Bottom-up grown ZnO nanorods for an antireflective moth-eye structure on CuInGaSe2 solar cells

Shin, Beom Ki; Lee, Tae Il; Xiong, Junjie; Hwang, Changhun; Noh, Gapseong; Cho, Joong Hwee; Myoung, Jae Min

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2011.05.033

Cited by 56 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(28 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…There is a big interest in growing ZnO nanorods for their potential use in different applications such as dye sensitized solar cells [5,6], anti-reflective coatings (ARC) [7], chalcopyrite solar cells [8,9], light-emitting diodes [10], photo-catalysts [11][12][13], and gas sensing devices [14,15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water-resistant surfaces using zinc oxide structured nanorod arrays with switchable wetting property

Ennaceri

Wang

Erfurt

et al. 2016

Surface and Coatings Technology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract.This study presents an experimental approach for fabricating super-hydrophobic coatings based on a dual roughness structure composed of zinc oxide nanorod arrays coated with a sputtered zinc oxide nano-layer. The ZnO nanorod arrays were grown by mean of low-temperature electrochemical deposition technique (75°C) on FTO substrates with pre-sputtered ZnO seed layer of 30 nm thickness. The ZnO nanorods show a (002) orientation along the c-axis, and have a hexagonal structure, with an average length of 710 nm, and average width of 156 nm. On the other hand, the crystallite size of the top-coating sputtered ZnO layer is of 30 nm. The as-deposited ZnO nanorod arrays exhibited a hydrophobic behavior, with a surface water contact angle of 108°, whereas the dual-scale roughness ZnO nanorods coated with sputtered ZnO exhibited a superhydrophobic behavior, with a surface water contact angle of 157° and high water droplet adhesion. The photo-catalytic degradation of methylene blue in the presence of both the single roughness ZnO nanorod arrays, and dual roughness structured ZnO. The ZnO nanorod arrays showed good activity, with a degradation efficiency of 50% and a degradation constant of (k = 0.00225 min -1 ) after 5 hours of UV illumination. On the other hand, the ZnO dual roughness structure prepared by sputtered ZnO on top of the ZnO nanorod arrays showed minimal activity, with a degradation efficiency of 16% and a degradation constant of (k = 0.000586 min -1 ) after 5 hours of UV exposure. The double structured films exhibited high sensitivity to UV light, with a UV-induced switching behavior from super-hydrophobic to super-hydrophilic after only 30 minutes of UV exposure.Key Words: Super-hydrophobic, water contact angle, zinc oxide, nanorod arrays, rose petal effect, photo-catalysis. Highlights Hydrophobic ZnO nanorod arrays with high water-adhesion are achieved. Sputtered ZnO top-coating is used to reach super-hydrophobicity. Switchable wettability for ZnO single and dual roughness films under UV exposure. Strong pinning to the surface, similar to the rose-petal effect. The higher WCA is responsible for the decrease in the photo-catalysis activity.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water-resistant surfaces using zinc oxide structured nanorod arrays with switchable wetting property

Ennaceri

Wang

Erfurt

et al. 2016

Surface and Coatings Technology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…[ 160,161 ] Using hydrothermally grown ZnO NRAs on top of sputtered AZO contacts it was possible to reduce the refl ection losses from 6.14% to 1.46% and thus to boost the cell effi ciency from 10% to 11.5% (the effi ciency rise, however, could not be attributed solely to the increased photocurrent due to reduced refl ection). [ 162 ] Beside ZnO-derived ARCs, SiO 2 -and polymer-based coatings are worth mentioning since they can be prepared using sol-gel routes with post-curing at temperatures below 200 °C. [ 163 ] Silver grids and contact lines are typically prepared from particle inks by screen-printing, but it is also possible to achieve highly conductive lines by ink-jetting true solutions.…”

Section: Arc and Metal Gridmentioning

confidence: 99%

All Solution‐Processed Chalcogenide Solar Cells – from Single Functional Layers Towards a 13.8% Efficient CIGS Device

