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Search for "solar cells" in Full Text gives 265 result(s) in Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology. Showing first 200.

Pure and mixed ordered monolayers of tetracyano-2,6-naphthoquinodimethane and hexathiapentacene on the Ag(100) surface

  • Robert Harbers,
  • Timo Heepenstrick,
  • Dmitrii F. Perepichka and
  • Moritz Sokolowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1188–1199, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.118

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  • have a “great potential for use in next-generation textile and wearable electronics” [22]. HTPEN was investigated as a material for organic solar cells [23], for which purpose it was combined with lead(II) phthalocyanine and pentacene. These heterostructures exhibit a greater range of photosensitivity
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Published 06 Jun 2019

Photoactive nanoarchitectures based on clays incorporating TiO2 and ZnO nanoparticles

  • Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky,
  • Pilar Aranda,
  • Marwa Akkari,
  • Nithima Khaorapapong and
  • Makoto Ogawa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1140–1156, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.114

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  • for the incorporation of additional active species, e.g, NPs or organic and biological species, for the production of multifunctional nanoplatforms as components of sensing devices and solar cells. Schematic representation of the crystal structures of the following clay minerals: kaolinite (A
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Published 31 May 2019

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

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  • , 20663 Casablanca, Morocco 10.3762/bjnano.10.110 Abstract The currently most efficient polycrystalline solar cells are based on the Cu(In,Ga)Se2 compound as a light absorption layer. However, in view of new concepts of nanostructured solar cells, CuInSe2 nanostructures are of high interest. In this work
  • with the average size of the nanodots. Keywords: copper indium gallium selenide (CuInSe2); quantum dots; Introduction The chalcopyrite compound Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) is used as the light absorber layer in thin film solar cells that typically consist of a glass substrate, a Mo back contact, the CIGS
  • layer, and a CdS/i-ZnO/ZnO:Al front contact. The maximum power conversion efficiency achieved by this type of solar cells has recently achieved a world record of 23.35%, which outperforms all other multi-crystalline solar cells, including multi-crystalline silicon with 22.3% [1][2]. The CIGS layer in
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Published 22 May 2019

Comparing a porphyrin- and a coumarin-based dye adsorbed on NiO(001)

  • Sara Freund,
  • Antoine Hinaut,
  • Nathalie Marinakis,
  • Edwin C. Constable,
  • Ernst Meyer,
  • Catherine E. Housecroft and
  • Thilo Glatzel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 874–881, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.88

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  • technologies such as dye-sensitized solar cells. A key optimization parameter for such devices is the choice of the compounds in order to control the direction and the intensity of charge transfer across the interface. Here, the deposition of two different molecular dyes, porphyrin and coumarin, as single
  • Kelvin probe force microscopy measurements. Keywords: coumarin; Kelvin probe force microscopy; metal oxide; molecular resolution; nickel oxide (NiO); non-contact atomic force microscopy; porphyrin; Introduction With regard to its use in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), the wide-bandgap n-type
  • first step towards the design of tandem solar cells with two photoactive electrodes [17][18]. In p-type DSSCs, the charge transfer is in the opposite direction to that in n-type devices. Holes are injected from the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of the dye to the valence band (VB) of the
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Published 15 Apr 2019

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

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  • ; energy storage; light harvesting; renewable energy; solar cells; The imposing environmental and economic challenges due to climate change have become a major topic of discussion on the global political agenda. Effectively reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and decreasing air pollution in
  • scattering can be tailored to give rise to field enhancement, path-length enhancement and finally increased absorption. Nano- and microtextures in Si heterojunction solar cells are addressed from a theoretical point of view in [3], whereas [5] additionally presents an experimental verification of the
  • benefits arising from core–shell nanowire arrays for Si heterojunction solar cells. Contacts with a high surface-to-volume ratio can clearly be seen. Particularly in photovoltaics, they may be prone to increased recombination losses. For other applications, such as water splitting, porous materials may
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Published 26 Mar 2019

Ultrasonication-assisted synthesis of CsPbBr3 and Cs4PbBr6 perovskite nanocrystals and their reversible transformation

