Photovoltaic Device Application of a Hydroquinone-Modified Conductive Polymer and Dual-Functional Molecular Si Surface Passivation Technology.

Na Yeon Park,Jin Hee Lee,Gwan Seung Jeong,Yoon-Chae Jung,Jea-Young Choi,Young-Jin Yu,Jung Hwa Seo

doi:10.3390/polym14030478

Abstract

In the last decades, the conductive polymer PEDOT:PSS has been introduced in Si-based hybrid solar cells, gaining noticeable research interest and being considered a promising candidate for next generation solar cells which can achieve both of low manufacturing cost and high power conversion efficiency. This study succeeded in improving the electrical conductivity of PEDOT:PSS to 937 S/cm through a simple process of adding hydroquinone (HQ) to the pristine PEDOT:PSS solution. The results also showed that the addition of HQ to PEDOT:PSS(HQ-PEDOT:PSS) could not only dramatically improve the conductivity but also well-sustain the work function characteristics of PEDOT:PSS by promoting the formation of more continuous conductive-PEDOT channels without removing the insulating PSS. In this report, we reveal that the application of the HQ-PEDOT:PSS to the Si/PEDOT:PSS HSC could significantly improve the short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage characteristics to increase the power conversion efficiency of the HSCs compared to the conventional approaches. Moreover, we also treated the Si surface with the organic monomer, benzoquinone (BQ) to (1) passivate the excess Si surface defect states and (2) to improve the properties of the Si/PEDOT:PSS interface. We show that BQ treatment is able to dramatically increase the minority carrier lifetime induced by effective chemical and field-effect passivation in addition to enhancing the wettability of the Si surface with the PEDOT:PSS solution. As a result, the power conversion efficiency was increased by 10.6% by introducing HQ and BQ into the fabrication process of the Si/PEDOT:PSS HSC.

Highlights

Introduction published maps and institutional affilPhotovoltaic (PV) cells have become increasingly important in their role as harvesters of sunlight as a major source of sustainable and renewable energy
HQ-PEDOT:PSS can significantly improve the device performance compared to conventional approaches
Detailed analyses of the fabricated Heterojunction Solar Cells (HSCs) and PEDOT:PSS thin films (TFs) confirmed that the power conversion efficiency (PCE) improvement originated from the high σ and high W.F. of HQ-PEDOT:PSS

Summary

Introduction

Photovoltaic (PV) cells have become increasingly important in their role as harvesters of sunlight as a major source of sustainable and renewable energy. [1,2,3], Currently, monocrystalline and polycrystalline silicon (Si)-based PV technologies account for around 90% of the total solar cell market because of their non-toxicity, well established advanced microelectronics manufacturing technology, and long-term stability [4,5,6,7]. Conventional Si solar cells have a p-n junction structure which is known to provide highly effective charge separation and collection of photogenerated carriers in devices. The p-n junction structure is formed by using a dopant diffusion process which requires high-temperature conditions (≥800 ◦ C), which inevitably complicate the process and increase the manufacturing cost [8,9,10], From this standpoint, Si/organic heterojunction solar iations.

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Conclusion