In this work, electrochemically recyclable lithium is analyzed as high energy density, large scale storage material for stranded renewable energy in a closed loop. The strongly exothermic reaction of lithium with carbon dioxide (CO2) yields thermal energy directly comparable to the combustion of coal or methane in an oxygen containing atmosphere. The thermal level of the reaction is sufficient for re-electrification in a thermal power plant compatible process.

The reaction of single lithium particles, avoiding particle-particle interactions, is compared to the combustion of atomized lithium spray in a CO2 containing atmosphere. Particle temperatures of up to 4000K were found for the reaction of single lithium particles in a CO2, nitrogen (N2), oxygen (O2) and steam gas mixture. Furthermore the combustion of atomized lithium spray in both dry CO2 atmosphere and CO2/steam gas mixture was analyzed. The identified solid reaction products are lithium carbonate, lithium oxide and lithium hydroxide. The formation of carbon monoxide (CO) as gaseous reaction product is demonstrated. Carbon monoxide is a valuable by-product, which could be converted to methanol or gasoline using hydrogen.

Roll-to-roll deposition techniques for the fabrication of chalcopyrite solar cells are of major interest and are a promising alternative to state of the art vacuum processes. However, for roll-to-roll processes the preparation of precursor materials like nanoparticle inks is a crucial point. In this work a study on the preparation technique of copper-indium intermetallic nanoparticles was conducted. The preparation of the nanoparticles is based on the chemical reduction of copper and indium cations with sodium borohydride. Different parameters are discussed regarding their influence on (1) size and shape of the nanoparticles, (2) Cu/In ratio within the synthesised nanoparticles and (3) yield of the synthesis. Results show a strong dependency of the Cu/In ratio of the nanoparticles and the yield of the synthesis on the synthesis parameters. The influence of different parameters like (a) the ratio of metal cations to BH4- anions, (b) the Cu2+/In3+ cation ratio within the precursor solution and (c) the dropping rate of the copper-indium precursor solution are discussed. The Cu/In ratio within the nanoparticles can mainly be controlled by the Cu2+/In3+ cation ratio and the dropping rate of the copper-indium precursor solution. The yield of the synthesis shows saturation behaviour depending on the ratio of metal cations to BH4- anions. Shape and size of the nanoparticles are independent of the varied parameters.

Complex plasmas are low-temperature plasmas containing micron-sized particles (microparticles) such as dust grains. These are present in astrophysical systems (comets, molecular clouds, et al.) and in technological applications (microchip production by plasma etching, deposition of solar cells, et al.). Complex plasmas are also of interest in basic science because these are often used as models for many other strongly coupled many-body systems in solid state, fluid, or plasma physics. Since gravity has a strong influence on the microparticle component, experiments under microgravity (parabolic flights, sounding rockets, International Space Station (ISS)) are performed. Interaction between microparticles depends on plasma parameters such as ion density or ion temperature. Also, the presence of microparticles may change the properties of background plasma. Therefore, the background plasma needs to be characterized to provide adequate interpretation of the microgravity experiments. For this purpose a dedicated high-speed diagnostic system has been set up.

CIS based chalcopyrite absorber materials are usually substituted in the cation and anion lattice to yield mixed pentanary crystals with the general composition Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S)2 to achieve an optimised adaptation of the semiconductor bandgap to the terrestrial solar spectrum. Real-time investigations during the annealing of stacked elemental layers (SEL) of sputtered metals Cu and In and evaporated chalcogens S and Se with varying ratios were performed by angle-dispersive time-resolved XRD (X-ray diffraction) measurements. After qualitative phase analysis the measured powder diagrams were quantitatively analysed by the Rietveld method, the phases formed determined and their reaction kinetics obtained. Ternary indium and copper sulfoselenides form by the sulfoselenisation of the intermetallic alloy yielding different educts for the chalcopyrite formation with varying sulfur content. For S/(S+Se) ≥ 0.5 the formation of the chalcopyrite CuIn(S,Se)2 is similar to the crystallisation path of CuInS2. With increasing amount of selenium (S/(S+Se) = 0.25) different ternary sulfoselenides contribute to the semiconductor formation. For small amounts of sulfur, i.e. S/(S+Se) ≤ 0.1, the chalcopyrite crystallisation proceeds comparable to the one observed for sulfur-free Cu-In-Se precursors. The formation of CuIn(S,Se)2 is accelerated and proceeds mainly after the peritectic decomposition of Cu(S,Se) to Cu2(S,Se). The sulfur content determines the crystallisation temperature of the semiconductor because Cu(S,Se) decomposes at higher temperatures with increasing sulfur. Upon heating S ↔ Se exchange reactions take place in the Cu-S-Se and Cu-In-S-Se system.

