Metal oxides have gained a growing interest in the field of material science owing to their size and shape dependent physiochemical properties. Tin oxide (SnO2) is considered as a multifaceted material with its widespread applications such as oxidation catalysis, energy harvesting, bio-imaging, gas sensing, storage devices and many more. This study reports the synthesis of SnO2 nanoparticles derived via sol-gel route. To observe the effect of thermal treatment on the grown material, the samples were subjected to calcination at different temperature ranging from 350 °C to 550 °Cfor about 4 hrs. The structural, compositional, morphological and optical properties of Tin oxide were studied by XRD, EDAX, FESEM, and UV-Vis spectroscopic analysis respectively. The XRD pattern consists only SnO2 peaks with preferred orientation along (110) plane. The crystallite size increases with higher calcination temperature and is found in the range of 3-15 nm. All the peaks corresponding to SnO2 matches with the standard data indicating the growth of good quality single phase material. Compositional data reveals that that grown material manifested in required stoichiometric ratio of SnO. Scanning electron micrographs show uniform growth of SnO2 nanoparticles with particle size ranging from 10-20 nm. The energy band gap of the SnO2 calculated by optical studies was 3.1eV and 3.0 eV for 450 °Cand 550 °Crespectively. The calculated band gap lies in the visible region of the solar spectrum which could be beneficial for the enhanced photocatalytic performance of the SnO2 nanoparticles.

•Synthesis of Heteropolyacid salt Cerium(III)ironmolybdophosphate and Cerium(III)aluminomolybdophosphate.•Characterization of the synthesized samples was done by procuring analytical techniques; FTIR, TGA, XRD, SEM/EDS.•Ion-exchange capacity of the exchanger was determined using the column operation method.•Distribution coefficient studies were done to evaluate its selection priority and it was found to be for Zr (IV) ions.•A comparative study of various characterization aspects was also done.

The success of Photocatalysis for environmental applications strongly relies upon the availability of suitable energy spectrum as well as absorption of photon energy by the photocatalyst to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) which are deemed necessary for dye removal. Present work report the solvothermally synthesized Cu2FeSnS4 (CFTS) marigold flower shaped nanostructures which demonstrates significant degradation efficiency against rhodamine B (RhB) dye. The formation of single-phase tetragonal stannite structure of CFTS nano-particles with lattice constant values a = b = 5.48 & ANGS; and c = 10.61 & ANGS; was confirmed by XRD analysis. FESEM studies reveals the formation of self-assembled thin sheets of nanoflakes with uniform average thickness 25-30 nm and fringe spacing between adjacent lattice for 204 atomic plane is found to be 0.19 nm calculated by HR-TEM. The excellent RhB degradation efficiency of 92.1% under visible light within 05 min was achieved under synergetic effect of stirring and synthesized CFTS material.

Sunlight driven strontium doped tin oxide (SnO2) photocatalyst was synthesized with different strontium (Sr) concentrations by the simplest sol-gel methodology. The XRD diffractogram findings revealed the decrement in the average crystallite size from 13 nm to 8 nm and shifting of diffraction peaks towards lower diffraction angle signifies the incorporation of Sr2+ ions in the host lattice sites. Optical studies unveiled the reduction in the energy bandgap values with respect to doping concentration i.e. 2.94 eV for pristine SnO2 to 2.43 eV for 1.5% Sr:SnO2. The photocatalytic measurements showed that the action of Sr doped SnO2 nanoparticles (1.5%) on methylene blue (MB) and crystal violet (CV) dyes exhibited momentous photocatalytic performance of about 83.3% in 100 minutes and 67.8% in 150 minutes under natural sunlight. Additionally, an efficient antibacterial activity of Sr doped SnO2 nanoparticles (at 1.5% doping) was estimated against a gram negative bacteria E. Coli.

Photocatalysts have gained much attention because of the water pollution instigated by the rapid usage of organic dyes for industrial needs. The degradation of these dyes using photocatalysts under natural light is an economical and popular method for water treatment. There is a need to synthesize photocatalytic materials which can generate reactive oxygen species under natural light. Hence, keeping in mind the above point, rose flower-shaped CuS nanostructures have been synthesized first time by solvothermal technique by varying reaction duration. The self-assembled powder of CuS nanostructures is characterized using XRD, FE-SEM, TEM, DLS, EDS, XPS, Raman, FT-IR, and UV–visible spectroscopy. The XRD and TEM analyses confirmed the formation of a polycrystalline hexagonal structure with prominent diffraction peaks. FE-SEM study shows the formation of uniformly self-assembled rose flower-shaped nanostructures of size 2–3 μm composed of densely packed nanoparticles. XPS study shows the presence of Cu(II) and Cu(I) states of copper in the synthesized batch and stoichiometric composition Cu:S is found to be 60:40 at.

