Conjugated photothermal materials and structure design for solar steam generation

• Chia-Yang Lin and
• Tsuyoshi Michinobu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 454–466, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.36

• ratio, high porosity, and high mass transport. Therefore, they are often applied to SSG absorbers along with other macrostructures such as membranes and foams [29][52][53][54][55]. One noticeable example is the study of nanofiber-based light-trapping coatings [29]. Ma et al. proposed an ultrasonic spray

• coating method to obtain light-trapping coatings of nanofibers by the copolymerization of dopamine and pyrrole, which can be directly and rapidly synthesized on a polystyrene (PS) foam at room temperature (Figure 9). Due to its excellent wettability, the coating is water permeable and can be directly

• included for comparison in (c). (d) Schematic illustration of light trapping by surface structures formed on the multilayer PPy nanosheets. Figure 6 was adapted from [32], X. Wang et al., “Multilayer Polypyrrole Nanosheets with Self-Organized Surface Structures for Flexible and Efficient Solar–Thermal

Plasmonic nanotechnology for photothermal applications – an evaluation

• A. R. Indhu,
• L. Keerthana and
• Gnanaprakash Dharmalingam

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 380–419, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.33

Double-layer symmetric gratings with bound states in the continuum for dual-band high-Q optical sensing

• Chaoying Shi,
• Jinhua Hu,
• Xiuhong Liu,
• Junfang Liang,
• Jijun Zhao,
• Haiyan Han and
• Qiaofen Zhu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1408–1417, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.116

• Figure 8d. It can be found that the sensitivity of both modes decreases with the increase in h. This is because an increase in h increases light trapping inside the cavity, decreasing light–matter interaction and sensitivity. On the contrary, the FOM values of the two modes do not have the same trend

9.1% efficient zinc oxide/silicon solar cells on a 50 μm thick Si absorber

• Rafal Pietruszka,
• Bartlomiej S. Witkowski,
• Monika Ozga,
• Katarzyna Gwozdz,
• Ewa Placzek-Popko and
• Marek Godlewski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 766–774, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.60

• the light-trapping effect. The impact of light-trapping on the operation of solar cells is presented by means of current–voltage curves. In contrast, sample B showed a flat surface morphology. The average RMS roughness value was 9 nm. Therefore, interference peaks in external quantum efficiency (EQE

Wafer-level integration of self-aligned high aspect ratio silicon 3D structures using the MACE method with Au, Pd, Pt, Cu, and Ir

• Mathias Franz,
• Romy Junghans,
• Paul Schmitt,
• Adriana Szeghalmi and
• Stefan E. Schulz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1439–1449, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.128

• random structures are typically vertically aligned nanowires, also called nanorods. Silicon nanowire arrays can be designed to have a low reflectance of about 1% in a broad spectral range, depending on their geometry. These silicon structures exhibit efficient light trapping because photons are scattered

Highly sensitive detection of estradiol by a SERS sensor based on TiO₂ covered with gold nanoparticles

• Andrea Brognara,
• Ili F. Mohamad Ali Nasri,
• Beatrice R. Bricchi,
• Andrea Li Bassi,
• Caroline Gauchotte-Lindsay,
• Matteo Ghidelli and
• Nathalie Lidgi-Guigui

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1026–1035, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.87

• use of composite systems of dielectrics (TiO2, ZnO) and metallic NPs has gathered increasing attention regarding SERS applications, because the plasmonic enhancement provided by metallic NPs can be combined with the optical properties of the semiconductor such as light trapping, scattering, and

• abovementioned influence of the TiO2 surface on the size of the Au NPs (and consequently their plasmonic properties), a first hint can be found in the optical properties of semiconductor nanostructured materials. Their light-scattering, light-trapping and antireflection abilities, have already been reported to

Ultraviolet patterns of flowers revealed in polymer replica – caused by surface architecture

• Anna J. Schulte,
• Matthias Mail,
• Lisa A. Hahn and
• Wilhelm Barthlott

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 459–466, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.45

