The simplification of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), by replacing the mesoporous electron selective layer (ESL) with a planar one, is advantageous for large-scale manufacturing. PSCs with a planar ...TiO sub(2) ESL have been demonstrated, but these exhibit unstabilized power conversion efficiencies (PCEs). Herein we show that planar PSCs using TiO sub(2) are inherently limited due to conduction band misalignment and demonstrate, with a variety of characterization techniques, for the first time that SnO sub(2) achieves a barrier-free energetic configuration, obtaining almost hysteresis-free PCEs of over 18% with record high voltages of up to 1.19 V.
Efficient production of hydrogen from solar energy is anticipated to be an important component in a future sustainable post-carbon energy system. Here we demonstrate that series interconnected ...absorbers in a PV-electrolysis configuration based on the compound semiconductor CIGS, CuIn sub(x)Ga sub(1- x)Se sub(2), are a highly interesting concept for solar water splitting applications. The band gap energy of CIGS can be adjusted to a value close to optimum for efficient absorption of the solar spectrum, but is too low to drive overall water splitting. Therefore we connect three cells in series, into a monolithic device, which provides sufficient driving force for the full reaction. Integrated with a catalyst this forms a stable PV/photo-electrochemical device, which when immersed in water reaches over 10% solar-to-hydrogen efficiency for unassisted water splitting. The results show that series interconnected device concepts, which enable use of a substantial part of the solar spectrum, provide a simple route towards highly efficient water splitting and could be used also for other solar absorbers with similar electro-optical properties. We discuss how the efficiency could be increased for this particular device, as well as the general applicability of the concepts used in this work. We also briefly discuss advantages and disadvantages of photo-electrochemical cells in relation to PV-electrolysis with respect to our results.
Optical quantum confinement in low dimensional hematite Fondell, Mattis; Jacobsson, T. Jesper; Boman, Mats ...
Journal of materials chemistry. A, Materials for energy and sustainability,
01/2014, Letnik:
2, Številka:
10
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Hematite is considered to be a promising material for various applications, including for example photo-electrochemical cells for solar hydrogen production. Due to limitations in the charge transport ...properties hematite needs to be in the form of low-dimensional particles or thin films in several of these applications. This may however affect the optical properties, introducing additional complications for efficient design of photo-active devices. In this paper the optical absorption is analyzed in detail as a function of film thickness for 35 thin films of hematite ranging between 2 and 70 nm. Hematite was deposited by atomic layer deposition on FTO-substrates using Fe(CO) 5 and O 2 as precursors. It was found that for film thicknesses below 20 nm the optical properties are severely affected as a consequence of quantum confinement. One of the more marked effects is a blue shift of up to 0.3 eV for thinner films of both the indirect and direct transitions, as well as a 0.2 eV shift of the absorption maximum. The data show a difference in quantum confinement for the indirect and the direct transitions, where the probability for the indirect transition decreases markedly and essentially disappears for the thinnest films. Raman measurements showed no peak shift or change in relative intensity for vibrations for the thinnest films indicating that the decrease in indirect transition probability could not be assigned to depression of any specific phonon but instead seems to be a consequence of isotropic phonon confinement. The onset of the indirect transition is found at 1.75 eV for the thickest films and shifted to 2.0 eV for the thinner films. Two direct transitions are found at 2.15 eV and 2.45 eV, which are blue shifted 0.3 and 0.45 eV respectively, when decreasing the film thickness from 20 to 4 nm. Low dimensional hematite, with dimensions small enough for efficient charge transport, thus has a substantially lower absorption in the visible region than expected from bulk values. This knowledge of the intrinsic optical behavior of low dimensional hematite will be of importance in the design of efficient photo-active devices.
The time resolved UV-fluorescence in ZnO quantum dots has been investigated using femtosecond laser spectroscopy. The measurements were performed as a function of particle size for particles between ...3 and 7 nm in diameter, which are in the quantum confined regime. A red shift in the fluorescence maximum is seen while increasing the particle size, which correlates with the shift in band gap due to quantum confinement. The energy difference between the UV-fluorescence and the band gap does, however, increase for the smaller particles. For 3.7 nm particles the fluorescence energy is 100 meV smaller than the band gap energy, whereas it is only 20 meV smaller for the largest particles. This indicates a stabilization of the excitons in the smallest particles. The lifetime of the UV fluorescence is in the picosecond time scale and interestingly, it is discontinuous with respect to particle size. For the smallest particles, the exciton emission life time reaches 30 ps, which is three times longer than that for the largest particles. This demonstrates a transition between two different mechanisms for the UV-fluorescence. We suggest that this is an effect of surface trapping and stabilization of the excitons occurring in the smallest particles but not in the larger ones. We also discuss the time scale limit for slowed hot carrier dynamics in ensembles of quantum confined ZnO particles.
Thin films of ZnO quantum dots of different sizes have been deposited on conducting glass substrates. The films are transparent and work as antireflective coatings in the visible region. The negative ...absorption reaches down to -0.25 which represent a 77% increase in the transmitted light. Over a large part of the visible spectrum the increased transmittance is over 25%, and we demonstrate this to be a thin film effect. Under simulated solar illumination these films show a relatively high photocatalytic activity towards decomposition of methylene blue. The rate of photodecomposition depends on particle size and the smallest particles, which are less than 4 nm in diameter, show the highest quantum efficiency. We find the overall efficiency to be in the same order of magnitude to what's reported for commercial photocatalytic products like Degussa P25 and Pilkinton Active(TM), and maybe even somewhat better. We also demonstrate an increased hydrophilicity for the films under UV radiation. The photocatalytic oxidation of water into oxygen as a function of applied bias was measured in a three electrode system. The overall efficiency is small due to the high band gap but the internal quantum efficiency reaches over 10%.
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