Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology for Optoelectronics and Photovoltaics

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanoelectronics, Nanosensors and Devices".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 August 2021) | Viewed by 11169

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Guest Editor
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Yunlin 64002, Taiwan
Interests: optical film; photovoltaics; optoelectronic materials; nanomaterials; colloidal and interface science; environmental catalysis
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Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

The consumption of fossil fuel leads to a significant impact on the environment and anxiety about its exhaustion. Solar energy is an alternative energy source to fossil fuels, which can be converted into electrical power through photovoltaic technologies. Over the past ten years, some emerging photovoltaics, such as perovskite solar cells, dye-sensitized solar cells, quantum dot solar cells, and organic solar cells, have received great attention due to their high power conversion efficiency, light-weight, low-cost, and simple fabrication compared to traditional silicon solar cells. The maximum efficiency of perovskite solar cells in 2019 reached 25.2%, confirmed by the national renewable energy laboratory. However, many challenging issues are still unsolved for practical application.

This Special Issue will reflect the state-of-art nanomaterials and nanotechnologies applied in optoelectronics and photovoltaics with respect to design of electron and hole transport materials, novel absorbers, control of morphology and crystallization of absorbers, interface modification, defect engineering, new electrode materials, large-area/long stability fabrication, facile manufacturing, new device architectures, etc. Such technologies can make significant progress in the development of optoelectronics and photovoltaics. Contribution of original research and review articles are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Bo-Tau Liu
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Perovskite solar cells
  • Dye-sensitized solar cells
  • Quantum dot solar cells
  • Organic solar cells
  • Reliability, stability, and lifetime of photovoltaics
  • Novel materials for HTL, ETL, and electrodes
  • Interface engineering for improved efficiency and stability
  • Large-are, flexible-substrate fabrication
  • New prospects, processes, technologies on fabrication

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 31718 KiB  
Communication
Efficient PbS Quantum Dot Solar Cells with Both Mg-Doped ZnO Window Layer and ZnO Nanocrystal Interface Passivation Layer
by Hao Ren, Ao Xu, Yiyang Pan, Donghuan Qin, Lintao Hou and Dan Wang
Nanomaterials 2021, 11(1), 219; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11010219 - 15 Jan 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3427
Abstract
In this paper, a Mg-doped ZnO (MZO) thin film is prepared by a simple solution process under ambient conditions and is used as the window layer for PbS solar cells due to a wide n-type bandgap. Moreover, a thin layer of ZnO nanocrystals [...] Read more.
In this paper, a Mg-doped ZnO (MZO) thin film is prepared by a simple solution process under ambient conditions and is used as the window layer for PbS solar cells due to a wide n-type bandgap. Moreover, a thin layer of ZnO nanocrystals (NCs) was deposited on the MZO to reduce carrier recombination at the interface for inverted PbS quantum dot solar cells with the configuration Indium Tin Oxides (ITO)/MZO/ZnO NC (w/o)/PbS/Au. The effect of film thickness and annealing temperature of MZO and ZnO NC on the performance of PbS quantum dot solar cells was investigated in detail. It was found that without the ZnO NC thin layer, the highest power conversion efficiency(PCE) of 5.52% was obtained in the case of a device with an MZO thickness of 50 nm. When a thin layer of ZnO NC was introduced between MZO and PbS quantum dot film, the PCE of the champion device was greatly improved to 7.06% due to the decreased interface recombination. The usage of the MZO buffer layer along with the ZnO NC interface passivation technique is expected to further improve the performance of quantum dot solar cells. Full article
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14 pages, 3758 KiB  
Article
Stability of Quantum-Dot Light Emitting Diodes with Alkali Metal Carbonates Blending in Mg Doped ZnO Electron Transport Layer
by Hyo-Min Kim, Wonkyeong Jeong, Joo Hyun Kim and Jin Jang
Nanomaterials 2020, 10(12), 2423; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10122423 - 4 Dec 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3559
Abstract
We report here the fabrication of highly efficient and long-lasting quantum-dot light emitting diodes (QLEDs) by blending various alkali metal carbonate in magnesium (Mg) doped zinc oxide (ZnO) (MZO) electron transport layer (ETL). Alkali metal carbonates blending in MZO, X2CO3 [...] Read more.
We report here the fabrication of highly efficient and long-lasting quantum-dot light emitting diodes (QLEDs) by blending various alkali metal carbonate in magnesium (Mg) doped zinc oxide (ZnO) (MZO) electron transport layer (ETL). Alkali metal carbonates blending in MZO, X2CO3:MZO, control the band-gap, electrical properties, and thermal stability. This can therefore enhance the operational lifetime of QLEDs. It is found that the conductivity of X2CO3:MZO film can be controlled and the thermal stability of ETLs could be improved by X2CO3 blending in MZO. The inverted red QLEDs (R-QLEDs) with Cs2CO3:MZO, Rb2CO3:MZO, and K2CO3:MZO ETLs exhibited the operational lifetime of 407 h for the R-QLEDs with Cs2CO3:MZO, 620 h with Rb2CO3:MZO and 94 h with K2CO3:MZO ETLs at T95 with the initial luminance of 1000 cd/m2. Note that all red QLEDs showed the high brightness over 150,000 cd/m2. But the R-QLEDs with Na2CO3:MZO and Li2CO3:MZO ETLs exhibited shorter operational lifetime and poor brightness than the R-QLED with pristine MZO ETL. Full article
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Graphical abstract

13 pages, 5963 KiB  
Article
Effect of Polyethylene Glycol Incorporation in Electron Transport Layer on Photovoltaic Properties of Perovskite Solar Cells
by Bo-Tau Liu, Bo-Wei Guo and Rathinam Balamurugan
Nanomaterials 2020, 10(9), 1753; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10091753 - 4 Sep 2020
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3558
Abstract
Due to the characteristics of high electron mobility, ambient stability, proper energy level, and low processing temperature, zinc oxide (ZnO) has become a very promising electron transport material for photovoltaics. However, perovskite solar cells fabricated with ZnO reveal low efficiency because perovskite crystals [...] Read more.
Due to the characteristics of high electron mobility, ambient stability, proper energy level, and low processing temperature, zinc oxide (ZnO) has become a very promising electron transport material for photovoltaics. However, perovskite solar cells fabricated with ZnO reveal low efficiency because perovskite crystals may decompose thermally on the surface of ZnO as a result of proton transfer reactions. In this study, we are the first to incorporate an inexpensive, non-toxic polyethylene glycol (PEG) into ZnO and explore the passivation effect on the electron transport layer of perovskite solar cells. Suspension stability, surface roughness, electrical conductivity, crystal size, and photovoltaic properties with respect to the PEG incorporation are analyzed. The experimental results revealed that PEG incorporation effectively passivated the surface defects of ZnO, increased the electrical conductivity, and suppressed the charge recombination. The photocurrent density could increase from 15.2 to 19.2 mA/cm2, an increase of 27%. Full article
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