Semitransparent Sb₂S₃ thin film solar cells by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis for use in solar windows

• Jako S. Eensalu,
• Atanas Katerski,
• Erki Kärber,
• Lothar Weinhardt,
• Monika Blum,
• Clemens Heske,
• Wanli Yang,
• Ilona Oja Acik and
• Malle Krunks

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2396–2409, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.230

• Road, Berkeley, California, 94720, USA 10.3762/bjnano.10.230 Abstract The integration of photovoltaic (PV) solar energy in zero-energy buildings requires durable and efficient solar windows composed of lightweight and semitransparent thin film solar cells. Inorganic materials with a high optical

• -deposited Sb2S3 solar cells. An average visible transparency (AVT) of 26% of the back-contact-less ITO/TiO2/Sb2S3 solar cell stack in the wavelength range of 380–740 nm is attained by tuning the Sb2S3 absorber thickness to 100 nm. In scale-up from mm2 to cm2 areas, the Sb2S3 hybrid solar cells show a

• decrease in efficiency of only 3.2% for an 88 mm2 Sb2S3 solar cell, which retains 70% relative efficiency after one year of non-encapsulated storage. A cell with a PCE of 3.9% at 1 sun shows a PCE of 7.4% at 0.1 sun, attesting to the applicability of these solar cells for light harvesting under cloud cover

Polyvinylpyrrolidone as additive for perovskite solar cells with water and isopropanol as solvents

• Chen Du,
• Shuo Wang,
• Xu Miao,
• Wenhai Sun,
• Yu Zhu,
• Chengyan Wang and
• Ruixin Ma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2374–2382, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.228

• and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, PR China Beijing Key Laboratory of Special Melting and Preparation of High-End Metal Materials, Beijing 100083, PR China 10.3762/bjnano.10.228 Abstract The recent years have witnessed a fast-paced development of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Unfortunately, the

• 0.1 cm2. The PCE continued to be over 80% of the initial PCE after 60 days of storage. FInally, the introduced PVP-doped PSCs present a low-cost and low-toxicity way to commercialize perovskite solar cells. Keywords: additive; lead nitrate aqueous solution; low-toxicity process; perovskite solar

• photoanode and CH3NH3PbX3 (X = I, Br) as light absorbing material to derive perovskite dye-sensitized solar cells with conversion efficiencies of 3.81% (X = I) and 3.13% (X = Br). However, the corrosion of the perovskite material used in the electrolyte results in a poor stability of the devices [5]. In July

Nontoxic pyrite iron sulfide nanocrystals as second electron acceptor in PTB7:PC₇₁BM-based organic photovoltaic cells

• Olivia Amargós-Reyes,
• José-Luis Maldonado,
• Omar Martínez-Alvarez,
• María-Elena Nicho,
• José Santos-Cruz,
• Juan Nicasio-Collazo,
• Irving Caballero-Quintana and
• Concepción Arenas-Arrocena

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2238–2250, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.216

• ]. According to the analysis carried out by Wadia et al. [3], among 23 semiconducting materials, FeS2 is the best candidate for the development of large-scale solar cells at low cost (<2 × 10−6 ¢/W). Furthermore, FeS2 exhibits excellent optoelectronic properties such as a band gap of 0.8 to 1.38 eV [4][5][6][7

• electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) [9][12][13], as electron acceptors or donors in inorganic or hybrid solar cells [10][14][15][16][17] and as second electron acceptors in organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) [18]. An iron pyrite thin film used as a counter electrode showed a conversion efficiency

• inside the CdS/CdTe inorganic heterojunction improved the conversion efficiency of the PV device by up to 8% [19]. Moreover, FeS2 has also been used in perovskite solar cells as a hole transport layer (HTL) to reduce the fabrication cost, reaching efficiencies of up to 11.2% [20]. On the other hand, OPVs

Improved adsorption and degradation performance by S-doping of (001)-TiO₂

• Xiao-Yu Sun,
• Xian Zhang,
• Xiao Sun,
• Ni-Xian Qian,
• Min Wang and
• Yong-Qing Ma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2116–2127, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.206

• pollutants, as well as in electrocatalysis, solar cells and self-cleaning applications. Its wide use is based on its physicochemical properties, abundance, nontoxicity, environment-friendliness and low cost [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. The photocatalytic properties of anatase TiO2 crystals are anisotropic since

