Nanomaterials for Inorganic and Organic Solar Cells

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Solar Energy and Solar Cells".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 October 2025 | Viewed by 765

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Materials Engineering, Ming Chi University of Technology, New Taipei City, Taiwan
Interests: mass-production techniques for organic and perovskite solar cells; material structure analysis by synchrotron radiation; printing flexible organic electronics; dim-light photovoltaics applications; biomaterials
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Guest Editor
College of Engineering & Organic Electronics Research Center, Ming Chi University of Technology, New Taipei City 24301, Taiwan
Interests: flexible organic electronics printing technology; scalable fabrication methods for organic and perovskite solar cells; organic photodetection devices

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, solar energy has emerged as a cornerstone in the transition toward sustainable energy systems, primarily due to its potential to provide clean and abundant power with minimal environmental impact. The development of both organic and inorganic solar cells has rapidly progressed with breakthroughs in material science and nanotechnology, which have led to significant improvements in efficiency, stability, and scalability. Solar cells now feature advanced light absorption and charge transport capabilities, harnessing cutting-edge materials like Si, III-V compounds, chalcopyrite compounds, perovskites, polymers, small molecules, and quantum dots. This Special Issue highlights the importance of research in this area, as these advancements promise to transform solar energy into a more viable and cost-effective solution, paving the way for its widespread adoption as a primary renewable energy source.

This Special Issue aims to gather pioneering research on the development and application of advanced nanomaterials for organic and inorganic solar cells, a topic well-aligned with the journal's focus on the latest technological advances in materials science and energy conversion. By concentrating on emerging methods for improving photon absorption, charge transport, and device architecture, this issue will present insights that not only enhance the fundamental understanding of solar cell mechanisms but also introduce practical solutions to overcome current limitations in device performance. In this Special Issue, we welcome original research articles and reviews. Research areas may include, but are not limited to the following:

  • Development and characterization of high-performance inorganic and organic materials for solar cells, including Si, III-V compounds, chalcopyrite compounds, perovskites, polymers, small molecules, and quantum dots.
  • Development of nanomaterials that contribute to the durability and scalability of solar cells for practical applications.
  • Environmentally friendly and cost-effective methods for nanomaterials fabrication.
  • Integration of novel materials into device architectures for improved efficiency and durability.

Comparative studies of the performance of novel nanomaterials for organic and inorganic solar cell applications.

Prof. Dr. Yu-Ching Huang
Dr. Hou-Chin Cha
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • nanomaterials
  • organic solar cells
  • inorganic solar cells
  • device stability
  • interfacial engineering
  • large-area processing

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 4844 KiB  
Article
In Situ Epitaxial Quantum Dot Passivation Enables Highly Efficient and Stable Perovskite Solar Cells
by Yahya A. Alzahrani, Raghad M. Alqahtani, Raghad A. Alqarni, Jenan R. Alnakhli, Shahad A. Anezi, Ibtisam S. Almalki, Ghazal S. Yafi, Sultan M. Alenzi, Abdulaziz Aljuwayr, Abdulmalik M. Alessa, Huda Alkhaldi, Anwar Q. Alanazi, Masaud Almalki and Masfer H. Alkahtani
Nanomaterials 2025, 15(13), 978; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano15130978 - 24 Jun 2025
Viewed by 565
Abstract
We report an advanced passivation strategy for perovskite solar cells (PSCs) by introducing core–shell structured perovskite quantum dots (PQDs), composed of methylammonium lead bromide (MAPbBr3) cores and tetraoctylammonium lead bromide (tetra-OAPbBr3) shells, during the antisolvent-assisted crystallization step. The epitaxial [...] Read more.
We report an advanced passivation strategy for perovskite solar cells (PSCs) by introducing core–shell structured perovskite quantum dots (PQDs), composed of methylammonium lead bromide (MAPbBr3) cores and tetraoctylammonium lead bromide (tetra-OAPbBr3) shells, during the antisolvent-assisted crystallization step. The epitaxial compatibility between the PQDs and the host perovskite matrix enables effective passivation of grain boundaries and surface defects, thereby suppressing non-radiative recombination and facilitating more efficient charge transport. At an optimal PQD concentration of 15 mg/mL, the modified PSCs demonstrated a remarkable increase in power conversion efficiency (PCE) from 19.2% to 22.85%. This enhancement is accompanied by improved device metrics, including a rise in open-circuit voltage (Voc) from 1.120 V to 1.137 V, short-circuit current density (Jsc) from 24.5 mA/cm2 to 26.1 mA/cm2, and fill factor (FF) from 70.1% to 77%. Spectral response analysis via incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) revealed enhanced photoresponse in the 400–750 nm wavelength range. Additionally, long-term stability assessments showed that PQD-passivated devices retained more than 92% of their initial PCE after 900 h under ambient conditions, outperforming control devices which retained ~80%. These findings underscore the potential of in situ integrated PQDs as a scalable and effective passivation strategy for next-generation high-efficiency and stable perovskite photovoltaics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanomaterials for Inorganic and Organic Solar Cells)
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