Revealing the formation mechanism and band gap tuning of Sb₂S₃ nanoparticles

• Maximilian Joschko,
• Franck Yvan Fotue Wafo,
• Christina Malsi,
• Danilo Kisić,
• Ivana Validžić and
• Christina Graf

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1021–1033, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.76

• a promising absorption material for photovoltaic applications [2][3][4]. Furthermore, the material is also suitable for various electronic and optoelectronic applications, such as energy storage [5] or optical data storage [6]. Sb2S3 appears in two forms: an orange, amorphous form and a grayish

9.1% efficient zinc oxide/silicon solar cells on a 50 μm thick Si absorber

• Rafal Pietruszka,
• Bartlomiej S. Witkowski,
• Monika Ozga,
• Katarzyna Gwozdz,
• Ewa Placzek-Popko and
• Marek Godlewski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 766–774, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.60

• . The obtained solar cell shows response in a wide spectral range from ultraviolet to infrared. Current–voltage and current–voltage–temperature measurements were performed to evaluate basic photovoltaic parameters. At room temperature, the cells efficiency equals to 9.1% for textured structures and 5.4

• cells equals to 26.7% and 22.3%, respectively. For solar cell modules available on the market, the efficiency varies from 17% to 21%. These variations of photovoltaic efficiency are mostly connected to differences in wafer technology. To make PV competitive, the price of the devices needs to be reduced

• inexpensive alternatives for indium tin oxide (ITO) [9]. In this work, we used ALD to deposit zinc oxide nanoseeds, magnesium-doped zinc oxide (MZO) layers and aluminium-doped zinc oxide films. We thus continue our interest on photovoltaic structures based on thin films of ZnO. Recently, there have been

Impact of GaAs(100) surface preparation on EQE of AZO/Al₂O₃/p-GaAs photovoltaic structures

• Piotr Caban,
• Rafał Pietruszka,
• Jarosław Kaszewski,
• Monika Ożga,
• Bartłomiej S. Witkowski,
• Krzysztof Kopalko,
• Piotr Kuźmiuk,
• Katarzyna Gwóźdź,
• Ewa Płaczek-Popko,
• Krystyna Lawniczak-Jablonska and
• Marek Godlewski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 578–592, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.48

• Department of Quantum Technologies, Faculty of Fundamental Problems of Technology, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Wybrzeże Wyspiańskiego 27, 50-370 Wrocław, Poland 10.3762/bjnano.12.48 Abstract In order to effectively utilize the photovoltaic properties of gallium arsenide, its surface

• /interface needs to be properly prepared. In the experiments described here we examined eight different paths of GaAs surface treatment (cleaning, etching, passivation) which resulted in different external quantum efficiency (EQE) values of the tested photovoltaic (PV) cells. Atomic force microscopy (AFM

• the ammonium sulfide solution was simply removed by N2 blow. Each sample set (A and B) was exposed to air after the final preparation step for approx. 30 min before loading them to the ALD reactor chamber. Fabrication of the photovoltaic structures In order to check how different methods of

Paper-based triboelectric nanogenerators and their applications: a review

• Jing Han,
• Nuo Xu,
• Yuchen Liang,
• Mei Ding,
• Junyi Zhai,
• Qijun Sun and
• Zhong Lin Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 151–171, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.12

• , and solar power, appear to be the most efficient and effective solutions [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. However, the infrastructure constructions for harvesting energy from renewable sources (e.g., wind power stations and solar photovoltaic energy systems) are huge, expensive, and take a long time to be

Structural and electronic properties of SnO₂ doped with non-metal elements

• Jianyuan Yu,
• Yingeng Wang,
• Yan Huang,
• Xiuwen Wang,
• Jing Guo,
• Jingkai Yang and
• Hongli Zhao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1321–1328, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.116

• ) [1][2][3]. TCFs serve as the front electrode of thin film solar cells. Up to now, the solar energy conversion efficiency is about 23.3% [4], and it is important to increase the photovoltaic power generation efficiency, as well as the performance of the front electrode. The intrinsic semiconductor

Ultrasensitive detection of cadmium ions using a microcantilever-based piezoresistive sensor for groundwater

• Dinesh Rotake,
• Anand Darji and
• Nitin Kale

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1242–1253, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.108

• , cement manufacturing units, electroplating industry, manufacturing units of PVC, Ni–Cd batteries, fertilizers, pesticides, photovoltaic devices, soil, and sediments. Cadmium is a highly toxic heavy metal ion (HMI). Cadmium poisoning may cause fatigue, headaches, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, bone

Hybridization vs decoupling: influence of an h-BN interlayer on the physical properties of a lander-type molecule on Ni(111)

• Maximilian Schaal,
• Takumi Aihara,
• Marco Gruenewald,
• Felix Otto,
• Jari Domke,
• Roman Forker,
• Hiroyuki Yoshida and
• Torsten Fritz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1168–1177, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.101

