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Emerging Photovoltaic Materials for High-Performance and High-Stable Photovoltaic Applications

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Chemical Engineering and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2021) | Viewed by 19650

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Donghyeop Shin

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Guest Editor

Korea Institute of Energy Research, 152 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, Korea
Interests: photovoltaics; energy materials; sustainable energy; green innovation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Hun Park

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Guest Editor

R&D Investment and Analysis Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI), 66 Hoegiro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 02456, Korea
Interests: photovoltaics; knoweldge service; open innovation; technology valuation; data analysis; natural language processing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Nikolai Tsvetkov

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Guest Editor

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Department of Energy, Environment, Water, and Sustainability
Interests: Photovoltaics, Nanomaterials and interfaces, Perovskite and dye-sensitized solar cells

Prof. Dr. Jun Hong Noh

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor

School of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-713, Republic of Korea
Interests: Solar cells, photoelectrochemical cells, oxide nanoparticles and thin films, inorganic-organic hybrid crystals, perovskite halides

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Various photovoltaics (PV) devices employing inorganic, organic, and hybrid organic-inorganic materials have shown notable progress in terms of improving power conversion efficiency and stability over the past decade. Disovery of superior PV materials, maximum utilization of sunlight through tandem device structure, defect engineering by nanotechnology, and introduction of novel functional nanostructure led to the improvement in PV device performance exceeding more than 22%. Nevertheless, the aforementioned PV devices are still suffering from critical issues such as material scarcity, instability, toxicity, power generation cost and etc. To address such challenges of PV materials and devices, this special issue aims to discuss the state-of-the-art advances in various PV applications including inorganic (e.g., Si, CIGSSe, CZTSSe), dye-sensitized, organic, and organic-inorganic hybrid (i.e., perovskite) solar cells. Thus, we would like to invite authors to submit their original and high-quality research articles or review papers on novel PV material design/synthesis, device structure, and material/device processing, advanced characterization technologies and modeling toward high-performance/stable photovoltaic devices.

Topics to be covered in this special issue

-Earth-abundant photovoltaic materials and high efficiency devices beyond chalcopyrite-based chalcogenides

- Emerging orgainc-inorganic hybrid photovoltaic materials and devices with long-term stability beyond Pb-based perovskite halides

- Novel photovoltaic device structure, chacracterization and modeling toward ultrahigh PV performance

※ PV absorber materials will not be limited to well-known Si, CZTSSe, MAPbI₃, and related compounds.

Dr. Donghyeop Shin
Dr. Hun Park
Dr. Nikolai Tsvetkov
Prof. Jun Hong Noh
Guest Editors

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. Sustainability 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

photovoltaic material
solar cells
earth-abundant and eco-friendly absorbers
multi-junction device
advanced materials/device characterization
device modeling

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

14 pages, 3654 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Charge Transfer in Mixed-Phase TiO₂ Photoelectrodes for Perovskite Solar Cells

by Anna Nikolskaia, Marina Vildanova, Sergey Kozlov, Nikolai Tsvetkov, Liudmila Larina and Oleg Shevaleevskiy

Sustainability 2020, 12(3), 788; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12030788 - 21 Jan 2020

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2495

Abstract

In mesoscopic perovskite solar cells (PSCs) the recombination processes within the TiO₂ photoelectrode and at the TiO₂/perovskite interface limit power conversion efficiency. To overcome this challenge, we investigated the effect of TiO₂ phase composition on the electronic structure of TiO₂ photoelectrodes, as well as on PSCs performance. For this, a set of PSCs based on TiO₂ thin films with different content of anatase and rutile particles was fabricated under ambient conditions. X-ray diffraction, optical spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to study the structural, morphological and optical characteristics of TiO₂ powders and TiO₂-based thin films. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of anatase revealed a cliff conduction band alignment of 0.2 eV with respect to the rutile. Energy band alignment at the anatase/rutile/perovskite interfaces deduced from the XPS data provides the possibility for interparticle electron transport from the rutile to anatase phase and the efficient blocking of electron recombination at the TiO₂/perovskite interface, leading to efficient electron-hole separation in PSCs based on mixed-phase TiO₂ photoelectrodes. PSCs based on TiO₂ layers with 60/40 anatase/rutile ratio were characterized by optimized charge extraction and low level of recombination at the perovskite/TiO₂ interface and showed the best energy conversion efficiency of 13.4% among the studied PSCs. Obtained results provide a simple and effective approach towards the development of the next generation high efficiency PSCs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Photovoltaic Materials for High-Performance and High-Stable Photovoltaic Applications)

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11 pages, 2842 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Phenyl-C61-Butyric Acid Methyl Ester Hybrid Solution for Efficient CH₃NH₃PbI₃ Perovskite Solar Cells

by MiJoung Kim, MoonHoe Kim, JungSeock Oh, NamHee Kwon, Yoonmook Kang and JungYup Yang

Sustainability 2019, 11(14), 3867; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11143867 - 16 Jul 2019

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3017

Abstract

Organic–inorganic halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have excellent chemical, electronic, and optical properties, making them attractive next-generation thin-film solar cells. Typical PSCs were fabricated with a perovskite absorber layer between the TiO₂ electron-transport layer (ETL) and the 2,2′,7,7′-tetrakis-(N,N-di-4-methoxyphenylamino)-9,9′-spirobifluorene (Spiro-OMeTAD) hole-transport layer (HTL). We examined the influence of phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) on the PSC device. PSCs using the PCBM layer as an ETL were investigated, and the absorber layer was coated by dissolving PCBM in a methyl ammonium lead iodide (MAPbI₃) precursor solution to examine the changes at the perovskite interface and inside the perovskite absorber layer. The PSCs fabricated by adding a small amount of PCBM to the MAPbI₃ solution exhibited a significantly higher maximum efficiency of 16.55% than conventional PSCs (14.34%). Fabricating the PCBM ETL and PCBM-MAPbI₃ hybrid solid is expected to be an efficient route for improving the photovoltaic performance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Photovoltaic Materials for High-Performance and High-Stable Photovoltaic Applications)

