ALFA SHARMA

@cet.edu.in

Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry
Odisha University of Technology and Research

ALFA SHARMA


               Download Compact PDF  
https://researchid.co/dralfasharma

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Chemical Sensors, Modelling of Sensors, Photocatalysis, Thermodynamics and Kinetics, Materials Science, Nanotechnology
22

Scopus Publications

755

Scholar Citations

13

Scholar h-index

13

Scholar i10-index

Scopus Publications

  • Design and Simulation of CsSnI3-based Lead-free perovskite solar cell with various hole transport materials
    Megha Kamilya, Alfa Sharma, Rupashree Dutta, Prachi Mohanty, Akash Sharma
    Results in Optics, 2026
    To address the challenge of lead toxicity in photovoltaic technologies, lead-free perovskite solar cells based on materials with comparatively lower toxicity than Pb have been extensively investigated. Among them, CsSnI 3 has emerged as a promising absorber material due to its inorganic cation framework and favorable optoelectronic properties. However, its chemical instability and defect-mediated recombination significantly limit the performance of solar energy harvesting. In this theoretical study, SCAPS-1D simulations are employed to systematically explore strategies to improve charge transport and suppress recombination in Pb-free perovskite solar cells, focusing on the thermally stable p-type absorber CsSnI 3 . The objective of this work is to optimize the device performance of a planar CsSnI 3 -based p–n heterojunction through a unified and comparative SCAPS-1D analysis, employing Nb 2 O 5 as the electron transport layer in combination with nine different hole transport materials (HTMs). The optimized device architecture, ITO/Nb 2 O 5 /CsSnI 3 /CuS/Au, achieved through judicious selection of carrier transport layers, delivers a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 25.98%, with a fill factor (FF) of 78.56%, a short-circuit current density ( J s c ) of 30.89 mA cm −2 , and an open-circuit voltage ( V o c ) of 1.068 V, thereby outperforming other commonly employed HTM-based configurations.
  • Design and simulation of interface-tuned CuMgSnS solar cells using transition metal chalcogenides
    Akash Sharma, Rupashree Dutta, Prachi Mohanty, Saswat Mohapatra, Alfa Sharma
    Materials for Renewable and Sustainable Energy, 2025
    A novel CMTS-absorber-based heterojunction Solar Cell (SC) with device structure FTO/ZnO/Buffer layer (BL) /CMTS/Se has been numerically modeled and simulated using SCAPS-1D software. Our aim is to identify the most promising sulphur-based buffer layer that offers high efficiency and lower toxicity, which is essential for reducing the carbon footprint. The primary objective is to enhance the efficiency of the SC by optimizing key photovoltaic (PV) parameters of the corresponding buffer layer (BL), absorber layer (AL), along with interface defect density. From the simulations and the energy band diagram, we found that CMTS-based SC with ZrS $$_{2}$$ buffer layer revealed an impressive power conversion efficiency (PCE). The effects of the front electrode’s work function and operating temperature on the device were also investigated. The findings indicate that the device exhibits greater stability and achieves optimum performance at a temperature of 300 K, with an optimized work function value of 5.9 eV (Se). Furthermore, the effects of Series resistance and Shunt resistance were considered in this study. To gain insight into the built-in potential, the capacitance–voltage (C–V) characteristics were also analysed. Device performance was properly explained by analyzing the electric field, generation rate, and both radiative and nonradiative recombination rates. The simulations achieved SC performances with a PCE of 26.01 %, a fill factor (FF) of 83.21 %, a short-circuit current ( $$J_{sc}$$ ) of 27.93 mA/cm 2 , and an open-circuit voltage ( $$V_{oc}$$ ) of 1.11 V.
  • A non-trivial approach for estimation of error in resistive humidity sensors and its correlation with sensitivity
    Alfa Sharma, Akash Sharma, Deepsikha Kar, Sushree Suhani Puhan, Parasharam M. Shirage
    Journal of Materials Science Materials in Electronics, 2025
  • Role of ion beam in nanomaterials: Synthesis, morphology control, and applications
    Asha Panghal, Yogendra Kumar, P. Rajagopalan, Alfa Sharma
    Nanotechnology A Quick Guide to Materials and Technologies, 2024