Green and scalable synthesis of nanocrystalline kuramite

• Andrea Giaccherini,
• Giuseppe Cucinotta,
• Stefano Martinuzzi,
• Enrico Berretti,
• Werner Oberhauser,
• Alessandro Lavacchi,
• Giovanni Orazio Lepore,
• Giordano Montegrossi,
• Maurizio Romanelli,
• Antonio De Luca,
• Massimo Innocenti,
• Vanni Moggi Cecchi,
• Matteo Mannini,
• Antonella Buccianti and
• Francesco Di Benedetto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2073–2083, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.202

• Naturale, Sistema Museale di Ateneo dell’Università degli Studi di Firenze, Via La Pira 4, 50121 Firenze, Italy 10.3762/bjnano.10.202 Abstract The new generation of solar cells aims to overcome many of the issues created by silicon-based devices (e.g., decommissioning, flexibility and high-energy

Charge-transfer interactions between fullerenes and a mesoporous tetrathiafulvalene-based metal–organic framework

• Manuel Souto,
• Joaquín Calbo,
• Samuel Mañas-Valero,
• Aron Walsh and
• Guillermo Mínguez Espallargas

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1883–1893, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.183

• , understanding the CT processes between the electron-acceptor C60 and the electron-donor molecules is fundamental in order to optimise photovoltaics and develop efficient solar cells [28]. The encapsulation of C60 in MOFs [29] has become a very interesting strategy for the purification of fullerenes [30][31][32

Novel hollow titanium dioxide nanospheres with antimicrobial activity against resistant bacteria

• Carol López de Dicastillo,
• Cristian Patiño,
• María José Galotto,
• Yesseny Vásquez-Martínez,
• Claudia Torrent,
• Daniela Alburquenque,
• Alejandro Pereira and
• Juan Escrig

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1716–1725, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.167

• their high stability, low cost, reusability, and high photocatalytic activity [6][7][8]. These excellent properties have been applied in many products such as foods, catalyst support, air purification, water disinfection, antibacterial, cosmetics and solar cells [9][10]. Photocatalytic TiO2 favors the

Kelvin probe force microscopy work function characterization of transition metal oxide crystals under ongoing reduction and oxidation

• Dominik Wrana,
• Karol Cieślik,
• Wojciech Belza,
• Christian Rodenbücher,
• Krzysztof Szot and
• Franciszek Krok

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1596–1607, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.155

• superior for many cases in both fundamental research and applications, such as the identification of adsorption geometries of molecules on oxide surfaces [7], probing energetics of electron transfer within single molecules [8] and operation of prototypical electronic devices, such as perovskite solar cells

Materials nanoarchitectonics at two-dimensional liquid interfaces

• Katsuhiko Ariga,
• Michio Matsumoto,
• Taizo Mori and
• Lok Kumar Shrestha

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1559–1587, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.153

• nanosheets. At 90% carbon tetrachloride content, the average pore size became ca. 400 nm. These integrated two-dimensional structures would be nanoarchitectonics pieces for the fabrication of sensitive sensors, organic solar cells, and miniaturized organic superconductors. As a functional development of two

Rapid thermal annealing for high-quality ITO thin films deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering

• Petronela Prepelita,
• Ionel Stavarache,
• Doina Craciun,
• Florin Garoi,
• Catalin Negrila,
• Beatrice Gabriela Sbarcea and
• Valentin Craciun

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1511–1522, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.149

• treatment in an open atmosphere. Such films could be used to manufacture transparent contact electrodes for solar cells. Keywords: conductive transparent electrodes; indium tin oxide (ITO) films; optical properties; radio-frequency magnetron sputtering (rfMS); rapid thermal annealing (RTA); Introduction

• Thin oxide films, used as contact electrodes [1][2][3][4], are considered to be important components of photovoltaic cells [5][6]. As an electrode candidate for solar cells, an ITO film [7][8] must present excellent optical and electrical properties for increased energy generation. At this time, the

• goal is to obtain high-performance solar cells [6][9][10] but at a cost as low as possible. ITO is an attractive material because it exhibits excellent properties as a transparent conductive oxide (TCO) material that can be tuned during deposition in order to obtain materials for specific applications

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

• 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

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

• 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

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

• , 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

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

• 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

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

• ; 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

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

• ; 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

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

• 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

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

• , 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

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

• 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

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

• 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

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

• 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

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

• 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

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

• 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

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

• 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

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

• , 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