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Novel Organic-Inorganic Photovoltaic Materials
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Novel Organic-Inorganic Photovoltaic Materials

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Science and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 January 2023) | Viewed by 19259

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Laura Ciammaruchi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Eni S.p.A - Renewable Energy and Material Science Research Center (DE-R&D) via G. Fauser 4, 28100 Novara, Italy
Interests: organic photovoltaic (OPV); characterization of novel optoelectronic materials and devices; OPV degradation and stability; OPV up-scale process
Prof. Dr. Beatriz Romero Herrero

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28933 Móstoles, Madrid, Spain
Interests: organic solar cells and photodetectors; perovskite solar cells and photodetectors; impedance spectroscopy; organic/perovskite solar cell degradation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Photovoltaic (PV) systems based on novel organic/inorganic semiconductors offer exciting technological applications due to their high versatility and low manufacturing cost, ideally based on coating of patterned electrodes/semiconductors in a printable fashion.

In this framework, the quest for combined efficiency, stability, and low cost of materials, becomes crucial for the development of viable PV products. Various combinations of novel organic and/or hybrid structures have been investigated in order to improve overall solar cell efficiency. At the same time though, no improvement in efficiency/stability can be separated from a deep understanding, at a more fundamental level, of the key issues related to the very basic PV material properties. Having a cost-effective PV scalability process of manufacture is another essential request to fulfill, in order to truly enable PV large-scale production.

This Special Issue welcomes original research as well as review articles aiming to focus on the latest research and achievements linking the three aforementioned key parameters—efficiency, stability and scalability—with all those novel organic/inorganic materials being synthesized and investigated at present, for application in the field of energy conversion.

Topics may include (among others):

  • D/A materials and interface optimization
  • Thermal and light stability of photovoltaic materials; moisture an oxygen; encapsulation methods
  • Photovoltaic active layer morphology
  • Organic/inorganic PV materials scalability
  • Green synthesis and process of materials
  • Organic and/or inorganic semiconductors synthesis, deposition, and characterization

Dr. Laura Ciammaruchi
Prof. Dr. Beatriz Romero Herrero
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • solar cell
  • semiconductor
  • conjugated polymer
  • non-fullerene acceptors
  • nanostructure
  • photovoltaic
  • charge separation
  • interface
  • nanocomposites
  • OPV stability and degradation
  • low band-gap acceptors, photoactive materials additives (such as DIO), mixed cation mixed halide perovskite
  • OPV scalability
  • green chemistry

