| 1. |
- Nour, Eiman, et al.
(författare)
-
Low-Frequency Self-Powered Footstep Sensor Based on ZnO Nanowires on Paper Substrate
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Nanoscale Research Letters. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1931-7573 .- 1556-276X. ; 11:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this work, we design and fabricate a wireless system with the main operating device based on zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires. The main operating device is based on piezoelectric nanogenerator (NG) achieved using ZnO nanowires grown hydrothermally on paper substrate. The fabricated NG is capable of harvesting ambient mechanical energy from various kinds of human motion, e.g., footsteps. The harvested electric output has been used to serve as a self-powered pressure sensor. Without any storage device, the signal from a single footstep has successfully triggered a wireless sensor node circuit. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using ZnO nanowire piezoelectric NG as a low-frequency self-powered sensor, with potential applications in wireless sensor networks.
|
|
| 2. |
- Nour, Eiman, et al.
(författare)
-
Piezoelectric and opto-electrical properties of silver-doped ZnO nanorods synthesized by low temperature aqueous chemical method
- 2015
-
Ingår i: AIP Advances. - : American Institute of Physics (AIP). - 2158-3226. ; 5:7
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper, we have synthesized Zn1-xAgxO (x = 0, 0.03, 0.06, and 0.09) nanorods (NRs) via the hydrothermal method at low temperature on silicon substrate. The characterization and comparison between the different Zn1-xAgxO samples, indicated that an increasing Ag concentration from x = 0 to a maximum of x = 0.09; All samples show a preferred orientation of (002) direction with no observable change of morphology. As the quantity of the Ag dopant was changed, the transmittances, as well as the optical band gap were decreased. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data clearly indicate the presence of Ag in ZnO crystal lattice. A nanoindentation-based technique was used to measure the effective piezo-response of different concentrations of Ag for both direct and converse effects. The value of the piezoelectric coefficient (d(33)) as well as the piezo potential generated from the ZnO NRs and Zn1-xAgxO NRs was found to decrease with the increase of Ag fraction. The finding in this investigation reveals that Ag doped ZnO is not suitable for piezoelectric energy harvesting devices.
|
|
| 3. |
- Satti Nour, Eiman
(författare)
-
Development of Zinc Oxide Piezoelectric Nanogenerators for Low Frequency Applications
- 2016
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Energy harvesting using piezoelectric nanomaterials provides an opportunity for advancement towards self-powered systems. Self-powered systems are a new emerging technology, which allows the use of a system or a device that perform a function without the need for external power source like for example, a battery or any other type of source. This technology can for example use harvested energy from sources around us such as ambient mechanical vibrations, noise, and human movement, etc. and convert it to electric energy using the piezoelectric effect. For nanoscale devices, the size of traditional batteries is not suitable and will lead to loss of the concept of “nano”. This is due to the large size and the relatively large magnitude of the delivered power from traditional sources. The development of a nanogenerator (NG) to convert energy from the environment into electric energy would facilitate the development of some self-powered systems relying on nano- devices.The main objective of this thesis is to fabricate a piezoelectric Zinc Oxide (ZnO) NGs for low frequency (˂ 100 Hz) energy harvesting applications. For that, different types of NGs based on ZnO nanostructures have been carefully developed, and studied for testing under different kinds of low frequency mechanical deformations. Well aligned ZnO nanowires (NWs) possessing high piezoelectric coefficient were synthesized on flexible substrates using the low temperature hydrothermal route. These ZnO NWs were then used in different configurations to demonstrate different low frequency energy harvesting devices.Using piezoelectric ZnO NWs, we started with the fabrication of sandwiched NG for hand writing enabled energy harvesting device based on a thin silver layer coated paper substrate. Such device configurations can be used for the development of electronic programmable smart paper. Further, we developed this NG to work as a triggered sensor for wireless system using foot-step pressure. These studies demonstrate the feasibility of using ZnO NWs piezoelectric NG as a low-frequency self-powered sensor, with potential applications in wireless sensor networks. After that, we investigated and fabricated a sensor on PEDOT: PSS plastic substrate either by one side growth technique or by using double sided growth. For the first growth technique, the fabricated NG has been used as a sensor for acceleration system; while the fabricated NG by the second technique has worked as anisotropic directional sensor. This fabricated configurations showed stability for sensing and can be used in surveillance, security, and auto-mobil applications. In addition to that, we investigated the fabrication of a sandwiched NG on plastic substrates. Finally, we demonstrated that doping ZnO NWs with extrinsic element (such as Ag) will lead to the reduction of the piezoelectric effect due to the loss of crystal symmetry. A brief summary into future opportunities and challenges are also presented in the last chapter of this thesis.
