Now showing 1 - 10 of 44
  • Publication
    Synthesis Methods of Tin Oxide as Photoanode for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Performance: A Short Review
    ( 2021-12-01)
    Idris S.N.
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    ; ; ;
    Magiswaran K.
    ;
    Sobri S.A.
    This review focused on the synthesis methods of tin oxide (SnO2) nanoparticles as a photoanode for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) and how it impacts the performance. There are many different techniques and various nanoparticles were produced and usually characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) to determine crystalline structure of SnO2, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to examine the surface morphology and size details and J-V solar simulator to verify current-voltage characteristics. In summary, considering all the methods reviewed, sol-gel is reported as the best method to produce SnO2 nanoparticles for DSSC fabrication with the highest efficiency recorded of 3.96%.
  • Publication
    Augmentation of the delamination factor in drilling of carbon fibre-reinforced polymer composites (CFRP)
    ( 2020-11-01)
    Sobri, Sharizal Ahmad
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    Whitehead D.
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    Mohamed M.
    ;
    Mohamed J.J.
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    Amini M.H.M.
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    Hermawan A.
    ;
    Rasat M.S.M.
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    Sofi A.Z.M.
    ;
    Ismail W.O.A.S.W.
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    Carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite materials play an increasingly important role in modern manufacturing, and they are among the more prominent materials used in aircraft manufacturing today. However, CFRP is highly prone to delamination and other damage when drilled due to it being extremely strong with a good strength-to-weight ratio and high thermal conductivity. Because of this problem and CFRP’s growing importance in aircraft manufacture, research has focused on the entry and exit holes as indicators of damage occurrence during drilling of screws, rivets, and other types of holes. The inside of the hole was neglected in past research and a proper way to quantify the internal side of a hole by combining the entry and exit hole should be included. To fill this gap and improve the use of CFRP, this paper reports a novel technique to measure the holes by using the extension of the adjusted delamination factor (SFDSR) for drilling thick CFRP composites in order to establish the influence of machining input variables on key output measures, i.e., delamination and other damages. The experimental results showed a significant difference in interpretation of the damage during the analysis. Improvement was made by providing better perspectives of identifying hole defects.
  • Publication
    Synthesis methods of tin oxide as photoanode for dye-sensitized solar cell performance- a short review
    ( 2021-12)
    Siti Norhafizah Idris
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    ; ; ;
    Kaiswariah Magiswaran
    ;
    Sharizal Ahmad Sobri
    This review focused on the synthesis methods of tin oxide (SnO₂) nanoparticles as a photoanode for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) and how it impacts the performance. There are many different techniques and various nanoparticles were produced and usually characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) to determine crystalline structure of SnO₂, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to examine the surface morphology and size details and J-V solar simulator to verify current-voltage characteristics. In summary, considering all the methods reviewed, sol-gel is reported as the best method to produce SnO₂ nanoparticles for DSSC fabrication with the highest efficiency recorded of 3.96%.
  • Publication
    Visible Light-Assisted Charge Extraction in High-Band-Gap SrTiO3 through the Integration of a Triplet Sensitizer-Emitter Thin Film
    ( 2024-01-22)
    Jie K.V.Y.
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    ;
    Mohmad A.R.
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    Ismail A.M.
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    ;
    Ramli M.M.
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    ;
    Sulaiman Y.