  • Longshi Rao,
  • Xinrui Ding,
  • Xuewei Du,
  • Guanwei Liang,
  • Yong Tang,
  • Kairui Tang and
  • Jin Z. Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 666–676, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.66

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  • ; ultrasonication; Introduction Metal halide perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs) are promising candidates for application in the fields of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) [1][2], high-efficiency solar cells [3], low-threshold lasers [4], and photodetectors [5]. Compared to traditional semiconductors, colloidal PNCs
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Published 06 Mar 2019

Temperature-dependent Raman spectroscopy and sensor applications of PtSe2 nanosheets synthesized by wet chemistry

  • Mahendra S. Pawar and
  • Dattatray J. Late

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 467–474, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.46

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  • due to its extraordinary optical, electrical, mechanical, magnetic and chemical properties [2][3][4][5]. Like graphene and its organic analogues [6], inorganic 2D metal dichalcogenides also exhibit outstanding performance in many applications including transistors, sensors, photodetectors, solar cells
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Published 13 Feb 2019

Ultraviolet patterns of flowers revealed in polymer replica – caused by surface architecture

  • Anna J. Schulte,
  • Matthias Mail,
  • Lisa A. Hahn and
  • Wilhelm Barthlott

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 459–466, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.45

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  • , for solar cells with a low reflectivity and a low scattering angle, meaning that the light moves along a nearly straight path through the material [34][35]. For this reason the results of this study are interesting not only for a basic understanding of the occurrence of UV-patterns in plants, but they
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Published 13 Feb 2019

Geometrical optimisation of core–shell nanowire arrays for enhanced absorption in thin crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells

  • Robin Vismara,
  • Olindo Isabella,
  • Andrea Ingenito,
  • Fai Tong Si and
  • Miro Zeman

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 322–331, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.31

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  • Thin Film Electronic Laboratory (PV-Lab), Rue de la Maladière 71b, 2002 Neuchâtel, Switzerland 10.3762/bjnano.10.31 Abstract Background: Elongated nanostructures, such as nanowires, have attracted significant attention for application in silicon-based solar cells. The high aspect ratio and
  • characteristic radial junction configuration can lead to higher device performance, by increasing light absorption and, at the same time, improving the collection efficiency of photo-generated charge carriers. This work investigates the performance of ultra-thin solar cells characterised by nanowire arrays on a
  • dependence of absorption on the nanowire cross section, a weaker effect of the nanowire height and good resilience for angles of incidence of light up to 60°. Conclusion: The presence of a nanowire array increases the optical performance of ultra-thin crystalline silicon solar cells in a wide range of
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Published 31 Jan 2019

Site-specific growth of oriented ZnO nanocrystal arrays

  • Rekha Bai,
  • Dinesh K. Pandya,
  • Sujeet Chaudhary,
  • Veer Dhaka,
  • Vladislav Khayrudinov,
  • Jori Lemettinen,
  • Christoffer Kauppinen and
  • Harri Lipsanen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 274–280, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.26

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  • collected on the substrate. However, in applications like solar cells based on core/shell ZnO nanocrystals, site-specific growth of the well-aligned nanocrystals is quite important. Therefore, the position-controlled oriented growth of ZnO NC array architectures is highly desirable for practical
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Published 24 Jan 2019

Raman study of flash-lamp annealed aqueous Cu2ZnSnS4 nanocrystals

  • Yevhenii Havryliuk,
  • Oleksandr Selyshchev,
  • Mykhailo Valakh,
  • Alexandra Raevskaya,
  • Oleksandr Stroyuk,
  • Constance Schmidt,
  • Volodymyr Dzhagan and
  • Dietrich R. T. Zahn

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 222–227, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.20

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  • field. Among them are kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) and related compounds [1][2][3]. This class of compounds can be used in the promising technology of “printing” solar cells using inks based on CZTS nanocrystals (NCs) [4][5][6][7]. However, the structural complexity of these compounds results in numerous
  • latter was proposed by the authors of [18] for processing CZTS in the production of solar cells. For colloidal CZTS NCs FLA was applied only in [19]. However, the NCs employed in the latter work were synthesized (using the protocol from [20]) at high temperatures around 340 °C and had a relatively large
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Published 17 Jan 2019