|
|
| 4. |
- Adam, Rania Elhadi, 1978-
(författare)
-
Synthesis and Characterization of Some Nanostructured Materials for Visible Light-driven Photo Processes
- 2020
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Nanostructured materials for visible light driven photo-processes such as photodegradation of organic pollutants and photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation for hydrogen production are very attractive because of the positive impact on the environment. Metal oxides-based nanostructures are widely used in these photoprocesses due to their unique properties. But single nanostructured metal oxide material might suffer from low efficiency and instability in aqueous solutions under visible light. These facts make it important to have an efficient and reliable nanocomposite for the photo-processes. The combination of different nanomaterials to form a composite configuration can produce a material with new properties. The new properties which are due to the synergetic effect, are a combination of the properties of all the counterparts of the nanocomposite. Zinc oxides (ZnO) have unique optical and electrical properties which grant it to be used in optoelectronics, sensors, solar cells, nanogenerators, and photocatalysis activities. Although ZnO absorbs visible light from the sun due to the deep level band, it mainly absorbs ultraviolet wavelengths which constitute a small portion of the whole solar spectrum range. Also, ZnO has a problem with the high recombination rate of the photogenerated electrons. These problems might reduce its applicability to the photo-process. Therefore, our aim is to develop and investigate different nanocomposites materials based on the ZnO nanostructures for the enhancement of photocatalysis processes using the visible solar light as a green source of energy. Two photo-processes were applied to examine the developed nanocomposites through photocatalysis: (1) the photodegradation of organic dyes, (2) PEC water splitting. In the first photo-process, we used the ZnO nanoparticles (NPs), Magnesium (Mg)-doped ZnO NPs, and plasmonic ZnO/graphene-based nanocomposite for the decomposition of some organic dyes that have been used in industries. For the second photo-process, ZnO photoelectrode composite with different silver-based semiconductors to enhance the performance of the ZnO photoelectrode was used for PEC reaction analysis to perform water splitting. The characterization and photocatalysis experiment results showed remarkable enhancement in the photocatalysis efficiency of the synthesized nanocomposites. The observed improved properties of the ZnO are due to the synergetic effects are caused by the addition of the other nanomaterials. Hence, the present thesis attends to the synthesis and characterization of some nanostructured materials composite with ZnO that are promising candidates for visible light-driven photo-processes.