• -BN on Ni(111) exhibits an atomically flat morphology [18][19]. DBP is a promising molecule in the field of organic electronics, for example, as an electron donor [20][21][22][23] or acceptor [24] in organic photovoltaic applications, and as a dopant in organic light emitting diodes [25]. For our

Revealing the local crystallinity of single silicon core–shell nanowires using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

• Marius van den Berg,
• Ardeshir Moeinian,
• Arne Kobald,
• Yu-Ting Chen,
• Anke Horneber,
• Steffen Strehle,
• Alfred J. Meixner and
• Dai Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1147–1156, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.99

• serving as multifunctional platforms for field-effect transistors [4][5][6], photovoltaic devices [7][8][9][10] and miniaturized chemical sensors [5][11][12]. A key element for many of those devices are high-quality nanometer-scale semiconductor junctions, such as pn-junctions that ensure the intended

Excitonic and electronic transitions in Me–Sb₂Se₃ structures

• Nicolae N. Syrbu,
• Victor V. Zalamai,
• Ivan G. Stamov and
• Stepan I. Beril

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1045–1053, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.89

• costs [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. It has been shown that Sb2Se3 has many applications in photovoltaic devices and thermoelectric systems where it can be used as a thin film [11], in thermovoltaic and switch devices [12], in optical data storage [13] and in optoelectronics as a 2D anisotropic material [14

Effect of Ag loading position on the photocatalytic performance of TiO₂ nanocolumn arrays

• Jinghan Xu,
• Yanqi Liu and
• Yan Zhao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 717–728, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.59

• solar energy harvesting in photovoltaic and photocatalytic applications owing to their extremely high visible-light absorption and tuned effective band gap. In this work, Ag-loaded TiO2 nanocolumn (Ag-TNC) arrays were fabricated based on anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template by combining atomic layer

Implementation of data-cube pump–probe KPFM on organic solar cells

• Benjamin Grévin,
• Olivier Bardagot and
• Renaud Demadrille

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 323–337, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.24

• ); organic photovoltaics; photocarrier dynamics; pump–probe configuration; time-resolved measurements; Introduction Many emerging photovoltaic technologies rely on the use of thin film materials displaying structural and/or chemical heterogeneities at the μm or nm scale. This is the case for solution

• method consists in increasing the detection bandwidth by using the so-called heterodyne mode [6][7][8][9] or dissipative electrostatic force modulation [10][11]. To probe the photocarrier lifetime in photovoltaic materials, another option consists in analyzing the dependence of the time-averaged KPFM

• networks phase-segregated at the 10 nm scale. Consequently, if one aims at investigating the interplay of the morphology and the photocarrier dynamics in BHJs (and by extension in other nanostructured photovoltaic materials), it is necessary to probe SP transients upon pulsed illumination at a high spatial

Recent progress in perovskite solar cells: the perovskite layer

• Xianfeng Dai,
• Ke Xu and
• Fanan Wei

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 51–60, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.5

• components in next-generation photovoltaic technology due to their high efficiency and low cost. In this article, recent progress in the development of perovskite layers, which are the basis of PSCs, is reviewed. Achievements in the fabrication of high-quality perovskite films by various methods and

• , paving the way for their commercialization. In the closing section of this review, some future critical challenges are outlined, and the prospect of commercialization of PSCs is presented. Keywords: coating techniques; perovskite layer; perovskite solar cells (PSCs); perovskite structure; photovoltaic

• been developed into solar cells, photodetectors and light-emitting diodes (Figure 1). In OIHP photovoltaics, perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have entered our field of vision. With their high efficiency and low cost, they are expected to be highly influential in next-generation photovoltaic technology. In

Semitransparent Sb₂S₃ thin film solar cells by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis for use in solar windows

• Jako S. Eensalu,
• Atanas Katerski,
• Erki Kärber,
• Lothar Weinhardt,
• Monika Blum,
• Clemens Heske,
• Wanli Yang,
• Ilona Oja Acik and
• Malle Krunks

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2396–2409, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.230

• Road, Berkeley, California, 94720, USA 10.3762/bjnano.10.230 Abstract The integration of photovoltaic (PV) solar energy in zero-energy buildings requires durable and efficient solar windows composed of lightweight and semitransparent thin film solar cells. Inorganic materials with a high optical

• moisture and air as well as sunlight. Sb2S3 has attractive properties (Eg ≈ 1.7 eV, absorption coefficient α ≈ 1.8 × 105 cm−1 at 450 nm, anisotropic structure, inorganic) as a light absorber for conventional and semitransparent photovoltaic use [12][13][14]. Sb2S3 has been incorporated as a solar absorber

Polyvinylpyrrolidone as additive for perovskite solar cells with water and isopropanol as solvents

