Polyol-mediated synthesis of Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 kesterite nanoparticles and their use in thin-film solar cells

Cu₂ZnSnS₄ kesterite nanoparticles (CZTS) with a particle diameter of 10–20 nm are prepared by a polyol-mediated synthesis with diethylene glycol as the liquid phase. The polyol – a high-boiling multidentate alcohol − allows controlling the particle size and agglomeration as well as preparing readily crystalline nanoparticles. The as-prepared kesterite nanoparticles exhibit an overall composition of Cu_1.56Zn_1.29Sn_1.16S_4.59 and a band gap of 1.37 eV. As a first test, thin-film solar cells are manufactured after layer deposition of the as-prepared CZTS nanoparticles and conversion to Cu₂ZnSn(S,Se)₄ (CZTSSe) via gas-phase selenization. The volume increase of about 15% due to the CZTS-to-CZTSSe conversion supports the formation of a dense layer, reduces the interparticulate surfaces and leads to a reduction of the band gap to 1.14 eV. The chemical composition of the as-prepared CZTS nanoparticles and of the deposited CZTSSe thin film prior and after selenization are studied in detail by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence analysis. All these methods confirm the intended copper-poor and zinc-/tin-rich CZTS/CZTSSe composition. The resulting thin-film solar cells show an open-circuit voltage of 247.3 mV, a short-circuit current density of 21.3 mA/cm², a fill factor of 41.1% and a power-conversion efficiency of 2.2%.     

A Series of Iron(II)-NHC Sensitizers with Remarkable Power Conversion Efficiency in Photoelectrochemical Cells**

A series of six new Fe(II)NHC-carboxylic sensitizers with their ancillary ligand decorated with functions of varied electronic properties have been designed with the aim to increase the metal-to- surface charge separation and light harvesting in iron-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). ARM130 scored the highest efficiency ever reported for an iron-sensitized solar cell (1.83 %) using Mg²⁺ and NBu₄I-based electrolyte and a thick 20 μm TiO₂ anode. Computational modelling, transient absorption spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) revealed that the electronic properties induced by the dimethoxyphenyl-substituted NHC ligand of ARM130 led to the best combination of electron injection yield and spectral sensitivity breadth.     

Inclined Substrate Deposition of Nanostructured TiO2 Thin Films for DSSC Application

Nanostructured TiO₂ films were deposited onto Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) and glass substrates by dc reactive magnetron sputtering at different substrate inclination angles. The structural and optical properties of the deposited films were studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and UV–Vis spectrophotometer, respectively. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) were assembled using these TiO₂ films as photoelectrodes and the effect of the substrate inclination angle in the preparing process of TiO₂ films on the DSSC conversion efficiency was studied.     

Synthesis,electrolyte properties and solar cell performance of hyperbranched poly(aryl-ether-urea)s

Hyperbranched poly(aryl-ether-urea)s with phenyl, N,N-dimethylamino ethyl and polyethylene oxide end-groups linked through urethane group – HBPEU-1, HBPEU-2 and HBPEU-3 respectively – were synthesized from an AB₂-type blocked isocyanate monomer and characterized by FT-IR, ¹H-NMR, SEC-MALLS, TGA and DSC techniques. The molecular weight of the polymers were found to be ranged from 4.9 × 10³ ? 1.96 × 10⁴ g/mol. The TGA results showed that the polymers decompose between 175°C – 220°C. In the DSC curves, HBPEU-1 and HBPEU-3 showed T_g at 160°C and 53°C respectively, whereas HBPEU-2 did not showed clear T_g. All the three polymers were converted into polymer electrolytes by doping with LiI/I₂. The doped polymers showed remarkably high ionic conductivity, up to 222 – 277 times compared to the un-doped polymers and the highest conductivity was observed with doped HBPEU-2. The TiO₂ based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated using the doped polymer electrolytes and their performance was tested; HBPEU-2 showed good performance by yielding energy conversion efficiency (η) of 4.5%.     

