Polymeric liquids in mesoporous photonic structures: From precursor film spreading to imbibition dynamics at the nanoscale.

Polymers are known to wet nanopores with high surface energy through an atomically thin precursor film followed by slower capillary filling. We present here light interference spectroscopy using a mesoporous membrane-based chip that allows us to observe the dynamics of these phenomena in situ down to the sub-nanometer scale at milli- to microsecond temporal resolution. The device consists of a mesoporous silicon film (average pore size 6 nm) with an integrated photonic crystal, which permits to simultaneously measure the phase shift of thin film interference and the resonance of the photonic crystal upon imbibition.

The Role of Silicate Enrichment on the Discharge Duration of Silicon-Air Batteries.

Silicon-air batteries are candidates for next generation batteries from non-critical raw materials. However, current silicon-air batteries with alkaline electrolytes suffer from premature termination of the discharge process. To understand this process, we investigated the correlation of dissolved silicon in the electrolyte and the discharge duration until passivation.

Experimental data showing the influence of different boron nitride particles on the silica network, the butyl stearate and the porogens in shape-stabilized phase change materials.

Shape-stabilized phase change materials (ss-PCMs) based on silica and butyl stearate were thermally enhanced via the addition of different hexagonal boron nitride particles (BN) to the sol-gel synthesis. The dataset is used in conjunction with the experimental data of the influence of the particle size and surface area of BN on the thermal and mechanical properties of ss-PCMs discussed in Marske et al. (2021).

Light-trapping structures for planar solar cells inspired by transformation optics.

Optimal light absorption is decisive in obtaining high-efficiency solar cells. An established, if not to say the established, approach is to texture the interface of the light-absorbing layer with a suitable microstructure. However, structuring the light-absorbing layer is detrimental concerning its electrical properties due to an increased surface recombination rate (owing to enlarged surface area and surface defects) caused by the direct patterning process itself.

Atomic Layer Deposition of Cobalt Phosphide for Efficient Water Splitting.

Transition-metal phosphides (TMP) prepared by atomic layer deposition (ALD) are reported for the first time. Ultrathin Co-P films were deposited by using PH plasma as the phosphorus source and an extra H plasma step to remove excess P in the growing films. The optimized ALD process proceeded by self-limited layer-by-layer growth, and the deposited Co-P films were highly pure and smooth.

Synthesis of monolithic shape-stabilized phase change materials with high mechanical stability a porogen-assisted sol-gel process.

The confinement of phase change materials (PCMs) in construction materials has recently solved leakage, supercooling and low thermal conductivity problems in the industrial use of PCMs as monolithic thermal energy storage materials. To produce shape-stabilized PCMs (ss-PCMs) as crack-free monoliths, less than 15-30% v/v pure or encapsulated PCMs can be used in construction materials. Therefore, the heat storage capacity of these monolithic ss-PCM boards is comparatively low.

High strength in combination with high toughness in robust and sustainable polymeric materials.

In materials science, there is an intrinsic conflict between high strength and high toughness, which can be resolved for different materials only through the use of innovative design principles. Advanced materials must be highly resistant to both deformation and fracture. We overcome this conflict in man-made polymer fibers and show multifibrillar polyacrylonitrile yarn with a toughness of 137 ± 21 joules per gram in combination with a tensile strength of 1236 ± 40 megapascals.

Seebeck-voltage-triggered self-biased photoelectrochemical water splitting using HfO/SiO bi-layer protected Si photocathodes.

The use of a photoelectrochemical device is an efficient method of converting solar energy into hydrogen fuel via water splitting reactions. One of the best photoelectrode materials is Si, which absorbs a broad wavelength range of incident light and produces a high photocurrent level (~44 mA·cm). However, the maximum photovoltage that can be generated in single-junction Si devices (~0.

Strategy for tailoring the size distribution of nanospheres to optimize rough backreflectors of solar cells.

We study the light-trapping properties of surface textures generated by a bottom-up approach, which utilizes monolayers of densely deposited nanospheres as a template. We demonstrate that just allowing placement disorder in monolayers from identical nanospheres can already lead to a significant boost in light-trapping capabilities. Further absorption enhancement can be obtained by involving an additional nanosphere size species.

Toward a planar black silicon technology for 50 μm-thin crystalline silicon solar cells.

Auger and surface recombinations are major drawbacks that deteriorate a photon-to-electron conversion efficiencies in nanostructured (NS) Si solar cells. As an alternative to conventional frontside nanostructuring, we report how backside nanostructuring is beneficial for carrier collection during photovoltaic operation that utilizes a 50-μm-thin wafer. Ultrathin (4.

Influence of black silicon surfaces on the performance of back-contacted back silicon heterojunction solar cells.