    The exceptional performance of nanomaterials, as a result of their size and unique morphology, has attracted a lot of researchers. The structure and constituents of materials have been modified using a variety of techniques. The ion beam techniques have so far been widely employed to modify the performance of different nanomaterials. The surface configuration and chemical composition of nanomaterials can be altered by energetic ion beams. The ion beam techniques approach is purely physical in comparison to conventional methods. These techniques exhibit outstanding control and reproducibility without adding any impurities to the target materials. Here, current developments in surface modification of nanomaterials employing ion beam methods are thoroughly reviewed.
  • Graphene Oxide (GO) and Reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO) based humidity sensors
    Alfa Sharma, Akash Sharma, Asha Panghal, Yogendra Kumar
    Nanotechnology A Quick Guide to Materials and Technologies, 2024
    Humidity sensors are critical in a wide range of applications ranging from automotive, biomedical, chemical, and electronics industries, to scientific research laboratories. Here we discussed widely acclaimed synthesis techniques for the preparation of graphene and its derivatives. Graphene, along with its analogues GO, and rGO shows improved surface properties making it sensitive to fractional change in ambient surroundings. GO/rGO-based sensory materials owing to their distinctive physio-chemical features appeared as a competitive sensor in comparison to the widely used metal oxides. The enhancement in the merits of GO-based humidity sensors is ascribed to the various functionalized groups on the GO surface. Pristine GO is employed as a capacitive sensor, whereas reduced GO (rGO) with improved conductivity is extensively utilized as a chemiresistive humidity sensor. Similarly, Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) and 2D- layered graphene have been explored as humidity sensors due to their massive scope of manipulation in properties. The chemiresistive humidity sensor gains an advantage over any type of available sensor owing to its cost-effective fabrication, easier integration with the CMOS platform, and efficient operation. This review aims to establish the evaluability of GO and rGO humidity sensors and their role in the progress of the next generation of flexible sensors for the Internet of Things (IoT).
  • Role of different counter electrodes on performance of TiO2 based dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) fabricated with dye extracted from Hibiscus Sabdariffa as sensitizer
    Subhash Chand Yadav, Alfa Sharma, Rupesh S. Devan, Parasharam M. Shirage
    Optical Materials, 2022
  • Hierarchically interconnected ZnO nanowires for low-temperature-operated reducing gas sensors: Experimental and DFT studies
    Parameshwar R. Chikate, Alfa Sharma, Sachin R. Rondiya, Russell W. Cross, Nelson Y. Dzade, Parasharam M. Shirage, Rupesh S. Devan
    New Journal of Chemistry, 2021
    The larger surface area and increased point contacts of hierarchically arranged ZnO nanowires (upper panel) offered more potential barriers for the gas molecule exhibiting binding strength CO < C2H5OH < NH3 (lower panel) and provided excellent gas-sensing performance at 100 °C for NH3 gas.
  • Engineering the opticaland magnetic properties of Zn doped CoFe2O4nanoparticles
    Yogendra Kumar, Alfa Sharma, Kushal Mazumder, Parasharam M. Shirage
    Aip Conference Proceedings, 2020
    The Co1-xZnXFe2O4 (X= 0.0, 0.05 and 0.1) nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by a facile and economical thermal decomposition technique. The structural, morphological, optical, and magnetic properties are characterized by XRD, UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). XRD study confirms the formation of the cubicspinel crystal structure of samples. The optical band gap is tuned from 1.40 eV to 1.51 eV. The saturation magnetization and coercivity enhance from 67.14 to 75.20 emu/g and 1170.20 to 2033.63 Oe at room temperature, respectively. The tuning in optical and magnetic properties seems to be associated with the redistribution of Co2+ ions at the octahedral and tetrahedral sites. The Raman study confirms the redistribution of Co2+ ions between the octahedral and tetrahedral sites. A quantitative analysis is presented to explain the variation in the optical and magnetic properties.
  • Temperature dependent I-V characteristics of Ni doped topological insulator Bi2Se3 nanoparticles
    Kushal Mazumder, Alfa Sharma, Yogendra Kumar, Parasharam M. Shirage
    Aip Conference Proceedings, 2019