• and Exner [26] suspect that flowers with a saturated color have a better chance of being seen and therefore have higher reproduction success. It can be assumed that conical papillate cells (for the definition see [21]) increase the amount of light absorbed by the petal (light trapping), reaching the

Geometrical optimisation of core–shell nanowire arrays for enhanced absorption in thin crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells

• Robin Vismara,
• Olindo Isabella,
• Andrea Ingenito,
• Fai Tong Si and
• Miro Zeman

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 322–331, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.31

• light trapping schemes is of paramount importance for the development of high-efficiency thin silicon solar cells. The most common approach is the texturing of interfaces, to increase the path length of light inside the absorber. This allows for the use of thinner absorbers, which can decrease

Performance analysis of rigorous coupled-wave analysis and its integration in a coupled modeling approach for optical simulation of complete heterojunction silicon solar cells

• Ziga Lokar,
• Benjamin Lipovsek,
• Marko Topic and
• Janez Krc

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2315–2329, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.216

• simulation of solar cells, in particular heterojunction silicon (HJ Si) solar cells. The structure of HJ Si solar cells consists of thin and thick layers, and additionally, micro- and nano-textures are also introduced to further exploit the potential of light trapping. The RCWA was tested on the front

• conversion efficiency of solar cells. Such techniques aim to improve the coupling of light into the structure (e.g., antireflective coatings and nanostructures at the front side of solar cells) and the light trapping ability of the structure (e.g., nano- and micrometer size textures for light scattering and

• wavelength region. The differences in the long-wavelength region of A are a consequence of light scattering on the front nanotexture, enhancing the light trapping effect in the structure. With the results shown in Figure 8a, we exploit the potential of efficient simulation of the cell with RCWA and proceed

Two-dimensional photonic crystals increasing vertical light emission from Si nanocrystal-rich thin layers

• Lukáš Ondič,
• Marian Varga,
• Ivan Pelant,
• Alexander Kromka,
• Karel Hruška and
• Robert G. Elliman

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2287–2296, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.213

• inverted rough-surface LEDs [11] can be obtained. The main advantage therefore remains the ability to tune the far-field radiation pattern. It is worth noting that due to reciprocity of light propagation (in the linear regime), PhC structures can also be used for light-trapping. It was shown, both

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

• geometry of the scales of a butterfly promote a light trapping effect from the UV to NIR range, which significantly increases the light absorption compared to a non-patterned system [149]. These works inspired the combination of bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) with the 3D architecture design of a butterfly wing

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

• utilized the diatom as the C3N4 formation templet, enlarging the specific surface area for enhanced light trapping and scattering and eventually high photocatalytic efficiency [27]. This research is mostly based on the slurry method. Optofluidics-based coenzyme regeneration appeared only in recent years

Refractive index sensing and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy using silver–gold layered bimetallic plasmonic crystals

• Somi Kang,
• Sean E. Lehman,
• Matthew V. Schulmerich,
• An-Phong Le,
• Tae-woo Lee,
• Stephen K. Gray,
• Rohit Bhargava and
• Ralph G. Nuzzo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2492–2503, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.249

• which they can be exploited. These applications include, but are not limited to: laser emission, light trapping, optical modulation, and label-free means of chemical or biological sensing [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Surface plasmons are collective oscillations of conduction electrons near metal surfaces that

Growth and characterization of textured well-faceted ZnO on planar Si(100), planar Si(111), and textured Si(100) substrates for solar cell applications

• Chin-Yi Tsai,
• Jyong-Di Lai,
• Shih-Wei Feng,
• Chien-Jung Huang,
• Chien-Hsun Chen,
• Fann-Wei Yang,
• Hsiang-Chen Wang and
• Li-Wei Tu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1939–1945, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.194

• deposition (LPCVD) can act as good TCOs for thin film silicon solar cells [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. This is mainly due to its high transparency over the visible and near-infrared (NIR) wavelength range, lower electrical resistivity (down to 1 × 10−3 Ω·cm), and the light-trapping capability due to its

