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- ItemZnO nanoflowers-based photoanodes: aqueous chemical synthesis, microstructure and optical properties(Berlin : de Gruyter, 2016) Wahyuono, Ruri Agung; Schmidt, Christa; Dellith, Andrea; Dellith, Jan; Schulz, Martin; Seyring, Martin; Rettenmayr, Markus; Plentz, Jonathan; Dietzek, BenjaminWe have developed an efficient, low temperature, synthetic route for ZnO nanoflowers (NFs) as photoanode material. This alternative route yields small flowerlike nanostructures, built from densely self-assembled tip-ended rod structures. The obtained ZnO NFs possess a large bandgap of 3.27 - 3.39 eV, enabling the generation of an average open current voltage of 0.56 V. Additionally, they show a high internal light harvesting of 14.6•10-7A-mol-1. The growth mechanism and self-assembly of ZnO NFs were studied in detail by joint spectroscopic-TEM investigations. It is shown that the ZnO crystallite size increases with increasing annealing temperatures and that the stress and the improved crystallinity are induced by annealing and reduce the lattice strain and the dislocation density. The bandgaps of ZnO are affected by the lattice strain revealing an optimal region of lattice strain to gain high bandgap energies. The properties of the synthesized ZnO NFs are compared with other morphologies, i.e. ZnO spherical aggregates (SPs) and ZnO nanorods (NRs), and are tested as electrode materials in dye-sensitized solar cells.
- ItemStructure of Ni(OH)2 intermediates determines the efficiency of NiO-based photocathodes – a case study using novel mesoporous NiO nanostars(Cambridge : RSC, 2019) Wahyuono, Ruri Agung; Dellith, Andrea; Schmidt, Christa; Dellith, Jan; Ignaszak, Anna; Seyring, Martin; Rettenmayr, Markus; Fize, Jennifer; Artero, Vincent; Chavarot-Kerlidou, Murielle; Dietzek, BenjaminWe report the wet chemical synthesis of mesoporous NiO nanostars (NS) as photocathode material for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The growth mechanism of NiO NS as a new morphology of NiO is assessed by TEM and spectroscopic investigations. The NiO NS are obtained upon annealing of preformed β-Ni(OH)2 into pristine NiO with low defect concentrations and favorable electronic configuration for dye sensitization. The NiO NS consist of fibers self-assembled from nanoparticles yielding a specific surface area of 44.9 m2 g-1. They possess a band gap of 3.83 eV and can be sensitized by molecular photosensitizers bearing a range of anchoring groups, e.g. carboxylic acid, phosphonic acid, and pyridine. The performance of NiO NS-based photocathodes in photoelectrochemical application is compared to that of other NiO morphologies, i.e. nanoparticles and nanoflakes, under identical conditions. Sensitization of NiO NS with the benchmark organic dye P1 leads to p-DSSCs with a high photocurrent up to 3.91 mA cm-2 whilst the photoelectrochemical activity of the NiO NS photocathode in aqueous medium in the presence of an irreversible electron acceptor is reflected by generation of a photocurrent up to 23 μA cm-2 © 2019 The Royal Society of Chemistry.
- ItemUltrathin niobium nanofilms on fiber optical tapers--a new route towards low-loss hybrid plasmonic modes([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2015) Wieduwilt, Torsten; Tuniz, Alessandro; Linzen, Sven; Goerke, Sebastian; Dellith, Jan; Hübner, Uwe; Schmidt, Markus A.Due to the ongoing improvement in nanostructuring technology, ultrathin metallic nanofilms have recently gained substantial attention in plasmonics, e.g. as building blocks of metasurfaces. Typically, noble metals such as silver or gold are the materials of choice, due to their excellent optical properties, however they also possess some intrinsic disadvantages. Here, we introduce niobium nanofilms (~10 nm thickness) as an alternate plasmonic platform. We demonstrate functionality by depositing a niobium nanofilm on a plasmonic fiber taper and observe a dielectric-loaded niobium surface-plasmon excitation for the first time, with a modal attenuation of only 3–4 dB/mm in aqueous environment and a refractive index sensitivity up to 15 μm/RIU if the analyte index exceeds 1.42. We show that the niobium nanofilm possesses bulk optical properties, is continuous, homogenous and inert against any environmental influence, thus possessing several superior properties compared to noble metal nanofilms. These results demonstrate that ultrathin niobium nanofilms can serve as a new platform for biomedical diagnostics, superconducting photonics, ultrathin metasurfaces or new types of optoelectronic devices.
- ItemFaraday rotation and photoluminescence in heavily Tb(3+)-doped GeO2-B2O3-Al2O3-Ga2O3 glasses for fiber-integrated magneto-optics([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2015) Gao, Guojun; Winterstein-Beckmann, Anja; Surzhenko, Oleksii; Dubs, Carsten; Dellith, Jan; Schmidt, Markus A.; Wondraczek, LotharWe report on the magneto-optical (MO) properties of heavily Tb3+-doped GeO2-B2O3-Al2O3-Ga2O3 glasses towards fiber-integrated paramagnetic MO devices. For a Tb3+ ion concentration of up to 9.7 × 1021 cm−3, the reported glass exhibits an absolute negative Faraday rotation of ~120 rad/T/m at 632.8 nm. The optimum spectral ratio between Verdet constant and light transmittance over the spectral window of 400–1500 nm is found for a Tb3+ concentration of ~6.5 × 1021 cm−3. For this glass, the crystallization stability, expressed as the difference between glass transition temperature and onset temperature of melt crystallization exceeds 100 K, which is a prerequisite for fiber drawing. In addition, a high activation energy of crystallization is achieved at this composition. Optical absorption occurs in the NUV and blue spectral region, accompanied by Tb3+ photoluminescence. In the heavily doped materials, a UV/blue-to-green photo-conversion gain of ~43% is achieved. The lifetime of photoluminescence is ~2.2 ms at a stimulated emission cross-section σem of ~1.1 × 10−21 cm2 for ~ 5.0 × 1021 cm−3 Tb3+. This results in an optical gain parameter σem*τ of ~2.5 × 10−24 cm2s, what could be of interest for implementation of a Tb3+ fiber laser.