Promising Rare-Earth-Doped, Electrospun, ZnO Nanofiber N-type Semiconductor for Betavoltaic Batteries

Abstract

Betavoltaic batteries, as a kind of ultimate battery, have attracted much attention. ZnO is a promising wide-bandgap semiconductor material that has great potential in solar cells, photodetectors, and photocatalysis. In this study, rare-earth (Ce, Sm, and Y)-doped ZnO nanofibers were synthesized using advanced electrospinning technology. The structure and properties of the synthesized materials were tested and analyzed. As betavoltaic battery energy conversion materials, the results show that rare-earth doping increases the UV absorbance and the specific surface area and slightly reduces the band gap. In terms of electrical performance, a deep UV (254 nm) and X-ray source (10 keV) were used to simulate a radioisotope β-source to evaluate the basic electrical properties. Among them, the output current density of Y-doped ZnO nanofibers can reach 87 nA•cm −2 , which is 78% higher than that of traditional ZnO nanofibers, by deep UV. Besides, the photocurrent response of Y-doped ZnO nanofibers is superior to that of Ce-doped and Sm-doped ZnO nanofibers by soft X-ray. This study provides a basis for rare-earthdoped ZnO nanofibers as energy conversion devices used in betavoltaic isotope batteries.

Review of the recent advances on the fabrication, modification and application of electrospun TiO2 and ZnO nanofibers for the treatment of organic pollutants in wastewater

“…It therefore represents a promising fabrication method for generating highly functional nanomaterials for a range of applications (Ludwig et al, 2018). Although herein emphasis is made on their photocatalytic efficiencies for the treatment of EOPs, inorganic TiO 2 and ZnO nanofibers have also been successfully applied in sensing, energy storage, air quality and antimicrobial studies (Wang et al, 2017;Thakur et al, 2020;Tshabalala et al, 2021;Zhang et al, 2023a). The fabrication of the TiO 2 and ZnO nanofibers combines their elevated surface areas with their intrinsic semiconductor properties, thereby opening enormous potential for these materials.…”