Studying the linear and non-linear optical properties is critical in terms of technological application, as it aids in developing the semiconducting materials for optoelectronic applications. Consequently, the present studies report the investigation of the influence of thermal annealing on the structural, morphology, linear, and non-linear optical properties of Ge₁₀Se₇₈Ag₁₂ thin films. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the amorphous state of Ge₁₀Se₇₈Ag₁₂ composition. The studied composition was annealed at a temperature between the glass transition and crystallization, and the annealing temperature T_an affected the number and intensity of crystalline phases. Some peaks disappeared at 383 K, indicating that this temperature represents a transition in the structure of the studied materials. The morphological changes caused by the thermal treatment were observed by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM). On the other hand, the linear and non-linear optical constants varied with T_an. The band gap was found to decrease from 1.70 to 1.43 eV and then increase to 1.91 eV with increasing the temperature from 363 to 573 K, confirming the presence of structural transition at 383 K. The optical and electrical conductivities were determined and found to vary with the temperature. The present results were analyzed and discussed.

Pure CdO nanostructured thin films and Ag doped with 1.0, 2.0 and 4.0 wt% doping concentrations were fabricated successfully on glass substrates with a cost-effective spin coating technique. The prepared films exhibit a cubic crystal structure oriented along (111) plane. The surface morphology of the pure CdO films shows a cauliflower shape structure, becomes granular, and compact at high Ag doping concentration. Raman spectra of the films reveal LO (longitudinal optical) and TO (transverse optical) vibration modes at 406.80 cm⁻¹ and 566.54 cm⁻¹. The absorption of the films significantly varies with Ag doping concentrations and as a result, the electronic structure of the films is tailored. Moreover, the optical band gaps vary in the range of 1.42–1.70 eV. In addition, the optical parameters n, k were studied in correlation with Ag doping concentrations. The obtained room temperature photoluminescence spectra of the prepared films show a broad peak at ∼350 nm. The third order nonlinear optical parameters of the films were also examined systematically.

Cd and Na co-doped ZnO nanostructured thin films with different doping concentrations were prepared using a sol-gel spin coating technique on glass substrates. The effect of doping with Cd and 1, 2 and 3 wt % Na on the structural, morphological, optical and UV detection properties of the nanostructured ZnO thin films was investigated. The grown co-doped nanostructured thin films exhibit wurtzite structure with preferential growth along the (002) plane. The change in the doping concentration was found to have a considerable effect on the grain size of the prepared films as well as their morphology. A variation in the band gap of the co-doped nanostructured thin films was also observed with changing the doping concentration. The band gap was found to vary in the range from 3.27 to 3.24 eV with increasing Na concentrations. The UV detection performance of the co-doped ZnO nanostructured thin films based UV detector was also investigated and found to strongly depend on the dopants concentrations with an obvious correlation with the variation in the films band gap. The findings of the current study show that a good control of the optical properties and the UV detection performance of the ZnO nanostructured thin films can be achieved through co-doing with Cd and Na with increased potential for their uses in high performance opto-electronic devices.

Zinc sulfide (ZnS) nanoparticles were fabricated using the chemical precipitation method. The X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques were used to investigate the structural parameters of the formed ZnS. The hexagonal crystal structure of the Zn and ZnS phases was formed. The average crystallite size of the ZnS phase is 10.3 nm, which is much smaller than that of the Zn phase (54.5 nm). Several frequencies and phonon modes were detected in the Raman scattering spectrum belonging to the ZnS nanoparticles. The synthesized ZnS nanoparticles were used as catalysts to eliminate the Congo red (CR) dye, with different concentrations, from synthetic wastewater. The impact of the CR dye concentration and shaking period on the adsorption of CR was thoroughly investigated, and various adsorption kinetic models were tested. After 3 h of shaking, the adsorption efficiency reached 26.01% for 40 mg/L CR dye and 27.84% for 20 mg/L CR dye. The adsorption capacities of the CR dye in the presence of ZnS are 16% and 9% for 40 and 20 mg/L, respectively. Based on the correlation factor, the intraparticle diffusion kinetic model was considered the best of the tested models.

Acrylic polymer/cement nanocomposites in dark and light colors have been developed for coating floors and swimming pools. This work aims to emphasize the effect of cement filling on the mechanical parameters, thermal stability, and wettability of acrylic polymer. The preparation was carried out using the casting method from acrylic polymer coating solution, which was added to cement nanoparticles (65 nm) with weight concentrations of (0, 1, 2, 4, and 8 wt%) to achieve highquality specifications and good adhesion. Maximum impact strength and Hardness shore A were observed at cement ratios of 2 wt% and 4 wt%, respectively. Changing the filling ratio has a significant effect on the strain of the nanocomposites. The contact angle was increased as the concentration of additives and cement increased, indicating that the synthesized coating is not hydrophilic and does not allow water permeability through it. The results show that the acrylic polymer/cement with a cement ratio of 8 wt% is the best nanocomposite for high-efficiency waterproofing.

