Optical properties of Sr2YF7 material doped with Yb3+, Er3+, and Eu3+ ions for solar cell application

Abstract

The optical properties and applications of lanthanide-doped upconversion materials have been emerged due to their advantages such as high penetrated length, low ratios of signal and noise, and low toxicity. In this study, we present the preparation of Sr2YF7 (SYF) doped with Yb3+, Er3+, and Eu3+ ions and its application as a component of the working electrode for solar cells. The prepared material exhibits strong upconversion emission, which originated from Yb-Er pairs under an excitation of 980 nm wavelength, and down-shifting emission-related with Eu3+ ions. The material was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), FE-SEM, and fluorescent spectroscopy. The performance of color emission was evaluated by Commission International de I′Eclairage (CIE) chromaticity coordinates. J-V measurements were performed for estimating the contribution of the prepared material on the power conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells. The power conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells containing SYF3-coated TiO2 was increased by 20.9% versus those using undoped SYF - TiO2.