|
|
| 5. |
- Ali, Syed M. Usman
(författare)
-
Fabrication and characterization of ZnO nanostructures for sensing and photonic device applications
- 2012
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Nanotechnology is an emerging inter-disciplinary paradigm which encompasses diverse fields of science and engineering converge at the nanoscale. This nanoscale science and nanostructure engineering have well demonstrated in the fabrication of sensors/transducers devices with faster response time and better sensitivity then the planer version of the sensor’s configurations. Nanotechnology is not just to grow/fabricate nanostructures by just mixing nanoscale materials together but it requires the ability to understand and to precisely manipulate and control of the developed nanomaterials in a useful way. Nanotechnology is aiding to substantially improve, even revolutionize, many technology and industry sectors like information technology, energy, environmental science, medicine/medical instrumentation, homeland security, food safety, and transportation, among many others. Such applications of nanotechnology are delivering in both expected and unexpected ways on nanotechnology’s promise to benefit the society.The semiconductor ZnO with wide band gap (~ 3.37 eV) is a distinguish and unique material and its nanostructures have attracted great attention among the researchers due to its peculiar properties such as large exciton binding energy (60 meV) at room temperature, the high electron mobility, high thermal conductivity, good transparency and easiness of fabricating it in the different type of nanostructures. Based on all these fascinating properties, ZnO have been chosen as a suitable material for the fabrication of photonic, transducers/sensors, piezoelectric, transparent and spin electronics devices etc. The objective of the current study is to highlight the recent developments in materials and techniques for electrochemical sensing and hetrostructure light emitting diodes (LEDs) luminescence properties based on the different ZnO nanostructures. The sensor devices fabricated and characterized in the work were applied to determine and monitor the real changes of the chemical or biochemical species. We have successfully demonstrated the application of our fabricated devices as primary transducers/sensors for the determination of extracellular glucose and the glucose inside the human fat cells and frog cells using the potentiometric technique. Moreover, the fabricated ZnO based nanosensors have also been applied for the selective determination of uric acid, urea and metal ions successfully. This thesis relates specifically to zinc oxide nanostructure based electrochemical sensors and photonic device (LED) applications.
|
|
| 6. |
- Alnoor, Hatim, et al.
(författare)
-
Effect of precursor solutions stirring on deep level defects concentration and spatial distribution in low temperature aqueous chemical synthesis of zinc oxide nanorods
- 2015
-
Ingår i: AIP Advances. - : AMER INST PHYSICS. - 2158-3226. ; 5:8
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Hexagonal c-axis oriented zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods (NRs) with 120-300 nm diameters are synthesized via the low temperature aqueous chemical route at 80 degrees C on silver-coated glass substrates. The influence of varying the precursor solutions stirring durations on the concentration and spatial distributions of deep level defects in ZnO NRs is investigated. Room temperature micro-photoluminesnce (mu-PL) spectra were collected for all samples. Cathodoluminescence (CL) spectra of the as-synthesized NRs reveal a significant change in the intensity ratio of the near band edge emission (NBE) to the deep-level emission (DLE) peaks with increasing stirring durations. This is attributed to the variation in the concentration of the oxygen-deficiency with increasing stirring durations as suggested from the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. Spatially resolved CL spectra taken along individual NRs revealed that stirring the precursor solutions for relatively short duration (1-3 h), which likely induced high super saturation under thermodynamic equilibrium during the synthesis process, is observed to favor the formation of point defects moving towards the tip of the NRs. In contrary, stirring for longer duration (5-15 h) will induce low super saturation favoring the formation of point defects located at the bottom of the NRs. These findings demonstrate that it is possible to control the concentration and spatial distribution of deep level defects in ZnO NRs by varying the stirring durations of the precursor solutions.
|
|
| 7. |
- Alnoor, Hatim, 1979-
(författare)
-
Toward the Optimization of Low-temperature Solution-based Synthesis of ZnO Nanostructures for Device Applications
- 2017
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- One-dimensional (1D) nanostructures (NSs) of Zinc Oxide (ZnO) such as nanorods (NRs) have recently attracted considerable research attention due to their potential for the development of optoelectronic devices such as ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The potential of ZnO NRs in all these applications, however, would require synthesis of high crystal quality ZnO NRs with precise control over the optical and electronic properties. It is known that the optical and electronic properties of ZnO NRs are mostly influenced by the presence of native (intrinsic) and impurities (extrinsic) defects. Therefore, understanding the nature of these intrinsic and extrinsic defects and their spatial distribution is critical for optimizing the optical and electronic properties of ZnO NRs. However, identifying the origin of such defects is a complicated matter, especially for NSs, where the information on anisotropy is usually lost due to the lack of coherent orientation.Thus, the aim of this thesis is towards the optimization of the lowtemperature solution-based synthesis of ZnO NRs for device applications. In this connection, we first started with investigating the effect of the precursor solution stirring durations on the deep level defects concentration and their spatial distribution along the ZnO NRs. Then, by choosing the optimal stirring time, we studied the influence of ZnO seeding layer precursor’s types, and its molar ratios on the density of interface defects. The findings of these investigations were used to demonstrate ZnO NRs-based heterojunction LEDs. The ability to tune the point defects along the NRs enabled us further to incorporate cobalt (Co) ions into the ZnO NRs crystal lattice, where these ions could occupy the vacancies or interstitial defects through substitutional or interstitial doping. Following this, high crystal quality vertically welloriented ZnO NRs have been demonstrated by incorporating a small amount of Co into the ZnO crystal lattice. Finally, the influence of Co ions incorporation on the reduction of core-defects (CDs) in ZnO NRs was systematically examined using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR).
