDs. The particle size could be tuned by adjusting the amount of CD used; increasing the CD concentration led to larger particles. MSNs synthesized in the presence of β-CD displayed a

• smaller particle size than those produced with HP-functional CDs. FTIR, TGA and solid-state 13C NMR demonstrated the adsorption of CDs on the particle surfaces. The proposed concept allows for the synthesis of silica nanoparticles with control over particle shape and size by adjusting the concentration of

Mechanistic insights into plasmonic photocatalysts in utilizing visible light

• Kah Hon Leong,
• Azrina Abd Aziz,
• Lan Ching Sim,
• Pichiah Saravanan,
• Min Jang and
• Detlef Bahnemann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 628–648, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.59

• form, etc. Although many semiconductor metal oxides such as N-doped TiO2 [88], Fe2O3 [89], CdS [90] and Bi2O3 [91][92] have been reported, this section will mainly focus on TiO2, which is the most widely studied. Au or Ag nanoparticles can be employed to produce an outstanding plasmonic effect in the

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

• Laboratory, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad 826004, Jharkhand, India 10.3762/bjnano.9.35 Abstract Carbon dots (CDs) and graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) composites (CD/g-C3N4) were successfully synthesized by a hydrothermal method using

• urea and sugarcane juice as starting materials. The chemical composition, morphological structure and optical properties of the composites and CDs were characterized using various spectroscopic techniques as well as transmission electron microscopy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results

• revealed new signals for carbonyl and carboxyl groups originating from the CDs in CD/g-C3N4 composites while X-ray diffraction (XRD) results showed distortion of the host matrix after incorporating CDs into g-C3N4. Both analyses signified the interaction between g-C3N4 and CDs. The photoluminescence (PL

Review on optofluidic microreactors for artificial photosynthesis

• Xiaowen Huang,
• Jianchun Wang,
• Tenghao Li,
• Jianmei Wang,
• Min Xu,
• Weixing Yu,
• Abdel El Abed and
• Xuming Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 30–41, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.5

• membrane-based reactors were reported as well, for instance, mesoporous CdS/TiO2/SBA-15@carbon paper composite membranes [77] and copper-decorated TiO2 nanorod thin films [78]. In addition to the PDMS/PMMA-based microchannel reactors, bacterium has been shown to be a good microreactor as well. Yang et al

• . developed a hybrid approach that combined highly efficient light harvesting of inorganic semiconductors with biocatalysts [79]. As shown in Figure 7, they induced a non-photosynthetic bacterium with biologically precipitated CdS nanoparticles, enabling the photosynthesis of acetic acid from CO2. The CdS

• splitting and CO2 reduction [80], but significant progress had already been made before it was combined with the optofluidics [81]. Park et al. developed CdS quantum-dot-sensitized TiO2 nanotube arrays for the photo-regeneration of nicotinamide cofactors [82]. They also used SiO2-supported CdS quantum dots

CdSe nanorod/TiO₂ nanoparticle heterojunctions with enhanced solar- and visible-light photocatalytic activity

• Fakher Laatar,
• Hatem Moussa,
• Halima Alem,
• Lavinia Balan,
• Emilien Girot,
• Ghouti Medjahdi,
• Hatem Ezzaouia and
• Raphaël Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2741–2752, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.273

• enhanced because oxidation of water by holes and reduction of oxygen by electrons are retained at two different sites. Recently, many groups demonstrated that the creation of a heterojunction between TiO2 and CdS, CdSe or alloyed CdSeS nanoparticles allows the optical absorption of TiO2 to be extended into

• . used chemical vapor deposition to associate CdS, CdSe or CdSeS rods to TiO2 NRs arrays and demonstrated that the CdSeS/TiO2 heterostructure exhibits the highest performances as photoelectrode [39]. More recently, small CdSe NRs [40] or type II CdSe/CdSexTe1−x NRs [41] were also used as light harvesters