• Chen Du,
• Shuo Wang,
• Xu Miao,
• Wenhai Sun,
• Yu Zhu,
• Chengyan Wang and
• Ruixin Ma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2374–2382, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.228

• cells; polyvinylpyrrolidone; Introduction Due to the restrictions imposed by resources and the environment on the use of fossil fuels, in recent years, clean renewable energy technologies have received increasing attention, which has also driven the growth of the photovoltaic industry [1][2][3][4]. The

• cell (iPSC), Pengcheng Zhou et al. managed to achieve a signifanct boost in efficiency [30]. The photovoltaic properties of inverted polymer solar cells using a PVP-modified indium tin oxide (ITO) layer as the electron-collecting electrode were reported on by J. W. Shim and co-workers [31]. In this

• whole process was carried out under ambient conditions. Thus, our preparation method involves less toxic substances and is more environmentally friendly. Compared with previous preparation methods using aqueous lead nitrate solution as a precursor, our method can improve the photovoltaic performance of

Nontoxic pyrite iron sulfide nanocrystals as second electron acceptor in PTB7:PC₇₁BM-based organic photovoltaic cells

• Olivia Amargós-Reyes,
• José-Luis Maldonado,
• Omar Martínez-Alvarez,
• María-Elena Nicho,
• José Santos-Cruz,
• Juan Nicasio-Collazo,
• Irving Caballero-Quintana and
• Concepción Arenas-Arrocena

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2238–2250, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.216

• of these NCs incorporated into the PTB7:PC71BM active layer of bulk-heterojunction ternary organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells. The OPV devices are fabricated with the direct configuration glass/ITO/PEDOT:PSS/PTB7:PC71BM:FeS2/PFN/FM. The Field’s metal (FM) is a eutectic alloy composed of 32.5% Bi, 51

• follow the same trend. Keywords: iron disulfide; nanoparticles; organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs); PTB7; pyrite; Introduction Iron disulfide (FeS2) is a natural earth-abundant and nontoxic material with possible applications in lithium batteries, transistors or photovoltaic (PV) devices [1][2

• electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) [9][12][13], as electron acceptors or donors in inorganic or hybrid solar cells [10][14][15][16][17] and as second electron acceptors in organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) [18]. An iron pyrite thin film used as a counter electrode showed a conversion efficiency

Green and scalable synthesis of nanocrystalline kuramite

• Andrea Giaccherini,
• Giuseppe Cucinotta,
• Stefano Martinuzzi,
• Enrico Berretti,
• Werner Oberhauser,
• Alessandro Lavacchi,
• Giovanni Orazio Lepore,
• Giordano Montegrossi,
• Maurizio Romanelli,
• Antonio De Luca,
• Massimo Innocenti,
• Vanni Moggi Cecchi,
• Matteo Mannini,
• Antonella Buccianti and
• Francesco Di Benedetto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2073–2083, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.202

• microprobe analysis (EMPA)) to discriminate kuramite from other closely related polymorphs. Moreover, we confirmed the presence of structural defects due to a relevant antisite population. Keywords: Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS); Cu3SnS4 (CTS); green chemistry; kuramite; photovoltaic materials; solvothermal synthesis

Fabrication and characterization of Si_1−xGe_x nanocrystals in as-grown and annealed structures: a comparative study

• Muhammad Taha Sultan,
• Adrian Valentin Maraloiu,
• Ionel Stavarache,
• Jón Tómas Gudmundsson,
• Andrei Manolescu,
• Valentin Serban Teodorescu,
• Magdalena Lidia Ciurea and
• Halldór Gudfinnur Svavarsson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1873–1882, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.182

• confinement. These NCs present unique and interesting size-dependent physical properties for a wide range of application including lighting, non-volatile memories, and electronic and photovoltaic applications [1][2][3]. SiGe nanostructures exhibit a stronger quantum confinement effect than Si NCs [4] and have

Materials nanoarchitectonics at two-dimensional liquid interfaces

• Katsuhiko Ariga,
• Michio Matsumoto,
• Taizo Mori and
• Lok Kumar Shrestha

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1559–1587, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.153

• confirmed by steady-state optical spectroscopy. Photovoltaic cells with one-dimensional C60 nanorods as active layer sandwiched by an indium tin oxide anode and an aluminium cathode exhibited enhanced photovoltaic capabilities. It also led to a significant enhancement of photogenerated charge carriers as

Rapid thermal annealing for high-quality ITO thin films deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering

• Petronela Prepelita,
• Ionel Stavarache,
• Doina Craciun,
• Florin Garoi,
• Catalin Negrila,
• Beatrice Gabriela Sbarcea and
• Valentin Craciun

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1511–1522, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.149

