@article{SchallerPuppeKaczoreketal.2021, author = {Schaller, J{\"o}rg and Puppe, Daniel and Kaczorek, Danuta and Ellerbrock, Ruth and Sommer, Michael}, title = {Silicon cycling in soils revisited}, series = {Plants : open access journal}, volume = {10}, journal = {Plants : open access journal}, number = {2}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel}, issn = {2223-7747}, doi = {10.3390/plants10020295}, pages = {33}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Silicon (Si) speciation and availability in soils is highly important for ecosystem functioning, because Si is a beneficial element for plant growth. Si chemistry is highly complex compared to other elements in soils, because Si reaction rates are relatively slow and dependent on Si species. Consequently, we review the occurrence of different Si species in soil solution and their changes by polymerization, depolymerization, and condensation in relation to important soil processes. We show that an argumentation based on thermodynamic endmembers of Si dependent processes, as currently done, is often difficult, because some reactions such as mineral crystallization require months to years (sometimes even centuries or millennia). Furthermore, we give an overview of Si reactions in soil solution and the predominance of certain solid compounds, which is a neglected but important parameter controlling the availability, reactivity, and function of Si in soils. We further discuss the drivers of soil Si cycling and how humans interfere with these processes. The soil Si cycle is of major importance for ecosystem functioning; therefore, a deeper understanding of drivers of Si cycling (e.g., predominant speciation), human disturbances and the implication for important soil properties (water storage, nutrient availability, and micro aggregate stability) is of fundamental relevance.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Haseeb2023, author = {Haseeb, Haider}, title = {Charge and heat transport across interfaces in nanostructured porous silicon}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-61122}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-611224}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {84}, year = {2023}, abstract = {This thesis discusses heat and charge transport phenomena in single-crystalline Silicon penetrated by nanometer-sized pores, known as mesoporous Silicon (pSi). Despite the extensive attention given to it as a thermoelectric material of interest, studies on microscopic thermal and electronic transport beyond its macroscopic characterizations are rarely reported. In contrast, this work reports the interplay of both. PSi samples synthesized by electrochemical anodization display a temperature dependence of specific heat 𝐢𝑝 that deviates from the characteristic 𝑇^3 behaviour (at 𝑇<50𝐾). A thorough analysis reveals that both 3D and 2D Einstein and Debye modes contribute to this specific heat. Additional 2D Einstein modes (~3 π‘šπ‘’π‘‰) agree reasonably well with the boson peak of SiO2 in pSi pore walls. 2D Debye modes are proposed to account for surface acoustic modes causing a significant deviation from the well-known 𝑇^3 dependence of 𝐢𝑝 at 𝑇<50𝐾. A novel theoretical model gives insights into the thermal conductivity of pSi in terms of porosity and phonon scattering on the nanoscale. The thermal conductivity analysis utilizes the peculiarities of the pSi phonon dispersion probed by the inelastic neutron scattering experiments. A phonon mean-free path of around 10 π‘›π‘š extracted from the presented model is proposed to cause the reduced thermal conductivity of pSi by two orders of magnitude compared to p-doped bulk Silicon. Detailed analysis indicates that compound averaging may cause a further 10-50\% reduction. The percolation threshold of 65\% for thermal conductivity of pSi samples is subsequently determined by employing theoretical effective medium models. Temperature-dependent electrical conductivity measurements reveal a thermally activated transport process. A detailed analysis of the activation energy 𝐸𝐴𝜎 in the thermally activated transport exhibits a Meyer Neldel compensation rule between different samples that originates in multi-phonon absorption upon carrier transport. Activation energies 𝐸𝐴𝑆 obtained from temperature-dependent thermopower measurements provide further evidence for multi-phonon assisted hopping between localized states as a dominant charge transport mechanism in pSi, as they systematically differ from the determined 𝐸𝐴𝜎 values.}, language = {en} } @article{NguyenMehargCareyetal.2019, author = {Nguyen, Minh N. and Meharg, Andy A. and Carey, Manus and Dultz, Stefan and Marone, Federica and Cichy, Sarah Bettina and Tran, Chinh T. and Le, Giang H. and Mai, Nga T. and Nguyen, Thinh T. H.