Functionalization of Silicon Nanostructures for Energy‐Related Applications

Abstract

Silicon (Si) is used in various application fields such as solar cells and electric devices. Functionalization of Si nanostructures is one way to further improve the properties of these devices such as these. This Review summarizes recent results of solar cell and Li‐ion battery applications using Si‐related nanostructures. In solar cell applications, the light trapping effect is increased and the carrier recombination rate is decreased due to the short carrier collection path achieved by radially constructed p–n junction in Si nanowires, resulting in higher power conversion efficiency. The nonradiative energy transfer effect created by nanocrystalline Si is a novel way of improving solar cell properties. Si‐related nanostructures are also anticipated as new anode materials with higher capacity in Li‐ion batteries. Si‐related nanocomposite materials which show densely packed microparticle structures agglomerated with small nanoparticles are described here as a promising challenge. These unique structures show higher capacity and longer cycle properties.

<p>Silica Nanoparticles Disturb Ion Channels and Transmembrane Potentials of Cardiomyocytes and Induce Lethal Arrhythmias in Mice</p>

“…In the industrial field, SiNPs have been used for organic synthesis, semiconductor production, energy application, and sewage treatment. [1][2][3][4] In the biomedical field, SiNPs are applied for food safety inspection, parasite diagnosis, molecular probes, imaging diagnosis, promotion of vascular regeneration, and oncotherapy, etc. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Synthetic SiNPs can enter the bodies of patients and healthy people through the skin, the respiratory tract, the digestive tract, and medical exposure, thus raising a biosafety concern about this nanomaterial.…”

Scalable chemical synthesis of doped silicon nanowires for energy applications

“…Elemental silicon, the central building block of microelectronics, also shows outstanding characteristics for energy conversion and energy harvesting applications. 1 The most wellknown example is the use of crystalline silicon in photovoltaic panels, which dominates solar cell technology. 2,3 For Li-ion batteries, silicon has attracted a lot of interest as a constituent of anode materials 4 due to its high Earth abundance, low discharge potential, very high theoretical charge capacity (>4000 mA h g −1 ), 5 and its abilityafter nanostructurationto stand mechanical strains due to swelling/deswelling in lithiation/delithiation.…”

Adjustable metal particle grid formed through upward directed solid-state dewetting using silicon nanowires

“…Through our group's work with silicon nanowires (SiNWs), [25][26][27] it was observed that metal thin lms will easily form particles on the top of cylindrical nanowires. This was suspected to be due to the SiNW surface geometry's effect on the metal thin lm surface energy.…”