In this work, the quaternary nanostructured Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) thin films were deposited on ITO glass substrates at a temperature of 300[Formula: see text]C by spray pyrolysis method and the influence of inter-molar concentration variations of copper and zinc on the structural, morphological and optical properties of grown samples was studied. The films were characterized by different sophisticated techniques including X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy and UV–Vis spectroscopy. The solitary presence of kesterite tetragonal phase with favored orientation along (112) plane is confirmed by XRD patterns and Raman spectroscopy. However, due to the variation in lattice parameters, a moderate shifting in (hkl) planes was observed. SEM micrographs and EDAX analysis showed the uniform morphology of the so-grown CZTS films covered with nanoplates of different sizes and the ionic compositional variation of the precursor solution matches with the elemental variation in the grown samples. A minor nonstoichiometry in chemical composition ratio [Formula: see text] from 0.74 to 1.24 was noticed in the films. Optical studies of CZTS films showed that these films possess optical band gap ranging from 1.45[Formula: see text]eV to 1.60[Formula: see text]eV.

In the present study, tin oxide (SnO2) was synthesized by advocating the principles of green chemistry for the photo-mediated degradation of pollutants, antimicrobial, and as an antitumor agent. Bioactive SnO2 (nanorods nanospheres) were fabricated using Tinospora crispa stem extract (TCSE) via sol–gel technique and characterized extensively. XRD, UV–VIS, FTIR, and XPS studies confirmed the formation of crystalline and well stoichiometric pure phase of SnO2 nanostructures with optical bandgap 3.2 to 3.5 eV. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results demonstrated the effect of secondary phytoconstituents on the shape of SnO2 in a concentration dependent manner. The morphological variations in the obtained nanostructures attributed to the nucleation density and coalescence effect leading to the formation of nanorods with an average diameter 23–25 nm whereas the average particle size of the nanospheres obtained was found to be 23–30 nm. The zeta potential value of SnO2 nanorods was high (− 58.9 mV) indicating the higher stability compared to nanospheres (− 15.6 mV). The SnO2 nanostructures were investigated for the simultaneous degradation of methylene blue with degradation efficiency of 92.3

Among the numerous types of chronic skin wounds, the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) remains a major challenge, in view of its etiology. The high rates of amputation even with the best therapeutic regimens suggest the urgent need for newer approaches. Despite improvement in wound healing with electrical stimulation (ES), it is rarely used in therapy. The advent of wearable devices has renewed interest in this modality of therapy. Whereas such devices focus on ES alone, herein we demonstrate an interactive wound dressing that is capable of providing both ES and an optimal environment for faster healing. The composite dressing containing a conducting hydrogel component constructed with carbonized polydopamine/polydopamine/polyacrylamide and paired with electroactive electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membrane was capable of generating electrical impulses in response to biomechanical activities. The adhesive and stretchable hydrogel, imparted a moist wound environment apart from protection from bacteria and served as an electrode to direct the electrical impulses generated by the PVDF membrane to the underlying wound due to triboelectrification. The robust mechanical strength of the hydrogel could support physical activities such as walking, stretching etc. The biocompatible dressing encouraged cell growth and migration. The potential of the dressing to improve healing was confirmed in an excisional skin wound model. Evidence of improved re-epithelialization, vascularization and remodeling in wounds covered with the dressing indicated the importance of providing both electrical stimulation and optimal wound environment for faster healing. The proposed approach of using a triboelectric nanogenerator and a conducting hydrogel could aid in the repair of hard-to-heal wounds, such as diabetic foot ulcers.