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    ;
    A challenge in PV designs, including those with an electron transport layer (ETL), is the presence of ‘parasitic absorbers’. These are layers that absorb light without significantly converting it to electrical current, impacting the total external quantum efficiency (EQE). Strontium titanate (STO), a high-band-gap (3.20 eV) perovskite metal oxide, holds promise as an electron transport layer (ETL) for solar energy harvesting. Despite STO’s potential, it primarily operates in the UV spectrum, not fully utilizing the broader light range, and hence can be the source of parasitic absorbers. In this study, we report a significant enhancement in the EQE of STO through the integration of a triplet sensitizer-emitter (TSE) system, designed to upconvert the visible spectrum into UV light and improve the charge extraction from STO. The TSE system uses carbazolyl dicyanobenzene (4CzIPN) as a sensitizer and p-terphenyl (TP) as an emitter. To investigate the EQE of such a system, we fabricate STO as a PV cell. The revised PV cell architecture (ITO/TiO2/STO/TSE/PEDOT:PSS/Al) is a modification of the conventional configurations (ITO/TiO2/STO/PEDOT:PSS/Al). With the TSE thin film, the modified STO PV cell shows better charge extraction under sunlight compared to the standard STO PV cell, indicating that the upconversion process can enhance the hole conductions from STO to PEDOT:PSS through the TSE system. We noted an EQE increase with intense light of λ > 345 nm in thicker TSE layers and a decrease in the EQE under similar light intensity in thinner TSE layers. The Kelvin probe force measurement (KPFM) data showed that the TSE layer receives holes from STO under illumination. Additionally, time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) experiments showed that the TSE/STO thin film is able to produce UV emission after irradiation with lower energy light. Then, the EQE variation in thicker TSE layers under intense irradiation can be attributed to the solid-state upconversion, indicating its thickness-dependent performance. These findings underline the strategies for maximizing the utilization of the solar spectrum in PV applications.
  • Publication
    A Study on Electrical Performance of SiC-based Self-switching Diode (SSD) as a High Voltage High Power Device
    The Self-switching Diodes (SSDs) have been primarily researched and used in low-power device applications for RF detection and harvesting applications. In this paper, we explore the potential of SSDs in high-voltage applications with the usage of Silicon Carbide (SiC) as substrate materials which offers improved efficiency and reduced energy consumption. Optimization in terms of the variation in the interface charges, metal work function, and doping concentration values has been performed by means of a 2D TCAD device simulator. The results showed that the SSD can block up to 600 V of voltage with an optimum interface charge value of 1013 cm-2, making them suitable for higher voltage applications. Furthermore, it also found that the work function of the metal contact affected the forward voltage value, impacting the current flow in the device. Variation in doping concentrations also resulted in higher breakdown voltages and significantly increased forward current, leading to an increased power rating of 27 kW. In conclusion, the usage of 4H-SiC-based SSDs shows a usable potential for high-voltage applications with optimized parameters. The results from this research can facilitate the implementation of SSD in the development of high-power semiconductor devices for various industrial applications.
  • Publication
    Copper doping effect in the back surface field layer of CdTe thin film solar cells
    ( 2024-02-01) ;
    Kiong T.S.
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    Doroody C.
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    Rahman K.S.
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    ; ;
    Kar Y.B.
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    Harif M.N.
    ;
    Amin N.
    In this work, the Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator (SCAPS-1D) is employed to evaluate the characteristics of CdTe thin films with ZnTe as the Back Surface Field (BSF) layer and estimate the effective copper doping ratio at both the atomic scale and the device operational response perspective. The electrical characteristics of ZnTe, at varying levels of copper doping, were derived using density functional theory (DFT) by applying the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and Hubbard U corrections (DFT+U). The performance of ZnTe with different Cu concentrations as a BSF layer was evaluated by analysing the values of four key parameters that are open circuit voltage (VOC), short circuit current density (JSC), fill factor (FF), and conversion efficiency (η). The results indicate that an increase in Cu concentration from 0% to 3%, 6%, 10%, and 12% resulted in a reduction of the energy band gap. Specifically, the energy band gap decreased from 2.24 eV to 2.10 eV, 1.98 eV, 1.92 eV, and 1.88 eV, respectively. Optimal Cu doping promotes the favourable shift in the valence band maxima (VBM) and formation of p + -ZnTe, lowering thermionic emission and improving carrier lifetime, which results in an improved ohmic contact, η = 18.73% for 10% of Cu content. Excessive doping in contrast degraded the overall device performance by forming an unmatched carrier band offset at the front interface with CdS, increasing the acceptor type defect and CdTe compensation rate. Overall, the findings suggest that incorporating a controlled level of Cu, which in this case is around 10%, promotes the efficiency and stability of the proposed CdTe device configuration to a certain extent.