}, title = {Fern, Dicranopteris linearis, derived phytoliths in soil}, series = {European journal of soil science}, volume = {70}, journal = {European journal of soil science}, number = {3}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {1351-0754}, doi = {10.1111/ejss.12754}, pages = {507 -- 517}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Ferns are among the most popular groups of plants in the tropics and subtropics, and their role as carbon sequestrators has been widely recognized. However, there is little understanding of the silicaceous structures (phytoliths) of ferns, rate of phytolith turnover, the consequences for organic matter sequestered in phytoliths and consequences for other soil properties. In the study reported here, high-resolution X-ray tomographic microscopy and chemical characterization were applied to examine the traits of phytoliths of the fern Dicranopteris linearis (Burm.f.) Underw. (D. linearis), with a focus on their dissolution properties and accumulation in northern Vietnamese soils in relation to soil properties. Tomographic images revealed an inter-embedding structure of silica and organic matter, especially in leaf-derived material. We propose that organic matter and silica can preserve each other against decomposition. In batch experiments, there was a relatively small rate of dissolution of phytoliths with dry ashing and subsequent H2O2 treatment. Silicon (Si) dissolution for D. linearis phytolith samples was much less than that for rice phytoliths. Despite the fact that the aluminum (Al) content was large in D. linearis leaves, batch dissolution data did not confirm a relation between Al and the slow rate of phytolith dissolution. The soil phytolith content varied from 0.9 to 7.5 g kg(-1) in the topsoil across the mountainous areas in northern Vietnam, whereas it tended to be smaller in the subsoil. The data indicate a relation between phytolith and soil organic matter, clay content, oxalate-soluble Al and electrical conductivity, suggesting that these soil properties are among the important factors affecting the size of the soil phytolith Si pool. Highlights}, language = {en} } @misc{SpiekermannHarderGilmoreetal.2019, author = {Spiekermann, Georg and Harder, M. and Gilmore, Keith and Zalden, Peter and Sahle, Christoph J. and Petitgirard, Sylvain and Wilke, Max and Biedermann, Nicole and Weis, Thomas and Morgenroth, Wolfgang and Tse, John S. and Kulik, E. and Nishiyama, Norimasa and Yava{\c{s}}, Hasan and Sternemann, Christian}, title = {Persistent Octahedral Coordination in Amorphous GeOβ‚‚ Up to 100 GPa by KΞ²'' X-Ray Emission Spectroscopy}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {699}, issn = {1866-8372}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-42775}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-427755}, year = {2019}, abstract = {We measure valence-to-core x-ray emission spectra of compressed crystalline GeOβ‚‚ up to 56 GPa and of amorphous GeOβ‚‚ up to 100 GPa. In a novel approach, we extract the Ge coordination number and mean Ge-O distances from the emission energy and the intensity of the KΞ²'' emission line. The spectra of high-pressure polymorphs are calculated using the Bethe-Salpeter equation. Trends observed in the experimental and calculated spectra are found to match only when utilizing an octahedral model. The results reveal persistent octahedral Ge coordination with increasing distortion, similar to the compaction mechanism in the sequence of octahedrally coordinated crystalline GeOβ‚‚ high-pressure polymorphs.}, language = {en} } @article{SpiekermannHarderGilmoreetal.2019, author = {Spiekermann, Georg and Harder, M. and Gilmore, Keith and Zalden, Peter and Sahle, Christoph J. and Petitgirard, Sylvain and Wilke, Max and Biedermann, Nicole and Weis, Thomas and Morgenroth, Wolfgang and Tse, John S. and Kulik, E. and Nishiyama, Norimasa and Yava{\c{s}}, Hasan and Sternemann, Christian}, title = {Persistent Octahedral Coordination in Amorphous GeOβ‚‚ Up to 100 GPa by KΞ²'' X-Ray Emission Spectroscopy}, series = {Physical Review X}, volume = {9}, journal = {Physical Review X}, number = {1}, publisher = {American Physical Society by the American Institute of Physics}, address = {Melville, NY}, issn = {2469-9926}, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevX.9.011025}, pages = {10}, year = {2019}, abstract = {We measure valence-to-core x-ray emission spectra of compressed crystalline GeOβ‚‚ up to 56 GPa and of amorphous GeOβ‚‚ up to 100 GPa. In a novel approach, we extract the Ge coordination number and mean Ge-O distances from the emission energy and the intensity of the KΞ²'' emission line. The spectra of high-pressure polymorphs are calculated using the Bethe-Salpeter equation. Trends observed in the experimental and calculated spectra are found to match only when utilizing an octahedral model. The results reveal persistent octahedral Ge coordination with increasing distortion, similar to the compaction mechanism in the sequence of octahedrally coordinated crystalline GeOβ‚‚ high-pressure polymorphs.