Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
7.4
5.3
Journals
Nanomaterials
Special Issues
Advances in Nanotechnology of Perovskite and Silicon Solar Cells
share announcement

Advances in Nanotechnology of Perovskite and Silicon Solar Cells

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Solar Energy and Solar Cells".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2022) | Viewed by 6420

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Wei Wei

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Wichita State University, 1845 Fairmount St., Wichita, KS 67228, USA
Interests: energy conversion; nanomaterials; perovskite solar cells; nanotechnology for sustainability

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Solar energy, as the largest single available source of clean energy, dwarfs all other renewable and fossil-based energy resources combined. It can be converted into thermal, electrical, and controllable chemical energy by solar heating and cooling, concentrating solar power, photovoltaics, and photocatalytic processes. Nanomaterials and nanotechnologies show great potential in solar energy conversion and storage applications. This Special Issue is mainly dedicated to the nanomaterials and nanotechnologies in solar energy conversion, with a focus on perovskite solar cells and silicon solar cells. This Special Issue accepts review articles as well as original research articles with a focus on the recent advances in nanomaterials and nanotechnologies for perovskite solar cells and silicon solar cells. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  1. Nanomaterial development, synthesis, and fabrication for renewable energy applications;
  2. Advancements in concepts, mechanisms, modeling, and processes related to nanomaterials and nanotechnologies for solar energy;
  3. Two-dimensional materials (graphene, MoS2, etc.);
  4. Economic characteristics of photovoltaic technologies.

Dr. Wei Wei
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. Nanomaterials 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 2900 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 energy conversion
  • nanotechnology
  • perovskite solar cells
  • silicon solar cells

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

16 pages, 3682 KiB  
Article
Atom-to-Device Simulation of MoO3/Si Heterojunction Solar Cell
by Jasurbek Gulomov, Oussama Accouche, Zaher Al Barakeh, Rayimjon Aliev, Irodakhon Gulomova and Bilel Neji
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(23), 4240; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano12234240 - 28 Nov 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1572
Abstract
Metal oxides are commonly used in optoelectronic devices due to their transparency and excellent electrical conductivity. Based on its physical properties, each metal oxide serves as the foundation for a unique device. In this study, we opt to determine and assess the physical [...] Read more.
Metal oxides are commonly used in optoelectronic devices due to their transparency and excellent electrical conductivity. Based on its physical properties, each metal oxide serves as the foundation for a unique device. In this study, we opt to determine and assess the physical properties of MoO3 metal oxide. Accordingly, the optical and electronic parameters of MoO3 are evaluated using DFT (Density Functional Theory), and PBE and HSE06 functionals were mainly used in the calculation. It was found that the band structure of MoO3 calculated using PBE and HSE06 exhibited indirect semiconductor properties with the same line quality. Its band gap was 3.027 eV in HSE06 and 2.12 eV in PBE. Electrons and holes had effective masses and mobilities of 0.06673, −0.10084, 3811.11 cm2V−1s−1 and 1630.39 cm2V−1s−1, respectively. In addition, the simulation determined the dependence of the real and imaginary components of the complex refractive index and permittivity of MoO3 on the wavelength of light, and a value of 58 corresponds to the relative permittivity. MoO3 has a refractive index of between 1.5 and 3 in the visible spectrum, which can therefore be used as an anti-reflection layer for solar cells made from silicon. In addition, based on the semiconducting properties of MoO3, it was estimated that it could serve as an emitter layer for a solar cell containing silicon. In this work, we calculated the photoelectric parameters of the MoO3/Si heterojunction solar cell using Sentaurus TCAD (Technology Computing Aided Design). According to the obtained results, the efficiency of the MoO3/Si solar cell with a MoO3 layer thickness of 100 nm and a Si layer thickness of 9 nm is 8.8%, which is 1.24% greater than the efficiency of a homojunction silicon-based solar cell of the same size. The greatest short-circuit current for a MoO3/Si heterojunction solar cell was observed at a MoO3 layer thickness of 60 nm, which was determined by studying the dependency of the heterojunction short-circuit current on the thickness of the MoO3 layer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Nanotechnology of Perovskite and Silicon Solar Cells)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 2931 KiB  
Article
Optimization of N-PERT Solar Cell under Atacama Desert Solar Spectrum
by Pablo Ferrada, Aitor Marzo, Miriam Ruiz Ferrández, Emilio Ruiz Reina, Benjamin Ivorra, Jonathan Correa-Puerta and Valeria del Campo
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(20), 3554; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano12203554 - 11 Oct 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2720
Abstract
In the Atacama Desert, the spectral distribution of solar radiation differs from the global standard, showing very high levels of irradiation with a particularly high ultraviolet content. Additionally, the response of photovoltaic (PV) technologies is spectrally dependent, so it is necessary to consider [...] Read more.
In the Atacama Desert, the spectral distribution of solar radiation differs from the global standard, showing very high levels of irradiation with a particularly high ultraviolet content. Additionally, the response of photovoltaic (PV) technologies is spectrally dependent, so it is necessary to consider local conditions and type of technology to optimize PV devices since solar cells are usually designed for maximum performance under standard testing conditions (STC). In this work, we determined geometrical and doping parameters to optimize the power of an n-type bifacial passivated emitter and rear totally diffused solar cell (n-PERT). Six parameters (the thicknesses of cell, emitter, and back surface field, as well as doping concentration of emitter, base, and back surface field) were used to optimize the cell under the Atacama Desert spectrum (AM 1.08) and under standard conditions (AM 1.5) through a genetic algorithm. To validate the model, the calculated performance of the n-PERT cell was compared with experimental measurements. Computed and experimental efficiencies showed a relative difference below 1% under STC conditions. Through the optimization process, we found that different geometry and doping concentrations are necessary for cells to be used in the Atacama Desert. Reducing the thickness of all layers and increasing doping can lead to a relative increment of 5.4% in the cell efficiency under AM 1.08. Finally, we show the potential effect of metallization and the viability of reducing the thicknesses of the emitter and the back surface field. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Nanotechnology of Perovskite and Silicon Solar Cells)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

