Efficient Nanocrystal Photovoltaics via Blade Coating Active Layer.

Kening Xiao,Pu Wang,Wei Xu,Qichuan Huang,Ao Xu,Dan Wang,Huansong Tang,Jia Luo,Donghuan Qin,Hao Ren

doi:10.3390/nano11061522

Kening Xiao, Pu Wang + Show 8 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11061522

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Journal: Nanomaterials	Publication Date: Jun 9, 2021
Citations: 2	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: South China University of Technology

Abstract

CdTe semiconductor nanocrystal (NC) solar cells have attracted much attention in recent year due to their low-cost solution fabrication process. However, there are still few reports about the fabrication of large area NC solar cells under ambient conditions. Aiming to push CdTe NC solar cells one step forward to the industry, this study used a novel blade coating technique to fabricate CdTe NC solar cells with different areas (0.16, 0.3, 0.5 cm2) under ambient conditions. By optimizing the deposition parameters of the CdTe NC’s active layer, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of NC solar cells showed a large improvement. Compared to the conventional spin-coated device, a lower post-treatment temperature is required by blade coated NC solar cells. Under the optimal deposition conditions, the NC solar cells with 0.16, 0.3, and 0.5 cm2 areas exhibited PCEs of 3.58, 2.82, and 1.93%, respectively. More importantly, the NC solar cells fabricated via the blading technique showed high stability where almost no efficiency degradation appeared after keeping the devices under ambient conditions for over 18 days. This is promising for low-cost, roll-by-roll, and large area industrial fabrication.

Highlights

Since 2005, CdTe NC solar cells have been developed rapidly, and a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of up to 12% has been realized by optimizing device architecture and fabricating techniques [17,18,19]
CdTe NC solar cells with inverted structure have received intensive attention as the holes transfer layer can be applied in this case for efficient carrier collecting
The PbS colloidal quantum dot (CQD) solution was automatically sprayed on the substrate under computer control and a high PCE of 8.1% was obtained in the final device they made, which implies that there is no compromise between large area manufacturability and lab level

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Lim et al [33] presented a new way for polymer solar cells with large areas (~10 cm2 ) to be processed with non-halogenated solvents in air via a blade coating method. Developed a room temperature spray coating technique for PbS colloidal quantum dot (CQD) solar cells In this case, the PbS CQD solution was automatically sprayed on the substrate under computer control and a high PCE of 8.1% was obtained in the final device they made, which implies that there is no compromise between large area manufacturability and lab level. We develop a novel blade coating method for fabricating CdTe NC solar cells with a device structure of ITO/ZnO/CdSe/CdTe/Au, which allows depositing NC thin films with different areas (0.16, 0.3, and 0.5 cm2 ) fabricated under ambient conditions with low material consumption. As all the active layers can be prepared by this simple blade coating method with low material consumption, this work demonstrates a potential way to realize industrial mass production of low-cost NC solar cells

Device Fabrication

Results and Discussion

Methods