Single phase SrZnO 2 nanorods with average size of around 100 nm are synthesized by probe sonicator using ultrasonic waves at 60 W, 6 kHz for 3 h to observe the changes in optoelectronic properties of ZnO. The as grown SrZnO 2 has a single phase rod shaped structure. These nanorods were broadly characterized by different instrumental techniques like TEM, FESEM, EDAX, XRD, UV–Visible and FTIR for analysis of size, crystal structure, morphology and composition which acknowledge the formation of single phase crystalline ZnO and slightly amorphous SrZnO 2 nanorods. All these results suggest that single phase SrZnO 2 nano-composites can easily be synthesized by one step sono-chemical method. Graphic abstract

The present work reveals the morphological and compositional studies of Solvothermally prepared Cu2FeSnS4 (CFTS) particles. A pale yellow solution was obtained by mixing suitable amount of CuCl2.2H2O for Copper source, FeCl2.4H2O for iron source, SnCl2.2H2O for tin source and Thiourea (SC(NH2)2 for sulfur source in 50 ml Dimethyl formamide (DMF) solvent. The compositional and morphological studies of the grown material were carried out by using Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDAX) instrument attached with Scanning electron microscope (SEM). SEM studies shows that the CFTS particles are uniformly distributed with average size of around 0.5 microns whereas the particle size of CFTS was reduced to 0.3 microns when PVP (polyvinylpyrrolidone) added in the precursor solution. It was observed that the CFTS particles are Fe poor whereas the other compositions are within in the range of stoichiometric ratio. On the other side Fe content improves when PVP was used as a capping agent. The physical appearance of material shows that the band gap of obtained material may be close to the energy value suitable for Photovoltaic devices.

In the present work the thin films of CuInSe2 were grown by electrodeposition technique on highly conducting tin oxide (Fluorine doped) sprayed over glass substrate and stainless steel substrate. CuInSe2 thin films were deposited on various substrates using an aqueous bath containing Copper chloride, Indium chloride and selenium dioxide in appropriate ratio and pH of the bath was kept at 1.50 using few drops of Hydrochloric acid. To get the structural information, CuInSe2 thin films were undergo X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. Morphological and compositional investigations were done using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) attached EDAX. The result obtained revealed that films grown are highly adhesive to respective substrates and are of good quality. SEM micrograph shows that the grown particles are shaped as a nanoflakes when grown on FTO. The surface of the flakes distributed to a length of microns range but the width of a flake has a nano range. However for CuInSe2 thin films grown on steel substrate, the morphology is drastically changed, the particles in this case are oval shaped with near stoichiometric atomic % ratio. It was found that CuInSe2 thin films grown on stainless steel were ptype where as those grown on FTO were n-type in nature.

Whole-chalcopyrite-based tandem devices for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting have emerged as a promising route for obtaining similar to 20% solar-to-hydrogen efficiencies. Here we pursue this approach by demonstrating integration of the top cell wide-bandgap (E-G) chalcopyrite onto a transparent conductor, which is a critical step in the realization of tandem devices. We report specifically on our efforts to synthesize photoactive Cu(In,Ga)S-2 thin films on transparent conductive F:SnO2 (FTO), while preserving the optoelectronic properties of the FTO substrate and preventing the formation of a resistive SnSx interfacial layer. We demonstrate that such attributes can be achieved via close space sulfurization (CSS) of lower E-G Cu(In,Ga)Se-2 precursors, coevaporated on FTO at low temperature. Depending on Cu(In,Ga)Se-2 precursors' Ga and In content, the resulting Cu(In,Ga)S-2 solar absorbers have E-G energies spanning from 2.05 to 2.45 eV. The CSS process, which includes a low-temperature annealing in sulfur vapor followed by a high-temperature crystallization under inert atmosphere, allowed for up to 95% Se substitution with S in the chalcopyrite lattice, tuning both E-G and band edge positions that impact PEC performance. Photoelectrochemical measurements performed under AM1.5(G) illumination in 0.5 M H2SO4 on the 2.05 eV CuInGaS2 photocathode revealed a saturation photocurrent density (J(SAT)) of -5.25 mA/cm(2), a value corresponding to 38% of the absorber's optical limit. We further concluded that such low J(SAT) originates from subpar optical absorption of Cu(In,Ga)S-2 absorbers. Future improvements of the CSS process are expected to improve material quality toward our end goal of achieving whole-chalcopyrite tandem PEC devices.

Ebastine belongs to the category of second-generation non-sedating H1 receptor antagonists and is chiefly used for the treatment of allergic rhinitis and chronic urticaria. The present paper reports findings on the crystal and molecular structure of ebastine, employing the technique of single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Ebastine crystallizes in the monoclinic P 2 1 / c space group with unit-cell dimensions a = 16.5890 (12), b = 10.9575 (8), c = 16.6795 (11) Å, β = 113.623 (2)°, V = 2777.8 (3) Å 3 , Z = 4 and calculated density amounting to 1.123 Mg m −3 . The structure factor value was observed 1016 and final R = 0.0496 for 4360 unique reflections. The piperidine ring in the ebastine molecule was found to exist in a chair conformation, and the C—N bond length was 1.459 (3) Å, thereby showing good agreement with the standard C—N bond length of 1.472 Å.

