Author: TULIN BADAR MABROUK ALOTAIBI
Company/Institution: Highly Innovative Unique Foundation (HiUF, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Country: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Using palm derivatives in solar cells supports the Saudi Arabia vision 2030 by promoting new renewable technologies. This method helps protect the environment and strengthens the Kingdom’s energy security. In this project, we present our findings on the synthesis, structural characterization, and spectral as well as nonlinear-optical properties of promising yet underexplored advanced liquid crystal nanocomposites made from palm-liquid crystals decorated with silver nanoparticles via eco-friendly pulsed laser ablation technique. Derivatives of liquid crystals based on palmitate moiety were synthesized, and their physical, chemical, optical, and photophysical properties were thoroughly studied using polarized optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and absorption spectroscopy. We investigated the nonlinear-optical properties of these nanocomposites using the standard Z-scan technique. By exciting the silver nanocomposites within their absorption range, we can observe interactions among various nonlinear-optical mechanisms. The concurrent use of silver nanoparticles enhances control over the effective optical nonlinearity of the composite. Specifically, adjusting the decoration amounts of silver nanoparticles based on ablation time allows us to modify both the effective nonlinear refractive index and the effective nonlinear absorption coefficient, including the ability to change the sign of the absorption coefficient. This innovative approach to creating nonlinear- optical palm derivatives and various nanoparticles is expected to greatly benefit the rapidly advancing fields of nanophotonics and plasmonics in solar cell applications.