  • Publication
    Low-cost tilt monitoring system for spin coater calibration
    The spin coating process became the most widely used technique in the fabrication industry for thin film coating on a substrate by centrifugal force. Unfortunately, frequent usage of spin coater might induce a tilted surface of the chuck (i.e. the sample holder). A tilted chuck might induce inhomogeneity of the coating layer. Among the machine's calibration techniques, nullifying the tilt before the spin coating process is the most important step. However, to our knowledge, none of the spin coaters was introduced with the chuck's tilt monitoring during the spin coating process. Thus, investigating the discrete condition during the spin coating process is necessary. In this work, the tilt monitoring system for the spin coater was implemented based on an Arduino Uno microcontroller and distance sensor. A spin coater has been implemented to test the tilt surface monitoring during spinning ranges from 350rpm to 1000rpm. The measurement was done under two conditions: flat (0.00 degrees) and tilted (5.71 degrees). The setup was able to measure up to 0.01 degrees of the tilt.
  • Publication
    Elucidating the Effects of Interconnecting Layer Thickness and Bandgap Variations on the Performance of Monolithic Perovskite/Silicon Tandem Solar Cell by wxAMPS
    ( 2023-06-01) ;
    Doroody C.
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    Alkharasani W.M.
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    ;
    Chelvanathan P.
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    Shahahmadi S.A.
    ;
    Amin N.
    In this study, we investigated the pathways for integration of perovskite and silicon solar cells through variation of the properties of the interconnecting layer (ICL). The user-friendly computer simulation software wxAMPS was used to conduct the investigation. The simulation started with numerical inspection of the individual single junction sub-cell, and this was followed by performing an electrical and optical evaluation of monolithic 2T tandem PSC/Si, with variation of the thickness and bandgap of the interconnecting layer. The electrical performance of the monolithic crystalline silicon and CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite tandem configuration was observed to be the best with the insertion of a 50 nm thick (Eg ≥ 2.25 eV) interconnecting layer, which directly contributed to the optimum optical absorption coverage. These design parameters improved the optical absorption and current matching, while also enhancing the electrical performance of the tandem solar cell, which benefited the photovoltaic aspects through lowering the parasitic loss.
  • Publication
    Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) of furniture production: A case study in Kelantan state, Malaysia
    ( 2021-05-03)
    Ahmad M.F.
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    Sobri S.A.
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    Abdullah N.A.N.
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    Kamarudin N.M.F.N.
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    Mohamed M.
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    Hermawan A.
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    Boon J.G.
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    Ismail W.O.A.S.W.
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    The primary objective of this research is to study the critical region of the local furniture manufacturing company by using a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA). At the same time, the study also aims to help the organization to minimize production costs by presenting the preliminary stage of the results of the assessment. Many industries used FMEA as a method to improve the evaluation of the reliability of a production process. The use of FMEA is to analyze the layout characteristics of the planned production process in order to ensure that the final product meets customer requirements and expectations. It uses probabilities of detection and occurrence added with a few severity standards to create a risk priority number (RPN) for rating improvement action considerations. Utilized in both the manufacturing and design processes, they notably help to reduce cost factors with the aid of determining product and process improvements early within the development process while changes are inexpensively and relatedly easy to do. Based on the results, there were two failure modes with a higher RPN. The assessment is deductive as it periodically moves from one source to another. Thus, it can assist the company in improving its manufacturing process by reducing the mistakes that been made by identifying the cause and effect of it.
  • Publication
    Effect of indium pre-flow on wavelength shift and crystal structure of deep green light emitting diodes
    ( 2021-01-01) ;
    Hassan Z.
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    Bakar A.S.A.
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    Rahman M.N.A.
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    Yusuf Y.
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    Md Taib M.I.
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    Sulaiman A.F.
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    Hussin H.N.
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    ; ;
    Nagai K.
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    Akimoto Y.
    ;
    Shoji D.
    To produce a deep green (530 nm–570 nm) LED, the suitable indium (In) composition in the InxGa1−xN/GaN multi-quantum well (MQW) structure is crucial because a lower indium composition will shift the wavelength of emission towards the ultraviolet region. In this paper, we clarify the effects of an indium-rich layer to suppress such blue shifting, especially after the annealing process. According to characterizations by the uses of XRD and TEM, narrowing of the MQW layer was observed by the indium capping, while without the capping, the annealing results in a slight narrowing of MQW on the nearest layer to the p-type layer. By adding an indium capping layer, the blue shift of the photoluminescence was also suppressed and a slight red shift to keep green emission was observed. Such photoluminescence properties were consistent with the tiny change of the MQW as seen in the XRD and TEM characterizations.