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[Display omitted] • Interaction of β particles with ECSs was simulated using Monte Carlo method. • Quasi-solid electrolyte (QSE) is used to improve the long-term stability of the device. • A IL/gel-based QSE was used to improve the performances of EBV/EPV cells. • ZnO/CdS heterojunction enhances the electrochemical redox reactions. Electrochemical betavoltaic (EBV) cells are promising power sources for low-power electronics in remote and harsh environments. However, their practical applications are limited by the organic liquid electrolytes with the inferior temperature stability and narrow electrochemical window. In this work, a quasi-solid-state EBV cell was fabricated using a high-conductive gel-based quasi-solid-electrolyte (QSE), a CdS-modificated ZnO nanorod arrays (ZNRAs) structure as the anode material, a radioactive 63Ni sheet as the cathode as well as the irradiation source. Monte Carlo (MC) simulations are utilized to determine the optimized length (2.97 μm) of the ZNRAs filled by electrolyte, Electrochemical photovoltaic (EPV) cells were used to assess and optimize the content of CdS loaded on the ZNRAs. The optimum EBV cell demonstrated an excellent long-term stability and a high energy-conversion efficiency of 10.09 % with a short-circuit current density of 0.755 μA cm−2 and an open-circuit voltage of 0.288 V. The porous CdS@ZNRAs core–shell structure filled by soft ionic liquids (IL)/gel-based QSE enables a large specific area of electrochemical interface network. The synergistic effects of 3-D CdS/ZnO heterostructure with type-II band alignment and IL/gel-based QSE are responsible for the enhanced ECE and improved long-term stability of EBV/EPV cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A comprehensive comparison study of the UV–visible photoresponse properties of non-aligned carbothermal ZnO nanowires (ZNWs) composited with reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) is presented. The RGO/ZNWs composites (GZWs) and SWCNTs/ZNWs composites (CZWs) have been successfully synthetized through UV-assisted photochemical reduction of GO in ZNWs suspension and ultrasonic stirring technology, respectively. The optimal contents of RGO and SWCNTs incorporated into ZNWs were determined for achieving maximum photoresponse, respectively. Experimentally, the optimal GZWs and CZWs exhibit significant enhancement in photoelectric properties than pure ZNWs. It is demonstrated that the GZWs-based photodetector has higher photoresponsivity (∼16 AW-1) than CZWs-based photodetector under low UV irradiation (<10 μWcm−2) and at 1.0 V bias, while the CZWs-based photodetector has higher on/off current ratio (8.41 × 104) and faster response time (1.99 s of rise-time and 0.39 s of decay-time) than GZWs-based one. The detail physics mechanism on the effects of RGO and SWCNTs on photoelectric characteristics of ZNWs is presented with the interface charge transfer due to the chemisorption and photo-desorption of oxygen. Graphical abstract Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2-Dimensional (2D) wide band-gap semiconductor molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanosheets as an ultraviolet (UV) photo-conductive material were used in surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonators for UV light sensing. A SAW resonator based on zinc oxide (ZnO) piezoelectric film deposited on glass through radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering technique was prepared, in which the sub-microscale gold/chromium (Au/Cr) interdigital transducers (IDTs) and grating reflectors were fabricated onto the ZnO surfaces using the electron beam lithography and lift-off techniques to form the IDTs/ZnO/glass-based SAW resonator with a working frequency at ∼1.02 GHz. The MoS 2 nanosheets prepared by electrochemical lithiation process were coated on IDTs region to form a highly sensitive SAW UV sensor, exhibiting an interesting photoresponse behavior to UV radiation. A maximum frequency shift of ∼3.5 MHz was found under 365 nm UV radiation with power intensity of 1.466 mW/cm 2 , which is attributed to the high resonant frequency (in GHz) and high specific surface area of photo-conductive MoS 2 nanosheets. It is suggested that the adsorption and desorption of oxygen on MoS 2 nanosheets play the dominant roles in the frequency-upshift due to mass loading effect and acoustoelectric effect, meanwhile, acoustoelectric effect also creates the SAW attenuation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]