The paper reviews the basics of SiC bulk growth by the physical vapor transport (PVT) method and discuss current and possible future concepts to improve crystalline quality. In-situ process visualization using x-rays, numerical modeling and advanced doping techniques will be briefly presented which support growth process optimization. The “pure” PVT technique will be compared with related developments like the so called Modified-PVT, Continuous-Feeding-PVT, High-Temperature-CVD and Halide-CVD concepts. Special emphasis will be put on dislocation generation and annihilation and concepts to reduce dislocation density during SiC bulk crystal growth. The dislocation study is based on a statistical approach. Rather than following the evolu-tion of a single defect, statistic data which reflect a more global dislocation density evolution are interpreted. In this context a new approach will be presented which relates thermally induced strain during growth and dislocation patterning in networks.

In this article structural properties as well as morphological aspects of CuIn(S,Se)2 thin film solar cell absorbers, produced by annealing of electroplated precursors, are discussed. Real-time X-ray diffraction (XRD) experiments while precursor annealing have shown, that a reduced amount of electrodeposited selenium is the key parameter to realize a chalcopyrite formation mechanism similar to the one known for sputtered stacked elemental layer (SEL) precursors. Absorber layers processed from precursors produced by simultaneous electrodeposition of copper, indium and selenium show a preferable absorber morphology with an average grain size on the micrometer scale when the electrochemically deposited amount of selenium is reduced to [Se] / [In] = 0.1. The amount of selenium, missing for the formation of a stoichiometric chalcopyrite, was deposited in a second process step prior to precursor annealing. Solar cells produced from these absorbers show light conversion efficiencies up to 10%.

We have investigated the formation of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin films by real-time X-ray diffraction (XRD) experiments while annealing differently deposited and composed stacked elemental layer (SEL) precursors.

The in-situ measurements during the selenization of bi-layered Cu/In precursors reveal, that the semiconductor formation process is similar for precursors with thermally evaporated or sputtered indium. In both cases, the formation of binary copper and indium selenides is observed at temperatures around the melting point of selenium. After subsequent selenium transfer reactions, the chalcopyrite CuInSe2 is formed from the educt phases Cu2-xSe and InSe.

The addition of gallium leads to the formation of the intermetallic precursor phase Cu9Ga4, which reduces the overall amount of copper and gallium selenides at process temperatures above 500 K. This causes an ongoing selenization in the indium selenium subsystem, which results in the formation of CuInSe2 from the educt phases Cu2-xSe and the selenium richest indium selenide g-In2Se3.

Considering the atomic scattering cross sections for neutrons they are an excellent tool to investigate lubrication problems. Two different shear cells have been built to investigate both the dynamics and structural properties of liquids under shear: one cell has been optimised for quasielastic and inelastic neutron scattering while another one has been designed for reflectivity and diffraction work. The dynamical aspects have been studied on the high-resolution backscattering instrument (IN16 at Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL)). Data with a commercial motor oil as a sample have been taken in contact with an aluminium boundary showing directly the developing anisotropy of diffusion under shear. Furthermore within the same set-up it has been possible to monitor the macroscopic velocity distribution including surface slip. In addition, a diffraction experiment has been carried out, demonstrating from a measurement of the position and the profile of the graphite 002 reflection that the ordering of macroscopic graphite particles in a flowing liquid can be studied with neutrons and an ordering with a tilt angle of the particles of 5° to the flow has been determined.