CuInTe2 thin films were electrochemically deposited on fluorine-doped tin oxide (<10 Ω/□) coated glass. The electrochemical bath used for the electrodeposition of CuInTe2 thin films consisted of aqueous solution mixture of 0.025 M CuCl2, 0.1 M InCl3 and pre-reacted 0.01M tellurium with HNO3.Linear and cyclic sweep voltammograms were analysed to find out the suitable deposition potentials and growth parameters. Acetronitrile was added as a supporting electrolyte and growth was carried out at the constant deposition potentials of -350 mV and - 450 mV with and without stirring. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results obtained in this work show films that were grown under stirring conditions are more oriented in the (112) direction. CuInTe2 were also analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive analysis of X-rays (EDAX). SEM study revealed the formation of uniformly covered nanoflakes of 40-50 nanometers in width and compositional analysis show that CuInTe2 film grown had an excess of indium content, but (Cu %+In%):Te% is close to stoichiometry.

Photoelectrochemistry (PEC) is an attractive method for producing hydrogen as an alternative fuel to oil. Limitations arising from device efficiencies, cost, and durability demonstrated in laboratories prevent the implementation of this technology on a larger scale. The chalcopyrite material class, exemplified by its most popular alloy Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 , encompasses some of the most promising candidates to meet the criteria for cheap, sustainable solar fuel production. As we recently reported[i], co-evaporated 1.6 eV CuGaSe 2 offers very high-saturated photocurrent densities (20 mA.cm - 2 in pH 0 under AM1.5G illumination), long durability (up to 400 hours), and relatively high Faradaic efficiency (>85% for non-catalyzed systems). Although CuGaSe 2 has the highest bandgap of the copper chalcopyrite class, its optical characteristics are still too close to that of amorphous silicon (a-Si), a low-cost material our research team has identified as an ideal photovoltaic driver in a monolithic hybrid photoelectrode device. Nevertheless, a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 3.7% was achieved using a co-planar integration scheme, where CuGaSe 2 was connected in series with three a-Si solar cells. In order to increase the water-splitting efficiency, novel chalcopyrite alloys with bandgaps greater than 1.6 eV must be developed. In the present communication, we report on our efforts to synthesize 1.8-2.2 eV band-gap chalcopyrite materials for PEC water splitting. Specifically, we investigated the effect of sulfur on the optical and photoelectrochemical characteristics of the copper chalcopyrite material class. Using co-evaporated 1 μm-thick CuGaSe 2 as baseline system, we demonstrate that the substitution of selenium with sulfur is accomplished through a simple annealing step. As a result, a dramatic change in optical properties was observed, with a bandgap increase from 1.6 eV (CuGaSe 2 ) to 2.4 eV (CuGaS 2 ), in good agreement with theoretical predictions[ii]. Then, by simply adjusting the indium content in the film during the initial growth process, the bandgap of sulfurized copper chalcopyrite was decreased from 2.4 eV [GGI=Ga/(Ga+In)=1] to 2.2 eV (GGI»0.8) and finally to 2.0 eV (GGI»0.7), as presented in Fig. 1. X-ray diffraction data (Fig. 2) indicated successful bulk sulfurization by the shift of the prominent (112), (220), and (312) reflections to higher angles. Preliminary PEC analyses revealed an anodic shift of the flatband potential with increasing bandgap, when compared to CuGaSe 2 . This suggests that the bandgap modification in sulfurized films primarily stems from a downward shift of the valence band, an ideal situation for p-type PEC systems. Saturated photocurrent densities greater than -5 mA/cm 2 were achieved with 2.0 eV red CuIn 0.3 Ga 0.7 S 2 photocathodes in 0.5M H 2 SO 4 under AM1.5 G simulated illumination. [i] N. Gaillard, D. Prasher, J. Kaneshiro, S. Mallory, and M. Chong, MRS Spring Meeting , Z2.07 (2013). [ii] M. Bär, W. Bohne, J. Rohrich, E. Strub et al. , Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 3857 (2004).

In this paper, we present results on fabrication of the hybrid photovoltaic/photoelectrochemical device consisting of an amorphous silicon carbide photoelectrode and silicon solar cells. Driven by the solar cells, a photocurrent density of nearly 5 mA/cm 2 was achieved in a mechanical stack fashion, equivalent to a solar-to-hydrgoen (STH) coversion efficiency up to 6.1%. An even higher STH efficiency is expected in a monolithic hybrid device by eliminating varous optical and electrical losses occurring in the mechanical stack.

