In this work, (Cu1-xAgx)2ZnSnSe4 (CAZTSe) alloys with various silver content (x= 0.0, 0.1and 0.2) have been prepared by reacting their high purity elements (Cu, Ag, Zn, Sn and Se) in an evacuated quartz tube under pressure of 10 -3Torr. The composition of the prepared alloys was determined by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS) analysis, the results were close to the theoretical values. CAZTSe thin films with a thickness of 800 nm were deposited by thermal evaporation technique on glass substrates at room temperature (RT) with a deposition rate of 0.53nm/sec. Similarly, CdS thin films were deposited with a thickness of 100 nm on the same substrates at RT with a deposition rate of 0.3nm/sec from ready-made CdS alloy powder. All prepared thin films were annealed at temperatures of 373K and 473K under vacuum (10-3Torr) for 1h. X-ray analysis showed that all CAZTSe alloys and their thin films were polycrystalline and have the tetragonal structure with preferential orientation in the (112) direction, while all thin CdS films were polycrystalline and have the hexagonal structure with preferential orientation in the (002) direction. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technique was used to study the surface morphology of all prepared CAZTSe films, while the atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique was used to study the surface topography of all prepared CAZTSe and CdS films. SEM results revealed that CAZTSe films had uniform surface features with irregular sized grains, while AFM results showed that the surface roughness and the average grain size of CAZTSe and CdS thin films increased with increasing Ag content for CAZTSe thin films and annealing temperature for CAZTSe and CdS thin films. The absorbance and transmittance spectra for CAZTSe and CdS thin films were recorded in the wavelength ranges of (400-1100) nm and (350- 1100) nm, respectively. Optical measurements showed that all CAZTSe and CdS thin films have a direct energy gap (Eg) that decreased with increasing silver content for CAZTSe thin films and annealing temperature (Ta) for both types of prepared thin films, so it decreased from 1.73 eV to1.5 eV when x content increased from 0.0 to 0.2 and decreased from 1.5 eV to1.46 eV and from 2.47 eV to 2.38 eV when Ta increased from RT to 473K for CAZTSe thin films with x content equal to 0.2 and CdS thin films, respectively. Optical constants such as extinction coefficient, refractive index and dielectric constant were calculated for all prepared thin films. The measurements of the electrical properties for prepared films showed that the D.C electrical conductivity (σd.c) increased with increasing Ag content for CAZTSe thin films and annealing temperature for both types of thin films. So the electrical conductivity changed from 1.1276*10-2 (Ω.cm)-1 to 28.9266*10-2 (Ω.cm)-1 when x changed from 0.0 to 0.2 and changed from 28.9266*10-2 (Ω.cm)-1 to 57.4599*10-2 (Ω.cm)-1 and from 4.0476*10-4 (Ω.cm)-1 to 9.4227*10-4 (Ω.cm)-1 when Ta changed from RT to 473K for CAZTSe thin films with Ag content equal to 0.2 and CdS thin films, respectively. The prepared thin films have two activation energies (Ea1 & Ea2) in the temperature ranges of (318-488)K and (313-443)K for CAZTSe and CdS films, respectively. The results of Hall effect for CAZTSe thin films showed that all films were of acceptor type and the concentration of holes in them decreased with increasing silver content and annealing temperature, while CdS thin films were of donor type and the concentration of electrons in them increased with increasing annealing temperature. In this research, solar cells were fabricated from CdS/CAZTSe/Si structurThe C-V measurements revealed that all prepared heterojunctions were of the abrupt type and the junction capacitance and carrier concentration reduced while the width of depletion region and the built-in potential increased with increasing the silver content and annealing temperature. The current-voltage characteristics under dark condition of CAZTSe heterojunctions showed that both the ideality factor and saturation current decreased with increasing Ag content and annealing temperature. While,The current-voltage characteristics under dark condition of CAZTSe heterojunctions showed that both the ideality factor and saturation current decreased with increasing Ag content and annealing temperature. While, the current-voltage measurements under illumination showed that the performance of heterojunction solar cell improved with increasing Ag content and annealing temperature. The result indicated that the prepared solar cell with 0.2 Ag content and 473K annealing temperature exhibited the highest efficiency (η = 2.827%) compared to other prepared solar cells
Blends of Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) doped with 2% weight percentage of Sn were prepared with different blend ratios using casting technique. The measurements of A.C conductivity σa.c within the frequency range (25kHz – 5MHz) of undoped and Sn doped PMMA/PVA blends obeyed the relationship σ= Aws were the value of s within the range 0 > s > 1. The results showed that σa.c increases with the increase of frequency. The exponent s showed preceding increase with the increase of PVA content for PMMA/PVA blends doped with Sn. The dielectric constant, dielectric loss, A.C electrical conductivity are varied with the concentration of PVA in the blend and frequency of applied electrical field.
priorities of materials research due to their promising properties, especially in the field of thermoelectricity. The efficiency or performance of thermoelectric devices is expressed in terms of the thermoelectric figure-of-merit (ZT) – a standard indicator of a material’s thermoelectric properties for use in cooling systems. The evaluation of ZT is principally determined by the thermoelectric characteristics of the nanomaterials. In this paper, a set of investigative computations was performed to study the thermoelectric properties of monolayer TMDCs according to the semiclassical treatment of the Boltzmann transport equation. It was confirmed that the thermoelectric properties of 2D materials can be greatly improved compared with thei
... Show MoreRoller compacted concrete (RCC) is a concrete of no slump, no reinforcement, no finishing, and compacted using vibratory roller. When compared with conventional concrete, it contains less water content
when compared to traditional concrete. The RCC technique achieves significant time and cost savings during the construction of concrete. This study demonstrates the preparation of RCC slab of (38 ×38× 10) cm
samples by using roller compactor which is manufactured in local markets. The Hydrated lime additive is used to study the mechanical and physical properties of that RCC slab samples. This investigation is divided
into two main stages: The First stage consists of hammer compaction method with two gradation of aggregate, dense
Nigella sativa has various pharmacological properties and has been used throughout history for a variety of reasons. However, there is limited data about the effects of N. sativa (NS) on human cancer cells. This study aimed at observing the roles of methanolic extract of N. sativa on apoptosis and autophagy pathway in the Human PC3 (prostate cancer) cell line. The cell viability was checked by MTT assay. Clonogenic assay was performed to demonstrate clonogenicity and Western blot was used to check caspase-3, TIGAR, p53, and LC3 protein expression. The results demonstrated that PC3 cell proliferation was inhibited, caspase-3 and p53 protein expression was induced, and LC3 protein expression was modulated. The clonogenic assay showed that PC3
... Show MoreA polycrystalline PbxS1-x alloys with various Pb content ( 0.54 and 0.55) has been prepared successfully. The structure and composition of alloys are determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) respectively. The X-ray diffraction results shows that the structure is polycrystalline with cubic structure, and there are strong peaks at the direction (200) and (111), the grain size varies between 20 and 82 nm. From AAS and XRF result, the concentrations of Pb content for these alloys were determined. The results show high accuracy and very close to the theoretical values. A photoconductive detector as a bulk has been fabricated by taking pieces of prepared alloys and polished chemic
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