1. Free-standing ZnO nanorod arrays modified with single-walled carbon nanotubes for betavoltaics and photovoltaics.
- Author
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Chen, Changsong, Chen, Jiang, Wang, Zhen, Zhang, Jian, San, Haisheng, Liu, Shichao, Wu, Chunyu, and Hofmann, Werner
- Subjects
CARBON nanotubes ,RADIOISOTOPES ,PHOTOVOLTAIC cells ,PHOTOVOLTAIC effect ,SURFACE plasmon resonance ,MONTE Carlo method ,DOUBLE walled carbon nanotubes ,SINGLE walled carbon nanotubes - Abstract
A full-duplex radiant energy converter based on both betavoltaic and photovoltaic effects in an easy-to-implement way is an attractive alternative for the autonomous wireless sensor microsystem. Here, we report a novel beta/photovoltaic cell based on free-standing ZnO nanorod arrays (ZNRAs) modified with metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes (m -SWCNTs), using radioisotope
63 Ni as beta-emitting source. The ZNRAs were grown on Al-doped ZnO (AZO) conductive glass using hydrothermal method. The optimum length and diameter of ZnO nanorods were determined by Monte Carlo simulation for beta energy deposition in ZNRAs. The m -SWCNTs were anchored into the ZNRAs to form a three-dimensional (3-D) Schottky junction structure for effectively separating the beta/photo-excited electron-hole pairs. Experimentally, the betavoltaic and photovoltaic effects were confirmed through the I–V measurements of beta/photovoltaic cells under beta/UV/Vis irradiations, respectively. It is suggested that the m -SWCNTs play key role for the enhancement of beta/photovoltaic performance through the formation of extensive 3-D Schottky junction, the conductive network for hole transport, and the surface plasmon resonance exciton absorption for visible light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2020
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