Contact us
 |
customer@davidpublishing.com |
 |
3275638434 |
 |
 |
| Paper Publishing WeChat |
Useful Links
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Article
Author(s)
Aung Chan Thar1, Thaung Hlaing Win2, Nyein Wint Lwin1 and Than Zaw Oo*
Full-Text PDF
XML 1067 Views
DOI:10.17265/2159-5348/2015.03.008
Affiliation(s)
1. Department of Physics, University of Mandalay, Mandalay 100103 Myanmar 2. Department of Physics, Yadanabon University, Mandalay 100103, Myanmar
ABSTRACT
The n-type semiconducting titanium oxide thin films are well-known as electron transporting interlayer in photovoltaic cells. The favorable characteristics of interlayers in photovoltaics are high optical transmittance (T%), wide band gap energy (Eg) and high electrical conductivity (σ). Modifying titanium oxide films with metal nanoparticles would increase electrical conductivity but reduce optical band gap energy. We developed the sol-gel derived titanium suboxide (TiOx) films modified with silver (Ag) or gold (Au) or copper (Cu) nanoparticles (NPs). This study explores a tradeoff between narrowing optical band gap and enhancing electrical conductivity of nanostructured TiOx films by controlling the Au- or Ag- or Cu-NPs loading concentrations (mol%) in titania. The Au- and Cu-NPs loading concentration of 4 mol% should meet a tradeoff which yields the higher T%, wider Eg and higher σ compared to those of pure TiOx films. In addition, since the pure Cu is not thermodynamically stable in ambience as compared to Au and Ag, the stability of as-obtained colloidal CuNPs is also examined. A careful examination of the time evolution of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) bands of CuNPs indicates that their stability is only up to 4 h.
KEYWORDS
Titanium suboxide, metal nanoparticles, electrical conductivity, band gap energy.
Cite this paper
References