Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Tetsuo Soga

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan
Interests: photovoltaic device; organic–inorganic hybrid; organic electronics; nanomaterial

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The supply of clean energy at low cost is one of the great challenges of the future. Solar cells, which convert solar energy into electric energy, are the most likely clean energy source. The production of solar cells has increased year by year; however, the production cost of solar cell should be further reduced to compete with thermal power generation that uses fossil fuels.

Until now, many kinds of solar cells have been investigated, using crystal silicon, amorphous silicon, GaAs, CuInSe, Cu₂ZnSnS₄, CdTe, TiO₂, ZnO, perovskite material, organic material, etc. In order to drastically increase the power conversion efficiency, the use of nanostructure and/or nanomaterials will be the most effective.

The aim of this Special Issue is to attract leading researchers in the area of nanostructure or nanomaterials for the improvement of solar cells using inorganic or organic or organic/inorganic hybrid materials. Accepted contributions will cover not only the fabrication of solar cells but also the characterization of nanomaterials or nanostructures, device simulation, etc.

Prof. Dr. Tetsuo Soga
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Nano silicon
Perovskite
Organic semiconductor
Polymer
Oxide
Nano carbon
III-V compounds
Chalcopyrite
Compound semiconductor
Quantum structure
Quantum dot
Dye
Intermediate band
Bulk heterojunction
Nanowire
Nano particle
Interface
Porous structure

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

Jump to: Review

13 pages, 4266 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Study of Annealing Temperature Effect on the Photovoltaic Performance of BiOI-Based Materials

by Anissa A. Putri, Shinya Kato, Naoki Kishi and Tetsuo Soga

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(16), 3342; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9163342 - 14 Aug 2019

Cited by 29 | Viewed by 3734

Abstract

Bismuth oxyiodide (BiOI) is expected to be promising material for photovoltaic devices since it has good activity under the visible range. Here, we studied the annealing treatment on BiOI and its effect on the photovoltaic application. Firstly, the synthesized BiOI from Bi(NO₃)₃ and KI was annealed at varied temperatures (100–550 °C). The structural investigation by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy analysis was supported with morphology and optical analysis by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and UV-Visible spectroscopy. Due to the heating treatment, it could result in iodine-deficient bismuth-based materials, namely Bi₇O₉I₃, Bi₅O₇I, and β-Bi₂O₃. Secondly, the photovoltaic test measurement was performed by solar simulator air mass (AM) 1.5 illumination which presented the current-voltage curve from each material. The enhancement of photovoltaic performance was given by the increase of temperature up to 300 °C. At that temperature, the performance of the device which consisted of Bi₇O₉I₃ achieved three times higher efficiency than the annealed parent BiOI at 100 °C. Hence, the structural changing owing to the oxygen addition to BiOI structure had an impact on the photoelectrochemical cell. Based on this work, it is possible to attempt BiOI derivation with suitable holes and electron transport layers for better photovoltaic performance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Nanostructured Materials for Solar Cell Applications)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

28 pages, 3029 KiB

Open AccessReview

Quantum Dot Solar Cells: Small Beginnings Have Large Impacts

by Abiseka Akash Ganesan, Arjan J. Houtepen and Ryan W. Crisp

Appl. Sci. 2018, 8(10), 1867; https://doi.org/10.3390/app8101867 - 10 Oct 2018

Cited by 35 | Viewed by 9469

Abstract

From a niche field over 30 years ago, quantum dots (QDs) have developed into viable materials for many commercial optoelectronic devices. We discuss the advancements in Pb-based QD solar cells (QDSCs) from a viewpoint of the pathways an excited state can take when relaxing back to the ground state. Systematically understanding the fundamental processes occurring in QDs has led to improvements in solar cell efficiency from ~3% to over 13% in 8 years. We compile data from ~200 articles reporting functioning QDSCs to give an overview of the current limitations in the technology. We find that the open circuit voltage limits the device efficiency and propose some strategies for overcoming this limitation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Nanostructured Materials for Solar Cell Applications)

► Show Figures