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 9248 KiB  
Article
CZTSe-Based Solar Cell Performance Improvement Using the CSLO Technique
by Serveh Rahimi and Mostafa Shooshtari
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(9), 4119; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12094119 - 19 Apr 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2001
Abstract
Here we investigated a novel layer-based optimization technique to improve the performance of a CZTSe solar cell. By using this technique, the optical behavior and electrical properties of the proposed solar cell improved significantly as a result of the changes in the layer [...] Read more.
Here we investigated a novel layer-based optimization technique to improve the performance of a CZTSe solar cell. By using this technique, the optical behavior and electrical properties of the proposed solar cell improved significantly as a result of the changes in the layer specifications and the layer materials. The structure of the cell consisted of an absorber laid on a conducting layer and covered by Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), with ZnO on its top surface. Due to the employment of the CSLO technique, a p+pn junction was formed between the absorber and window layers, which provided a lower recombination rate by transmitting more electrons and holes to the contacts. In addition, the main important parameters affecting the solar cell’s performance such as layer thickness, carrier lifetime, and total effect density were investigated. According to the results, the proposed CZTSe solar cell achieved a 32.6% and 79.5% efficiency and fill factor, respectively—which in comparison to a conventional solar cell is remarkable. Moreover, hybrid structures made by utilizing CZTS-based, Ge-based Cu2ZnGeSe4, and Si-based Cu2ZnSiSe4 with the proposed CZTSe-based solar cell were implemented and better results were achieved, yielding an efficiency of about 42, 50, and 34% and a fill factor of 66, 55, and 42%, respectively, due to the materials’ properties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Organic-Inorganic Photovoltaic Materials)
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9 pages, 2364 KiB  
Article
Nanostructured Top Contact as an Alternative to Transparent Conductive Oxides in Tandem Perovskite/c-Si Solar Cells
by Mahmoud H. Elshorbagy, Oscar Esteban, Alexander Cuadrado and Javier Alda
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(4), 1854; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12041854 - 11 Feb 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2306
Abstract
In the competition of solar cell efficiency, besides top-performance multijunction cells, tandem cells based on perovskites are also breaking efficiency records to enter into the 30% range. Their design takes advantage of the rapid development of perovskite cells, and the good sharing of [...] Read more.
In the competition of solar cell efficiency, besides top-performance multijunction cells, tandem cells based on perovskites are also breaking efficiency records to enter into the 30% range. Their design takes advantage of the rapid development of perovskite cells, and the good sharing of the available spectrum between the perovskite, absorbing at short wavelengths, and the c-Si or similar lower band gap material, working at longer wavelengths. In this paper, we present a novel tandem solar cell that combines crystalline silicon (c-Si) and perovskites cells. We analyzed the device with computational electromagnetism based on the finite element method. Our design arranges the perovskite solar cell as a multilayer 1D grating, which is terminated with a gold thin film (top metallic contact). This multilayer nanostructure is placed on top of the c-Si cell and a thin protective dielectric layer of aluminum nitride covers the whole device. The short-circuit current of the perovskite cell is maximized by maintaining the current-matching conditions with the output from the c-Si cell. This optimization considers the geometrical parameters of the grating: period and thickness of the active layer of the perovskite cell. We compared the simulated short-circuit current of this device to the planar tandem solar cell with indium tin oxide (top contact). The comparison shows a slight increment, around 3%, of our device’s performance. Moreover, it has the potential capability to circumvent postprocessing procedures used with transparent contact oxides, which can reduce the device’s final efficiency. Furthermore, our proposed design can take advantage of photolithographic and nanoimprint techniques, enabling large-scale production at a relatively low cost. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Organic-Inorganic Photovoltaic Materials)
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10 pages, 3103 KiB  
Communication
Performance-Enhancing Sulfur-Doped TiO2 Photoanodes for Perovskite Solar Cells
by Muhazri Abd Mutalib, Norasikin Ahmad Ludin, Mohd Sukor Su’ait, Matthew Davies, Suhaila Sepeai, Mohd Asri Mat Teridi, Mohamad Firdaus Mohamad Noh and Mohd Adib Ibrahim
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(1), 429; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12010429 - 3 Jan 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2353
Abstract
High-performance electron transport layer (ETL) anode generally needs to form a uniform dense layer with suitable conduction band position and good electron transport properties. The TiO2 photoanode is primarily applied as the ETL because it is low-cost, has diverse thin-film preparation methods [...] Read more.
High-performance electron transport layer (ETL) anode generally needs to form a uniform dense layer with suitable conduction band position and good electron transport properties. The TiO2 photoanode is primarily applied as the ETL because it is low-cost, has diverse thin-film preparation methods and has good chemical stability. However, pure TiO2 is not an ideal ETL because it lacks several important criteria, such as low conductivity and conduction band mismatch with compositional-tailored perovskite. Thus, TiO2 is an inefficient photo-anode or ETL for high-performance perovskite devices. In this study, sulfur as dopant in the TiO2 photo-anode thin film is used to fabricate solid-state planar perovskite solar cells in relatively high humidity (40–50%). The deposited S-doped thin film improves the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the device to 6.0%, with the un-doped TiO2 producing a PCE of 5.1% in the best device. Improvement in PCE is due to lower recombination and higher photocurrent density, resulting in 18% increase in PCE (5.1–6.0%). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Organic-Inorganic Photovoltaic Materials)
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14 pages, 2297 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Active Layer Thickness Influence in Long-Term Stability and Degradation Mechanisms in CsFAPbIBr Perovskite Solar Cells
by Mari Carmen López-González, Gonzalo del Pozo, Diego Martín-Martín, Laura Muñoz-Díaz, José Carlos Pérez-Martínez, Enrique Hernández-Balaguera, Belén Arredondo, Yulia Galagan, Mehrdad Najafi and Beatriz Romero
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(24), 11668; https://doi.org/10.3390/app112411668 - 9 Dec 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3176
Abstract
Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have become very popular due to the high efficiencies achieved. Nevertheless, one of the main challenges for their commercialization is to solve their instability issues. A thorough understanding of the processes taking place in the device is key for [...] Read more.
Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have become very popular due to the high efficiencies achieved. Nevertheless, one of the main challenges for their commercialization is to solve their instability issues. A thorough understanding of the processes taking place in the device is key for the development of this technology. Herein, J-V measurements have been performed to characterize PSCs with different active layer thicknesses. The solar cells’ parameters in pristine devices show no significant dependence on the active layer thickness. However, the evolution of the solar cells’ efficiency under ISOS-L1 protocol reveals a dramatic burn-in degradation, more pronounced for thicker devices. Samples were also characterized using impedance spectroscopy (IS) at different degradation stages, and data were fitted to a three RC/RCPE circuit. The low frequency capacitance in the thickest samples suffers a strong increase with time, which suggests a significant growth in the mobile ion population. This increase in the ion density partially screens the electric field, which yields a reduction in the extracted current and, consequently, the efficiency. This paper has been validated with two-dimensional numerical simulations that corroborate (i) the decrease in the internal electric field in dark conditions in 650 nm devices, and (ii) the consequent reduction in the carrier drift and, therefore, of the effective current extraction and efficiency. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Organic-Inorganic Photovoltaic Materials)
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12 pages, 2967 KiB  
Article
New van der Waals Heterostructures Based on Borophene and Rhenium Sulfide/Selenide for Photovoltaics: An Ab Initio Study
by Michael M. Slepchenkov, Dmitry A. Kolosov and Olga E. Glukhova
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(24), 11636; https://doi.org/10.3390/app112411636 - 8 Dec 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3187
Abstract
One of the urgent tasks of modern materials science is the search for new materials with improved optoelectronic properties for various applications of optoelectronics and photovoltaics. In this paper, using ab initio methods, we investigate the possibility of forming new types of van [...] Read more.
One of the urgent tasks of modern materials science is the search for new materials with improved optoelectronic properties for various applications of optoelectronics and photovoltaics. In this paper, using ab initio methods, we investigate the possibility of forming new types of van der Waals heterostructures based on monolayers of triangulated borophene, and monolayers of rhenium sulfide (ReS), and rhenium selenide (ReSe2), and predict their optoelectronic properties. Energy stable atomic configurations of borophene/ReS2 and borophene/ReSe2 van der Waals heterostructures were obtained using density functional theory (DFT) calculations in the Siesta software package. The results of calculating the density of electronic states of the obtained supercells showed that the proposed types of heterostructures are characterized by a metallic type of conductivity. Based on the calculated optical absorption and photocurrent spectra in the wavelength range of 200 to 2000 nm, it is found that borophene/ReS2 and borophene/ReSe2 heterostructures demonstrate a high absorption coefficient in the near- and far-UV(ultraviolet) ranges, as well as the presence of high-intensity photocurrent peaks in the visible range of electromagnetic radiation. Based on the obtained data of ab initio calculations, it is predicted that the proposed borophene/ReS2 and borophene/ReSe2 heterostructures can be promising materials for UV detectors and photosensitive materials for generating charge carriers upon absorption of light. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Organic-Inorganic Photovoltaic Materials)
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Review

