The Signatures of Acid Concentration on the Optical Band Gap and Associated Band Tails of Chitosan from Shrimp for Application in Optoelectronic Devices

Over the recent years, the global increase of electronic wastes from electrical and electronic devices (e-wastes) has been on an alarming trend in quantity and toxicity and e-wastes are non-biodegradable resulting in its cumulative increase over time. Changes in technology and unrestricted regional movement of electrical devices have facilitated the generation of more e-wastes leading to high levels of air, soil and water pollution. To address these challenges, biodegradable organic components such as chitosan have been used to replace their inorganic counterparts for optoelectronic device applications. However, in-depth knowledge on how such materials can be used to tune the optical properties of their hybrid semiconductors is unrivaled. Thus, systematic studies of the interplay between the preparation methods and optical band gap and Urbach energy of such organic components are vital. This study has thus been dedicated to map out the effect of acid concentrations during chitosan extraction on the corresponding optical band gap and Urbach energy with a view to improving its applications in optoelectronic devices. The, 1.0 to 2.5 molar hydrochloric acid (HCl) was used for 12 hours at room temperature during demineralization and 2.0 molar sodium hydroxide (NaOH) during deprotonation processes. The absorbance spectrum of the samples was collected by UV-Vis spectrophotometer and band gap energies were analyzed by performing Tauc’s plot. This study revealed that the energy band gap of chitosan extracted from 1 M HCl, 1.5 M HCl, 2.0 M HCl and 2.5 M HCl were 3.72 eV, 3.50 eV, 3.45 eV and 3.36 eV respectively. Furthermore, the Urbach energy of chitosan extracted from 1 M HCl, 1.5 M HCl, 2.0 M HCl and 2.5 M HCl were 0.60496 eV, 0.5292 eV, 4724 eV and 0.2257 eV, respectively.

THE PREPARATION AND CHARACTERISTICS STUDY OF TiN_xO_y SPECTRAL SELECTIVE ABSORBING FILM BY MAGNETRON SPUTTERING

Spectral selective absorbent film is a crucial factor for the solar heating devi ce. There are many kinds of spectral selective absorbing film made by different ways. TiNxOy thin film with excellent spectral selecting absobent property were successfully prepared by DC magnetron sputtering with Ar as working gas, N2 and O2 as reactive gas, 99.9% titanium as the target and is copper slice as the subs trate. In this article, the optical characteristics and microstructure of TiNxO y thin film were studied. Inputing O2 can decrease the reflection of the visible lights, and double layer film can get good absorption for solar energy.