|
|
| 8. |
- Alvi, Naveed ul Hassan, et al.
(författare)
-
Fabrication and characterization of high-brightness light emitting diodes based on n-ZnO nanorods grown by a low-temperature chemical method on p-4H-SiC and p-GaN
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Semiconductor Science and Technology. - : Iop Publishing Ltd. - 0268-1242 .- 1361-6641. ; 25:6, s. 065004-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Light emitting diodes (LEDs) based on n-ZnO nanorods (NRs)/p-4H-SiC and n-ZnO (NRs)/p-GaN were fabricated and characterized. For the two LEDs the ZnO NRs were grown using a low temperature (andlt;100 degrees C) aqueous chemical growth (ACG) technique. Both LEDs showed very bright nearly white light electroluminescence (EL) emission. The observed luminescence was a result of the combination of three emission lines composed of violet-blue, green and orange-red peaks observed from the two LEDs. Room temperature photoluminescence (PL) was also measured and consistency with EL was observed. It was found that the green and violet-blue peaks are red-shifted while the orange peak is blue-shifted in the EL measurement. It was also found that due to the effect of the GaN substrate the violet-blue peak in the EL measurement is more red-shifted in n-ZnO (NRs)/p-GaN LEDs as compared to n-ZnO (NRs)/p-4H-SiC LEDs.
|
|
| 9. |
- Alvi, Naveed ul Hassan, et al.
(författare)
-
Influence of helium-ion bombardment on the optical properties of ZnO nanorods/p-GaN light emitting diodes
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Nanoscale Research Letters. - : SpringerOpen. - 1931-7573 .- 1556-276X. ; 6:628
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Light emitting diodes (LEDs) based on zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods grown by vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) catalytic growth method were irradiated with 2 MeV helium (He+) ions. The fabricated LEDs were irradiated with fluencies of ~ 2×1013 ions/cm2 and ~ 4×1013 ions/cm2. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed that the morphology of the irradiated samples is not changed. The as-grown and He+ irradiated LEDs showed rectifying behaviour with the same I-V characteristics. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements showed that there is a blue shift of approximately 0.0347 eV and 0.082 eV in the near band emission (free exciton) and green emission of the irradiated ZnO nanorods, respectively. It was also observed that the PL intensity of the near band emission was decreased after irradiation of the samples. The electroluminescence (EL) measurements of the fabricated LEDs showed that there is a blue shift of 0.125 eV in the broad green emission after irradiation and the EL intensity of violet emission approximately centred at 398 nm was nearly disappeared after irradiations. The color rendering properties shows a small decrease in the color rendering indices of 3% after 2 MeV He+ ions irradiation.