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14 pages, 2003 KiB  
Review
Transition Metal Coordination Compounds as Novel Materials for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
by Klaudia Pawlus and Tomasz Jarosz
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(7), 3442; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12073442 - 28 Mar 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3106
Abstract
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are a novel solar cell alternative characterized by lower toxicity by using coordination transition metal compounds while providing high performance benchmarks, such as power conversion efficiency. Particular attention should be paid to compounds containing Cu, which can act both [...] Read more.
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are a novel solar cell alternative characterized by lower toxicity by using coordination transition metal compounds while providing high performance benchmarks, such as power conversion efficiency. Particular attention should be paid to compounds containing Cu, which can act both as dyes and as redox mediators, even though compounds relying on other transition metals are also frequently reported. In this paper, examples of compounds containing transition metals in combination with several ligands are presented, and their basic photovoltaic parameters are given. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Organic-Inorganic Photovoltaic Materials)
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45 pages, 11964 KiB  
Review
The BCL Method for DSSC: Basis and Applications
by Mauricio Barrera, Irma Crivelli and Barbara Loeb
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(5), 2358; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12052358 - 24 Feb 2022
Viewed by 1898
Abstract
In this work, a comprehensive view of the route that led to the construction of a theoretical approach to the functioning of DSSC is presented. The model was developed based on the theoretical interpretation of experimental results obtained along the years for solar [...] Read more.
In this work, a comprehensive view of the route that led to the construction of a theoretical approach to the functioning of DSSC is presented. The model was developed based on the theoretical interpretation of experimental results obtained along the years for solar cells including different dyes. This allowed the authors to generate the Barrera, Crivelli, Loeb (BCL) model. The method is based on a system of equations that uses time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations to obtain a theoretical index, the Global Efficiency Index (GEI), for the efficiency of a sensitized solar cell. The GEI is obtained through the product of three factors: the available energy for injection, the amount of charge injected, and the efficiency of regeneration. The results so far obtained show a promising correlation with the experimental index of photo conversion efficiency (PCE). Moreover, the method provides theoretical tools that allow us to obtain an understanding of the operation of the cell, and provide us with the keys to optimize it. Its application to other type of devices, as, e.g., the highly more efficient perovskite solar cells, emerges as a challenging future goal. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Organic-Inorganic Photovoltaic Materials)
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