• regarding the subject of granular ZnO thin films grown on crystalline silicon substrates. It is known that due to the formation of nanometer ZnO grains, granular ZnO could increase the light-scattering capability (i.e., the haze) of the film and thus function as a light-trapping structure by enhancing the

• optical path and the photon absorption probability of the incident light, thus increasing the photocurrent of the solar cells [3]. As a result, for thin film solar cells, ZnO not only serve as a TCO, but also a light-trapping structure. In addition, the exposed planes in the crystal growth process depend

Study of the surface properties of ZnO nanocolumns used for thin-film solar cells

• Neda Neykova,
• Jiri Stuchlik,
• Karel Hruska,
• Ales Poruba,
• Zdenek Remes and
• Ognen Pop-Georgievski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 446–451, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.48

• layer arrangement, the light scattering and the consequent light trapping, caused by the interfaces with nano-scale roughness (front TCO–active layer and active layer–back reflector), increase the optical path inside in the thin silicon layer. These effects are observed in the weakly absorbing spectral

• developed solar cells based on a three dimensional (3-D) design, in which periodically ordered zinc oxide nanocolumns (ZnO NCs) are used as a front electrode, have been of great interest, because they would exceed in the ultimate light trapping and provide excellent charge separation [5][6][7]. Due to the

Fabrication of black-gold coatings by glancing angle deposition with sputtering

• Alan Vitrey,
• Rafael Alvarez,
• Alberto Palmero,
• María Ujué González and
• José Miguel García-Martín

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 434–439, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.46

• properties of gold nanostructures are dominated by the existence of localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs), and that these LSPRs induce enhanced scattering, it is reasonable to assume that such low reflectance is due to the combined effect of the LSPRs and the light trapping associated with multiple

• scattering that arises when those nanostructures are closely packed forming a non-periodic, non-uniformly sized array [15][16]. In particular, the high number of nanostructures and their broad height distribution favors multiple scattering processes, improving light trapping and increasing absorption

• efficient light trapping (Figure 4b). It can be seen that the reflectance values shown by these samples are not as low as those obtained in the samples prepared with 87° and 85° tilt angle. Finally, the only common feature for all the nanostructured samples and the continuous film is a decrease in the

Optical and photocatalytic properties of TiO₂ nanoplumes

• Viviana Scuderi,
• Massimo Zimbone,
• Maria Miritello,
• Giuseppe Nicotra,
• Giuliana Impellizzeri and
• Vittorio Privitera

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 190–195, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.20

• for the photocatalytic reaction is different for each type of sample. Moreover the dynamic mechanisms of liquid circulation around [22] and inside nanostructures are not obvious [23]. However, the possible enhancement in the light trapping efficiency could provide additional photogenerated carriers

Effect of Anderson localization on light emission from gold nanoparticle aggregates

• Mohamed H. Abdellatif,
• Marco Salerno,
• Gaser N. Abdelrasoul,
• Ioannis Liakos,
• Alice Scarpellini,
• Sergio Marras and
• Alberto Diaspro

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 2013–2022, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.192

• for surface plasmon polaritons at the interface between metallic and dielectric films [2][3]. Light trapping in amorphous aggregates of metal nanoparticles known as Anderson localization [3][4] can lead to pronounced optoelectronic effects. The photon interaction with a dense collection of states can

Experimental determination of the light-trapping-induced absorption enhancement factor in DSSC photoanodes

• Serena Gagliardi and
• Mauro Falconieri

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 886–892, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.91

• produced by the concurrent phenomena of light absorption by dye molecules and light trapping in the mesoporous, titania photoanode structure. The decoupling of these two phenomena is important for device characterization and the design of novel photoelectrode geometries with increased optical performance

• . In this paper, this task is addressed by introducing a spectral absorption enhancement factor as a parameter to quantify the light trapping effect. The experimental value of this parameter was obtained by comparing the experimentally determined fraction of absorbed light by a dye-sensitized

