A solar cell based on the n-MoS2/i-SiO2/p-Si heterojunction is fabricated. The device exhibits a high power-conversion efficiency of 4.5% due to the incorporation of a nano-scale SiO2 buffer into the MoS2/Si interface. The present device architectures are envisaged as potentially valuable candidates for high-performance photovoltaic devices.

The refractive-index contrast in dielectric multilayer structures, optical resonators, and photonic crystals is an important figure of merit that creates a strong demand for high-quality thin films with a low refractive index. A SiO2 nanorod layer with low refractive index of n = 1.08, to our knowledge the lowest ever reported in thin-film materials, is grown by oblique-angle electron-beam depo...

Development of cheap, abundant and metal-free N-doped carbon materials as high efficiency oxygen reduction electrocatalysts is crucial for their practical applications in future fuel cell devices. Here, three-dimensional (3D) N-doped porous carbon (NPC) materials have been successfully developed by a simple template-assisted (e.g., SiO2 spheres) high temperature pyrolysis approach using shrimp-...

In conventional activated sludge (CAS) involving aerobic biological processes, the retention of silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs) has no detrimental effect on chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia nitrogen (NH3–N) removal. However, for the membrane bioreactor (MBR) system, which is also based on the activated sludge process in addition to the membrane separation process, it has implications no...

To reduce the leachability of reducing agents from composite resins, immobilization of a simulated reducing agent at the surface of SiO2 fillers was examined. SiO2 plates were immersed in 2% 3-aminopropyltriethoxy silane/ethanol solution, and then immersed in dimethyl sulfoxide with 0.25 wt% 4-dimethyl amino benzoic acid (DMABA), 2.0 wt% 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide hydrochlor...

Magnetic nanoparticles with attractive optical properties have been proposed for applications in such areas as separation and magnetic resonance imaging. In this paper, a simple and novel fluorescent sensor of Zn2+ was designed with 3,5-di-tert-butyl-2-hydroxybenzaldehyde [DTH] covalently grafted onto the surface of magnetic core/shell Fe3O4@SiO2 nanoparticles [NPs] (DTH-Fe3O4@SiO2 NPs) using t...

This study investigated the structure, mineralogical specifics and chemical composition, of a natural and modified diatomite ore, which obtained from the Aktyubinsk /Kazakhstan deposits by using SEM, XRF, XRD, FTIR, TGA and SDTA. Three modified forms of diatomite’s were prepared by calcinations at 900C and/or calcinations and acidification by 0.5 N HCl (D, D-HCl, D-900 and D-900-HCl). The iron(...