Tandem polymer solar cells: simulation and optimization through a multiscale scheme

• Fanan Wei,
• Ligang Yao,
• Fei Lan,
• Guangyong Li and
• Lianqing Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 123–133, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.13

• photovoltaics to achieve high performance. Consistency between the optimization results and the reported experimental results proved the effectiveness of the proposed simulation scheme. Keywords: genetic algorithm; Monte Carlo simulation; simplex searching; tandem polymer solar cells; Introduction Polymer

• performance (especially, the low power conversion efficiency (PCE)) when compared with their inorganic counterparts. Therefore, great efforts have been devoted to improving the performance of polymer photovoltaics. To fulfil this goal, various methods, including annealing [1], active materials modification [2

• demonstrated to be one of the most effective solutions. Due to the unavoidable mismatch between the absorption spectrum of active materials and that of the sunlight, a large portion of the sunlight energy will be lost in organic photovoltaics when a single active material is employed. Thus, as illustrated in

Diffusion of dilute gas in arrays of randomly distributed, vertically aligned, high-aspect-ratio cylinders

• Wojciech Szmyt,
• Carlos Guerra and
• Ivo Utke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 64–73, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.7

• potential fields of applications such as photovoltaics [7], photocatalysis [8], organic electronics [9] and supercapacitors [10]. Surface functionalisation and nanoengineering of high-aspect-ratio nanocylinder arrays often involve the exposure of the structures to gas-phase chemicals, for instance, during

Sb₂S₃ grown by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis and its application in a hybrid solar cell

• Erki Kärber,
• Atanas Katerski,
• Ilona Oja Acik,
• Arvo Mere,
• Valdek Mikli and
• Malle Krunks

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1662–1673, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.158

• the EQE result, the integrated product the EQE(λ) and solar irradiance IAM1.5(λ) was calculated by using the online tool Open Photovoltaics Analysis Platform, and compared with the JSC obtained from the current–voltage scan. Raman spectra A–D of thin layers grown by spraying solutions with Sb/S

Scanning probe microscopy studies on the adsorption of selected molecular dyes on titania

• Jakub S. Prauzner-Bechcicki,
• Lukasz Zajac,
• Piotr Olszowski,
• Res Jöhr,
• Antoine Hinaut,
• Thilo Glatzel,
• Bartosz Such,
• Ernst Meyer and
• Marek Szymonski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1642–1653, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.156

• injection and charge transport both are very important when considering potential applications in photovoltaics, electronics and other fields. Additionally, inherent surface defects, such as oxygen vacancies on the TiO2(110) surface, cannot be ignored because they affect the level alignment of the molecule

The effect of dry shear aligning of nanotube thin films on the photovoltaic performance of carbon nanotube–silicon solar cells

• Benedikt W. Stolz,
• Daniel D. Tune and
• Benjamin S. Flavel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1486–1491, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.141

• explored from both a fundamental theory point of view [1][2], as well as experimentally in a host of different device architectures, including as additives in dye solar cells [3][4], organic photovoltaics [5][6], and perovskites [7][8] and as the active light absorbing component in conjunction with

Fast diffusion of silver in TiO₂ nanotube arrays

• Wanggang Zhang,
• Yiming Liu,
• Diaoyu Zhou,
• Hui Wang,
• Wei Liang and
• Fuqian Yang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1129–1140, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.105

• structures, TiO2 nanotubes (TNT) seem to be an ideal candidate for the applications in energy storage and photovoltaics. The intrinsic poor electric conductivity and large bandgaps (approx. 3.4 eV for anatase TiO2 [18] and approx. 3.0 eV for rutile TiO2 [19][20]) have limited the applications of TiO2 of low

Photocurrent generation in carbon nanotube/cubic-phase HfO₂ nanoparticle hybrid nanocomposites

• Protima Rauwel,
• Augustinas Galeckas,
• Martin Salumaa,
• Frédérique Ducroquet and
• Erwan Rauwel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1075–1085, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.101

• surface states of HfO2 nanoparticles via direct contact with MWCNTs turns them from radiative to nonradiative recombination centers and contributes to photocurrent generation in the material. Such a material therefore finds interest for applications in photovoltaics owing to an increase in its spectral

High-resolution noncontact AFM and Kelvin probe force microscopy investigations of self-assembled photovoltaic donor–acceptor dyads

• Benjamin Grévin,
• Pierre-Olivier Schwartz,
• Laure Biniek,
• Martin Brinkmann,
• Nicolas Leclerc,
• Elena Zaborova and
• Stéphane Méry

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 799–808, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.71

• elementary building block level. Keywords: donor–acceptor co-oligomers; donor–acceptor lamellae; donor–acceptor-ordered bulk heterojunction; Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM); noncontact atomic force microscopy (nc-AFM); organic photovoltaics; surface photo-voltage (SPV); Introduction Nowadays, with

Organized films

• Maurizio Canepa and
• Helmuth Möhwald

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 406–408, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.35

• with specific functionalities for applications in strategic technology fields as varied as theranostics, energy production and storage, and photovoltaics. Similar trajectories were observed for SAMs, with increasing attention on new combinations of functional molecules and substrates, new analysis

• tools and new preparation methods [23], which varied significantly from the more traditional deposition from solution [24]. This is the case for MBE-like deposition in vacuum or UHV conditions [25], which is of current interest in the area of organic photovoltaics [26]. This also applies for biological

Synthesis and applications of carbon nanomaterials for energy generation and storage

• Marco Notarianni,
• Jinzhang Liu,
• Kristy Vernon and
• Nunzio Motta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 149–196, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.17

• photovoltaics and supercapacitors have been reviewed and discussed in this work, highlighting their benefits as compared to other materials commonly used in these devices. The use of fullerenes, carbon nanotubes and graphene in organic photovoltaics and supercapacitors is described in detail, explaining how

• into the electronic market. Organic photovoltaics Over the past twenty years, organic photovoltaics have rapidly improved because of the potential to obtain a manufacturing process that is faster, less expensive and with higher production volume as compared to silicon technology [175][176][177][178

Electrospray deposition of organic molecules on bulk insulator surfaces

• Antoine Hinaut,
• Rémy Pawlak,
• Ernst Meyer and
• Thilo Glatzel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1927–1934, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.195

• Antoine Hinaut Remy Pawlak Ernst Meyer Thilo Glatzel Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, 4056 Basel, Switzerland 10.3762/bjnano.6.195 Abstract Large organic molecules are of important interest for organic-based devices such as hybrid photovoltaics or molecular

Synthesis, characterization and in vitro biocompatibility study of Au/TMC/Fe₃O₄ nanocomposites as a promising, nontoxic system for biomedical applications

• Hanieh Shirazi,
• Maryam Daneshpour,
• Soheila Kashanian and
• Kobra Omidfar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1677–1689, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.170

• . The efficacy of these TMC- and Au-containing magnetic nanostructures could benefit applications such as electrochemical labels, sensory probes, electronic conductors, therapeutic agents, organic photovoltaics, drug delivery in biological and medical applications, and catalysis due to their combined

Materials for sustainable energy production, storage, and conversion

• Maximilian Fichtner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1601–1602, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.163

• present recent results from the respective working groups. In the field of energy harvesting and photovoltaics, Benedikt Iffland and Christian Jooss [1] report on current–voltage characteristics of manganite–titanite perovskite junctions. State-of-the art and recent progress in energy conversion from

Current–voltage characteristics of manganite–titanite perovskite junctions

• Benedikt Ifland,
• Patrick Peretzki,
• Birte Kressdorf,
• Philipp Saring,
• Andreas Kelling,
• Michael Seibt and
• Christian Jooss

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1467–1484, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.152

• electron–polaron hole–polaron pair generation and separation at the interface. Keywords: current–voltage characteristics; perovskites; photovoltaics; polarons; Introduction At present, photovoltaic devices are mainly based on high purity elemental or compound inorganic semiconducting materials with large

Observing the morphology of single-layered embedded silicon nanocrystals by using temperature-stable TEM membranes

• Sebastian Gutsch,
• Daniel Hiller,
• Jan Laube,
• Margit Zacharias and
• Christian Kübel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 964–970, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.99

• generation photovoltaics [1][2], light emitting diodes [3][4], lasers [5], but are also envisioned to be used as non-volatile memories [6][7][8][9][10]. The optical and electrical properties of ensembles of Si NCs are strongly influenced by the structural properties such as size distribution, separation

Simulation tool for assessing the release and environmental distribution of nanomaterials

• Haoyang Haven Liu,
• Muhammad Bilal,
• Anastasiya Lazareva,
• Arturo Keller and
• Yoram Cohen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 938–951, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.97

• associated with cosmetic applications, which represent the largest fraction at ≈53%, while those associated with coatings, paints, pigments represent ≈44%, with remainder due to energy applications (e.g., photovoltaics, energy storage [7]), environmental (e.g., remediation [7]), and plastic applications

Simple approach for the fabrication of PEDOT-coated Si nanowires

• Mingxuan Zhu,
• Marielle Eyraud,
• Judikael Le Rouzo,
• Nadia Ait Ahmed,
• Florence Boulc’h,
• Claude Alfonso,
• Philippe Knauth and
• François Flory

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 640–650, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.65

• research topic for many applications such as photovoltaics [1], lithium batteries [2], hydrogen storage [3] and optoelectronic devices [4] due to their unique properties with respect to visible light management [5][6][7]. Using an electroless etching method, a reflectivity as low as 1.3% over the entire

Influence of size, shape and core–shell interface on surface plasmon resonance in Ag and Ag@MgO nanoparticle films deposited on Si/SiO_x

• Sergio D’Addato,
• Daniele Pinotti,
• Maria Chiara Spadaro,
• Guido Paolicelli,
• Vincenzo Grillo,
• Sergio Valeri,
• Luca Pasquali,
• Luca Bergamini and
• Stefano Corni

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 404–413, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.40