Romanyuk

Hagendorfer

Stücheli

et al. 2014

Adv Funct Materials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Solution processing of inorganic thin fi lms has become an important thrust in material research community because it offers low-cost and high-throughput deposition of various functional coatings and devices. Especially inorganic thin fi lm solar cells -macroelectronic devices that rely on consecutive deposition of layers on large-area rigid and fl exible substrates -could benefi t from solution approaches in order to realize their low-cost nature. This article critically reviews existing deposition approaches of functional layers for chalcogenide solar cells with an extension to other thin fi lm technologies. Only true solutions of readily available metal salts in appropriate solvents are considered without the need of pre-fabricated nanoparticles. By combining three promising approaches, an air-stable Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 thin fi lm solar cell with effi ciency of 13.8% is demonstrated where all constituent layers (except the metal back contact) are processed from solutions. Notably, water is employed as the solvent in all steps, highlighting the potential for safe manufacturing with high utilization rates. remarkable improvements in conversion effi ciency. [ 1 ] The highest effi ciency of 21.0% has been achieved for two thin fi lm technologies so far: Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 (CIGS) [ 2 ] and CdTe. [ 3 ] Remarkably, both CIGS and CdTe records are exceeding the highest value of 20.4% for the market leading polycrystalline silicon wafer technology. Kesterite Cu 2 ZnSn(S,Se) 4 (CZTSSe) solar cells are often considered as low-cost alternatives to CIGS and CdTe because they consist of only earth-abundant and nontoxic elements although the effi ciency is currently limited to 12.6% (12.7% not certifi ed). [ 4 ] Well-established dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) and amorphous silicon (a-Si) technology peak at 12.3% and 13.4%, respectively. [ 1 ] The most recent boom in TFPV -organometallic halide perovskite cells -has shown an incredible spurt by advancing effi ciency from below 5% to 17.9%(!) within just 3 years. [ 5 ] On the border to classical TFSC is the thin crystalline silicon technology that employs liftoff of 50-micrometer-thick Si wafers to yield up to 21.2%-efficient solar cells. [ 6 ] These massive research and development efforts in the fi eld of TFSC clearly refl ect their commercial value for manufacturing inexpensive effi cient solar modules -rigid or fl exible. Functional layers for the high effi ciency devices are deposited mostly in a batch-to-batch manner using vacuum-based methods such as evaporation, sputtering, or chemical vapor deposition. For example, Figure 1 exhibits a cross-section of a >20% effi cient CIGS solar cell in the so-called substrate confi guration, where 5 out of 6 functional layers are deposited by evaporation or sputtering. In this respect, non-vacuum deposition methods are often promoted as alternative approaches to reduce capital investment costs, offer fast roll-to-roll (R2R) processing and eventually reduce the PV module prices. Particularly desirable among non-vacuum approaches are solutionb...

show abstract

“…Similar texturing technique using acid solution has also been applied to multi-crystalline silicon based solar cell. On the other hand, literatures have already found the subwavelength moth-eye structures for decades and have demonstrated that this structure has low reflection over a broad spectral range [7,8]. E-beam lithography, photolithography, and nano-sphere lithography techniques are available for fabricating moth-eye patterns [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fabrication of Polymeric Antireflection Film Manufactured by Anodic Aluminum Oxide Template on the Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell

Tsai¹,

Tu²

2017

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:In this study, a high energy conversion efficient dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) was successfully fabricated by attaching a double anti-reflection (AR) layer which is composed of a subwavelength moth-eye structured polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) film and a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film. The efficiency is up to 6.79%. The moth-eye structured PMMA film was fabricated by using anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template which is simple, low-cost and scalable. The nano-pattern of AAO template has been precisely reproduced onto PMMA film. The photoanode is composed of Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles (NPs) with diameter of 25 nm deposited on the fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrate and the sensitizer N3. The double AR layer can effectively improve the short-circuit current density (JSC) and conversion efficiency from 14.77 to 15.79 mA/cm 2 and from 6.26% to 6.79%, respectively.

show abstract

Bottom-up grown ZnO nanorods for an antireflective moth-eye structure on CuInGaSe2 solar cells

Cited by 56 publications

References 23 publications

Water-resistant surfaces using zinc oxide structured nanorod arrays with switchable wetting property

Water-resistant surfaces using zinc oxide structured nanorod arrays with switchable wetting property

All Solution‐Processed Chalcogenide Solar Cells – from Single Functional Layers Towards a 13.8% Efficient CIGS Device

Fabrication of Polymeric Antireflection Film Manufactured by Anodic Aluminum Oxide Template on the Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About