10 research outputs found

    Roadmap on energy harvesting materials

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    Ambient energy harvesting has great potential to contribute to sustainable development and address growing environmental challenges. Converting waste energy from energy-intensive processes and systems (e.g. combustion engines and furnaces) is crucial to reducing their environmental impact and achieving net-zero emissions. Compact energy harvesters will also be key to powering the exponentially growing smart devices ecosystem that is part of the Internet of Things, thus enabling futuristic applications that can improve our quality of life (e.g. smart homes, smart cities, smart manufacturing, and smart healthcare). To achieve these goals, innovative materials are needed to efficiently convert ambient energy into electricity through various physical mechanisms, such as the photovoltaic effect, thermoelectricity, piezoelectricity, triboelectricity, and radiofrequency wireless power transfer. By bringing together the perspectives of experts in various types of energy harvesting materials, this Roadmap provides extensive insights into recent advances and present challenges in the field. Additionally, the Roadmap analyses the key performance metrics of these technologies in relation to their ultimate energy conversion limits. Building on these insights, the Roadmap outlines promising directions for future research to fully harness the potential of energy harvesting materials for green energy anytime, anywhere

    Engineering of Interface and Bulk Properties in Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 Thin-Film Solar Cells with Ultrathin CuAlO2 Intermediate Layer and Ge Doping

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    Recently, kesterite-based absorbers and related compounds have been considered as promising eco-friendly light absorber materials for thin-film solar cells (TFSCs). However, the device performances of kesterite-based TFSCs are limited because of the formation of defects and poor interfacial properties. In this study, we developed a strategic approach to improve the device performances of Cu2ZnSn­(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) solar cells using back-interface passivation of the absorber layer and further reduced the formation of defects through Ge doping. The application of CuAlO2 (CAO) as an intermediate layer near the back interface efficiently improves the grain growth and minimizes the detrimental Mo­(S,Se)2 thickness. In addition, the Ge nanolayer deposited over the CAO layer improves the absorber bulk quality, effectively suppresses the defect density, and reduces the nonradiative carrier recombination losses. As a result, the short-circuit current density, fill factor, and power conversion efficiency of the champion device with the CAO and Ge nanolayer improved from 31.91 to 36.26 mA/cm2, 0.55 to 0.61, and 8.58 to 11.01%, respectively. This study demonstrates a potential approach to improve the performances of CZTSSe TFSCs using a combination of back-interface passivation and doping

    Roadmap on Energy Harvesting Materials

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    Ambient energy harvesting has great potential to contribute to sustainable development and address growing environmental challenges. Converting waste energy from energy-intensive processes and systems (e.g., combustion engines and furnaces) is crucial to reducing their environmental impact and achieving net-zero emissions. Compact energy harvesters will also be key to powering the exponentially growing smart devices ecosystem that is part of the Internet of Things, thus enabling futuristic applications that can improve our quality of life (e.g., smart homes, smart cities, smart manufacturing, and smart healthcare). To achieve these goals, innovative materials are needed to efficiently convert ambient energy into electricity through various physical mechanisms, such as the photovoltaic effect, thermoelectricity, piezoelectricity, triboelectricity, and electromagnetic power transfer. By bringing together the perspectives of experts in various types of energy harvesting materials, this Roadmap provides extensive insights into recent advances and present challenges in the field. Additionally, the Roadmap analyzes the key performance metrics of these technologies in relation to their ultimate energy conversion limits. Building on these insights, the Roadmap outlines promising directions for future research to fully harness the potential of energy harvesting materials for green energy anytime, anywhere

    Near-field sub-diffraction photolithography with an elastomeric photomask

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    Photolithography is the prevalent microfabrication technology. It needs to meet resolution and yield demands at a cost that makes it economically viable. However, conventional far-field photolithography has reached the diffraction limit, which imposes complex optics and short-wavelength beam source to achieve high resolution at the expense of cost efficiency. Here, we present a cost-effective near-field optical printing approach that uses metal patterns embedded in a flexible elastomer photomask with mechanical robustness. This technique generates sub-diffraction patterns that are smaller than 1/10(th) of the wavelength of the incoming light. It can be integrated into existing hardware and standard mercury lamp, and used for a variety of surfaces, such as curved, rough and defect surfaces. This method offers a higher resolution than common light-based printing systems, while enabling parallel-writing. We anticipate that it will be widely used in academic and industrial productions. © The Author(s) 202

    Roadmap on energy harvesting materials

    No full text
    Abstract Ambient energy harvesting has great potential to contribute to sustainable development and address growing environmental challenges. Converting waste energy from energy-intensive processes and systems (e.g. combustion engines and furnaces) is crucial to reducing their environmental impact and achieving net-zero emissions. Compact energy harvesters will also be key to powering the exponentially growing smart devices ecosystem that is part of the Internet of Things, thus enabling futuristic applications that can improve our quality of life (e.g. smart homes, smart cities, smart manufacturing, and smart healthcare). To achieve these goals, innovative materials are needed to efficiently convert ambient energy into electricity through various physical mechanisms, such as the photovoltaic effect, thermoelectricity, piezoelectricity, triboelectricity, and radiofrequency wireless power transfer. By bringing together the perspectives of experts in various types of energy harvesting materials, this Roadmap provides extensive insights into recent advances and present challenges in the field. Additionally, the Roadmap analyses the key performance metrics of these technologies in relation to their ultimate energy conversion limits. Building on these insights, the Roadmap outlines promising directions for future research to fully harness the potential of energy harvesting materials for green energy anytime, anywhere
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