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Molecules
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Preparation and Application of Key Materials for Solar Cells
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Preparation and Application of Key Materials for Solar Cells

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Cross-Field Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2024 | Viewed by 3689

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Yue Wu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Advanced Optoelectronic Materials, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
Interests: organic solar cells; photovoltaic material design; molecular dynamics; morphology control; charge carrier recombination; device stability

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Energy is an eternal topic for us human beings. Nowadays, fossil fuels are not only scarce but polluting, so there is an urgent demand for energy transformation. Solar energy is one of the important components of green energy and it includes crystalline silicon solar cells, organic solar cells (OSCs), and perovskite solar cells (PVKSCs), etc. Technical innovation, especially material design, is of great strategic significance to further enhance solar energy's power conversion efficiency (PCE). In the last five years, solution-processed solar cells have shown an outstanding development prospect. For example, single-junction OSC promoted the PCE over 19% rapidly, while PVKSC with higher PCE facilitated industrial production. These amazing speeds of development all show that we have more options for the rational use of solar energy. Additionally, we need to further exploit the mechanisms in solar cells and develop more methods to prepare and apply more useful photovoltaic materials.

Therefore, this Special Issue proposes to gather scientific papers on donor/acceptor/buffer-layer material design for OPV, doping/interfacial material preparation for PVKSC, as well as key materials for other types of solar cells. Studies on molecular synthesis or molecular dynamics, aggregation or stacking states of pure and blended materials, as well as the exciton/charge carrier/ion behavior in different materials, or other relevant issues can be included.

Dr. Yue Wu
Guest Editor

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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Molecules 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 2700 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

  • solar cells
  • material innovation
  • molecular dynamics
  • molecular doping and interfacial engineering
  • power conversion efficiency
  • device stability

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 6600 KiB  
Article
Insight into the Role of Rb Doping for Highly Efficient Kesterite Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 Solar Cells
by Chang Miao, Yingrui Sui, Yue Cui, Zhanwu Wang, Lili Yang, Fengyou Wang, Xiaoyan Liu and Bin Yao
Molecules 2024, 29(15), 3670; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29153670 - 2 Aug 2024
Viewed by 547
Abstract
Various copper-related defects in the absorption layer have been a key factor impeding the enhancement of the efficiency of Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) solar cells. Alkali metal doping is considered to be a good strategy to ameliorate this problem. In this article, [...] Read more.
Various copper-related defects in the absorption layer have been a key factor impeding the enhancement of the efficiency of Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) solar cells. Alkali metal doping is considered to be a good strategy to ameliorate this problem. In this article, Rb-doped CZTSSe (RCZTSSe) thin films were synthesized using the sol–gel technique. The results show that the Rb atom could successfully enter into the CZTSSe lattice and replace the Cu atom. According to SEM results, a moderate amount of Rb doping aided in enhancing the growth of grains in CZTSSe thin films. It was proven that the RCZTSSe thin film had the densest surface morphology and the fewest holes when the doping content of Rb was 2%. In addition, Rb doping successfully inhibited the formation of CuZn defects and correlative defect clusters and promoted the electrical properties of RCZTSSe thin films. Finally, a remarkable power conversion efficiency of 7.32% was attained by the champion RCZTSSe device with a Rb content of 2%. Compared with that of un-doped CZTSSe, the efficiency improved by over 30%. This study offers new insights into the influence of alkali metal doping on suppressing copper-related defects and also presents a viable approach for improving the efficiency of CZTSSe devices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Preparation and Application of Key Materials for Solar Cells)
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10 pages, 3919 KiB  
Article
Modulating Crystallization and Defect Passivation by Butyrolactone Molecule for Perovskite Solar Cells
by Fengyou Wang, Jinyue Du, Chenyu Zhao, Yutao Li, Maobin Wei, Huilian Liu, Jinghai Yang and Lili Yang
Molecules 2023, 28(14), 5542; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28145542 - 20 Jul 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1097
Abstract
The attainment of a well-crystallized photo-absorbing layer with minimal defects is crucial for achieving high photovoltaic performance in polycrystalline solar cells. However, in the case of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), precise control over crystallization and elemental distribution through solution processing remains a challenge. [...] Read more.
The attainment of a well-crystallized photo-absorbing layer with minimal defects is crucial for achieving high photovoltaic performance in polycrystalline solar cells. However, in the case of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), precise control over crystallization and elemental distribution through solution processing remains a challenge. In this study, we propose the use of a multifunctional molecule, α-amino-γ-butyrolactone (ABL), as a modulator to simultaneously enhance crystallization and passivate defects, thereby improving film quality and deactivating nonradiative recombination centers in the perovskite absorber. The Lewis base groups present in ABL facilitate nucleation, leading to enhanced crystallinity, while also retarding crystallization. Additionally, ABL effectively passivates Pb2+ dangling bonds, which are major deep-level defects in perovskite films. This passivation process reduces recombination losses, promotes carrier transfer and extraction, and further improves efficiency. Consequently, the PSCs incorporating the ABL additive exhibit an increase in conversion efficiency from 18.30% to 20.36%, along with improved long-term environmental stability. We believe that this research will contribute to the design of additive molecular structures and the engineering of components in perovskite precursor colloids. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Preparation and Application of Key Materials for Solar Cells)
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Review

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24 pages, 3337 KiB  
Review
Synthesis and Optimization of Cs2B′B″X6 Double Perovskite for Efficient and Sustainable Solar Cells
by Ruijia Yao, Tingxue Zhou, Shilei Ji, Wei Liu and Xing’ao Li
Molecules 2023, 28(18), 6601; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28186601 - 13 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1585
Abstract
Hybrid perovskite materials with high light absorption coefficients, long diffusion lengths, and high mobility have attracted much attention, but their commercial development has been seriously hindered by two major problems: instability and lead toxicity. This has led to lead-free halide double perovskite becoming [...] Read more.
Hybrid perovskite materials with high light absorption coefficients, long diffusion lengths, and high mobility have attracted much attention, but their commercial development has been seriously hindered by two major problems: instability and lead toxicity. This has led to lead-free halide double perovskite becoming a prominent competitor in the photovoltaic field. For lead-free double perovskites, Pb2+ can be heterovalent, substituted by non-toxic metal cations as a double perovskite structure, which promotes the flexibility of the composition. However, the four component elements and low solubility in the solvent result in synthesis difficulties and phase impurity problems. And material phase purity and film quality are closely related to the number of defects, which can limit the photoelectric performance of solar cells. Therefore, based on this point, we summarize the synthesis methods of Cs2B′B″X6 double perovskite crystals and thin films. Moreover, in the application of solar cells, the existing research mainly focuses on the formation process of thin films, band gap adjustment, and surface engineering to improve the quality of films and optimize the performance of devices. Finally, we propose that Cs2B′B″X6 lead-free perovskites offer a promising pathway toward developing highly efficient and stable perovskite solar cells. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Preparation and Application of Key Materials for Solar Cells)
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