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Nanomaterials for Inorganic and Organic Solar Cells
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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: closed (15 April 2026) | Viewed by 3649

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Yu-Ching Huang

E-Mail Website
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
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Hou-Chin Cha

E-Mail Website
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

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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Nanomaterials 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

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

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 2903 KB  
Article
Ternary Organic Photovoltaics at a Turning Point: Mechanistic Perspectives on Their Constraints
by Hou-Chin Cha, Kang-Wei Chang, Chia-Feng Li, Sheng-Long Jeng, Yi-Han Wang, Hui-Chun Wu and Yu-Ching Huang
Nanomaterials 2025, 15(22), 1702; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano15221702 - 11 Nov 2025
Viewed by 844
Abstract
Ternary organic photovoltaics (OPVs) are considered as the next step beyond binary systems, aiming to achieve synergistic improvements in absorption, energetic alignment, and charge transport. However, despite their conceptual appeal, most ternary blends do not outperform binary counterparts, particularly under indoor illumination where [...] Read more.
Ternary organic photovoltaics (OPVs) are considered as the next step beyond binary systems, aiming to achieve synergistic improvements in absorption, energetic alignment, and charge transport. However, despite their conceptual appeal, most ternary blends do not outperform binary counterparts, particularly under indoor illumination where photon flux and carrier dynamics impose strict limitations. To comprehensively understand this discrepancy, multiple ternary systems were systematically examined to ensure that the observed behaviors are representative rather than case specific. In this study, we systematically investigate this discrepancy by comparing representative donor–donor–acceptor (D–D–A) and donor–acceptor–acceptor (D–A–A) systems under both AM 1.5G and TL84 lighting. In all cases, the broadened absorption fails to yield effective photocurrent; instead, redundant excitations, reduced driving forces for charge separation, and disrupted percolation networks collectively diminish device performance. Recombination and transient analyses reveal that the third component often introduces energetic disorder and trap-assisted recombination instead of facilitating beneficial cascade pathways. Although the film morphology remains smooth, interfacial instability under low-light conditions further intensifies performance losses. The inclusion of several systems allows the identification of consistent mechanistic trends across different ternary architectures, reinforcing the generality of the conclusions. This work establishes a mechanistic framework linking molecular miscibility, energetic alignment, and percolation continuity to device-level behavior, clarifying why ternary strategies rarely deliver consistent efficiency improvements. Ultimately, indoor OPV performance is determined not by spectral breadth but by maintaining balanced charge transport and stable energetic landscapes, which represents an essential paradigm for advancing ternary OPVs from concept to practical application. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanomaterials for Inorganic and Organic Solar Cells)
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14 pages, 4844 KB  
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
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2304
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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