Core/shell nanomaterials in photovoltaics

Abstract

Hybrid materials consist of inorganic nanoparticles embedded in polymer matrices. An advantage of these materials is to combine the unique properties of one or more kinds of inorganic nanoparticles with the film forming properties of polymers. Most of the polymers can be processed from solution at room temperature enabling the manufacturing of large area, flexible and light weight devices. To exploit the full potential for the technological applications of the nanocrystalline materials, it is very important to endow them with good processing attributes. The surface of the inorganic cluster can be modified during the synthesis by organic surfactants. The surfactant can alter the dispersion characteristic of the particles by initiating attractive forces with the polymer chains, in which the particles should be homogenously arranged. In this review, we present wet chemical methods for the synthesis of nanoparticles, which have been used as photovoltaic materials in polymer blends. The photovoltaic performance of various inorganic/organic hybrid solar cells, prepared via spin-coating will be the focus of this contribution.

Synthesis and characterisation of polypyrrole–indium phosphide composite film

“…Inorganic semiconductor particles can have high absorption coefficients and higher photoconductivity as compared to many organic semiconductor materials [9]. 2.…”

State‐of‐the‐Art of Nanostructures in Solar Energy Research

“…In order to reduce the strain-induced defects that cause degradation in the performance of solar cells, III-V semiconductors having a bandgap comparatively lower than that of the GaAs are preferred so that they can be lattice matched with GaAs. Materials such as GaNAs with an anomalous large bandgap bowing [114] and GaInNAs [115][116][117][118][119] having preferable lattice matching to GaAs were used for high-effi ciency solar cell applications and were found to exhibit short minority carrier diffusion lengths [120,121]. As the solar cells need long diffusion lengths in the effective collection of the photogenerated carriers, the short diffusion length of III-N-V semiconductors have to be taken up for further improvement.…”

Fabrication, Doping and Characterization of Polyaniline and Metal Oxides: Dye Sensitized Solar Cells

“…Hybrid solar cells are a mixture of nanostructures of both organic and inorganic materials. Therefore, they combine the unique properties of inorganic semiconductor nanoparticles with properties of organic/polymeric materials (Arici, et al, 2003). In addition to this, low cost synthesis, processability and versatile manufacturing of thin film devices make them attractive (Sariciftci, et al, 1992& Yu, et al, 1995.…”