We have developed a new texturing method by forming a pyramidal black silicon structure using a metal mesh in the reactive ion etching (RIE) system in order to overcome the disadvantages of the texturing process using wet etching and the drawbacks of the needle(grass)-like black silicon. For the formation of a pyramidal black silicon on the silicon surface, the RIE system is modified to be equipped with a metal mesh on top of the head shower. The parameters for the RIE process are SF 6 /O 2 gas flow of 15/15 sccm, RF (radio frequency) power of 200 W, pressure of 50-200 mTorr, temperature of 5 8C, and process time of 5-20 min. An increase in the processing time increases the width of the pyramid; however, the height remains at 0.8 AE 0.1 mm for 15-20 min of processing. The crystalline wafer surface of the pyramidal black silicon of approximately 1.7 AE 0.2 mm width and at 0.8 AE 0.1 mm height in size is textured using the RIE system with 10.7% of reflectivity. Thus, the pyramidal black silicon and the RIE process using a metal mesh are superior to the conventional texturing structures and methods, respectively.
The current study investigated the fabrication of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) adhering to Barium titanate (BaTiO3) nanoparticles and poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) nanocomposites, as well as the impact of MWCNT on the PVDF-BaTiO3 matrix in terms of dielectric constant and dielectric loss with a view to develop a high performance piezoelectric energy harvester in future. The capacity and potential of as-prepared nanocomposite films for the fabrication of high-performance flexible piezoelectric nanogenerator (PNG) were also investigated in this work. In particular, five distinct types of nanocomposites and films were synthesized: PB (bare PVDF–BaTiO3), PBC-1 (PVDF–BaTiO3-0.1 wt% CNT), PBC-2 (PVDF–BaTiO3-0.3 wt% CNT), PBC-3 (PVDF–BaTiO3-0.5 wt% CNT), and PBC-4 (PVDF–BaTiO3-1 wt% CNT). The dielectric constant and dielectric loss increased as MWCNT concentration increased. Sample PBC-3 had the optimum dielectric characteristics of all the as-prepared samples, with the maximum output voltage and current of 4.4 V and 0.66 μA, respectively, with an applied force of ~2N. Fine-tuning the BaTiO3 content and thickness of the PNGs is likely to increase the harvester’s performance even more. It is anticipated that the work would make it easier to fabricate high-performance piezoelectric films and would be a suitable choice for creating high-performance PNG.
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