Improving CNT-Si solar cells by metal chloride-to-oxide transformation
Transitional metal oxides (TMOs) are important functional materials in silicon-based and thin-film optoelectronics. Here, TMOs are applied in carbon nanotube (CNT)-Si solar cells by spin-coating solutions of metal chlorides that undergo favorable transformation in ambient conditions. An unconvention...
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Veröffentlicht in: | Nano research 2020-02, Vol.13 (2), p.543-550 |
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Format: | Artikel |
Sprache: | eng |
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Zusammenfassung: | Transitional metal oxides (TMOs) are important functional materials in silicon-based and thin-film optoelectronics. Here, TMOs are applied in carbon nanotube (CNT)-Si solar cells by spin-coating solutions of metal chlorides that undergo favorable transformation in ambient conditions. An unconventional change in solar cell behavior is observed after coating two particular chlorides (MoCl
5
and WCl
6
, respectively), characterized by an initial severe degradation followed by gradual recovery and then well surpassing the original performance. Detailed analysis reveals that the formation of corresponding oxides (MoO
3
and WO
3
) enables two primary functions on both CNTs (p-type doping) and Si (inducing inversion layer), leading to significant improvement in open-circuit voltage and fill factor, with power conversion efficiencies up to 13.0% (MoO
3
) and 13.4% (WO
3
). Further combining with other chlorides to increase the short-circuit current, ultimate cells efficiencies achieve >16% with over 90% retention after 24 h, which are among the highest stable efficiencies reported for CNT-Si solar cells. The transformation of functional layers as demonstrated here has profound influence on the device characteristics, and represents a potential strategy in low-cost manufacturing of next-generation high efficiency photovoltaics. |
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ISSN: | 1998-0124 1998-0000 |
DOI: | 10.1007/s12274-020-2648-5 |