Light-harvesting capabilities of dielectric sphere multilayers

peer reviewedSelf-assembled synthetic opals are suitable for integration into solution-processed thin film solar cells. In this work, finite-difference time-domain simulations are carried out to tailor optical properties of monolayer and multilayers of semiconductor spheres to trap light when these structures are incorporated into thin film solar cells. In particular, architectures in which spheres are filled with a photoactive material and embedded in a lower refractive index medium are examined. Based on spectra and field intensity maps, this study demonstrates that opal-like photonic crystals obtained from colloidal templates and filled with light-absorbing material can significantly harvest light by exploiting photonic band resonances

Study of the morphology of copper hydroxynitrate nanoplatelets obtained by controlled double jet precipitation and urea hydrolysis

A copper hydroxynitrate of stoichiometry Cu-2(OH)(3)NO3, analogous to the layered double hydroxide family, was synthesized by the so-called controlled double jet precipitation technique, and by hydrolysis of urea in the presence of copper nitrate. Special attention has been focused on the size, morphology and agglomeration tendency of the particles. The aim of this work is to define the optimum precipitation conditions in terms of quality and dispersability of the recovered product. Such platelet-like particles Can be used as anisotropic fillers in nanocomposite materials. Several reaction parameters such as flow and concentration of the reactant solutions, design of the reactor and addition of a growth modifier were studied. (C) 2003 Elsevier -Science B.V. All rights reserved

Opal-like photonic structuring of perovskite solar cells using a genetic algorithm approach

Light management is an important area of photovoltaic research, but little is known about it in perovskite solar cells. The present work numerically studies the positive effect of structuring the photo-active layer of perovskite material. This structuration consists of a hybrid absorbing layer made of an uniform part and an opal-like part. A genetic algorithm approach allows us to determine the optimal combination among more than 1.4 10 potential combinations. The optimal combination provides an internal quantum efficiency of 98.1%, nearly 2% higher than for an equivalent unstructured photo-active layer. The robustness of the optimum against potential experimental deviations, as well as the angular dependency of the proposed structure, are examined in the present study.ELSSOL; ARC - Actions de Recherche Concerté

Silver paint as a soldering agent for DyBaCuO single-domain welding

peer reviewedSilver paint has been tested as a soldering agent for DyBaCuO 4 single-domain welding. Junctions have been manufactured on Dy-Ba-Cu-O single domains cut either along planes parallel to the c-axis IT or along the ab-planes. Microstructural and superconducting characterizations of the samples have been performed. For both types of junctions, the microstructure in the joined area is very clean: no secondary phase or Ag particle segregation has been observed. Electrical and magnetic measurements for all configurations of interest are reported (rho(T) curves, and Hall probe mapping). The narrow resistive superconducting transition reported for all configurations shows that the artificial junction does not affect significantly the measured superconducting properties of the material

Simulating competitive egress of noncircular pedestrians

We present a numerical framework to simulate pedestrian dynamics in highly competitive conditions by means of a force-based model implemented with spherocylindrical particles instead of the traditional, symmetric disks. This modification of the individuals' shape allows one to naturally reproduce recent experimental findings of room evacuations through narrow doors in situations where the contact pressure among the pedestrians was rather large. In particular, we obtain a power-law tail distribution of the time lapses between the passage of consecutive individuals. In addition, we show that this improvement leads to new features where the particles' rotation acquires great significance

Characterization of surface and porous properties of synthetic hybrid lamellar silica

Synthetic lamellar silica and hybrid lamellar silicas have been prepared by liquid crystal templating, template extraction and silanization. The samples have been characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), carbon analysis, spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and nitrogen adsorption. The XRD analyses have shown that the lamellar periodic stacking is preserved for all samples. The quantity and type of organic molecules at the silica surface have been evaluated by carbon analysis, TGA and spectroscopy. The covalent grafting of the solvent used for extraction of the initial surfactant has been highlighted by these analyses. The nitrogen adsorption analyses have revealed three categories of pores and two types of samples. The initial lamellar silica exhibits a very low specific surface area and plate-like type of pores. The second type of samples is made up of the hybrid samples and the initial substrate from whom the surfactant has been extracted. These samples show a significantly higher specific surface area with interlamellar spaces corresponding to narrow-slit like mesopores around 4 nm. The nitrogen adsorption data analysis has highlighted the presence of micropores within the silica sheets. The difference of the specific surface is due to pore blocking by the surfactant impeding the access to nitrogen into interlamellar spaces and by the silanes covering the pores once the surface modified. The presence of micro and mesopores combined to a high BET specific surface of 612 m²/g makes these lamellar silicas interesting materials for catalysis applications.Peer reviewe

Spray‐Coated Lead‐Free Cs 2 AgBiBr 6 Double Perovskite Solar Cells with High Open‐Circuit Voltage

Funder: Université de Liège; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100005627Funder: Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100005156Lead‐free Cs2AgBiBr6 double perovskite is considered a promising alternative photovoltaic absorber to the widely used lead halide perovskite due to its easy processability, high stability, and reduced toxicity. Herein, for the first time spray processing for the deposition of Cs2AgBiBr6 double perovskite thin films is reported. Microstructural (X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy) and optoelectronic (absorbance, photoluminescence, photocurrent density versus applied voltage curves, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy) properties of spray‐coated film are compared with the spin‐coated benchmark. Incorporation of the spray‐coated Cs2AgBiBr6 double perovskite thin films in solar cells leads to a 2.3% photoconversion efficiency with high open‐circuit voltage of 1.09 V. This study highlights the suitability of ultrasonic spray deposition for the optimization of Cs2AgBiBr6 solar cells in terms of light absorption properties and charge transfer at the Cs2AgBiBr6/hole transporting layer interface

Synthesis and characterization of inorganic, lamellar nanofillers with high aspect ratio

Mesostructured silica phases with lamellar structure were prepared by the liquid crystal templating (LCT) technique, from double chain alkylammonium surfactant and sodium silicate or tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) silica precursors. The structural characterization of these phases is presented and compared. Surface modification of the silica layers, together with elimination of the organic template, is considered. Finally, a representative model of the microstructural organization is proposed. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved