Journal article
Titanium Carbide MXene Hole Contacts for CdTe Photovoltaics
SOLAR RRL, v 6(11), 2200366
Nov 2022
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
CdTe is a high-efficiency thin-film photovoltaic (PV) technology that has seen tremendous commercial success over the past decade. Yet despite the improvement of other device characteristics, the fabrication of an ohmic hole back contact layer has remained a challenge due to the high ionization potential of CdTe, which limits the external potential that can be feasibly reached even as other characteristics ofthe device improve. MXenes, a family of 2D materials with rapidly growing scientific and commercial interest, offer a promising route to forming low-cost, low-barrier contacts due to their demonstrated high work function, metallic conductivity, and facile solution processing from benign solvents. Here, it is shown that Ti3C2Tx MXene films processed from an aqueous colloidal dispersion can perform as a highly efficient hole contact material for CdTe solar cells, resulting in high power-conversion efficiencies. The role of the Schottky barrier formation in Ti3C2Tx-contacted CdTe devices is probed, and potential pathways for the future development of this potent combination of materials are elucidated. The modularity of the expansive MXene family of materials presents a promising strategy for developing next-generation hole contacts for CdTe solar cells.
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Details
- Title
- Titanium Carbide MXene Hole Contacts for CdTe Photovoltaics
- Publication Details
- SOLAR RRL, v 6(11), 2200366
- Publisher
- WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH; WEINHEIM
- Grant note
- The authors thank Steve Johnston for assistance with JV(T) measurements, Yury Gogotsi for early discussions regarding Ti3C2Tx, as well as Al Compaan and Toledo Solar, Inc. for early conversations and partially finished CdTe devices used in the early evaluation. This work was authored in part by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, operated by Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, for the USA. Department of Energy (DOE) under Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308. Funding is provided by the USA. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office under agreements 34353, 38257, 0009829 and the American Made Solar Prize, as well as the USA. Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program. The SCGSR program is administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) for the DOE. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE, ORISE, or the USA. Government.
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Drexel University
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000854301800001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85138201784
- Other Identifier
- 991021861169804721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Energy & Fuels
- Materials Science, Multidisciplinary