The influence of different black silicon (b-Si) front side textures prepared by inductively coupled reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) on the performance of back-contacted back silicon heterojunction (BCB-SHJ) solar cells is investigated in detail regarding their optical performance, black silicon surface passivation and internal quantum efficiency. Under optimized conditions the effective minority carrier lifetime measured on black silicon surfaces passivated with Al(2)O(3) can be higher than lifetimes measured for the SiO(2)/SiN(x) passivation stack used in the reference cells with standard KOH textures. However, to outperform the electrical current of silicon back-contact cells, the black silicon back-contact cell process needs to be optimized with aspect to chemical and thermal stability of the used dielectric layer combination on the cell.

CMOS-compatible metal-stabilized nanostructured Si as anodes for lithium-ion microbatteries.

The properties of fully complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible metal-coated nanostructured silicon anodes for Li-ion microbatteries have been studied. The one-dimensional nanowires on black silicon (nb-Si) were prepared by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching and the metal (Au and Cu) coatings by successive magnetron sputtering technique. The Cu-coated nb-Si show the most promising electrochemical performance enhancements for the initial specific capacity as well as their cyclability compared to pristine nb-Si.

Photoelectrochemical hydrogen evolution of tapered silicon nanowires.

The origin of the photocurrent enhancement and the overpotential reduction in solar water splitting employing nanostructured silicon is still a matter of debate. A set of tapered Si nanowires (SiNWs) has been designed for clarifying the impact of nanostructured Si on the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) while precisely tailoring several interference factors such as surface area, light absorption and surface defect density. We find that defect passivation by KOH achieved by tapering is much more beneficial than the optical gain.

Automated spray coating process for the fabrication of large-area artificial opals on textured substrates.

3D photonic crystals, such as opals, have been shown to have a high potential to increase the efficiency of solar cells by enabling advanced light management concepts. However, methods which comply with the demands of the photovoltaic industry for integration of these structures, i. e.

Upgraded silicon nanowires by metal-assisted etching of metallurgical silicon: a new route to nanostructured solar-grade silicon.

Through metal-assisted chemical etching (MaCE), superior purification of dirty Si is observed, from 99.74 to 99.9884% for metallurgical Si and from 99.

Strained Silicon Photonics.

A review of recent progress in the field of strained silicon photonics is presented. The application of strain to waveguide and photonic crystal structures can be used to alter the linear and nonlinear optical properties of these devices. Here, methods for the fabrication of strained devices are summarized and recent examples of linear and nonlinear optical devices are discussed.

Losses and group index dispersion in insulator-on-silicon-on-insulator ridge waveguides.

We present polarization-dependent optical transmission properties of a completely symmetric silicon-on-insulator (SOI) microphotonic material system. In contrast to typical SOI based photonic materials, here an insulator-on-silicon-on-insulator (IOSOI) material system has been fabricated. This symmetric structure exhibits average losses between 1510 and 1630 nm of around 0.

Strain dependence of second-harmonic generation in silicon.

Strained silicon is a versatile new type of material, which has found application in microelectronics and integrated optics in the last years. Unlike ordinary silicon, it does not possess a centrosymmetric lattice structure. This allows for stimulation of nonlinear optical processes that involve second-order nonlinear susceptibility.

Intermediate reflectors for enhanced top cell performance in photovoltaic thin-film tandem cells.

We have investigated the impact of three types of intermediate reflectors on the absorption enhancement in the top cell of micromorph tandem solar cells using rigorous diffraction theory. As intermediate reflectors we consider homogenous dielectric thin-films and 1D and 3D photonic crystals. Besides the expected absorption enhancements in cases where photonic band gaps are matched to the absorption edge of the semiconductor, our results distinguish between the impact of zero order Bragg-resonances and diffraction-based enhancement at larger lattice constants of the 3D photonic crystal.

Nondestructive mechanical release of ordered polymer microfiber arrays from porous templates.

The fabrication of one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures and microstructures inside the pores of porous templates is intensively investigated. The release of these structures is commonly accomplished by etching and destroying the templates. The 1D nanostructures and microstructures tend to condense because of the occurrence of capillary forces during drying of the specimens.

Channel activity of a viral transmembrane peptide in micro-BLMs: Vpu(1-32) from HIV-1.

We report for the first time on pore-suspending lipid bilayers, which we call micro-black lipid membranes (micro-BLMs), based on a highly ordered macroporous silicon array. Micro-BLMs were established by first functionalizing the backside porous silicon surface with gold and then chemisorbing 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphothioethanol followed by spreading 1,2-diphytanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine dissolved in n-decane. Impedance spectroscopy revealed the formation of single lipid bilayers confirmed by a mean specific capacitance of 0.