Aishik Basu Mallick | Searcharxiv

arXiv2026

Potential of Atmospheric Pressure Thermal Plasma Technology towards Waste Processing: A Comprehensive Review

The enhancement of living standards has significantly contributed to the rapid growth of urban populations, resulting in a substantial increase in municipal solid waste (MSW) generation. This trend underscores the critical need for sustainable, environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and highly efficient waste management solutions. This study highlights the pressing necessity for effective MSW management and examines plasma pyrolysis/gasification as an emerging technology to address this challenge. The article provides a detailed analysis of thermal plasma generation techniques employing diverse power sources, including direct current, alternating current, radiofrequency inductively coupled, and microwave-based systems. A comparative evaluation of various plasma torch designs is conducted, emphasizing their applicability in waste-to-energy and waste treatment processes. A comprehensive overview of the treatment of a broad spectrum of waste materials, such as MSW, sewage sludge, coal, wood, plastics, tyres, and rubber, using thermal arc plasma technology is presented. The process predominantly converts waste into a combustible gas (syngas) with a calorific value ranging from 5 to 15 MJ/Nm3 and produces vitrified slag or ash as a by-product. The findings suggest that thermal plasma pyrolysis/gasification offers a promising approach to waste management, facilitating energy generation and material recovery while addressing the challenges of increasing MSW generation.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2019

Performance limitation of Si Nanowire solar cells: Effects of nanowire length and surface defects

In Si nanowire (SiNW) solar cells enhanced light confinement property in addition to decoupling of charge carrier collection and light absorption directions plays a significant role to resolve the draw backs of bulk Si solar cells. In this report we have studied the dependence of the phovoltaic properties of Si NW array solar cells on the SiNW length and enhanced surface defect states as a result of enhanced surface area of the NWs. The SiNW arrays have been fabricated using metal catalyzed electroless etching (MCEE) technique. p-n junction has been produced by spin-on-dopant technique followed by thermal diffusion process. Front and rear electrodes have been deposited by e-beam evaporation techniques. SiNW lengths have been controlled from ~ 320 nm to 6.4 micro meter by controlling the parameters of MCEE technique. Photovoltaic properties of the solar cells have been characterized by measuring quantum efficiency and photocurrent density vs. voltage characteristics. Morphological studies have been carried out by using scanning electron microscopy. Reduction in light trapping capability comes at the benefit of reduced surface defects. The reduction of surface defects has been proved to be more advantageous in comparison to the decrement of light trapping capability. The major contribution to the changes in cell efficiency comes from the enhancement of short circuit current density with a very weak dependence on open circuit voltage. This work is beneficial for the production commercial Si solar cell where SiNW arrays could be used as a antireflection coating instead of using separate antireflection layers and thus could reduced the production cost.

physics.app-ph↗