Insights into collaborative separation process of photogenerated charges and superior performance of solar cells

Journal Article · Mon Jul 25 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4960157· OSTI ID:22594388

Liu, Xiangyang; Wang, Shun; Zheng, Haiwu; Gu, Yuzong ^[1]

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1. Institute of Microsystems Physics and School of Physics and Electronics, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004 (China)

ZnO nanowires/Cu{sub 4}Bi{sub 4}S{sub 9} (ZnO/CBS) and ZnO nanowires/CBS-graphene nanoplates (ZnO/CBS-GNs), as well as two types of solar cells were prepared. The photovoltaic responses of CBS-GNs and ZnO/CBS-GNs can be improved with incorporation of GNs. The transient surface photovoltage (TPV) can provide detailed information on the separation and transport of photogenerated carriers. The multichannel separation process from the TPVs indicates that the macro-photoelectric signals can be attributed to the photogenerated charges separated at the interface of CBS/GNs, rather than CBS/ZnO. The multi-interfacial recombination is the major carrier loss, and the hole selective p-V{sub 2}O{sub 5} can efficiently accelerate the charge extraction to the external circuit. The ZnO/CBS-GNs cell exhibits the superior performance, and the highest efficiency is 10.9%. With the adequate interfaces of CBS/GNs, GNs conductive network, energy level matching, etc., the excitons can easily diffuse to the interface of CBS/GNs, and the separated electrons and holes can be collected quickly, inducing the high photoelectric properties. Here, a facile strategy for solid state solar cells with superior performance presents a potential application.

• OSTI ID: 22594388
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 109, Issue 4; Other Information: (c) 2016 Author(s); Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
CARRIERS
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRONS
ENERGY LEVELS
EXCITONS
EXTRACTION
GRAPHENE
HOLES
INTERFACES
NANOWIRES
PHOTOVOLTAIC EFFECT
RECOMBINATION
SIGNALS
SOLAR CELLS
SURFACES
VANADATES
VANADIUM OXIDES
ZINC OXIDES