Chalcogenide glasses of GexSe100-x (x=10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 at.%) glasses were prepared by vacuum melting. An empirical relation between the glass transition temperature (Tg) and is proposed by applying the Gibbs-Di Marzio equation for the Tg of a crosslinked polymer as a function of cross-linked density. We found a good agreement with the experimental result of Tg for GexSe100-x glasses. Several parameters such as mean atomic volume density, compactness, and free volume percentage which are more sensitive to the structure network changes were calculated. Their variation is discussed in connection with the proposed structural model. The variation of the molar volume and Tg with indicates the coexistence of topological and chemical ordering effects. With the structural modification, the number of lone-pair decreases, and the covalent coupling of the structural network increases with increasing Ge content, due to the increases in the crosslinked between Ge and Se bridge.

The influences of annealing temperature (473–573 K) on the crystal structure, linear/nonlinear optical parameters, and electrical characteristics of 80 nm thick indium-doped tin oxide (ITO) thin films are investigated. Thermal annealing induces the crystal structure in the ITO. As-prepared and annealed ITO have various morphologies depending on the annealing temperature, such as nanoplates and dendritic and spherical nanoparticles. As the substrate temperature increased up to 370 K, the electrical resistivity and sheet resistance of as-prepared ITO decreased dramatically and then slightly decreased as the substrate temperature further increased. The electrical conductivity and activation energy for the various processes were estimated. The reflectance (R) and transmittance (T) data are used to calculate the linear/nonlinear optical constants and parameters. The optical bandgap increased from 3.18 to 3.8 eV as the annealing temperature increased from room temperature to 573 K. Crystallinity is improved due to the annealing and hence an enhancement in the optical energy bandgap is achieved. Meanwhile, high-temperature annealing reversibly affected the optical bandgap energy of ITO thin films via reduction and oxidation reactions. Thermal annealing of ITO films improves crystal structure, visual transparency, and electrical conductivity, making it the preferred material for optoelectronic devices and solar cells.

In this work, we employed the casting procedure to synthesize polymer hybrids from epoxy with acrylic polymer coating with nanoclay. The investigated polymer hybrid was composed of 80% epoxy resin, 17% acrylic polymer solution, and 3% nanoclay. The polymer hybrid samples were ranged in thickness from 1 to 3 mm. The infuence of the sample’s thickness on thermal stability, thermal conductivity, and mechanical properties, as well as the constant angle of polymer hybrids were examined. The structural investigation revealed that the loaded nanocaly is crystalline with an average crystal size of 56 nm inside the amorphous polymer matrix. Also, it consistently dispersed throughout the epoxy matrix, showing that the tiny nanoparticles were meant to agglomerate with one another. The maximum thermal stability was found in polymer hybrids with a thickness of 2 mm, and the contact angle was closed to 90° for polymer hybrids with a thickness of 1.5 mm. The hardness values were remained constant around 73±1 and were unafected by sample’s thickness. Meanwhile, increasing the polymer hybrid's thickness slightly improves the impact and fexural strength values. The anticipated value of the wear rate was slightly changed while increasing with applied force. As the thickness of the synthesized polymer hybrids was rose from 1 to 3 mm, the thermal conductivity was fell from 0.47 to 0.32 W/m K. The synthesized hybrid epoxy and acrylic polymer coating/nanoclay was exhibit signifcant thermal and mechanical stability, as well as hydrophobicity, and hence may be employed for foor painting and waterproofng applications.

The efect of Ag content on the linear and nonlinear optical characteristics of thermal evaporated Se90−xTe10Agx thin flms, 100 nm thick, (where x=0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 at.%) has been examined. The optical measurements were reviewed in the wavelength range of 390–2500 nm based on the transmittance and refectance data, and the amorphous state of the as-prepared thin flm was confrmed by X-ray difraction. The absorption coefcient, extinction coefcient, bandgap, optical density, optical conductivity, dissipation factor, and other optical properties were examined and discussed. For all of the samples, the extinction coefcient of Se90−xTe10Agx declines as the wavelength and Ag concentration rise, whereas the absorption coeffcient increases linearly with incident photon energy. Furthermore, the optical bandgap and the width of localized states alter in the exact opposite direction, which is consistent with previously reported fndings. The decrease in the optical band gap as Ag concentration increases could be attributable to an increase in the amount of disorder in the materials and the density of defect states. Other critical optoelectronic characteristics are also determined, and they are found to be infuenced by the Ag ratio and photon wavelength. These materials may be ideal for optical memory applications due to their high absorption coefcient and compositional dependence of absorption.