# Non-conventional porous 12CaO7Al2O3 Transparent Oxide Semiconductor: A Journey from foams to cubes

## TL;DR

This study presents a simple self-combustion synthesis method for creating cubic and foamy C12A7 particles, analyzing their structural, optical, and electrical properties for potential use in transparent conducting oxide layers in solar cells.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel, easy synthesis route for cubic C12A7 particles with detailed characterization, advancing materials for transparent conducting oxides in photovoltaics.

## Key findings

- Cubic and foamy C12A7 structures achieved at different temperatures.
- Cubic C12A7 exhibits higher crystallinity and conductivity.
- Band gaps of 3.07 eV and 3.32 eV for foamy and cubic particles, respectively.

## Abstract

In the current study easy method to synthesize C12A7 particles with cubic morphology was investigated for the application of Transparent Conducting Oxide layer in thinfilm solar cell. By self-combustion method with proper amount of urea addition, cubic and foamy structures of C12A7 were achieved at 950 {\deg}C and at 510 {\deg}C respectively. Pure C12A7 formation confirmed by P-XRD and growth mechanism of the cubes was also understood by SEM and FT-IR analysis. Further the band gap was measured 3.07 eV in case of 510 {\deg}C and 3.32 eV in case of 950 {\deg}C synthesized particles with the help of UV-Vis analysis. During PL single sharp peaks at 399 nm noticed which indicates less defective C12A7 at 950 {\deg}C, confirmed by XRD having more crystallinity and less strain. No trap state or radiative recombination observed in case of C12A7 synthesized at 950 {\deg}C sample. Conductivity from conductometry titration method was found to be 9.223 mS at 26.3 {\deg}C and 747.33 mS at 26.4 {\deg}C for 510 {\deg}C and 950 {\deg}C synthesized samples respectively.

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1701.07187