10 pages, 1735 KiB  
Article
Investigating Tungsten Sulfide as a Counter Electrode Material in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
by Saket Chand Mathur, Soheil Rashidi and Wei Wei
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(16), 2761; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano12162761 - 12 Aug 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1556
Abstract
With the recent interest in renewable energy sources, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have received a great deal of attention as a cheaper and more sustainable alternative to silicon-based solar cells. In a DSSC, the counter electrode performs the catalytic reduction of the electrolyte [...] Read more.
With the recent interest in renewable energy sources, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have received a great deal of attention as a cheaper and more sustainable alternative to silicon-based solar cells. In a DSSC, the counter electrode performs the catalytic reduction of the electrolyte and electron collection. To perform this function adequately, platinum is the preferred material currently. To reduce the dependence of the DSSC on such an expensive material, alternatives such as activated carbon (AC) and two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides, and more specifically, tungsten sulfide (WS2), were considered. AC has shown great potential as a material for counter electrodes, whereas WS2 has unique physiochemical properties which warrant its exploration as an energy material. In this article, we synthesized and evaluated the performance of DSSCs with AC, WS2, and AC/WS2 composite counter electrodes. It was demonstrated that the performance of the WS2/AC composite counter electrode with a 1:2 ratio of WS2 to AC shows the highest performance with an efficiency of 6.25%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Nanotechnology of Perovskite and Silicon Solar Cells)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

10 pages, 2189 KiB  
Article
Direct Synthesis of MoS2 Nanosheets in Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanoscroll for Enhanced Photodetection
by Zhikang Wu, Feifei Li, Xiya Li, Yang Yang, Xiao Huang and Hai Li
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(9), 1581; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano12091581 - 06 May 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2017
Abstract
Due to their unique tubular and spiral structure, graphene and graphene oxide nanoscrolls (GONS) have shown extensive applications in various fields. However, it is still a challenge to improve the optoelectronic application of graphene and GONS because of the zero bandgap of graphene. [...] Read more.
Due to their unique tubular and spiral structure, graphene and graphene oxide nanoscrolls (GONS) have shown extensive applications in various fields. However, it is still a challenge to improve the optoelectronic application of graphene and GONS because of the zero bandgap of graphene. Herein, ammonium tetrathiomolybdate ((NH4)2MoS4) was firstly wrapped into the ((NH4)2MoS4@GONS) by molecular combing the mixture of (NH4)2MoS4 and GO solution on hydrophobic substrate. After thermal annealing, the (NH4)2MoS4 and GO were converted to MoS2 nanosheets and reduced GO (RGO) simultaneously, and, thus, the MoS2@RGONS was obtained. Raman spectroscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy were used to confirm the formation of MoS2 nanosheets among the RGONS. The amount of MoS2 wrapped in RGONS increased with the increasing height of GONS, which is confirmed by the atomic force microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The as-prepared MoS2@RGONS showed much better photoresponse than the RGONS under visible light. The photocurrent-to-dark current ratios of photodetectors based on MoS2@RGONS are ~570, 360 and 140 under blue, red and green lasers, respectively, which are 81, 144 and 35 times of the photodetectors based on RGONS. Moreover, the MoS2@RGONS-based photodetector exhibited good power-dependent photoresponse. Our work indicates that the MoS2@RGONS is expected to be a promising material in the fields of optoelectronic devices and flexible electronics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Nanotechnology of Perovskite and Silicon Solar Cells)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-4
Back to TopTop