In this present work, a PVA/PVP-blend polymer was doped with various concentrations of neodymium oxide (PB-Nd+3) composite films using the solution casting technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was used to investigate the composite structure and proved the semi-crystallinity of the pure PVA/PVP polymeric sample. Furthermore, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) analysis, a chemical-structure tool, illustrated a significant interaction of PB-Nd+3 elements in the polymeric blends. The transmittance data reached 88% for the host PVA/PVP blend matrix, while the absorption increased with the high dopant quantities of PB-Nd+3. The absorption spectrum fitting (ASF) and Tauc’s models optically estimated the direct and indirect energy bandgaps, where the addition of PB-Nd+3 concentrations resulted in a drop in the energy bandgap values. A remarkably higher quantity of Urbach energy for the investigated composite films was observed with the increase in the PB-Nd+3 contents. Moreover, seven theoretical equations were utilized, in this current research, to indicate the correlation between the refractive index and the energy bandgap. The indirect bandgaps for the proposed composites were evaluated to be in the range of 5.6 eV to 4.82 eV; in addition, the direct energy gaps decreased from 6.09 eV to 5.83 eV as the dopant ratios increased. The nonlinear optical parameters were influenced by adding PB-Nd+3, which tended to increase the values. The PB-Nd+3 composite films enhanced the optical limiting effects and offered a cut-off laser in the visible region. The real and imaginary parts of the dielectric permittivity of the blend polymer embedded in PB-Nd+3 increased in the low-frequency region. The AC conductivity and nonlinear I-V characteristics were augmented with the doping level of PB-Nd+3 contents in the blended PVA/PVP polymer. The outstanding findings regarding the structural, electrical, optical, and dielectric performance of the proposed materials show that the new PB-Nd+3-doped PVA/PVP composite polymeric films are applicable in optoelectronics, cut-off lasers, and electrical devices.

Cadmium telluride (CdTe), a metallic dichalcogenide material, was utilized as an absorber layer for thin film–based solar cells with appropriate configurations and the SCAPS–1D structures program was used to evaluate the results. In both known and developing thin film photovoltaic systems, a CdS thin–film buffer layer is frequently employed as a traditional n–type heterojunction partner. In this study, numerical simulation was used to determine a suitable non–toxic material for the buffer layer that can be used instead of CdS, among various types of buffer layers (ZnSe, ZnO, ZnS and In2S3) and carrier concentrations for the absorber layer (NA) and buffer layer (ND) were varied to determine the optimal simulation parameters. Carrier concentrations (NA from 2 × 1012 cm−3 to 2 × 1017 cm−3 and ND from 1 × 1016 cm−3 to 1 × 1022 cm−3) differed. The results showed that the use of CdS as a buffer–layer–based CdTe absorber layer for solar cell had the highest efficiency (%) of 17.43%. Furthermore, high conversion efficiencies of 17.42% and 16.27% were for the ZnSe and ZnO-based buffer layers, respectively. As a result, ZnO and ZnSe are potential candidates for replacing the CdS buffer layer in thin–film solar cells. Here, the absorber (CdTe) and buffer (ZnSe) layers were chosen to improve the efficiency by finding the optimal density of the carrier concentration (acceptor and donor). The simulation findings above provide helpful recommendations for fabricating high–efficiency metal oxide–based solar cells in the lab.

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The numerical modeling of a copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS)-based kesterite solar cell is described in detail in this article. To model FTO/ZnO/CdS/CZTS/MO structured solar cells, the Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator-one-dimension (SCAPS-1D) program was utilized. Numerical modeling was used to estimate and assess the parameters of various photovoltaic thin film solar cells. The impact of different parameters on solar cell performance and conversion efficiency were explored. Because the response of a solar cell is partly determined by its internal physical mechanism, J-V characteristic characteristics are insufficient to define a device’s behavior. Regardless of the conviction in solar cell modeling, variable attributes as well as many probable conditions must be handled for simulation. Promising optimized results were obtained with a conversion efficiency of (η% = 25.72%), a fill factor of (FF% = 83.75%), a short-circuit current of (JSC  = 32.96436 mA/cm2), and an open-circuit voltage of (VOC = 0.64 V). The findings will aid in determining the feasibility of manufacturing high-efficiency CZTS-based solar cells. First, in the SCAPS-1D environment, the impacts of experimentally constructed CZTS solar cells were simulated. The experimental data was then compared to the simulated results from SCAPS-1D. After optimizing cell parameters, the conversion efficiency of the improved system was observed to rise. The influence of system factors, such as the thickness, acceptor, and donor carrier concentration densities of the absorber and electron transport layers, and the effect of temperature on the efficiency of CZTS-based photovoltaic cells, was explored using one-dimensional SCAPS-1D software. The suggested findings will be extremely useful to engineers and researchers in determining the best method for maximizing solar cell efficiency, as well as in the development of more efficient CZTS-based solar cells.

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