• , resulting in significant improvements of the quality of the ITO films that are commonly used as conductive transparent electrodes for photovoltaic structures. Starting from a single sintered target (purity 99.95%), ITO thin films of predefined thickness (230 nm, 300 nm and 370 nm) were deposited at room

• Thin oxide films, used as contact electrodes [1][2][3][4], are considered to be important components of photovoltaic cells [5][6]. As an electrode candidate for solar cells, an ITO film [7][8] must present excellent optical and electrical properties for increased energy generation. At this time, the

• [7][11]. Due to these features, ITO films are promising components for the development of high-performance optoelectronics [7][11][12][13] and photovoltaic devices. In order to use ITO thin films for photovoltaic applications, samples with reproducible properties are required [8][14]. The performance

Synthesis and characterization of quaternary La(Sr)S–TaS₂ misfit-layered nanotubes

• Marco Serra,
• Erumpukuthickal Ashokkumar Anumol,
• Dalit Stolovas,
• Iddo Pinkas,
• Ernesto Joselevich,
• Reshef Tenne,
• Andrey Enyashin and
• Francis Leonard Deepak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1112–1124, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.111

• resonators [11][12][13]. Using ionic liquid gating, ambipolar p–n junctions led to high-performance light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and photovoltaic devices [14]. Most interesting, however, was the demonstration of quasi-1D superconductivity, which reflected the non-centrosymmetric structure of the chiral WS2

CuInSe₂ quantum dots grown by molecular beam epitaxy on amorphous SiO₂ surfaces

• Henrique Limborço,
• Pedro M.P. Salomé,
• Rodrigo Ribeiro-Andrade,
• Jennifer P. Teixeira,
• Nicoleta Nicoara,
• Kamal Abderrafi,
• Joaquim P. Leitão,
• Juan C. Gonzalez and
• Sascha Sadewasser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1103–1111, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.110

• -deposited thin CdS layer, allowing the nanodots to be optoelectronically active. The fabrication of these nanostructures in a vacuum environment and on an amorphous substrate is very interesting from an industrial point of view for photovoltaic applications. Representative SEM images of samples grown at (a

Renewable energy conversion using nano- and microstructured materials

• Harry Mönig and
• Martina Schmid

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 771–773, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.76

• optimization. Due to the significantly increased surface-to-volume ratio of nanostructured materials, the development of interface passivation strategies is one of the major challenges in the case of photovoltaic devices where recombination losses are most harmful at the photoactive interfaces. To a large

Self-assembly and wetting properties of gold nanorod–CTAB molecules on HOPG

• Imtiaz Ahmad,
• Floor Derkink,
• Tim Boulogne,
• Pantelis Bampoulis,
• Harold J. W. Zandvliet,
• Hidayat Ullah Khan,
• Rahim Jan and
• E. Stefan Kooij

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 696–705, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.69

• , the process of self-assembly at the liquid–solid interface has proved to be an attractive self-assembly route [4][8][9]. The self-assembled structures can play an important role in magnetic [10][11][12][13], electronic [14][15][16], photovoltaic [17][18][19], biomedical [20][21][22], sensing [23][24

Review of time-resolved non-contact electrostatic force microscopy techniques with applications to ionic transport measurements

• Aaron Mascaro,
• Yoichi Miyahara,
• Tyler Enright,
• Omur E. Dagdeviren and
• Peter Grütter

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 617–633, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.62

• allow for the measurement of time-varying forces arising from phenomena such as ion transport in battery materials or charge separation in photovoltaic systems. These forces reveal information about dynamic processes happening over nanometer length scales due to the nanometer-sized probe tips used in

• into the sample. They subsequently measured the (ac) electrostatic force as a function of time using a lock-in amplifier where the observed force decayed over several seconds. In the case of photovoltaic samples, simply shining light on them photoexcites charge carriers, which can result in charge

• times of an organic photovoltaic thin film (MDMO-PPV:PCBM), shown in Figure 7, and demonstrated the ability of the technique to spatially resolve heterogeneities. Due to the difficulty in quantitatively extracting τ from the measured τFP, spatially resolved measurements are limited to relative charging

Development of an anti-pollution coating process technology for the application of an on-site PV module

• Sejin Jung,
• Wonseok Choi,
• Jung Hyun Kim and
• Jang Myoun Ko

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 332–336, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.32

• Engineering and Biotechnology, Hanbat National University, Daejeon 34158, Republic of Korea 10.3762/bjnano.10.32 Abstract This study aimed to apply annealing processes during the coating of photovoltaic (PV) module glasses to PV modules already installed through an easy and simple procedure. Three types of

• renewable energy sources that can replace fossil energy is required. Solar energy represents the highest proportion among the renewable energy sources, and it can produce clean electricity without noise or by-products [1][2]. Photovoltaic (PV) modules are installed outdoors and are thus exposed to various