A comparison of fill factor and recombination losses in amorphous silicon solar cells on ZnO and SnO2

Alkaya, Alkan; Kaplan, R.; Canbolat, Huseyin; Hegedus, Steven

doi:10.1016/j.renene.2008.11.009

Cited by 20 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…The photocurrent produced by the solar cells is directly related to the amount of photo-generated electrons injected from Au NPs to the CB of ZnO NRs, whereas the fill factor (FF) of the solar cells can provide direct measure of the losses related to the interfacial charge recombination processes, and thereby giving the charge separation efficiency at the Au-ZnO interface. 20,60,61 Usually higher the photocurrent and FF, higher will be the charge transfer and charge separation efficiency at the Au-ZnO interface respectively, and hence higher will be the photocatalytic activity. Fig.…”

Section: Role Of Surface Defects In Photocatalytic Activity Of Au-znomentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of surface defects on visible light enabled plasmonic photocatalysis in Au–ZnO nanocatalysts

et al. 2015

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Visible light photocatalytic activity of the plasmonic gold-zinc oxide (Au-ZnO) nanorods (NRs) is investigated with respect to the surface defects of the ZnO NRs, controlled by annealing the NRs in ambient at different temperatures. IntroductionPhotocatalysis by nanostructured metal oxides has been extensively explored in the past due to the potential application in controlling the environmental pollutants for complete mineralization. AbstractVisible light photocatalytic activity of the plasmonic gold-zinc oxide (Au-ZnO) nanorods (NRs) is investigated with respect to the surface defects of the ZnO NRs, controlled by annealing the NRs in ambient at different temperatures. Understanding the role of surface defects on the charge transfer behaviour across a metal-semiconductor junction is vital for efficient visible light active photocatalysis. Au nanoparticles (NPs) are in situ deposited on the surface of the ZnO NRs having different surface defect densities, demonstrating efficient harvesting of visible light due to the surface plasmon absorption. The surface defects in the ZnO NRs are probed by using photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), and photo-electro-chemical current-voltage measurements to study the photo-generated charge transfer efficiency across the Au-ZnO Schottky interface. The results show that the surface situated oxygen vacancy sites in the ZnO NRs significantly reduce the charge transfer efficiency across the Au-ZnO Schottky interfaces lowering the photocatalytic activity of the system. Reduction in the oxygen vacancy sites through annealing the ZnO NRs resulted in the enhancement of visible light enabled photocatalytic activity of the Au-ZnO plasmonic nanocatalyst, adding vital insight towards the design of efficient plasmonic photocatalysts. rsc_RA_c5ra16569e higher surface-to-volume ratios resulting in improved catalytic activity compared to their bulk counterparts. Metal oxides, for example, titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ), zinc oxide (ZnO), etc. are commonly used as photocatalysts, and are typically active under ultra-violet (UV) light due to their wide band gap energies. In recent times, designing photocatalysts that can be activated by visible light is one of the major research areas in order to efficiently and cost-effectively utilize them using the sunlight. Activation of wide bandgap metal oxide photocatalysts under visible light irradiation can be achieved in various ways, among which doping with transition metals, 4-6 creating intermediate defects, 7,8 sensitizing with visible light active dyes or other semiconductors materials, 9-11 narrow bandgap semiconductor coupling 12-14 etc. are some of the commonly used methods.Sensitizing the metal oxide photocatalysts with noble metal NPs to harvest visible light utilizing the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) absorption of the metallic NPs, and hence the name plasmonic photocatalysis, is emerging as a new area for designing smart photocatalysts. 15,16 Plasmonic photocatalysis typically involves distribution of ...

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Section: Role Of Surface Defects In Photocatalytic Activity Of Au-znomentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of surface defects on visible light enabled plasmonic photocatalysis in Au–ZnO nanocatalysts

et al. 2015

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“…Two important semiconductors, ZnO and SnO 2 , have attracted considerable attention because of their unique properties and potential applications as varistors [1,2], gas sensing [3] inert electrodes in electrochemical processes [4], thermoelectric materials with high-energy conversion efficiency [5] and solar cells [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advanced ceramics in the SnO2–ZnO binary system

Mihaiu¹,

Toader²,

Atkinson³

et al. 2015

Ceramics International

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“…8 To increase the conversion efficiency of the solar cells the electrical and the radiation losses of the TCO have to be reduced. 9 The textured SnO 2 :F is an industry standard for superstrate (glass/TCO/p-i-n/metal) type a-Si:H solar cells, 10 because it has a lot of advantages compared to other TCOs, as the lowest plasmon frequency, the highest work function (good for p-type a-Si contacts), an excellent thermal stability, mechanical and chemical durability, the lowest cost and toxicity. 8 Although the workfunction of the SnO 2 :F is greater than that of the ZnO:Al, solar cells deposited on SnO 2 exhibit a reduced short circuit current density compared to that of the solar cells deposited on doped ZnO.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…11 Hence, the characterization of the TCO/p-type a-Si:H interface is crucial to improve the performances of amorphous solar cell structures. [8][9][10][11] The aim of this work is to understand the carrier transport mechanism of the SnO 2 :F/p-type a-Si:H heterojunction. This heterojunction is an anisotype n þ -p junction with type 2 alignment of the band levels.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carrier transport mechanism in the SnO2:F/p-type a-Si:H heterojunction

Cannella

Principato

Foti

et al. 2011

Journal of Applied Physics

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We characterize SnO 2 :F/p-type a-Si:H/Mo structures by current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements at different temperatures to determine the transport mechanism in the SnO 2 :F/ p-type a-Si:H heterojunction. The experimental I-V curves of these structures, almost symmetric around the origin, are ohmic for V j j< 0:1 V and have a super-linear behavior (power law) for V j j< 0:1 V. The structure can be modeled as two diodes back to back connected so that the main current transport mechanisms are due to the reverse current of the diodes. To explain the measured C-V curves, the capacitance of the heterostructure is modeled as the series connection of the depletion capacitances of the two back to back connected SnO 2 :F/p-type a-Si:H and Mo/p-type a-Si:H junctions. We simulated the reverse I-V curves of the SnO 2 :F/p-type a-Si:H heterojunction at different temperatures by using the simulation software SCAPS 2.9.03. In the model the main transport mechanism is generation of holes enhanced by tunneling by acceptor-type interface defects with a trap energy of 0.4 eV above the valence bandedge of the p-type a-Si:H layer and with a density of 4.0 Â 10 13 cm À2. By using I-V simulations and the proposed C-V model the built-in potential (V bi ) of the SnO 2 :F/p-type a-Si:H (0.16 V) and p-type a-Si:H/Mo (0.14 V) heterojunctions are extracted and a band diagram of the characterized structure is proposed.

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A comparison of fill factor and recombination losses in amorphous silicon solar cells on ZnO and SnO2

Cited by 20 publications

References 17 publications

Role of surface defects on visible light enabled plasmonic photocatalysis in Au–ZnO nanocatalysts

Role of surface defects on visible light enabled plasmonic photocatalysis in Au–ZnO nanocatalysts

Advanced ceramics in the SnO2–ZnO binary system

Carrier transport mechanism in the SnO2:F/p-type a-Si:H heterojunction

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