Highly-dispersed nickel nanoparticles decorated titanium dioxide nanotube array for enhanced solar light absorption

Honeycomb titanium dioxide nanotube array (TiO2-NTA) decorated by highly-dispersed nickel nanoparticles (Ni-NPs) has been grown under control on Ti foil by anodization and subsequent electrodeposition. The pore diameter and length of TiO2-NTA, and the size and quantity of Ni-NPs can be controlled via modulating the variables of the electrochemical processes. It has been found that the pretreatment of TiO2-NTA in the Cu(NO3)2 solution and further annealing at 450 °C in air could greatly improve the dispersion of the electrodeposited Ni-NPs. Absorption of the light in the solar spectrum from 300 to 2500 nm by the Ni-NPs@TiO2-NTA is as high as 96.83%, thanks to the co-effect of the light-trapping of TiO2-NTA and the plasmonic resonance of Ni-NPs. In the water heating experiment performed under an illuminating solar power density of ∼1 kW m−2 (AM 1.5), the ultimate temperature over 66 °C and an overall efficiency of 78.9% within 30 min were obtained, promising for applications in photothermal conversion and solar energy harvest

CZO films: Effect of different post-annealing temperatures on electron-phonon interactions, steepness parameters, coordination numbers, optical mathematical equations, and skin depth

The CZO films annealed at 500°C are smoother and they have the maximum value of electron-phonon interaction. The CZO films annealed at 500°C have the maximum value of optical density. The absorption edge of films up to 500°C has a redshift and over 500°C they have a blue shift. The CZO films annealed at 500°C have the minimum value of band-to-band transitions energy. The as-deposited CZO films are more disordered. The empirical optical mathematical equation from linear fitting for these films was given as $E_g = 0.115\text{--}0.557E_u$ . It was demonstrated that values of the steepness parameters of CZO films are represented by a decreasing function while electron-phonon interactions by an increasing function with increasing annealing temperature. This may be ascribed to a change in iconicity and action valences of CZO films. Considering $N_c = 4$ , $Z_a = 2$ , and $N_e = 8$ for ZnO, the coordination number constants ${\beta}$ were calculated and for CZO films annealed at 600°C, β has a minimum value about of 0.18. Swanepoel method parameters also were obtained

The Effect of Deposition Rate on Morphology and Structural Properties of Carbon-Nickel Composite Films

Carbon-nickel films were grown by radio frequency magnetron cosputtering on glass substrates. The films were deposited under different deposition times, from 50 to 600 sec, at room temperature. We noticed that up to 180 sec the sputtering occurs in more metal content mode and in greater than 180 sec it occurs in more nonmetal content mode. It is shown that the structural and morphological properties of carbon-nickel films were strongly influenced by this behavior