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

Meng Zhang; Weijun Zhao; Jingxin Wu; Zhanqiang Li; Liyan Xue; Fan Yang; Fengzhi Tan; Heng Chen

doi:10.1021/acsomega.3c00039

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

ACS Omega. 2023 May 8;8(20):17644-17652. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c00039. eCollection 2023 May 23.

Authors

Meng Zhang^{1

2

3

4

5}, Weijun Zhao^{2

3

4

5}, Jingxin Wu^{2

3

4

5}, Zhanqiang Li^{2

3

4

5}, Liyan Xue^{2

3

4

5}, Fan Yang^{2

3

4

5}, Fengzhi Tan¹, Heng Chen^{2

3

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ School of Light Industry and Chemical Engineering, Dalian Polytechnic University, 116034 Dalian, China.
² Fujian Province Joint Innovation Key Laboratory of Fuel and Materials in Clean Nuclear Energy System, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 350002 Fuzhou, China.
³ Fujian Science & Technology Innovation Laboratory for Optoelectronic Information of China, 350108 Fuzhou, China.
⁴ Xiamen Institute of Rare Earth Materials, Haixi Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 361021 Xiamen, China.
⁵ Xiamen Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Photoelectric Functional Materials, Xiamen Institute of Rare Earth Materials, Haixi Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 361021 Xiamen, China.

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-earth-doped ZnO nanofibers as energy conversion devices used in betavoltaic isotope batteries.