Abstract
It is currently of huge importance to find alternatives to fossil fuels to produce clean energy and to ensure the energy demands of modern society. In the present work, two types of hybrid solar cell devices were developed and characterized. The photoactive layers of the hybrid heterojunctions comprise poly (allylamine chloride) (PAH) and graphene oxide (GO) and TiO2 or ZnO films, which were deposited using the layer-by-layer technique and DC-reactive magnetron sputtering, respectively, onto fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO)-coated glass substrates. Scanning electron microscopy evidenced a homogeneous inorganic layer, the surface morphology of which was dependent on the number of organic bilayers. The electrical characterization pointed out that FTO/(PAH/GO)50/TiO2/Al, FTO/(PAH/GO)30/ZnO/Al, and FTO/(PAH/GO)50/ZnO/Al architectures were the only ones to exhibit a diode behavior, and the last one experienced a decrease in current in a low-humidity environment. The (PAH/GO)20 impedance spectroscopy study further revealed the typical impedance of a parallel RC circuit for a dry environment, whereas in a humid environment, it approached the impedance of a series of three parallel RC circuits, indicating that water and oxygen contribute to other conduction processes. Finally, the achieved devices should be encapsulated to work successfully as solar cells.
Highlights
The use of renewable energies is of great importance because of the increase in fossil energy costs and to avoid global warming by CO2 reduction
Solar energy can be considered as sustainable energy, which may effectively satisfy a part of the energy demand of future generations [1,2]
Materials In this work, two types of solid supports were used depending on the type of electrical characterization to be performed, namely fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO)-coated glass substrates (TEC15, 12−14 Ω/ ) purchased from Solaronix (Aubonne, Switzerland, dimensions 39 mm × 15 mm) and glass substrates with deposited interdigitated electrodes (IDE) purchased from DropSens (Oviedo, Asturias, Spain)
Summary
The use of renewable energies is of great importance because of the increase in fossil energy costs and to avoid global warming by CO2 reduction. Second-generation PV cells are based on thin-film technology and, as these cells utilize less material, the production cost significantly drops They are less efficient than the bulk cells. The morphology of the active layer is another key factor for the device efficiency In this sense, the n-type and p-type material need to be organized in a morphology that allows high exciton creation and splitting and good charge carrier transport. Notwithstanding, choosing material arrangements with appropriate properties and matching work functions, loss mechanisms need to be addressed and minimized in order to achieve solar cells devices with high power conversion efficiencies. The achieved results reported point out that the obtained devices present properties and characteristics that can be successfully applied to solar cells
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