Uniform Sb2S3 optical coatings by chemical spray method

  • Jako S. Eensalu,
  • Atanas Katerski,
  • Erki Kärber,
  • Ilona Oja Acik,
  • Arvo Mere and
  • Malle Krunks

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 198–210, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.18

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  • environmentally benign material. As Sb and S are abundant elements in the Earth’s crust, enough raw materials can be supplied to manufacture large quantities of Sb2S3 in the long term. Sb2S3 can be applied as the inorganic absorber in solar cells due to its direct band gap of ≈1.7 eV [1][2]. Sb2S3, prepared by a
  • chemical bath deposition (CBD) [3][4], spin coating [5], atomic layer deposition (ALD) [6] or chemical spray pyrolysis (CSP) [7] method, has been applied in extremely thin absorber (ETA) solar cells due to its excellent absorption coefficient in the visible light spectrum (1.8 × 105 cm−1 at 450 nm) [1][2
  • (structured) window layer, Sb2S3 absorber layer, and hole transport material layer, and their respective interfaces, is a tremendous undertaking [4]. Attention has surged toward planar heterojunction Sb2S3 solar cells due to their simpler structure, less intricate production, and enhanced repeatability vs
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Published 15 Jan 2019

Scanning probe microscopy for energy-related materials

  • Rüdiger Berger,
  • Benjamin Grévin,
  • Philippe Leclère and
  • Yi Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 132–134, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.12

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  • beyond the scope of solar cells. Katherine Atamanuk and co-workers impressively demonstrate that SPM methods can also be used to perform tomography [7]. They apply photoconducting scanning force microscopy for mapping the open-circuit voltage of cadmium telluride (CdTe) polycrystalline thin film solar
  • cells. Tomography is achieved by gradually removing surface material during continuous high-load topographic imaging. For photovoltaic materials, the interface between materials accepting electrons or holes is of crucial importance. Laurie Letertre and co-workers study a nanocolumnar TiO2 surface
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Published 10 Jan 2019

Electrolyte tuning in dye-sensitized solar cells with N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) iron(II) sensitizers

  • Mariia Karpacheva,
  • Catherine E. Housecroft and
  • Edwin C. Constable

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 3069–3078, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.285

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  • Mariia Karpacheva Catherine E. Housecroft Edwin C. Constable Department of Chemistry, University Basel, BPR 1096, Mattenstrasse 24a, CH-4058 Basel, Switzerland 10.3762/bjnano.9.285 Abstract We demonstrate that the performances of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) sensitized with a previously
  • ; N-heterocyclic carbene iron(II) complex; solar energy conversion; sustainable energy; Introduction The field of dye sensitized solar cells (DSCs) has developed significantly [1][2][3] since the pioneering publication of O’Regan and Grätzel [4]. Photoconversion efficiencies (η) of ≈11–14% have been
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Published 21 Dec 2018

Femtosecond laser-assisted fabrication of chalcopyrite micro-concentrator photovoltaics

  • Franziska Ringleb,
  • Stefan Andree,
  • Berit Heidmann,
  • Jörn Bonse,
  • Katharina Eylers,
  • Owen Ernst,
  • Torsten Boeck,
  • Martina Schmid and
  • Jörg Krüger

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 3025–3038, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.281

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  • , Germany Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie, Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, D-14109 Berlin, Germany Fakultät für Physik und CENIDE, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Lotharstr. 1, D-47057 Duisburg, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.9.281 Abstract Micro-concentrator solar cells offer an attractive way to further
  • transfer. Additionally, a procedure for processing these microabsorbers to functioning micro solar cells connected in parallel is demonstrated. The resulting cells show up to 2.9% efficiency and a significant efficiency enhancement under concentrated illumination. Keywords: chalcopyrite; femtosecond laser
  • for low-cost solar power. In the present review, we provide an overview about research carried out on micro-concentrator solar cells – a new cell concept that has been emerging in recent years – using Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGSe) as absorber material. The review focuses on two different laser-based
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Published 12 Dec 2018