    Nanostructures of Bismuth Selenide (Bi2Se3), a 3D topological insulator material and Nickel (Ni) doped Bi2Se3 samples were prepared by a hydrothermal method to explore the I-V characteristics. The structural, morphological and optical properties were characterized by XRD, FESEM and UV-vis spectroscopy respectively. The temperature dependent I-V shows an enhancement in the current carrying properties of Ni doped Bi2Se3 due to surface defects and tailoring of optical properties. This study proposes applicability of Bi2Se3 topological insulators as next generation quantum computing materials.
  • Synthesis and humidity sensing behaviour of Cu-intercalated Bi2Se3 topological insulator single crystals
    Alfa Sharma, Kushal Mazumder, Yogendra Kumar, Parasharam M. Shirage
    Aip Conference Proceedings, 2019
    Single crystals of CuxBi2Se3 (X=0, 0.1) topological insulator (TI) synthesized by using self –flux method and has been utilized for investigation of room temperature humidity sensing study. The samples are thoroughly characterized using XRD, FESEM, Raman, etc. The Cu0.1Bi2Se3 single crystal exhibits highest sensitivity (∼276%), response/recovery time (∼25s.), negligible hysteresis (<1%) and excellent stability within 8-97% RH range at room temperature. Freundlich isotherm model shows improved adsorption parameters (k and α) for CuXBi2Se3 (X=0.1) over entire RH region confirming the improved sensing performance of Bi2Se3 TIs with Cu intercalation. The excellent humidity sensitivity observed in TI’s is attributed to Grotthuss mechanism considering the availability and distribution of available adsorption sites. This report suggests potential application of TI’s as promising candidate for the fabrication of next generation humidity sensors.
  • Impact of different morphologies of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles for tuning of structural, optical and magnetic properties
    Yogendra Kumar, Alfa Sharma, Parasharam M. Shirage
    Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2019
  • Structural, optical and excellent humidity sensing behaviour of ZnSnO3 nanoparticles: effect of annealing
    Alfa Sharma, Yogendra Kumar, Parasharam M. Shirage
    Journal of Materials Science Materials in Electronics, 2018
  • Impact of Different Morphological Structures on Physical Properties of Nanostructured SnSe
    Gowthamaraju Shanmugam, U. P. Deshpande, Alfa Sharma, P. M. Shirage, P. A. Bhobe
    Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2018
  • Synthesis of humidity sensitive zinc stannate nanomaterials and modelling of Freundlich adsorption isotherm model
    Alfa Sharma, Yogendra Kumar, Parasharam M. Shirage
    Aip Conference Proceedings, 2018
  • Effect of Cu intercalation on humidity sensing properties of Bi2Se3 topological insulator single crystals
    Kushal Mazumder, Alfa Sharma, Yogendra Kumar, Parasharam M. Shirage
    Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 2018
  • Controlled Zn1-xNixO nanostructures for an excellent humidity sensor and a plausible sensing mechanism
    Alfa Sharma, Yogendra Kumar, Kushal Mazumder, Amit Kumar Rana, Parasharam M. Shirage
    New Journal of Chemistry, 2018
  • Morphology-controlled synthesis and enhanced energy product (BH)max of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles
    Yogendra Kumar, Alfa Sharma, Md. A. Ahmed, Sawanta S. Mali, Chang Kook Hong, Parasharam M. Shirage
    New Journal of Chemistry, 2018
  • Enhancement of field electron emission in topological insulator Bi2Se3 by Ni doping
    Kushal Mazumder, Alfa Sharma, Yogendra Kumar, Prashant Bankar, Mahendra A. More, Rupesh Devan, Parasharam M. Shirage
    Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 2018
  • Comparative Study with a Unique Arrangement to Tap Piezoelectric Output to Realize a Self Poled PVDF Based Nanocomposite for Energy Harvesting Applications
    Manojit Pusty, Alfa Sharma, Lichchhavi Sinha, Anjali Chaudhary, Parasharam Shirage
    Chemistryselect, 2017
  • Mesoporous nickel cobalt hydroxide/oxide as an excellent room temperature ammonia sensor
    Alfa Sharma, Prateek Bhojane, Amit Kumar Rana, Yogendra Kumar, Parasharam M. Shirage
    Scripta Materialia, 2017
  • Shape-controlled CoFe2O4 nanoparticles as an excellent material for humidity sensing
    Yogendra Kumar, Alfa Sharma, Parasharam M. Shirage
    Rsc Advances, 2017
  • Synthesis of ammonia-assisted porous nickel ferrite (NiFe2O4) nanostructures as an electrode material for supercapacitors
    Prateek Bhojane, Alfa Sharma, Manojit Pusty, Yogendra Kumar, Somaditya Sen, Parasharam Shirage
    Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 2017

