Nanofabrication and its Application in Renewable Energy (Nanoscience & Nanotechnology Series, Volume 32) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1849736405 ISBN 13: 9781849736404

Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2014

Synopsis

Nanoscale materials and structures have attracted great attention in recent years because of their unique physical and chemical properties and potential use in energy transport and conversion. This book puts the subject into context by first looking at current synthesis methods for nanomaterials, from the bottom-up and top-down methods, followed by enhanced energy conversion efficiency at the nanoscale and then specific applications e.g. photovoltaic cells and nanogenerators. This authoritative and comprehensive book will be of interest to both the existing scientific community in this field, as well as for new people who wish to enter it.

About this title

About the Author

Dr. Zhang joined Peking University as a full professor in 2010. He received his B. Sci and PhD in physics from Tsinghua University in 1998 and 2002, respectively. From 2002 to 2004 he was a SMF research fellow at National University of Singapore (NUS) and from 2005 to 2006 at Stanford University. He joined the Institute of Microelectronics, A*STAR, Singapore, as a senior research engineer in 2006 and Department of Electronics, Peking University in 2010 as a full professor. His research is focused on the energy transfer and harvesting in nanostructured materials. He is a world recognized expert in the electrical and thermal properties simulation of nano materials. He developed several novel approaches for molecular dynamic, and quantum chemistry simulations. He has authored or co-authored more than 70 publications in the peer-reviewed international journals and conferences, including 5 in Nano letters and Nano Today, and 1 invited review article in NanoScale. He has delivered several invited talks in the international conferences. His research has gained him a number of international recognition and media highlight. He was awarded with an Outstanding Ph.D. thesis Award in Tsinghua University (2002), Singapore Millennium Foundation Fellowship (2002-2004), and IME Excellence Award (2008). Dr. Zhang's research achievements are also matched with his competency in teaching. In 2010, his PhD student received the Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Students Studying Abroad.

From the Back Cover

Nanomaterials have much to offer the field of renewable energy, particulary for applications at the atomic level. Such applications can only be fully realised with a clear understanding of the fabrication and properties of the materials and composites involved.

This edited book presents a comprehensive outlook on the latest in nanofabricated materials for renewable energy generation and draws on a global wealth of experience. Newcomers to the field will benefit from the top-down approach discussed in chapter one and the growth of nanowires for semiconductors in chapter two. Other chapters examine the theories behind light trapping and thermoelectric properties.

With editors from both academic (Peking University) and industrial (Siemens) backgrounds, this book is aimed at academic and industrial researchers, and is an essential handbook for anyone wishing to produce nanomaterials for a range of renewable energy applications.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Nanofabrication and its Application in Renewable Energy

By Gang Zhang, Navin Manjooran

The Royal Society of Chemistry

Copyright © 2014 The Royal Society of Chemistry
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-84973-640-4

Contents

Author Biographies, 
Chapter 1 Fabrication Techniques of Graphene Nanostructures Xinran Wang and Yi Shi, 
Chapter 2 Nanophotonic Light Trapping Theory for Photovoltaics Zongfu Yu, Aaswath Raman and Shanhui Fan, 
Chapter 3 Micro/nano Fabrication Technologies for Vibration-Based Energy Harvester Bin Yang and Jingquan Liu, 
Chapter 4 Thermal and Thermoelectric Properties of Nanomaterials Gang Zhang, 
Chapter 5 Nanotubes for Energy Storage Hui Pan, 
Chapter 6 Measurements of Photovoltaic Cells Huang Xuebo and Zhang Jing, 
Subject Index, 

CHAPTER 1

Fabrication Techniques of Graphene Nanostructures

XINRAN WANG AND YI SHI

National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, P. R. China

1.1 Introduction to Graphene

Carbon is one of the most studied elements in the periodic table. The versatility of chemical bonds enables many carbon allotropes. In three-dimensional bulk form, carbon can exist as diamonds and graphite, which comprise of sp3 and sp2 covalent bonds, respectively. In the 1980s and 1990s, another two types of carbon allotropes, the zero-dimensional fullerene and one-dimensional carbon nanotubes, were discovered (Figure 1.1(a)). These nanomaterials, with fascinating physical and chemical properties, have driven an enormous amount of research in many areas. However, the two-dimensional counterpart of carbon allotrope was still missing until 2004, when a single layer of graphite, or graphene, was successfully isolated on a substrate. In this section, we give a brief introduction to graphene. We do not intend to derive the properties of graphene from the lattice and band structures. Readers who are interested in those aspects are encouraged to read the excellent reviews that are available.

1.1.1 Lattice and Band Structure

Graphene is composed of a honeycomb lattice of carbon atoms (Figures 1.1(b) and 1.2). Structurally, graphene is related to many carbon allotropes. For example, carbon nanotubes can be formed by rolling graphene along certain axes, and graphite can be formed by stacking graphene vertically3 (Figure 1.1(a)). The structure can be seen as a triangular lattice with two equivalent atoms in each unit cell. The unit vectors a1,2 = a/2 (3, ± [square root of 3], where a = 1.42Å is the carbon–carbon distance (Figure 1.1(b)). The reciprocal lattice is also triangular, with unit vectors b1,2 = 2π/3a (1, ± [square root of 3]). The shape of the Brillouin zone is rotated 90° compared to the lattice unit cell. In each Brillouin zone, there are two inequivalent corners, K and K', called Dirac points. This is related to the presence of a pseudospin degree of freedom or two independent sublattices in graphene.

The tight-binding band structure of graphene was calculated in 1947 by Wallace,8 which can be described by eqn (1).

[MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (1)

here EF is the Fermi energy, t is the nearest neighbor hopping integral. The±signs represent conduction and valance bands respectively. Figure 1(c) is the plot near the first Brillouin zone. The band structure of graphene is drastically different from that of conventional semiconductors. The most remarka

Edition details

• Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1849736405
• ISBN 13: 9781849736404
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 239
• Editor: Zhang Gang, Manjooran Navin