Ternary nanocomposites of reduced graphene oxide, polyaniline and hexaniobate: hierarchical architecture and high polaron formation

  • Claudio H. B. Silva,
  • Maria Iliut,
  • Christopher Muryn,
  • Christian Berger,
  • Zachary Coldrick,
  • Vera R. L. Constantino,
  • Marcia L. A. Temperini and
  • Aravind Vijayaraghavan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2936–2946, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.272

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  • applied, for instance, as supercapacitors, sensing materials, solar cells, electrochromic devices, anticorrosion coatings or as materials for carbon dioxide capture [8]. The layered inorganic phase offers a high surface area for PANI deposition and increases its thermal stability with regard to
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Published 26 Nov 2018

Graphene-enhanced metal oxide gas sensors at room temperature: a review

  • Dongjin Sun,
  • Yifan Luo,
  • Marc Debliquy and
  • Chao Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2832–2844, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.264

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  • dioxide (TiO2), as a wide-bandgap semiconductor, has been widely used as photocatalyst, and in solar cells and gas sensors [70][71][72]. In general, its operating temperature is over 200 °C, so scholars try to prepare composites with graphene to reduce its operating temperature. However, the stability of
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Published 09 Nov 2018

Near-infrared light harvesting of upconverting NaYF4:Yb3+/Er3+-based amorphous silicon solar cells investigated by an optical filter

  • Daiming Liu,
  • Qingkang Wang and
  • Qing Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2788–2793, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.260

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  • light seriously restricts the photoelectric conversion efficiency of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin film solar cells. Spectral upconversion is of great significance in reducing the wastage. Herein, the upconverting compound NaYF4:Yb3+/Er3+ was synthesized via a hydrothermal method. SEM and
  • harvesting. Keywords: filter; light harvesting; solar cells; upconverting; Introduction One potential way to meet the increasing energy consumption requirements lies in the utilization of solar energy. Solar cells are expected to play an important role in relieving the global energy crisis. Among solar
  • the visible range; however, they are almost transparent for near-infrared radiation (NIR, 700–2500 nm), which constitutes 52% of the energy of the entire solar spectrum [2][3]. The transmittance of NIR light is one of the major energy-loss mechanisms for conventional a-Si:H solar cells [4][5]. This
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Published 31 Oct 2018

Oriented zinc oxide nanorods: A novel saturable absorber for lasers in the near-infrared

  • Pavel Loiko,
  • Tanujjal Bora,
  • Josep Maria Serres,
  • Haohai Yu,
  • Magdalena Aguiló,
  • Francesc Díaz,
  • Uwe Griebner,
  • Valentin Petrov,
  • Xavier Mateos and
  • Joydeep Dutta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2730–2740, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.255

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  • due to the high sensitivity of ZnO to chemical environments [6], for light-emitting diodes due to the compatibility with the GaN technology and random lasing [7] (in the blue, around 0.390 µm), and in dye-sensitized solar cells [8]. The absorption and emission properties of the ZnO nanomaterials are
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Published 23 Oct 2018

Optimization of Mo/Cr bilayer back contacts for thin-film solar cells

  • Nima Khoshsirat,
  • Fawad Ali,
  • Vincent Tiing Tiong,
  • Mojtaba Amjadipour,
  • Hongxia Wang,
  • Mahnaz Shafiei and
  • Nunzio Motta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2700–2707, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.252

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  • .9.252 Abstract Molybdenum (Mo) is the most commonly used material as back contact in thin-film solar cells. Adhesion of Mo film to soda–lime glass (SLG) substrate is crucial to the performance of solar cells. In this study, an optimized bilayer structure made of a thin layer of Mo on an ultra-thin
  • the back contact thickness to 600 nm. That is two thirds to half of the thickness that is currently being used for bilayer and single layer back contact for thin-film solar cells. We demonstrate the excellent properties of Mo/Cr bilayer as back contact of a CZTS solar cell. Keywords: back contact
  • ; bilayer; chromium; DC sputtering; molybdenum; optical reflectance; Introduction Molybdenum (Mo) thin films are widely used as a back contact for photovoltaic devices such as Cu(In1−xGax)S2 (CIGS) and Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin-film solar cells. The back contact is the first layer to be deposited and its
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Published 18 Oct 2018