Multispectral Plasmon of Anisotropic Core-shell Gold Nanorods@SiO2: Dual-band Absorption Enhancement with Coupling Dye Molecules

Direct evidence of effects of surface plasmon resonance(SPR) of gold nanorods(GNRs) on dual-band light absorption enhancement with coupling dye molecules was reported by introducing gold nanorod@SiO₂(GNR@SiO₂) core-shell nanoparticles into a photoelectric conversion system. GNR with asymmetric shape had unusual anisotropic SPR[transversal surface plasmon resonance(TSPR) and longitudinal surface plasmon resonance(LSPR)]. The excellent SPR of GNR made it a promising candidate as enhancing light absorption material to increase power conversion efficiency(PCE). The PCE was improved nearly 17.2% upon incorporating GNRs, mostly due to the increase in J_sc, while V_oc and FF were unchanged. The improvement was mostly contributed by the SPR of the GNRs with coupling of N719. And there was also a complementary to N719 in visible light range. Therefore, SPR is an effective tool in improving the photocurrent and consequently enhancement of PCE. The TSPR and LSPR effects of GNRs on light harvesting were reflected in the increased monochromatic incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency(IPCE). We also utilized finite-difference time-domain(FDTD) to investigate the light coupling of GNRs with TiO₂. Compare to the base anode, the IPCE of optimized electrode showed significant improvement and peaks broadening at 500-600 nm and 610-710 nm. We got an increase in overall conversion efficiency from 6.4% to 7.5%.     

Structures and excitation energies of Zn–tetraarylporphyrin analogues: A theoretical study

The photophysical properties of β-substituted Zn–tetraarylporphyrin (ZnTAP) analogues used as dyes in dye-sensitized solar cells were studied using density functional theory (DFT). Singlet-excitation energy calculations of ZnTAP analogues were performed using time-dependent DFT with B3LYP, B3PW91, PBE0 exchange–correlation functionals at 6-31G(d) and 6-31+G(d) basis sets using B3LYP/6-31G(d) geometries. The PBE0 functional at 6-31+G(d) basis set provided a better correlation with the experimental data for both B- and Q-bands. The inclusion of solvation effect in the calculations provided a good agreement in terms of B:Q_ave ratio of the oscillator strengths for both analogues with the experimental values. Analogue 2 has a higher and a more balanced charge-carrier transport rates than analogue 1. In general, the addition of an electron-donating group in the meso-substituent (analogue 2) resulted in a narrower band gap, higher oscillator strength, a more red-shifted absorption spectra, and better charge-transfer characteristics than analogue 1.     

Ag纳米颗粒表面等离子体共振增强DSSC电池的制备及性能研究

使用水热法制备了一系列不同含量Ag纳米颗粒掺杂的Ag-TiO2复合光阳极的染料敏化太阳能电池,同时,研究了不同含量Ag纳米颗粒掺杂对染料敏化太阳能电池的结构和性能的影响.实验结果表明：Ag的掺入增强了吸附在Ag-TiO2复合光阳极上的染料对光的吸收,显著地提高了对应电池的短路电流.在Ag掺入量为0.20%的时候,对应的电池具有最佳的性能,其短路电流为10.66mA/cm2,开路电压Voc为697mV,光电转换效率为5.59%,显著优于纯TiO2光阳极电池的效率.其性能的改善主要归因于掺入Ag纳米颗粒的表面等离子体共振吸收效应使电池光阳极对光的吸收增强所致.     

新型甲基吲哚季铵盐的制备及其光电性能研究

以2,3,3-三甲基吲哚为原料,合成了5种甲基吲哚阳离子季铵盐,通过核磁共振氢谱、质谱等手段,对合成的化合物进行了结构表征,并将其作为有机电解质应用于染料敏化太阳能电池,测定了其相应的光电转换效率,探讨了阳离子季铵盐化合物结构与光电性能的关系.     

液相沉积法处理TiO2纳米晶膜对其光电性能的影响

将涂有TiO2纳米晶膜的导电玻璃浸渍于氟钛酸铵、硼酸和水的液相沉积(Liquid Phase Deposition,简称LPD)反应溶液中,利用反应液中氟的金属配位离子和金属氟化物之间的化学平衡反应,在TiO2纳米晶多孔膜(简称nc-TiO2膜)上沉积一层TiO2纳米粒子,从而实现对TiO2纳米晶膜进行化学处理。以经过LPD处理的TiO2纳米晶膜作为光阳极组装染料敏化太阳能电池(DSSC)并测试其伏安特性曲线,研究了不同反应时间条件下LPD处理nc-TiO2膜对DSSC光电性能的影响。结果表明:在一定条件下用LPD处理TiO2纳米晶膜可显著提高其DSSC光电性能,短路电流密度最高提高13.13%,能量转化效率最高提高13.95%。论文对LPD处理TiO2纳米晶膜提高DSSC光电转化性能的原因进行了分析。