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Experimental and Numerical Modelling of Nanostructures Processing, Structure and Properties

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A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanophotonics Materials and Devices".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 August 2021) | Viewed by 17078

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Mustapha Jouiad

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Laboratory of Physics of Condensed Matter (LPMC), University of Picardie Jules Verne, Scientific Pole, 33 Rue Saint-Leu, CEDEX 1, 80039 Amiens, France
Interests: nanomaterials for energy; multiscale characterization; water electrolysis
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The increasing demand in nanotechnology in various industrial sectors has prompted scientists to customize the materials design and properties for targeted properties. Most of the newly developed materials are complex nanostructures with a continuous reduced size and dimensions. Dedicated processing routes (bottom-up, top-down and additive manufacturing) have emerged to customize the nanocomposite design and make it easily tunable to match the desired property.

To accommodate nanocomposite processing, advanced characterization techniques including but not limited to analytical chemistry, imaging, and spectroscopy have appeared as major tools to evaluate the properties of fabricated nanocomposites. Further, various numerical modeling strategies accounting for the size and the confinement effects and the phases intermixing have been developed to comprehend their properties and provide reliable predictions.

In this context, this Special Issue titled: “Experimental and Numerical Modelling of Nanostructures: Processing, Structure and Properties” offers an opportunity to authors to share their views of the current developments in the field, in term of fundamental scientific bottlenecks posed by nanostructures and their technological applications.

Prof. Dr. Mustapha Jouiad
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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Keywords

nanostructures (0D, 1D and 2D materials)
liquid crystals
high entropy alloys
physical and chemical processing
materials characterization
numerical modeling (finite element, phase field, DFT, FDTD)

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 4190 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spectral Characteristics Simulation of Topological Micro-Nano Structures Based on Finite Difference Time Domain Method

by Xiaoran Ma, Bairui Du, Shengwang Tan, Haiying Song and Shibing Liu

Nanomaterials 2021, 11(10), 2622; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11102622 - 6 Oct 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1751

Abstract

Natural structural colors inspire people to obtain the technology of spectral characteristics by designing and preparing micro-nano structures on the material’s surface. In this paper, the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method is used to simulate the spectral selectivity of micro-nano grating on an Au surface, and the spectral response characteristics of different physical parameters to the incident light are obtained. The results show that, when the grating depth is shallow, the absorption peaks of TM polarized incident light on the material surface take on redshifts with the increase in the grating period. Meanwhile, when the depth-width ratio of the grating structure is high, the absorption peak appears in the reflection spectrum and presents a linear red shift with the increase in the grating period after the linearly polarized light TE wave incident on the surface of the micro-nano structure. At the same time, the wavelength of the absorption peak of the reflection spectrum and the grating period take on one-to-one correspondence relations, and when the TM polarized light is incident, the reflection spectrum exhibits obvious selective absorption characteristic peaks at certain grating periods (for example, when the period is 0.4 μm, there are three absorption peaks at the wavelengths of 0.7, 0.95, and 1.55 μm). These simulation results can provide a good theoretical basis for the preparation of micro-nano structures with spectral regulation function in the practical application. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Experimental and Numerical Modelling of Nanostructures Processing, Structure and Properties)

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13 pages, 2864 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of the Helium Background Gas Pressure on the Structural and Optoelectronic Properties of Pulsed-Laser-Deposited PbS Thin Films

by Ameni Rebhi, Anouar Hajjaji, Joël Leblanc-Lavoie, Salma Aouida, Mounir Gaidi, Brahim Bessais and My Ali El Khakani

Nanomaterials 2021, 11(5), 1254; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11051254 - 11 May 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2139

Abstract

This work focuses on the dependence of the features of PbS films deposited by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) subsequent to the variation of the background pressure of helium (P_He). The morphology of the PLD-PbS films changes from a densely packed and almost featureless structure to a columnar and porous one as the He pressure increases. The average crystallite size related to the (111) preferred orientation increases up to 20 nm for P_He ≥ 300 mTorr. The (111) lattice parameter continuously decreases with increasing P_He values and stabilizes at P_He ≥ 300 mTorr. A downshift transition of the Raman peak of the main phonon (1LO) occurs from P_He = 300 mTorr. This transition would result from electron–LO–phonon interaction and from a lattice contraction. The optical bandgap of the films increases from 1.4 to 1.85 eV as P_He increases from 50 to 500 mTorr. The electrical resistivity of PLD-PbS is increased with P_He and reached its maximum value of 20 Ω·cm at P_He = 300 mTorr (400 times higher than 50 mTorr), which is probably due to the increasing porosity of the films. P_He = 300 mTorr is pointed out as a transitional pressure for the structural and optoelectronic properties of PLD-PbS films. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Experimental and Numerical Modelling of Nanostructures Processing, Structure and Properties)

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14 pages, 3224 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Photoconversion Optimization of Pulsed-Laser-Deposited p-CZTS/n-Si-Nanowires Heterojunction-Based Photovoltaic Devices

by Zakaria Oulad Elhmaidi, Mohammed Abd-Lefdil and My Ali El Khakani

Nanomaterials 2020, 10(7), 1393; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10071393 - 17 Jul 2020