Nanostructured liquid crystal systems and applications

  • Alexei R. Khokhlov and
  • Alexander V. Emelyanenko

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2644–2645, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.245

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  • having numerous applications in liquid crystal displays, modulators, sensors, solar cells, etc. Liquid crystals are used in both large and small devices. They surround us everywhere: in our house, on the street, and at our job. Liquid crystals are applied in biology and medicine, and for oil recovery as
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Published 05 Oct 2018

Performance analysis of rigorous coupled-wave analysis and its integration in a coupled modeling approach for optical simulation of complete heterojunction silicon solar cells

  • Ziga Lokar,
  • Benjamin Lipovsek,
  • Marko Topic and
  • Janez Krc

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2315–2329, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.216

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  • Ziga Lokar Benjamin Lipovsek Marko Topic Janez Krc University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Trzaska 25, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia 10.3762/bjnano.9.216 Abstract A variety of light management structures have been introduced in solar cells to improve light harvesting and further
  • simulation of solar cells, in particular heterojunction silicon (HJ Si) solar cells. The structure of HJ Si solar cells consists of thin and thick layers, and additionally, micro- and nano-textures are also introduced to further exploit the potential of light trapping. The RCWA was tested on the front
  • HJ Si solar cells, demonstrating a 13.4% improvement in the short-circuit current density with respect to the flat cell and 1.4% with respect to the cell with double-sided random micropyramids. We additionally demonstrate the ability to simulate a combination of nano- and microtextures at a single
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Published 28 Aug 2018

Lead-free hybrid perovskites for photovoltaics

  • Oleksandr Stroyuk

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2209–2235, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.207

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  • with an outlook highlighting the most promising strategies for future progress of photovoltaic systems based on lead-free perovskite compounds. Keywords: light harvesting; low-toxic materials; organo-inorganic perovskites; solar cells; Review Introduction The field of photovoltaics and photochemical
  • light harvesting using nanocrystalline semiconductor materials is a thriving field of research that intersects physics, physical and material chemistry, photonics and photochemistry. The investment in photovoltaic solar cells has increased among other sustainable sources of electricity, whereby the
  • market is dominated by silicon solar cells with top light-to-current conversion efficiencies reaching ≈27% [1]. As an alternative to the Si-based cells requiring a relatively thick absorber layer due to the indirect character of electron transitions in Si, direct-bandgap metal chalcogenide semiconductors
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Published 21 Aug 2018

Light–Matter interactions on the nanoscale

  • Mohsen Rahmani and
  • Chennupati Jagadish

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2125–2127, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.201

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  • , including emission, detection, amplification and control of light. Photonics offers a wide range of applications in different areas ranging from sensing and imaging, to solar cells and optical communication [1]. It is no surprise that many consider photonics to be the technology revolution of the 21st
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Published 10 Aug 2018

Spin-coated planar Sb2S3 hybrid solar cells approaching 5% efficiency

  • Pascal Kaienburg,
  • Benjamin Klingebiel and
  • Thomas Kirchartz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2114–2124, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.200

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  • Pascal Kaienburg Benjamin Klingebiel Thomas Kirchartz IEK5-Photovoltaics, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany Faculty of Engineering and CENIDE, University of Duisburg-Essen, Carl-Benz-Str. 199, 47057 Duisburg, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.9.200 Abstract Antimony sulfide solar cells have
  • conditions, the role of the polymeric hole transport material is discussed. The efficiency of our best solar cells exceeds previous reports for each processing route, and our champion device displays one of the highest efficiencies reported for planar antimony sulfide solar cells. Keywords: antimony sulfide
  • ; hole transport material; solar cell; Introduction Antimony sulfide (Sb2S3) is a promising high band gap light absorber for solar cells [1][2][3][4][5]. The record efficiency of 7.5% [6] is comparable to that of other less investigated materials, such as the best lead-free perovskites [7], Cu2O [8] and
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Published 08 Aug 2018
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