PTFE-based microreactor system for the continuous synthesis of full-visible-spectrum emitting cesium lead halide perovskite nanocrystals

• Chengxi Zhang,
• Weiling Luan,
• Yuhang Yin and
• Fuqian Yang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2521–2529, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.252

• , there is no report on the continuous synthesis of perovskite nanocrystals via microreactor systems, even though these systems have been successfully used to synthesize CdSe [25], CdSe/ZnS [26], CdSexTe1−x [27], and CdS [28] QDs, as well as monodisperse Au–Ag alloy nanoparticles [29]. In this work, we

Two-dimensional carbon-based nanocomposites for photocatalytic energy generation and environmental remediation applications

• Suneel Kumar,
• Ashish Kumar,
• Ashish Bahuguna,
• Vipul Sharma and
• Venkata Krishnan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1571–1600, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.159

• ]. Hence, in the recent decade, heterogeneous photocatalysis has been widely explored for the conversion of solar energy into chemical energy and for pollutant removal from water [11][12]. Up to now, various interesting semiconductors such as TiO2, ZnO, WO3, CdS, Bi2O3, Fe2O3, SnO2, BiVO4, etc. have been

• coupling with semiconductor materials such as TiO2 [73], ZnO [74], CdS [75], SnO2 [76], CeO2 [77], WO3 [78], Fe2O3 [79], Ag3PO4 [80], Ag3VO4 [81], ZnWO4 [82], SrTiO3 [83], BiVO4 [84], Bi2WO6 [85], BiOX [86][87], etc. These heterojunction formations have proved to be an effective method to improve the

• nanotubes (CNT) and g-C3N4 has been presented in Table 1. The role of graphene as a cocatalyst has been investigated by various research groups. Peng et al. [123] reported graphene oxide (GO)–CdS nanocomposites for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution by using Na2S and Na2SO3 as sacrificial agents, where GO

Development of polycationic amphiphilic cyclodextrin nanoparticles for anticancer drug delivery

• Gamze Varan,
• Juan M. Benito,
• Carmen Ortiz Mellet and
• Erem Bilensoy

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1457–1468, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.145

• , delivering the drug bound to the nanocarriers in a considerably lower dose to target tissue. Cyclodextrins (CDs) are cyclic oligosaccharides obtained through enzymatic degradation of starch. The most frequently used CDs in the pharmaceutical field are α-CD, β-CD and γ-CD having 6, 7 and 8 subunits

• , respectively [9]. These molecules have drawn attention as drug carrier systems for several years because of their unique molecular structures and supramolecular capabilities. CDs, although hydrophilic in the external surface, have hydrophobic cavity and this compartment allows them to form strong inclusion

• complexes with non-polar drugs or active molecules [10]. CDs are easily able to modulate physicochemical properties of guest molecules, including solubility and/or stability in biological medium. Despite all the advantages, CDs have some challenges. For instance, it is well known that β-CD has low

ZnO nanoparticles sensitized by CuInZn_xS_2+x quantum dots as highly efficient solar light driven photocatalysts

• Florian Donat,
• Serge Corbel,
• Halima Alem,
• Steve Pontvianne,
• Lavinia Balan,
• Ghouti Medjahdi and
• Raphaël Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1080–1093, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.110

• coupled to those of the QDs [10][11][12]. Heterostructured photocatalysts such as ZnO/CdS or TiO2/CdS or TiO2/PbS exhibit extended light absorption and improved photoreactivity due to the promoted separation of photo-induced charge carriers [13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. However, QDs such as CdS or PbS

Association of aescin with β- and γ-cyclodextrins studied by DFT calculations and spectroscopic methods

• Ana I. Ramos,
• Pedro D. Vaz,
• Susana S. Braga and
• Artur M. S. Silva

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 348–357, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.37

• (CDs) is a technical solution for its incorporation into the textile of stockings, but details of the physicochemistry of these host–guest systems are lacking. This work investigates the inclusion of aescin into the cavities of two native cyclodextrins, β-CD and γ-CD. Results: The continuous variation