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Kegelmann2019, author = {Kegelmann, Lukas}, title = {Advancing charge selective contacts for efficient monolithic perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-42642}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-426428}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {v, 155}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites are one of the most promising material classes for photovoltaic energy conversion. In solar cells, the perovskite absorber is sandwiched between n- and p-type contact layers which selectively transport electrons and holes to the cell's cathode and anode, respectively. This thesis aims to advance contact layers in perovskite solar cells and unravel the impact of interface and contact properties on the device performance. Further, the contact materials are applied in monolithic perovskite-silicon heterojunction (SHJ) tandem solar cells, which can overcome the single junction efficiency limits and attract increasing attention. Therefore, all contact layers must be highly transparent to foster light harvesting in the tandem solar cell design. Besides, the SHJ device restricts processing temperatures for the selective contacts to below 200Β°C. A comparative study of various electron selective contact materials, all processed below 180Β°C, in n-i-p type perovskite solar cells highlights that selective contacts and their interfaces to the absorber govern the overall device performance. Combining fullerenes and metal-oxides in a TiO2/PC60BM (phenyl-C60-butyric acid methyl ester) double-layer contact allows to merge good charge extraction with minimized interface recombination. The layer sequence thereby achieved high stabilized solar cell performances up to 18.0\% and negligible current-voltage hysteresis, an otherwise pronounced phenomenon in this device design. Double-layer structures are therefore emphasized as a general concept to establish efficient and highly selective contacts. Based on this success, the concept to combine desired properties of different materials is transferred to the p-type contact. Here, a mixture of the small molecule Spiro-OMeTAD [2,2',7,7'-tetrakis(N,N-di-p-methoxyphenylamine)-9,9'-spirobifluoren] and the doped polymer PEDOT [poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)] is presented as a novel hole selective contact. PEDOT thereby remarkably suppresses charge recombination at the perovskite surface, allowing an increase of quasi-Fermi level splitting in the absorber. Further, the addition of Spiro-OMeTAD into the PEDOT layer is shown to enhance charge extraction at the interface and allow high efficiencies up to 16.8\%. Finally, the knowledge on contact properties is applied to monolithic perovskite-SHJ tandem solar cells. The main goal is to optimize the top contact stack of doped Spiro-OMeTAD/molybdenum oxide(MoOx)/ITO towards higher transparency by two different routes. First, fine-tuning of the ITO deposition to mitigate chemical reduction of MoOx and increase the transmittance of MoOx/ITO stacks by 25\%. Second, replacing Spiro-OMeTAD with the alternative hole transport materials PEDOT/Spiro-OMeTAD mixtures, CuSCN or PTAA [poly(triaryl amine)]. Experimental results determine layer thickness constrains and validate optical simulations, which subsequently allow to realistically estimate the respective tandem device performances. As a result, PTAA represents the most promising replacement for Spiro-OMeTAD, with a projected increase of the optimum tandem device efficiency for the herein used architecture by 2.9\% relative to 26.5\% absolute. The results also reveal general guidelines for further performance gains of the technology.}, language = {en} } @article{MalyarGorinStetsyuraetal.2012, author = {Malyar, I. V. and Gorin, D. A. and Stetsyura, S. V. and Santer, Svetlana}, title = {Effect of a nanodimensional polyethylenimine layer on current-voltage characteristics of hybrid structures based on single-crystal silicon}, series = {Journal of electronic materials}, volume = {41}, journal = {Journal of electronic materials}, number = {12}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {New York}, issn = {0361-5235}, doi = {10.1007/s11664-012-2266-4}, pages = {3427 -- 3435}, year = {2012}, abstract = {In this paper the study of the tunneling current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of silicon surfaces with n- and p-type conductivity as a function of roughness in the presence of an adsorbed insulating layer of polyethylenimine (PEI) is presented. A new approach is proposed for analysis of the tunnel current-voltage characteristics of a metal-insulator-semiconductor structure based on the combination of two models (Simmons and Schottky). Such joint analysis demonstrates the effect of surface states and evaluates changes in the band bending and electron affinity after the deposition of the polyelectrolyte layer on the semiconductor surface. As a result, we are able to differentiate between the equilibrium tunnel barrier (q phi (0)) and the barrier height (q phi (B)). It is shown that the deposition of the polymer leads to an increase of the equilibrium tunnel barrier by more than 250 meV, irrespective of the roughness and the conductivity type of the silicon substrate. The PEI deposition also leads to changes in the barrier height (less than 25 meV) that are smaller than the equilibrium tunnel barrier changes, indicating pinning of the Fermi level by the electron surface states that are energetically close to it. These surface states can trap charge carriers, a process leading to the formation of a depletion region and band bending on the semiconductor surface. Moreover, the change in the barrier height q Delta phi (B) depends on the conductivity type of the semiconductor, being positive for n-type and negative for p-type, in contrast to q Delta phi (0), which is positive for all substrates. The change is explained by capture of electrons preferably from the semiconductor space-charge region in the presence of a cationic polyelectrolyte, e.g., PEI.}, language = {en} }