• extreme cases of the absence of light trapping and maximum light trapping. Accordingly, the photocurrent was calculated under the assumption of solar irradiation, which defined two useful boundaries. Using the experimentally derived values of the spectral absorption enhancement factor in the photoanode

Simple approach for the fabrication of PEDOT-coated Si nanowires

• Mingxuan Zhu,
• Marielle Eyraud,
• Judikael Le Rouzo,
• Nadia Ait Ahmed,
• Florence Boulc’h,
• Claude Alfonso,
• Philippe Knauth and
• François Flory

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 640–650, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.65

• spectral range was obtained for these structures, evidencing their excellent antireflective properties. The etched SiNWs nanostructures can be further modified by using a tapering technique, which further preserves the strong light trapping effect. P-type PEDOT was grown on these SiNWs using

• concentration of the AgNO3 solution influences the morphology. However, for this study, only those SiNWs that exhibit good optical performance (low reflection at the surface, i.e., a light trapping effect) which were suitable for PEDOT deposition (using a KOH solution after the EMACE process) were addressed

• strong light trapping effect [1], the SiNWs produced without tapering exhibit a reflection of less than 2% over the entire visible range. The reflection of the tapered samples increases with the tapering duration. After 50 s of tapering, the SiNWs have a reflection greater than 10% due to the reduced

Influence of size, shape and core–shell interface on surface plasmon resonance in Ag and Ag@MgO nanoparticle films deposited on Si/SiO_x

• Sergio D’Addato,
• Daniele Pinotti,
• Maria Chiara Spadaro,
• Guido Paolicelli,
• Vincenzo Grillo,
• Sergio Valeri,
• Luca Pasquali,
• Luca Bergamini and
• Stefano Corni

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 404–413, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.40

• , it was found that Au NPs [5] and Ag NPs [6] deposited on thin film- and wafer-based Si solar cells can enhance their photon absorption due to the occurrence of surface plasmon resonance (SPR), which serves to scatter the incident radiation in the UV–vis region and to increase the light trapping

Low-cost plasmonic solar cells prepared by chemical spray pyrolysis

• Erki Kärber,
• Atanas Katerski,
• Ilona Oja Acik,
• Valdek Mikli,
• Arvo Mere,
• Ilmo Sildos and
• Malle Krunks

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2398–2402, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.249

• of solar cells scales with the complexity of the technology involved as well as the price and volume of the semiconductors used (but in particular, the absorber material). The use of very thin absorber layers in solar cells requires adoption of various light trapping techniques to take advantage of

Photovoltaic properties of ZnO nanorods/p-type Si heterojunction structures

• Rafal Pietruszka,
• Bartlomiej S. Witkowski,
• Grzegorz Luka,
• Lukasz Wachnicki,
• Sylwia Gieraltowska,
• Krzysztof Kopalko,
• Eunika Zielony,
• Piotr Bieganski,
• Ewa Placzek-Popko and
• Marek Godlewski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 173–179, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.17

• PV efficiency of the obtained hybrid PV cells [43]. However, a detailed explanation of the effect observed in this work will require a further study. Conclusion We investigated PV structures based on zinc oxide nanorods. Their 3D morphology leads to an increased light trapping. ZnONR with different

Near-field effects and energy transfer in hybrid metal-oxide nanostructures

• Ulrich Herr,
• Balati Kuerbanjiang,
• Cahit Benel,
• Giorgos Papageorgiou,
• Manuel Goncalves,
• Johannes Boneberg,
• Paul Leiderer,
• Paul Ziemann,
• Peter Marek and
• Horst Hahn

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 306–317, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.34

• for increasing the absorption, especially in thin-film structures, as well as the exploitation of field enhancements in the near-field region. Another approach reviewed in [6] for “light trapping” in photovoltaics is the excitation of surface plasmon polaritons at the interface between metals and