|
|
| 10. |
- Alvi, Naveed ul Hassan
(författare)
-
Luminescence Properties of ZnO Nanostructures and Their Implementation as White Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)
- 2011
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this thesis, luminescence properties of ZnO nanostructures (nanorods, nanotubes, nanowalls and nanoflowers) are investigated by different approaches for possible future application of these nanostructures as white light emitting diodes. ZnO nanostructures were grown by different growth techniques on different p-type substrates. Still it is a challenge for the researchers to produce a stable and reproducible high quality p-type ZnO and this seriously hinders the progress of ZnO homojunction LEDs. Therefore the excellent properties of ZnO can be utilized by constructing heterojunction with other p-type materials.The first part of the thesis includes paper I-IV. In this part, the luminescence properties of ZnO nanorods grown on different p-type substrates (GaN, 4H-SiC) and different ZnO nanostructures (nanorods, nanotubes, nanoflowers, and nanowalls) grown on the same substrate were investigated. The effect of the post-growth annealing of ZnO nanorods and nanotubes on the deep level emissions and color rendering properties were also investigated.In paper I, ZnO nanorods were grown on p-type GaN and 4H-SiC substrates by low temperature aqueous chemical growth (ACG) method. The luminescence properties of the fabricated LEDs were investigated at room temperature by electroluminescence (EL) and photoluminescence (PL) measurements and consistency was found between both the measurements. The LEDs showed very bright emission that was a combination of three emission peaks in the violet-blue, green and orange-red regions in the visible spectrum.In paper II, different ZnO nanostructures (nanorods, nanotubes, nanoflowers, and nanowalls) were grown on p-GaN and the luminescence properties of these nanostructures based LEDs were comparatively investigated by EL and PL measurements. The nanowalls structures were found to be emitting the highest emission in the visible region, while the nanorods have the highest emissions in the UV region due to its good crystal quality. It was also estimated that the ZnO nanowalls structures have strong white light with the highest color rendering index (CRI) of 95 with correlated color temperature (CCT) of 6518 K.In paper III, we have investigated the origin of the red emissions in ZnO by using post-growth annealing. The ZnO nanotubes were achieved on p-GaN and then annealed in different ambients (argon, air, oxygen and nitrogen) at 600 oC for 30 min. By comparative investigations of EL spectra of the LEDs it was found that more than one deep level defects are involved in the red emission from ZnO nanotubes/p-GaN LEDs. It was concluded that the red emission in ZnO can be attributed to oxygen interstitials (Oi) and oxygen vacancies (Vo) in the range of 620 nm (1.99 eV) to 690 nm (1.79 eV) and 690 nm (1.79 eV) to 750 nm (1.65 eV), respectively.In paper IV, we have investigated the effect of post-growth annealing on the color rendering properties of ZnO nanorods based LEDs. ZnO nanorods were grown on p-GaN by using ACG method. The as grown nanorods were annealed in nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and air ambients at 600 oC for 30 min. The color rendering indices (CRIs) and correlated color temperatures (CCTs) were estimated from the spectra emitted by the LEDs. It was found that the annealing ambients especially air, oxygen, and nitrogen were found to be very effective. The LEDs based on nanorods annealed in nitrogen ambient, have excellent color rendering properties with CRIs and CCTs of 97 and 2363 K in the forward bias and 98 and 3157 K in the reverse bias.In the 2nd part of the thesis, the junction temperature of n-ZnO nanorods based LEDs at the built-in potential was modeled and experiments were performed to validate the model. The LEDs were fabricated by ZnO nanorods grown on different p-type substrates (4H-SiC, GaN, and Si) by the ACG method. The model and experimental values of the temperature coefficient of the forward voltage near the built-in potential (~Vo) were compared. It was found that the series resistance has the main contribution in the junction temperature of the fabricated devices.In the 3rd part of the thesis, the influence of helium (He+) ion irradiation bombardment on luminescence properties of ZnO nanorods based LEDs were investigated. ZnO nanorods were grown by the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth method. The fabricated LEDs were irradiated by using 2 MeV He+ ions with fluencies of ~ 2×1013 ions/cm2 and ~ 4×1013 ions/cm2. It was observed that the He+ ions irradiation affects the near band edge emissions as well as the deep level emissions in ZnO. A blue shift about 0.0347 eV and 0.082 eV was observed in the PL spectra in the near band emission and green emission, respectively. EL measurements also showed a blue shift of 0.125 eV in the broad green emission after irradiation. He+ ion irradiation affects the color rendering properties and decreases the color rendering indices from 92 to 89.
|
|