• functional theory (DFT) calculations on the interaction of aescin Ib with CDs show that an inclusion can indeed occur and it is further demonstrated that the wider cavity of γ-CD is more adequate to accommodate this large guest. ROESY spectroscopy is consistent with the formation of a complex in which the

• triterpenic moiety of aescin is included into the cavity of γ-CD. The higher stability of this geometry was confirmed by DFT. Furthermore, DFT calculations were applied to determine the chemical shifts of the protons H3 and H5 of the CDs in the optimised structures of the inclusion complexes. The calculated

Photocatalysis applications of some hybrid polymeric composites incorporating TiO₂ nanoparticles and their combinations with SiO₂/Fe₂O₃

• Andreea Laura Chibac,
• Tinca Buruiana,
• Violeta Melinte and
• Emil C. Buruiana

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 272–286, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.30

• than the other catalysts studied in literature (ZnO, SnO2, WO3, CdS) because of their superior redox ability and photoelectric properties, the long-term stability, the nontoxicity, and the low cost [10][11][12][13][14][15]. Nevertheless, the practical applications of TiO2 have a major drawback, namely

Performance of colloidal CdS sensitized solar cells with ZnO nanorods/nanoparticles

• Anurag Roy,
• Partha Pratim Das,
• Mukta Tathavadekar,
• Sumita Das and
• Parukuttyamma Sujatha Devi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 210–221, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.23

• Division, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune 411 008, India 10.3762/bjnano.8.23 Abstract As an alternative photosensitizer in dye-sensitized solar cells, bovine serum albumin (BSA) (a nonhazardous protein) was used in the synthesis of colloidal CdS nanoparticles (NPs). This system has been employed

• to replace the commonly used N719 dye molecule. Various nanostructured forms of ZnO, namely, nanorod and nanoparticle-based photoanodes, have been sensitized with colloidal CdS NPs to evaluate their effective performance towards quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs). A polysulphide (Sx2−)-based

• electrons. Commonly used dye molecules are Ru-based N719 and N3. However, recently, chalcogenide semiconductors such as CdS, InP, CdSe, PbS, CdSe, Sb2S3 have been explored for replacing the sensitizers in DSSC [1][2][3][4]. Thus, there has been a renewed interest in the area of DSSC, resulting in the

Role of RGO support and irradiation source on the photocatalytic activity of CdS–ZnO semiconductor nanostructures

• Suneel Kumar,
• Rahul Sharma,
• Vipul Sharma,
• Gurunarayanan Harith,
• Vaidyanathan Sivakumar and
• Venkata Krishnan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1684–1697, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.161

• the photocatalysts. In this work, we have investigated the role of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) support and the irradiation source on mixed metal chalcogenide semiconductor (CdS–ZnO) nanostructures. The photocatalyst material was synthesized using a facile hydrothermal method and thoroughly

• characterized using different spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by studying the degradation of a model dye (methyl orange, MO) under visible light (only) irradiation and under natural sunlight. The results reveal that the RGO-supported CdS–ZnO photocatalyst

• performs considerably better than the unsupported CdS–ZnO nanostructures. In addition, both the catalysts perform significantly better under natural sunlight than under visible light (only) irradiation. In essence, this work paves way for tailoring the photocatalytic activity of semiconductor

The influence of phthalocyanine aggregation in complexes with CdSe/ZnS quantum dots on the photophysical properties of the complexes

• Irina V. Martynenko,
• Anna O. Orlova,
• Vladimir G. Maslov,
• Anatoly V. Fedorov,
• Kevin Berwick and
• Alexander V. Baranov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1018–1027, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.94

• ][21]. This statement was recently supported by the Nyokong group [22] where FRET efficiencies up to 93% were predicted in nanocomposites based on glutathione-capped CdTe/CdS/ZnS QDs covalently linked with aluminium sulfonated phthalocyanine. However, analysis of donor PL quenching and acceptor PL