Abstract
Nanomaterials and nanostructures provide new opportunities to achieve high-performance optical and optoelectronic devices. Three-dimensional (3D) surfaces commonly exist in those devices (such as light-trapping structures or intrinsic grains), and here, we propose requests for nanoscale control over nanostructures on 3D substrates. In this paper, a simple self-assembly strategy of nanospheres for 3D substrates is demonstrated, featuring controllable density (from sparse to close-packed) and controllable layer (from a monolayer to multi-layers). Taking the assembly of wavelength-scale SiO2 nanospheres as an example, it has been found that textured 3D substrate promotes close-packed SiO2 spheres compared to the planar substrate. Distribution density and layers of SiO2 coating can be well controlled by tuning the assembly time and repeating the assembly process. With such a versatile strategy, the enhancement effects of SiO2 coating on textured silicon solar cells were systematically examined by varying assembly conditions. It was found that the close-packed SiO2 monolayer yielded a maximum relative efficiency enhancement of 9.35%. Combining simulation and macro/micro optical measurements, we attributed the enhancement to the nanosphere-induced concentration and anti-reflection of incident light. The proposed self-assembly strategy provides a facile and cost-effective approach for engineering nanomaterials at 3D interfaces.
Highlights
The development of nanomaterials and nanostructures provides new opportunities for performance boosting of optical and optoelectronic devices [1,2,3,4,5]
Found in previously reported gold or dielectric nanocoatings via electrostatic assembly [39,40], can be attributed to the capillary force [41]
In the absence of external force, the assembly process of spherical nanoparticles usually conforms to the random sequential adsorption (RSA) model [43], where particles are supposed to be fixed on the substrate and cannot be moved after adsorption
Summary
The development of nanomaterials and nanostructures provides new opportunities for performance boosting of optical and optoelectronic devices [1,2,3,4,5]. There are complex and textured surfaces in the commercial silicon solar cells for light-trapping [17]. In this context, there has been a drive for designing and fabricating nanostructures on Nanomaterials 2021, 11, 2581. Nanomaterials 2021, 11, 2581 fabrication on 3D substrates limited by the inherent process characteristics of photoresist coating or beam focus [24]. Self-assembly methods, using colloidal nanoparticles as building blocks, show great potential in assembling nanostructures on 3D substrates [18]. The nanostructures usually accumulate and form multi-layers at the bottom of valleys [25,26], while precise control over the distribution density and layer numbers on the 3D substrate has remained elusive
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