• ; surface differential reflectivity; surface plasmon resonance; Introduction Nanoparticles (NPs) deposited on surfaces constitute a vast and important research field in material science having many applications in magnetic recording [1][2], catalysis [3], and photovoltaics [4][5][6][7][8][9]. For instance

• bare Ag NPs, while it is preserved when Ag NPs are co-deposited with MgO, even in the limit of ultrathin (tMgO = 1.3 nm) protective layers. This result is relevant for possible applications in photovoltaics and in other fields where Ag NPs are used for their plasmonic properties. Conclusion The results

Carrier multiplication in silicon nanocrystals: ab initio results

• Ivan Marri,
• Marco Govoni and
• Stefano Ossicini

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 343–352, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.33

• An important challenge in modern day scientific research is the establishment of clean, inexpensive, renewable energy sources. Based on the extraction of energy from the solar spectrum, photovoltaics (PV) is one of the most appealing and promising technologies in this regard. Intense effort is

Kelvin probe force microscopy in liquid using electrochemical force microscopy

• Liam Collins,
• Stephen Jesse,
• Jason I. Kilpatrick,
• Alexander Tselev,
• M. Baris Okatan,
• Sergei V. Kalinin and
• Brian J. Rodriguez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 201–214, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.19

• distribution, and has proven to be an important technique for studying electronic functionality at the solid–gas interface. KPFM measurements have previously been utilized to investigate surface photo-voltage in photovoltaics [21][22][23] and charging dynamics in ferroelectric [24][25][26], dielectric [27] and

Tunable light filtering by a Bragg mirror/heavily doped semiconducting nanocrystal composite

• Ilka Kriegel and
• Francesco Scotognella

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 193–200, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.18

• light filters are critical components for many optical applications in which light in-coupling, out-coupling or rejection is crucial, such as lasing, sensing, photovoltaics and information and communication technology. For this purpose, Bragg mirrors (band-pass filters with high reflectivity) represent

• exploited in several types of devices, such as distributed feedback lasers [11][12][13][14][15], sensors [16][17], absorption enhancement for photovoltaics [18] or in dye-sensitized solar cells [19][20][21]. Furthermore, nanoparticle-based photonic crystals have been employed for switching applications [22

• dispersion or film with a Bragg mirror, deposited with spin coating or sputtering techniques [7][8][45]. The application of this kind of tunable filtering component is very promising for various optical applications such as lasing, sensing, photovoltaics or information and communication technology. Scheme of

Manganese oxide phases and morphologies: A study on calcination temperature and atmospheric dependence

• Matthias Augustin,
• Daniela Fenske,
• Ingo Bardenhagen,
• Anne Westphal,
• Martin Knipper,
• Thorsten Plaggenborg,
• Joanna Kolny-Olesiak and
• Jürgen Parisi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 47–59, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.6

• : Additional XRD experimental data. Acknowledgements We thank Magdalena Bogacka for conducting the TGA/DSC measurements. We gratefully acknowledge the funding of the EWE Research Group “Thin Film Photovoltaics” by the EWE AG, Oldenburg, Germany, as well as funding by the government of Lower Saxony (Germany).

Silicon and germanium nanocrystals: properties and characterization

• Ivana Capan,
• Alexandra Carvalho and
• José Coutinho

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1787–1794, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.189

• breakthroughs in photovoltaics. It is believed that quantum dot (QD) solar cells have the potential to reach a maximum conversion efficiency of about 66% [2]. A colloidal nanocrystal solar cell, which combines all the advantages of organics (scalable and controllable synthesis) with transport properties

An insight into the mechanism of charge-transfer of hybrid polymer:ternary/quaternary chalcopyrite colloidal nanocrystals

• Parul Chawla,
• Son Singh and
• Shailesh Narain Sharma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1235–1244, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.137

• cells, the performance of OPVs is often restricted by low carrier mobility issues. The emergence of hybrid solar cells is based on the concept of promoting carrier mobility in OPV systems by the incorporation of inorganic semiconductor materials as electron acceptors into organic photovoltaics [5]. Here

• , a charge-separation at donor–acceptor heterojunctions is a key process, which takes center stage in determining the energy conversion efficiency of hybrid photovoltaics. Hybrid solar cells enjoy an advantage of intrinsically high carrier mobility, which is caused by inorganic materials dispersed in

• photovoltaics [5][6]. To this day, numerous inorganic semiconductors such as ZnO, TiO2, CdSe, CdS, PbSe and PbS have been studied. Particular focus has been put on the investigation of selenides or sulfides in conjunction with organic polymers (MEH-PPV, P3HT) for hybrid solar cell applications [6][7]. However

Growth and characterization of CNT–TiO₂ heterostructures

• Yucheng Zhang,
• Ivo Utke,
• Johann Michler,
• Gabriele Ilari,
• Marta D. Rossell and
• Rolf Erni

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 946–955, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.108

• photovoltaics based on the ensemble. While analytical TEM, in particular EELS, is a powerful tool to study the interface between CNTs and metal/metal oxides, the task is quite challenging and several difficulties need to be overcome. The damage in the sample caused by the high energy electron can hinder