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 2878

Abstract

We report on the achievement of novel photovoltaic devices based on the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) of p-type Cu₂ZnSnS₄ (CZTS) layers onto n-type silicon nanowires (SiNWs). To optimize the photoconversion efficiency of these p-CZTS/n-SiNWs heterojunction devices, both the thickness of the CZTS films and the length of the SiNWs were independently varied in the (0.3–1.0 µm) and (1–6 µm) ranges, respectively. The kësterite CZTS films were directly deposited onto the SiNWs/Si substrates by means of a one-step PLD approach at a substrate temperature of 300 °C and without resorting to any post-sulfurization process. The systematic assessment of the PV performance of the ITO/p-CZTS/n-SiNWs/Al solar cells, as a function of both SiNWs’ length and CZTS film thickness, has led to the identification of the optimal device characteristics. Indeed, an unprecedented power conversion efficiency (PCE) as high as ~5.5%, a V_OC of 400 mV, a J_SC of 26.3 mA/cm² and a FF of 51.8% were delivered by the devices formed by SiNWs having a length of 2.2 µm along with a CZTS film thickness of 540 nm. This PCE value is higher than the current record efficiency (of 5.2%) reported for pulsed-laser-deposited-CZTS (PLD-CZTS)-based solar cells with the classical SLG/Mo/CZTS/CdS/ZnO/ITO/Ag/MgF₂ device architecture. The relative ease of depositing high-quality CZTS films by means of PLD (without resorting to any post deposition treatment) along with the gain from an extended CZTS/Si interface offered by the silicon nanowires make the approach developed here very promising for further integration of CZTS with the mature silicon nanostructuring technologies to develop novel optoelectronic devices. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Experimental and Numerical Modelling of Nanostructures Processing, Structure and Properties)

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14 pages, 2922 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Enhanced Low-Neutron-Flux Sensitivity Effect in Boron-Doped Silicon

by Guixia Yang, Kunlin Wu, Jianyong Liu, Dehui Zou, Junjie Li, Yi Lu, Xueyang Lv, Jiayun Xu, Liang Qiao and Xuqiang Liu

Nanomaterials 2020, 10(5), 886; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10050886 - 5 May 2020

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2212

Abstract

Space particle irradiation produces ionization damage and displacement damage in semiconductor devices. The enhanced low dose rate sensitivity (ELDRS) effect caused by ionization damage has attracted wide attention. However, the enhanced low-particle-flux sensitivity effect and its induction mechanism by displacement damage are controversial. In this paper, the enhanced low-neutron-flux sensitivity (ELNFS) effect in Boron-doped silicon and the relationship between the ELNFS effect and doping concentration are further explored. Boron-doped silicon is sensitive to neutron flux and ELNFS effect could be greatly reduced by increasing the doping concentration in the flux range of 5 × 10⁹–5 × 10¹⁰ n cm⁻² s⁻¹. The simulation based on the theory of diffusion-limited reactions indicated that the ELNFS in boron-doped silicon might be caused by the difference in the concentration of remaining vacancy-related defects (V_r) under different neutron fluxes. The ELNFS effect in silicon becomes obvious when the (V_r) is close to the boron doping concentration and decreased with the increase in boron doping concentration due to the remaining vacancy-related defects being covered. These conclusions are confirmed by the p⁺-n-p Si-based bipolar transistors since the ELNFS effect in the low doping silicon increased the reverse leakage of the bipolar transistors and the common-emitter current gain (β) dominated by highly doped silicon remained unchanged with the decrease in the neutron flux. Our work demonstrates that the ELNFS effect in boron-doped silicon can be well explained by noise diagnostic analysis together with electrical methods and simulation, which thus provide the basis for detecting the enhanced low-particle-flux damage effect in other semiconductor materials. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Experimental and Numerical Modelling of Nanostructures Processing, Structure and Properties)

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13 pages, 3239 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Investigating Various Permutations of Copper Iodide/FeCu Tandem Materials as Electrodes for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells with a Natural Dye

by Abdul Hai Alami, Mohammed Faraj, Kamilia Aokal, Abdullah Abu Hawili, Muhammad Tawalbeh and Di Zhang

Nanomaterials 2020, 10(4), 784; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10040784 - 19 Apr 2020

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 2979

Abstract

This work presents the synthesis and deposition of CuI and FeCu materials on copper substrates for dye-sensitized solar cell applications. FeCu is a metastable alloy of iron and copper powders and possesses good optical and intrinsic magnetic properties. Coupled with copper iodide as tandem layers, the deposition of these two materials was permutated over a pure copper substrate, characterized and then tested within a solar cell. The cell was sensitized with a natural dye extracted from a local desert plant (Calotropis gigantea) and operated with an iodine/triiodide electrolyte. The results show that the best layer arrangement was Cu/FeCu/CuI, which gave an efficiency of around 0.763% (compared to 0.196% from reported cells in the literature using a natural sensitizer). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Experimental and Numerical Modelling of Nanostructures Processing, Structure and Properties)

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Review

Jump to: Research

18 pages, 5968 KiB

Open AccessReview

Recent Advances in the Design of Plasmonic Au/TiO₂ Nanostructures for Enhanced Photocatalytic Water Splitting

by Jehad Abed, Nitul S Rajput, Amine El Moutaouakil and Mustapha Jouiad

Nanomaterials 2020, 10(11), 2260; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10112260 - 15 Nov 2020

Cited by 36 | Viewed by 4214

Abstract

Plasmonic nanostructures have played a key role in extending the activity of photocatalysts to the visible light spectrum, preventing the electron–hole combination and providing with hot electrons to the photocatalysts, a crucial step towards efficient broadband photocatalysis. One plasmonic photocatalyst, Au/TiO₂, is of a particular interest because it combines chemical stability, suitable electronic structure, and photoactivity for a wide range of catalytic reactions such as water splitting. In this review, we describe key mechanisms involving plasmonics to enhance photocatalytic properties leading to efficient water splitting such as production and transport of hot electrons through advanced analytical techniques used to probe the photoactivity of plasmonics in engineered Au/TiO₂ devices. This work also discusses the emerging strategies to better design plasmonic photocatalysts and understand the underlying mechanisms behind the enhanced photoactivity of plasmon-assisted catalysts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Experimental and Numerical Modelling of Nanostructures Processing, Structure and Properties)

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