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12 pages, 5928 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Etch Characteristics and Morphology of Al₂O₃/TiO₂ Stacks for Silicon Surface Passivation

by Dongchul Suh

Sustainability 2019, 11(14), 3857; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11143857 - 16 Jul 2019

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3594

Abstract

Chemical processes are very important for the development of high-efficiency crystalline solar cells, mainly for surface texturing to improve light absorption and cleaning processes to reduce surface recombination. Recently, research has been focusing on the impact of chemical polishing on the performance of a passivated emitter and rear cells (PERC), with particular emphasis on the dielectric passivation layers on the front side. This study examined the influence of etching on the passivation of Al₂O₃/TiO₂ stacks, where the films may each be deposited using a range of deposition and post-annealing parameters. Most TiO₂ films deposited at 300 °C were resistant to chemical etching, and higher temperature deposition and annealing produced more chemical-resistant films. TiO₂ films deposited at 100 °C were etched slightly by SC1 and SC2 solutions at room temperature, whereas they were etched at a relatively high rate in an HF solution, even when capped with a thick TiO₂ layer (up to 50 nm in thickness); blistering occurred in 20-nm-thick Al₂O₃ films. In contrast to the as-deposited films, the annealed films showed a lower level of passivation as 1% HF etching proceeded. The implied open circuit voltage of the samples annealed at 300 °C after HF etching decreased more than those annealed at 400 °C. The dark area in the photoluminescence images was not resistant to the HF solution and showed more etch pits. The etching strategies developed in this study are expected to help setup integration processes and increase the applicability of this stack to solar cells. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Photovoltaic Materials for High-Performance and High-Stable Photovoltaic Applications)

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7 pages, 2218 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Surface Passivation of Boron Emitters on n-Type Silicon Solar Cells

by Ji Yeon Hyun, Soohyun Bae, Yoon Chung Nam, Dongkyun Kang, Sang-Won Lee, Donghwan Kim, Jooyoung Park, Yoonmook Kang and Hae-Seok Lee

Sustainability 2019, 11(14), 3784; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11143784 - 10 Jul 2019

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2395

Abstract

Al₂O₃/SiN_x stack passivation layers are among the most popular layers used for commercial silicon solar cells. In particular, aluminum oxide has a high negative charge, while the SiN_x film is known to supply hydrogen as well as impart antireflective properties. Although there are many experimental results that show that the passivation characteristics are lowered by using the stack passivation layer, the cause of the passivation is not yet understood. In this study, we investigated the passivation characteristics of Al₂O₃/SiN_x stack layers. To identify the hydrogenation effect, we analyzed the hydrogen migration with atom probe tomography by comparing the pre-annealing and post-annealing treatments. For chemical passivation, capacitance-voltage measurements were used to confirm the negative fixed charge density due to heat treatment. Moreover, the field-effect passivation was understood by confirming changes in the Al₂O₃ structure using electron energy-loss spectroscopy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Photovoltaic Materials for High-Performance and High-Stable Photovoltaic Applications)

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9 pages, 1702 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Restoring the Reactivity of Organic Acid Solution Used for Silver Recovery from Solar Cells by Fractional Distillation

by Jun-Kyu Lee, Jin-Seok Lee, Young-Soo Ahn and Gi-Hwan Kang

Sustainability 2019, 11(13), 3659; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11133659 - 3 Jul 2019

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2662

Abstract

Methanesulfonic acid (MSA) is used to recover silver (Ag) from solar cells by adding an oxidizing agent. It is possible to regenerate by substituting of H⁺ for Ag⁺, and thus it can be reused for additional reactions. However, MSA is highly hygroscopic, and as an oxidizing agent can easily decompose in the acidic environment during Ag extraction, leading to dilution due to the formation of H₂O. This H₂O in the MSA solution hinders the Ag extraction. In this study, we present a fractional distillation process for restoring the reactivity of reused MSA solutions by reducing the H₂O content. Our results showed that the reactivity of the separated MSA was restored and Ag could be recovered from the solar cell. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Photovoltaic Materials for High-Performance and High-Stable Photovoltaic Applications)

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Review

Jump to: Research

19 pages, 3177 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperReview

Recent Development in Earth-Abundant Kesterite Materials and Their Applications

by Ahmet Sencer Nazligul, Mingqing Wang and Kwang Leong Choy

Sustainability 2020, 12(12), 5138; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12125138 - 24 Jun 2020

Cited by 66 | Viewed by 4757

Abstract

Kesterite Cu₂ZnSnS₄ (CZTS) has attracted attention as an earth-abundant alternative to commercially successful CIGS solar cells. CZTS exhibits decent optoelectrical properties while having excellent stability on top of being an earth-abundant, low-cost and non-toxic material. Therefore, in recent years, there has been a significant research effort to develop CZTS-based devices. The efficiency of CZTS solar cells reached 12.6% in 2013, and this was a remarkable achievement at the time. However, the efficiency of these devices has been stagnant since then while emerging technologies, most notably perovskite solar cells, keep breaking record after record. Currently, CZTS research focuses on discovering the secrets of material properties that hinder the efficiency of CZTS solar cells while branching out to develop alternative applications for this material. In this review, we summarize the interesting properties of CZTS as well as its promising applications, which include thin-film solar cells, charge-transfer layers in perovskite solar cells, and photoelectrochemical water splitting while briefly commenting on its other possible applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Photovoltaic Materials for High-Performance and High-Stable Photovoltaic Applications)

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