Journal article
Tailoring Absorber Thickness and the Absorber-Scaffold Interface in CdSe-Coated ZnO Nanowire Extremely Thin Absorber Solar Cells
Electrochimica acta, v 145
01 Nov 2014
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Extremely thin absorber (ETA) solar cells can theoretically provide higher efficiencies than planar cells for low quality absorbers, but only if their nanostructured morphology and interfaces are properly controlled. We report on the dependence of photovoltaic performance on absorber and buffer layer thickness in ETA solar cells containing CdSe-coated ZnO nanowires with CdS buffer. The optimal thickness of electrodeposited CdSe absorber was similar to 50 - 80 nm, as determined using planar cells. Thicker films lead to poor charge separation efficiency due to bulk recombination, while thinner films suffered from poor light absorption and increased interfacial recombination. In ETA cells, the addition of a sub-5 nm CdS buffer layer significantly reduced interfacial recombination and improved fill factor and open circuit voltage. CdS prevents dissolution of the ZnO during CdSe deposition and improves interface quality. With appropriate selection of absorber thickness and interfacial treatment, ETA cells had efficiencies that were 30% larger and short circuit current densities that were two times larger than optimized planar cells. This work presents a rational approach toward designing ETA cell morphology, and it demonstrates a test case where the ETA architecture provides superior performance compared to planar cells made with the same materials and processing conditions. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Details
- Title
- Tailoring Absorber Thickness and the Absorber-Scaffold Interface in CdSe-Coated ZnO Nanowire Extremely Thin Absorber Solar Cells
- Creators
- Hasti Majidi - Drexel UniversityMichael E. Edley - Drexel UniversityLeah C. Spangler - Drexel UniversityJason B. Baxter - Drexel University
- Publication Details
- Electrochimica acta, v 145
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Number of pages
- 9
- Grant note
- CBET-0846464 / NSF CAREER Award; National Science Foundation (NSF); NSF - Office of the Director (OD) 0846464 / Directorate For Engineering; National Science Foundation (NSF); NSF - Directorate for Engineering (ENG)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Chemical and Biological Engineering
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000344203900037
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84907538790
- Other Identifier
- 991019169544304721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Electrochemistry