Role of the Metal-Oxide Work Function on Photocurrent Generation in Hybrid Solar Cells
Abstract ZnO is a widely used metal-oxide semiconductor for photovoltaic application. In solar cell heterostructures they not only serve as a charge selective contact, but also act as electron acceptor. Although ZnO offers a suitable interface for exciton dissociation, charge separation efficiencies...
| Huvudupphovsmän: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Materialtyp: | Artikel |
| Språk: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2018-02-01
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| Serie: | Scientific Reports |
| Länkar: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-21721-2 |
| _version_ | 1831625617859149824 |
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| author | Chawloon Thu Philipp Ehrenreich Ka Kan Wong Eugen Zimmermann James Dorman Wei Wang Azhar Fakharuddin Martin Putnik Charalampos Drivas Aimilios Koutsoubelitis Maria Vasilopoulou Leonidas C. Palilis Stella Kennou Julian Kalb Thomas Pfadler Lukas Schmidt-Mende |
| author_facet | Chawloon Thu Philipp Ehrenreich Ka Kan Wong Eugen Zimmermann James Dorman Wei Wang Azhar Fakharuddin Martin Putnik Charalampos Drivas Aimilios Koutsoubelitis Maria Vasilopoulou Leonidas C. Palilis Stella Kennou Julian Kalb Thomas Pfadler Lukas Schmidt-Mende |
| author_sort | Chawloon Thu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract ZnO is a widely used metal-oxide semiconductor for photovoltaic application. In solar cell heterostructures they not only serve as a charge selective contact, but also act as electron acceptor. Although ZnO offers a suitable interface for exciton dissociation, charge separation efficiencies have stayed rather poor and conceptual differences to organic acceptors are rarely investigated. In this work, we employ Sn doping to ZnO nanowires in order to understand the role of defect and surface states in the charge separation process. Upon doping we are able to modify the metal-oxide work function and we show its direct correlation with the charge separation efficiency. For this purpose, we use the polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) as donor and the squaraine dye SQ2 as interlayer. Interestingly, neither mobilities nor defects are prime performance limiting factor, but rather the density of available states around the conduction band is of crucial importance for hybrid interfaces. This work highlights crucial aspects to improve the charge generation process of metal-oxide based solar cells and reveals new strategies to improve the power conversion efficiency of hybrid solar cells. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T22:36:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-de3a11d041e94e7faa0f58b13c58ba09 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T22:36:41Z |
| publishDate | 2018-02-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-de3a11d041e94e7faa0f58b13c58ba092022-12-21T20:49:14ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222018-02-01811810.1038/s41598-018-21721-2Role of the Metal-Oxide Work Function on Photocurrent Generation in Hybrid Solar CellsChawloon Thu0Philipp Ehrenreich1Ka Kan Wong2Eugen Zimmermann3James Dorman4Wei Wang5Azhar Fakharuddin6Martin Putnik7Charalampos Drivas8Aimilios Koutsoubelitis9Maria Vasilopoulou10Leonidas C. Palilis11Stella Kennou12Julian Kalb13Thomas Pfadler14Lukas Schmidt-Mende15Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, POB 680Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, POB 680Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, POB 680Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, POB 680Cain Department of Chemical Engineering, 3307 Patrick Taylor Hall, Louisiana State UniversityDepartment of Physics, University of Konstanz, POB 680Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, POB 680Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, POB 680Department of Chemical Engineering, University of PatrasDepartment of Physics, University of PatrasInstitute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, National Center for Scientific Research, Demokritos, Agia ParaskeviDepartment of Physics, University of PatrasDepartment of Chemical Engineering, University of PatrasDepartment of Physics, University of Konstanz, POB 680Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, POB 680Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, POB 680Abstract ZnO is a widely used metal-oxide semiconductor for photovoltaic application. In solar cell heterostructures they not only serve as a charge selective contact, but also act as electron acceptor. Although ZnO offers a suitable interface for exciton dissociation, charge separation efficiencies have stayed rather poor and conceptual differences to organic acceptors are rarely investigated. In this work, we employ Sn doping to ZnO nanowires in order to understand the role of defect and surface states in the charge separation process. Upon doping we are able to modify the metal-oxide work function and we show its direct correlation with the charge separation efficiency. For this purpose, we use the polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) as donor and the squaraine dye SQ2 as interlayer. Interestingly, neither mobilities nor defects are prime performance limiting factor, but rather the density of available states around the conduction band is of crucial importance for hybrid interfaces. This work highlights crucial aspects to improve the charge generation process of metal-oxide based solar cells and reveals new strategies to improve the power conversion efficiency of hybrid solar cells.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-21721-2 |
| spellingShingle | Chawloon Thu Philipp Ehrenreich Ka Kan Wong Eugen Zimmermann James Dorman Wei Wang Azhar Fakharuddin Martin Putnik Charalampos Drivas Aimilios Koutsoubelitis Maria Vasilopoulou Leonidas C. Palilis Stella Kennou Julian Kalb Thomas Pfadler Lukas Schmidt-Mende Role of the Metal-Oxide Work Function on Photocurrent Generation in Hybrid Solar Cells Scientific Reports |
| title | Role of the Metal-Oxide Work Function on Photocurrent Generation in Hybrid Solar Cells |
| title_full | Role of the Metal-Oxide Work Function on Photocurrent Generation in Hybrid Solar Cells |
| title_fullStr | Role of the Metal-Oxide Work Function on Photocurrent Generation in Hybrid Solar Cells |
| title_full_unstemmed | Role of the Metal-Oxide Work Function on Photocurrent Generation in Hybrid Solar Cells |
| title_short | Role of the Metal-Oxide Work Function on Photocurrent Generation in Hybrid Solar Cells |
| title_sort | role of the metal oxide work function on photocurrent generation in hybrid solar cells |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-21721-2 |
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