RECENT SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

  • Design and Simulation of CsSnI3-based Lead-free perovskite solar cell with various hole transport materials
    M Kamilya, A Sharma, R Dutta, P Mohanty, A Sharma
    Results in Optics, 100979 , 2026
    2026
  • Design and simulation of interface-tuned Cu MgSnS solar cells using transition metal chalcogenides
    A Sharma, R Dutta, P Mohanty, S Mohapatra, A Sharma
    Materials for Renewable and Sustainable Energy 14 (3), 59 , 2025
    2025
    Citations: 1
  • A non-trivial approach for estimation of error in resistive humidity sensors and its correlation with sensitivity
    A Sharma, A Sharma, D Kar, SS Puhan, PM Shirage
    Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics 36 (2), 110 , 2025
    2025
    Citations: 1
  • Role of Ion Beam in Nanomaterials: Synthesis, Morphology Control, and Applications
    A Panghal, Y Kumar, P Rajagopalan, A Sharma
    Nanotechnology: A Quick Guide to Materials and Technologies, 365-393 , 2024
    2024
  • Graphene Oxide (GO) and Reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO) Based Humidity Sensors
    A Sharma, A Sharma, A Panghal, Y Kumar
    Nanotechnology: A Quick Guide to Materials and Technologies, 335-364 , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 1
  • Adaptive Estimation of Measurement Error in Chemiresistive Sensors and Its Correlation with Sensitivity
    A Sharma, A Sharma, SC Yadav, AN Acharya, PM Shirage
    2023
    Citations: 1
  • Role of different counter electrodes on performance of TiO2 based dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) fabricated with dye extracted from Hibiscus Sabdariffa as sensitizer
    SC Yadav, A Sharma, RS Devan, PM Shirage
    Optical Materials 124, 112066 , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 62
  • Hierarchically interconnected ZnO nanowires for low-temperature-operated reducing gas sensors: experimental and DFT studies
    PR Chikate, A Sharma, SR Rondiya, RW Cross, NY Dzade, PM Shirage, ...
    New Journal of Chemistry 45, 1404-1414 , 2021
    2021
    Citations: 15
  • Engineering the opticaland magnetic properties of Zn doped CoFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles
    Y Kumar, A Sharma, K Mazumder, PM Shirage
    AIP Conference Proceedings 2265 (1), 030103 , 2020
    2020
    Citations: 2
  • Effect of Morphology and Doping on the Photoelectrochemical Performance of Zinc Oxide
    A Sharma, P Sahoo, A Sharma, S Mohapatra
    Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage Systems for Future … , 2020
    2020
  • Synthesis and humidity sensing behaviour of Cu-intercalated Bi 2 Se 3 topological insulator single crystals
    A Sharma, K Mazumder, Y Kumar, PM Shirage
    AIP conference proceedings 2115 (1), 030407 , 2019
    2019
    Citations: 9
  • Temperature dependent I-V characteristics of Ni doped topological insulator Bi 2 Se 3 nanoparticles
    K Mazumder, A Sharma, Y Kumar, PM Shirage
    AIP Conference Proceedings 2115 (1), 030147 , 2019
    2019
    Citations: 3
  • Impact of different morphologies of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles for tuning of structural, optical and magnetic properties
    Y Kumar, A Sharma, PM Shirage
    Journal of Alloys and Compounds 778, 398-409 , 2019
    2019
    Citations: 106
  • Impact of Different Morphological Structures on Physical Properties of Nanostructured SnSe
    G Shanmugam, UP Deshpande, A Sharma, PM Shirage, PA Bhobe
    THE JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C 122 (24), 13182−13192 , 2018
    2018
    Citations: 20
  • Synthesis of humidity sensitive zinc stannate nanomaterials and modelling of Freundlich adsorption isotherm model
    A Sharma, Y Kumar, PM Shirage
    AIP Conference Proceedings 1942 (1), 050095 , 2018
    2018
    Citations: 8
  • Effect of Cu intercalation on humidity sensing properties of Bi2Se3 topological insulator single crystals
    K Mazumder, A Sharma, Y Kumar, PM Shirage
    Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 20, 28257-28266 , 2018
    2018
    Citations: 33
  • Morphology-controlled synthesis and enhanced energy product (BH) max of CoFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles
    Y Kumar, A Sharma, MA Ahmed, SS Mali, CK Hong, PM Shirage
    New Journal of Chemistry 42 (19), 15793-15802 , 2018
    2018
    Citations: 107
  • Enhancement of Field Electron Emission in Topological Insulator Bi2Se3 by Ni Doping
    K Mazumder, A Sharma, Y Kumar, P Bankar, MA More, RS Devan, ...
    Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 20, 18429-18435 , 2018
    2018
    Citations: 21
  • Structural, optical and excellent humidity sensing behaviour of ZnSnO 3 nanoparticles: effect of annealing
    A Sharma, Y Kumar, PM Shirage
    Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics 29, 10769-10783 , 2018
    2018
    Citations: 33
  • Controlled Zn 1− x Ni x O nanostructures for an excellent humidity sensor and a plausible sensing mechanism
    A Sharma, Y Kumar, K Mazumder, AK Rana, PM Shirage
    New Journal of Chemistry 42 (11), 8445-8457 , 2018
    2018
    Citations: 41

MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

  • Morphology-controlled synthesis and enhanced energy product (BH) max of CoFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles
    Y Kumar, A Sharma, MA Ahmed, SS Mali, CK Hong, PM Shirage
    New Journal of Chemistry 42 (19), 15793-15802 , 2018
    2018
    Citations: 107
  • Impact of different morphologies of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles for tuning of structural, optical and magnetic properties
    Y Kumar, A Sharma, PM Shirage
    Journal of Alloys and Compounds 778, 398-409 , 2019
    2019
    Citations: 106
  • Shape-controlled CoFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles as an excellent material for humidity sensing
    Y Kumar, A Sharma, PM Shirage
    RSC advances 7 (88), 55778-55785 , 2017
    2017
    Citations: 93
  • Mesoporous nickel cobalt hydroxide/oxide as an excellent room temperature ammonia sensor
    A Sharma, P Bhojane, AK Rana, Y Kumar, PM Shirage
    Scripta Materialia 128, 65-68 , 2017
    2017
    Citations: 79
  • Synthesis of ammonia-assisted porous nickel ferrite (NiFe2O4) nanostructures as an electrode material for supercapacitors
    P Bhojane, A Sharma, M Pusty, Y Kumar, S Sen, P Shirage
    Journal of nanoscience and nanotechnology 17 (2), 1387-1392 , 2017
    2017
    Citations: 74
  • Role of different counter electrodes on performance of TiO2 based dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) fabricated with dye extracted from Hibiscus Sabdariffa as sensitizer
    SC Yadav, A Sharma, RS Devan, PM Shirage
    Optical Materials 124, 112066 , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 62
  • Comparative Study with a Unique Arrangement to Tap Piezoelectric Output to Realize a Self Poled PVDF Based Nanocomposite for Energy Harvesting Applications
    M Pusty, A Sharma, L Sinha, A Chaudhary, P Shirage
    Chemistry SELECT 2 (9), 2774-2782 , 2017
    2017
    Citations: 45
  • Controlled Zn 1− x Ni x O nanostructures for an excellent humidity sensor and a plausible sensing mechanism
    A Sharma, Y Kumar, K Mazumder, AK Rana, PM Shirage
    New Journal of Chemistry 42 (11), 8445-8457 , 2018
    2018
    Citations: 41
  • Effect of Cu intercalation on humidity sensing properties of Bi2Se3 topological insulator single crystals
    K Mazumder, A Sharma, Y Kumar, PM Shirage
    Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 20, 28257-28266 , 2018
    2018
    Citations: 33
  • Structural, optical and excellent humidity sensing behaviour of ZnSnO 3 nanoparticles: effect of annealing
    A Sharma, Y Kumar, PM Shirage
    Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics 29, 10769-10783 , 2018
    2018
    Citations: 33
  • Enhancement of Field Electron Emission in Topological Insulator Bi2Se3 by Ni Doping
    K Mazumder, A Sharma, Y Kumar, P Bankar, MA More, RS Devan, ...
    Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 20, 18429-18435 , 2018
    2018
    Citations: 21
  • Impact of Different Morphological Structures on Physical Properties of Nanostructured SnSe
    G Shanmugam, UP Deshpande, A Sharma, PM Shirage, PA Bhobe
    THE JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C 122 (24), 13182−13192 , 2018
    2018
    Citations: 20
  • Hierarchically interconnected ZnO nanowires for low-temperature-operated reducing gas sensors: experimental and DFT studies
    PR Chikate, A Sharma, SR Rondiya, RW Cross, NY Dzade, PM Shirage, ...
    New Journal of Chemistry 45, 1404-1414 , 2021
    2021
    Citations: 15
  • Synthesis and humidity sensing behaviour of Cu-intercalated Bi 2 Se 3 topological insulator single crystals
    A Sharma, K Mazumder, Y Kumar, PM Shirage
    AIP conference proceedings 2115 (1), 030407 , 2019
    2019
    Citations: 9
  • Synthesis of humidity sensitive zinc stannate nanomaterials and modelling of Freundlich adsorption isotherm model
    A Sharma, Y Kumar, PM Shirage
    AIP Conference Proceedings 1942 (1), 050095 , 2018
    2018
    Citations: 8
  • Temperature dependent I-V characteristics of Ni doped topological insulator Bi 2 Se 3 nanoparticles
    K Mazumder, A Sharma, Y Kumar, PM Shirage
    AIP Conference Proceedings 2115 (1), 030147 , 2019
    2019
    Citations: 3
  • Engineering the opticaland magnetic properties of Zn doped CoFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles
    Y Kumar, A Sharma, K Mazumder, PM Shirage
    AIP Conference Proceedings 2265 (1), 030103 , 2020
    2020
    Citations: 2
  • Design and simulation of interface-tuned Cu MgSnS solar cells using transition metal chalcogenides
    A Sharma, R Dutta, P Mohanty, S Mohapatra, A Sharma
    Materials for Renewable and Sustainable Energy 14 (3), 59 , 2025
    2025
    Citations: 1
  • A non-trivial approach for estimation of error in resistive humidity sensors and its correlation with sensitivity
    A Sharma, A Sharma, D Kar, SS Puhan, PM Shirage
    Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics 36 (2), 110 , 2025
    2025
    Citations: 1
  • Graphene Oxide (GO) and Reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO) Based Humidity Sensors
    A Sharma, A Sharma, A Panghal, Y Kumar
    Nanotechnology: A Quick Guide to Materials and Technologies, 335-364 , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 1