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.

Electrical and optical properties of lithium borate glasses doped with Nd_2O_3

Glass series with general formula 25Li2O-（75-x）B2O3-xNd2O3 was prepared by conventional melt quench technique. Electrical and optical characterizations of these glasses were carried out. It was observed that conductivity of glasses decreased and activation energy in- creased with the addition of Nd2O3. The density and refractive index of the glasses increased while optical band gap and radiation length de- creased due to structural changes.