The growth and characterization of Mg x Zn1−x O thin films by aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition (AACVD) technique is reported in this paper. We have grown the thin films of ZnO by adding varying concentrations of magnesium (Mg) on a glass substrate. The precursor from which the Mg x Zn1−x O thin films were grown was made up of a mixture of zinc acethylacetonate and magnesium acetate tetrahydrate in boiled isopropyl alcohol. Oxygen gas was used as a carrier gas and substrate temperature was maintained at 400°C. Mg x Zn1−x O thin films were finally characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and UV-VIS-NIR spectroscopy. XRD results show that Mg x Zn1−x O thin films displayed a wurtzite structure and addition of Mg leads to a slight shift towards higher 2-theta values. AFM results show that MgZnO thin films were uniformly covered with nano flakes and their size decreases with an increase in Mg content. Optical studies show that with the increase of Mg content, transparency as well energy band gap of the Mg x Zn1−x O thin films increases, which also agrees with the reported values.

A new material CuBiW2O8 is reported here which is suitable for photocatalysts for solar-to-hydrogen generation by splitting water through photoelectrochemical approach. By density functional theory total energy calculations along with extensive mineral database search of relevant oxides, the crystal structures of CuBiW2O8 has been determined, which agrees well with the experimental result. We have analyzed the thermodynamical stability of this material. Its stability was found to be comparable to other well-known oxides, such as CuWO4. The band structure calculation reveals that it has a suitable band gap. In addition to this, density of states and optical absorption calculations show favorable features of a photocatalyst.

Photoelectrochemistry (PEC) is one of the most efficient methods to produce alternative fuels, although the efficiency, cost, and durability of lab-scale systems are currently not at the level required to make this technology economically feasible. The chalcopyrite material class, typically identified by its most popular alloy Cu(In,Ga)Se 2, provides exceptionally good candidates to meet the requirements identified for cheap, sustainable solar fuels production. As we recently reported , co-evaporated 1.6 eV CuGaSe 2 offers very highsaturated photocurrent densities (20 mA.cm -2 in pH 0 under AM1.5G illumination), long durability (up to 400 hours), and relatively high Faradaic efficiency (>85% for non-catalyzed systems). Although CuGaSe 2 has the highest bandgap of the copper chalcopyrite class, its optical characteristics are still too close to that of amorphous silicon (a-Si), a low-cost material our research team has identified as an ideal photovoltaic driver in a monolithic hybrid photoelectrode device. Nevertheless, a solar-tohydrogen efficiency of 3.7% was achieved using a co-planar integration scheme, where CuGaSe 2 was connected in series with three a-Si solar cells. In order to improve the water-splitting efficiency further, novel chalcopyrite alloys with bandgap greater than 1.6 eV must be developed. In the present communication, we report on our effort to synthesize 1.8-2.2 eV band-gap chalcopyrite materials for PEC water splitting. Specifically, we investigate the impact of sulfur on the optical and photoelectrochemical characteristics of the copper chalcopyrite material class. Using co-evaporated 1 μm-thick CuGaSe2 as baseline system, we demonstrate that selenium can be substituted by sulfur using a simple annealing step. With this protocol, a dramatic change in optical properties was observed, with a bandgap increase from 1.6 eV (CuGaSe2) to 2.4 eV (CuGaS 2), in good agreement with theoretical predictions . Then, by simply adjusting the indium content in the film during the initial growth process, the bandgap of sulfurized copper chalcopyrite was decreased from 2.4 eV [GGI=Ga/(Ga+In)=1] to 2.2 eV (GGI ≈0.8) and finally to 2.0 eV (GGI≈0.7), as presented in Fig. 1. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis performed on the 2.0 eV CuInGaS 2 material indeed confirmed the all selenium at the surface of the films was replaced with sulfur. Additional Raman scattering analysis (Fig. 2) pointed out that the majority of the 2.0 eV bandgap film bulk was sulfurized, although a small fraction of CuInGaSe2 remained ([Se]<2%, as evidenced by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy). Preliminary PEC analyses reveal an anodic shift of the flatband potential with increasing bandgap. This suggests that the bandgap modification in sulfurized films primarily stems from a downward shift of the valence band, an ideal situation for p-type PEC systems.