TY - JOUR A1 - Stephan, Christiane A1 - Greiner, D. A1 - Schorr, S. A1 - Kaufmann, Ch. T1 - The influence of sodium on the point defect characteristics in off stoichiometric CuInSe2 N2 - The device performance of polycrystalline chalcogenide thin film solar cells is strongly influenced by different kinds of defects within the material. The presence of sodium or other alkali metals like potassium during the deposition process is well known to influence the electronic properties of the solar cell and thus to improve the efficiency of the final device. Structural analysis of neutron powder diffraction data collected at low temperatures and subsequent profile analysis by the LeBail and Rietveld method demonstrates the impact of sodium on the point defect characteristics in off stoichiometric CuInSe2. The analyzed materials are powder and thin film solar absorber material with addition of NaF and free of sodium. It is illustrated, the so called “sodium effect” cannot be reduced to one single origin. A range of effects, the reduction of InCu donors with a followed increase of VCu acceptors is possible. The main effect is an increased ordered character of the chalcopyrite crystal structure at off stoichiometric composition, when containing sodium. KW - Semiconductors KW - Chalcogenides KW - Defects PY - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpcs.2016.07.022 SN - 0022-3697 VL - 2016 IS - 98 SP - 309 EP - 315 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-38462 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fahmy, A. A1 - Saeed, A. A1 - Dawood, U. A1 - Abdelbary, H. A1 - Altmann, Korinna A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Nano-MnO2/xanthan gum composite films for NO2 gas sensing N2 - Nowadays, sensors based on polymers/nanostructured metal oxide composites have been investigated exten-sively because of their sensitivity to NO2 gas at ambient temperature. In this work, nanocomposite membranes of xanthan gum (XG) with different contents of MnO2 nanoparticles were prepared as a potential NO2 gas sensor operating at room temperature by a simple one-step oxidation-reduction reaction. The structural, morphological, thermal, and electrical properties of the composite membrane were investigated. The FT-IR results confirm the successful preparation of MnO2 through the oxidation of XG by KMnO4 and reveal further the structural changes of the XG/MnO2 nanocomposite upon its exposure to NO2 gas. The capping of the synthesized MnO2 nano-particles by XG, the surface composition of the XG/MnO2 nanocomposite membranes, and the effect of NO2 gas on the surface composition was investigated using the XPS technique. The DC conductivity and dielectric loss of nanocomposites were higher than for neat XG. The conductivities of the nanocomposites XG/MO-4, XG/MO-4/ low NO2, and XG/MO-4/high NO2 composites are half, one, and three orders of magnitude higher than that for pure XG revealing a transition from insulating to conductive properties. The results demonstrated that XG/MnO2 nanocomposite membranes are promising for potential applications in NO2 gas sensing. KW - Gas sensors KW - Membranes KW - Metal oxides KW - Nanocomposites KW - Semiconductors PY - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchemphys.2022.127277 SN - 0254-0584 VL - 296 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-56769 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -