Download or read book Defect Engineering in Cuprous Oxide Cu2O Solar Cells written by Sin Cheng Siah and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 109 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thesis is focused on the development of a cuprous oxide (Cu2O) thin-film (TF) solar cell that is fabricated by manufacturing-friendly methods such as electro-deposition, sputtering and atomic layer deposition. Due to its bandgap of close to 2 eV, it has the potential of being applied as top cell in a tandem configuration. Firstly, I perform bottom-up cost and price analysis to investigate the economic feasibility of TF and c-Si based tandem photovoltaic modules. Next, I investigate the formation of good ohmic back contacts on Cu2O absorber layer and demonstrate that low contact resistivity can be achieved with a variety of metals on heavily doped Cu2O films by forming a tunnel junction. Then, I apply synchrotron-based X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) to characterize two front contact buffer materials: amorphous Zn-Sn-O (a-ZTO) and Sndoped Ga2O3. I elucidate a fundamental loss mechanism in the amorphous Zn-Sn-O (a-ZTO) electron-blocking layer that has origin in local structural disorder and establish the structure-process- property relationship of a-ZTO so that the front buffer layer can be optimized for photovoltaics. Then, I investigate the doping mechanism of Sn dopant atoms in TFs and single crystalline Ga2O3:Sn by revealing the doping mechanism so that Ga2O3:Sn can be optimized for photovoltaics. Lastly. I apply bulk defect engineering to manipulate the intrinsic point defect structure of Cu2O towards improved device performance. The key results will inform the processing conditions for improving mobility and minority carrier lifetime in Cu2O. Keywords - Earth-abundant, thin-film solar cells, tandem, defect engineering, cost modeling, synchrotron.

Download or read book Defect Engineering of Cuprous Oxide Thin films for Photovoltaic Applications written by Yun Seog Lee and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 119 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thin-film solar cells are promising for renewable-energy applications due to their low material usage and inexpensive manufacturing potential, making them compatible with terawatts-level deployment. Cuprous oxide (Cu2O) is an earthabundant semiconductor with desirable properties for light-absorbing layers. However, power conversion efficiencies of solar cells comprising this absorber material remain significantly below the theoretical limit. In this thesis, I utilize novel materials and device geometries to engineer defects in Cu2O thin-films and overcome the low power-conversion-efficiency of Cu 20-based solar cells. First, nitrogen doping is proposed as an effective p-type doping method to control optical and electrical properties of Cu2O thin-films. The film's p-type conductivity is elucidated by temperature-dependent Hall effect measurements and a compensated semiconductor model. Secondly, an atomic-layer-deposited amorphous zinc-tin-oxide buffer layer is developed to mitigate non-ideal band alignment and interfacial defect-assisted recombination in Cu2O - zinc oxide (ZnO) heterojunction devices. Reduced interfacial recombination is demonstrated by incorporating a 5-nm-thick buffer layer in the device. Finally, I propose a spatially controlled vertical ZnO nanowire array to overcome the short minority carrier diffusion length in Cu2O. A scalable fabrication process is developed using colloidal lithography and hydrothermal growth of ZnO nanowires. Optical simulations are also conducted to investigate the effect of nanostructured device geometry on light-absorption properties.

Download or read book Defects and doping in Cu2O written by Francesco Biccari and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2012-02-14 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the Francesco Biccari's PhD thesis in physics, defended at the Sapienza - University of Rome in February 2010. The thesis deals with the study of the defects and doping of cuprous oxide (Cu2O) a very long studied semiconductor. The interest in Cu2O is due to its optical properties, its low cost and low toxicity which make it a perfect candidate for low cost photovoltaic cells.

Download or read book High Efficiency Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells written by Eun-Chel Cho and published by MDPI. This book was released on 2021-01-06 with total page 90 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is composed of 6 papers. The first paper reports a novel technique for the selective emitter formation by controlling the surface morphology of Si wafers. Selective emitter (SE) technology has attracted renewed attention in the Si solar cell industry to achieve an improved conversion efficiency of passivated-emitter rear-contact (PERC) cells. In the second paper, the temperature dependence of the parameters was compared through the PERC of the industrial-scale solar cells. As a result of their analysis, PERC cells showed different temperature dependence for the fill factor loss as temperatures rose. The third paper reports the effects of carrier selective front contact layer and defect state of hydrogenated amorphous silicon passivation layer/n-type crystalline silicon interface. The results demonstrated the effects of band offset determined by band bending at the interface of the passivation layer and carrier selective front contact layer. In addition, the nc-SiOx: H CSFC layer not only reduces parasitic absorption loss but also has a tunneling effect and field-effect passivation. The fourth paper reports excimer laser annealing of hydrogenated amorphous silicon film for TOPCon solar cell application. This paper analyzes the crystallization of a-Si:H via excimer laser annealing (ELA) and compared this process with conventional thermal annealing. The fifth paper reports the contact mechanism between Ag–Al and Si and the change in contact resistance (Rc) by varying the firing profile. Rc was measured by varying the belt speed and peak temperature of the fast-firing furnace. The sixth paper reports a silicon tandem heterojunction solar cell based on a ZnO/Cu2O subcell and a c-Si bottom subcell using electro-optical numerical modeling. The buffer layer affinity and mobility together with a low conduction band offset for the heterojunction are discussed, as well as spectral properties of the device model.

Download or read book Computational Science and Its Applications ICCSA 2018 written by Osvaldo Gervasi and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-07-03 with total page 804 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The five volume set LNCS 10960 until 10964 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Computational Science and Its Applications, ICCSA 2018, held in Melbourne, Australia, in July 2018. Apart from the general tracks, ICCSA 2018 also includes 34 international workshops in various areas of computational sciences, ranging from computational science technologies, to specific areas of computational sciences, such as computer graphics and virtual reality. The total of 265 full papers and 10 short papers presented in the 5-volume proceedings set of ICCSA 2018, were carefully reviewed and selected from 892 submissions.

Download or read book Metal Oxide Based Heterostructures written by Naveen Kumar and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2022-11-13 with total page 610 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Metal Oxide–Based Heterostructures: Fabrication and Applications provides information on synthesis strategies, structural and hierarchical features, morphological characteristics of metal oxide–based heterostructures, and their diverse applications. This book begins with an introduction to the various multidimensional heterostructures, synthesis aspects, and techniques used to control the formation of heterostructures. Then, the impact of synthesis routes on the formation of mixed metal oxide heterostructures and their properties are analyzed. The effect of nonmetal doping, metal doping, and composites of metal oxide heterostructures on the properties of heterostructures is also addressed and that also includes opportunities for optimization of the material's performance for specific applications. Special attention is given to the surface characteristics of the metal oxide heterostructures and their impact on the material's performance, and the applications of metal oxide heterostructures in various fields such as environmental remediation, sensing, organic catalysis, photovoltaics, light emitting materials, and hydrogen production. - Introduces key principles for metal oxide heterostructures, their properties, key characteristics, and synthesis routes - Emphasizes the relationship between synthesis strategies and material performance, including optimization strategies such as tailoring the material's surface characteristics or structure - Discusses metal oxide heterostructures and their application in lighting and displays, energy, environment, and sensing

Download or read book Defect Studies in Cu based P type Transparent Conducting Oxides written by Fnu Ameena and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Among other intrinsic open-volume defects, copper vacancy (VCu) has been theoretically identified as the major acceptor in p-type Cu-based semiconducting transparent oxides, which has potential as low-cost photovoltaic absorbers in semi-transparent solar cells. A series of positron annihilation experiments with pure Cu, Cu2O, and CuO presented strong presence of VCu and its complexes in the copper oxides. The lifetime data also showed that the density of VCu was becoming higher as the oxidation state of Cu increased which was consistent with the decrease in the formation energy of VCu. Doppler broadening measurements further indicated that electrons with low momentum made more contribution to the contributed as pure Cu oxidizes to copper oxides. The metastable defects are known to be generated in Cu2O upon illumination and it has been known to affect the performance of Cu2O-based hetero-junctions used in solar cells. The metastable effect was studied using positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy and its data showed the change in the defect population upon light exposure and the minimal effect of lightinduced electron density increase in the bulk of materials to the average lifetime of the positrons. The change in the defect population is concluded to be related to the dissociation and association of VCu - VCu complexes. For example, the shorter lifetime under light was ascribed to the annihilation with smaller size vacancies, which explains the dissociation of the complexes with light illumination. Doppler broadening of the annihilation was independent of light illumination, which suggested that the chemical nature of the defects remained without change upon their dissociation and association - only the size distribution of copper vacancies varied. The delafossite metal oxides, CuMIIIO2 are emerging wide-bandgap p-type semiconductors. In this research, the formation energies of structural vacancies are calculated using Van Vechten cavity model as an attempt to study the effect of the size of the MIII cation in the delafossites starting from Cu2O. Comparison of the formation energies between Cu2O and delafossite oxides clearly showed that the equilibrium concentration of the vacancies depended strongly on the structural parameters varied by the presence of different MIII cations. In particular, the size of the MIII cation greatly influenced the defect formation energies of VCu. It was observed from our calculations, as the size increases the formation energy decreases.

Download or read book Metal Oxide Nanocomposite Thin Films for Optoelectronic Device Applications written by Rayees Ahmad Zargar and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2023-09-18 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: METAL OXIDE NANOCOMPOSITE THIN FILMS FOR OPTOELECTRONIC DEVICE APPLICATIONS The book provides insight into the fundamental aspects, latest research, synthesis route development, preparation, and future applications of metal oxide nanocomposite thin films. The fabrication of thin film-based materials is important to the future production of safe, efficient, and affordable energy as the devices convert sunlight into electricity. Thin film devices allow excellent interface engineering for high-performance printable solar cells as their structures are highly reliable and stand-alone systems can provide the required megawatts. They have been used as power sources in solar home systems, remote buildings, water pumping, megawatt-scale power plants, satellites, communications, and space vehicles. Metal Oxide Nanocomposite Thin Films for Optoelectronic Device Applications covers the basics of advanced nanometal oxide-based materials, their synthesis, characterization, and applications, and all the updated information on optoelectronics. Topics discussed include the implications of metal oxide thin films, which are critical for device fabrications. It provides updated information on the economic aspect and toxicity, with great focus paid to display applications, and covers some core areas of nanotechnology, which are particularly concerned with optoelectronics and the available technologies. The book concludes with insights into the role of nanotechnology and the physics behind photovoltaics. Audience The book will be an important volume for electronics and electrical engineers, nanotechnologists, materials scientists, inorganic chemists in academic research, and those in industries, exploring the applications of nanoparticles in semiconductors, power electronics, and more.

Download or read book Metal Oxides for Next generation Optoelectronic Photonic and Photovoltaic Applications written by Vijay Kumar and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2023-09-15 with total page 676 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Metal Oxides for Next Generation Optoelectronic, Photonic and Photovoltaic Applications focuses on the optoelectronic, photonic and photovoltaic behaviors of metallic oxides and closely related phenomena, from elementary principles to the latest findings. Each chapter includes a comprehensive evaluation of the synthesis and characterization of the most relevant metal oxides nanostructures for each application. In addition, there is a focus on methods to tune the materials’ properties in order to improve devices performance. This book is suitable for researchers and practitioners in academia and industry working in the disciplines of materials science and engineering, chemistry and physics. Metal oxides are widely used in various optoelectronic devices, photonics, display devices, smart windows, sensors, optical components, energy-saving, and harvesting devices. Each application requires materials with their own specific properties. By controlling the particle size, shape, crystal structure, one can tune various properties of metal oxides viz. bandgap, absorption properties, conductivity, which alter the material for the specific application. Includes discussions of synthesis and characterization of metal oxides materials for applications in next-generation optoelectronic, photonic and photovoltaic devices Emphasizes material design strategies of metal oxide nanostructures Focuses on the optoelectronic, photonic and photovoltaic behaviors of metallic oxides and closely related phenomena, from elementary principles to the latest findings

Download or read book Solar Energy Materials and Energy Engineering written by Xian Zhang Feng and published by Trans Tech Publications Ltd. This book was released on 2013-10-31 with total page 478 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Volume is indexed by Thomson Reuters CPCI-S (WoS). Collection of selected, peer reviewed papers from the 2013 International Conference on Solar Energy Materials and Energy Engineering (SEMEE 2013), September 1-2, 2013, Hong Kong. The 81 papers are grouped as follows: Chapter 1: Chemical Engineering and Energy Materials; Chapter 2: Energy Science and Engineering; Chapter 3: Structural Engineering and Building; Chapter 4: Environmental Materials and Engineering; Chapter 5: Management and Planning of Energy.

Download or read book Functional Oxides written by Duncan W. Bruce and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2011-03-29 with total page 413 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Functional oxides have a wide variety of applications in the electronic industry. The discovery of new metal oxides with interesting and useful properties continues to drive much research in chemistry, physics, and materials science. In Functional Oxides five topical areas have been selected to illustrate the importance of metal oxides in modern materials chemistry: Noncentrosymmetric Inorganic Oxide Materials Geometrically Frustrated Magnetic Materials Lithium Ion Conduction in Oxides Thermoelectric Oxides Transition Metal Oxides - Magnetoresistance and Half-Metallicity The contents highlight structural chemistry, magnetic and electronic properties, ionic conduction and other emerging areas of importance, such as thermoelectricity and spintronics. Functional Oxides covers these complex concepts in a clear and accessible manner providing an excellent introduction to this broad subject area.

Download or read book Electrodeposition of P type Cuprous Oxide and Its Application in Oxide Solar Cells written by Yiyi Yang and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 159 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cuprous oxide (Cu2O) is a promising material for the fabrication of oxide solar cells due to its abundance, nontoxicity, stability and ability to be deposited under mild conditions. At the moment, the reported efficiencies for Cu2O-based solar cells are well below its theoretical limit and most of the high performance devices are fabricated using energy-intensive processes. Electrodeposition of Cu2O thin films is a well-known process although a systematic study of the dependence of Cu2O film properties on the deposition conditions has not been reported, especially in the context of photovoltaic applications. The purpose of this study is to optimize the electrodeposited p-type Cu2O film properties for the application in heterojunction solar cells through the manipulation of electrodeposition conditions. A range of Cu2O morphologies are formed by varying the parameters during the constant potential deposition of Cu2O thin films from a copper-lactate electrolyte including applied potential, temperature, pH, copper concentration and lactate concentration. The variation in morphology is mostly attributed to the relative growth rates of 111 and 100 orientations. It is found that the variation in growth orientation is mostly due to the relative rates or reaction and transport. When reaction kinetics is the limiting factor, 100 growth is preferred when the conditions are close to thermodynamic equilibrium. On the other hand, when transport limitation in the system is significant, 111-oriented growth and cubic grains are favored as the surface concentration of CuLac2 is reduced. In other conditions, mixed orientations tend to be formed. Evidence of adsorption of lactate ions onto the (111) faces is also observed, promoting 100 directed growth at high lactate concentration. In addition, significant evidence of film dissolution during deposition is observed at high electrolyte pH of 13 and above. The performance of Cu2O thin films in photovoltaic devices is evaluated using an FTO/Cu2O/AZO cell structure. It is found that the electrolyte pH has the most prominent effect on the device performance among different electrodeposition parameters. Performance variables including JSC, VOC and FF all improve significantly as the Cu2O deposition pH increases. An optimal cell efficiency of ~1.55% is obtained using Cu2O thin films deposited at a high pH of 13.4, which exceeds the majority of previously reported efficiencies using the same deposition technique. The reason for the improved efficiency is attributed to the dissolution and reformation of Cu2O grains during deposition at high pH through the improvement of charge carrier mobility and band gap in the Cu2O layer. Film orientation of Cu2O also plays a minor role in cell efficiency. Alternative electrodeposition procedures are investigated. Galvanostatic deposition is found to be less suitable than potentiostatic deposition for solar cell fabrication due to the difficulty in controlling Cu metal content in the film. Evidence of dissolution by oxidation is observed under both pulsed and stirred conditions. Different morphologies to the typical polyhedral shapes with higher carrier concentration and low carrier mobility are obtained in both cases. These effects are attributed to the lowering of diffusion limitations during the deposition process either by allowing more time for transport or by increasing transport rate. These processes result in lower device performance compared to potentiostatic deposition under similar conditions. Finally, FTO/Cu2O/ZnO devices are fabricated by depositing ZnO onto electrodeposited Cu2O layer through a seed-layer assisted chemical growth method in zinc nitrate-HMTA solution. Ordered ZnO nanorods are obtained using this technique and their dimensions can be controlled by adjusting bath compositions. Smooth ZnO thin films with no pin-hole defects are obtained although the performance of Cu2O/ZnO devices is not as high as devices with AZO layers.

Download or read book Renewable and Clean Energy Systems Based on Advanced Nanomaterials written by Sahar Zinatloo-Ajabshir and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2024-07-04 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Renewable and Clean Energy Systems Based on Advanced Nanomaterials: Basis, Preparation and Applications describes the fundamental aspects of a diverse range of nanomaterials used in the fields of renewable and clean energy. Various methods of preparing several different nanomaterials for green energy systems, such as advanced nanomaterials for solar cells, mixed metal oxide-based nanomaterials for hydrogen storage, and active nanomaterials for Li ion batteries are presented along with their advantages, disadvantages, and applications. Chapters also discuss novel methods of power analysis, frequency regulation methods, practical applications of solar panels, economic efficiency of solar energy, solar physics, and much more.This is a valuable resource on the basic science, preparation methods, and practical applications of advanced nanomaterials for green energy systems. - Features recent advances on nanomaterials preparation methods and their applications in photovoltaic technology - Discusses sustainable strategies for producing large-scale nanomaterials, focusing on preparation techniques that are cost-effective and eco-friendly - Reviews the efficiency of nanomaterials used in solar energy storage and conversion

Download or read book Nanoporous Gold written by Arne Wittstock and published by Royal Society of Chemistry. This book was released on 2012-03-28 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: High-surface-area materials have recently attracted significant interest due to potential applications in various fields such as electrochemistry and catalysis, gas-phase catalysis, optics, sensors and actuators, energy harvesting and storage. In contrast to classical materials the properties of high-surface-area materials are no longer determined by their bulk, but by their nanoscale architecture. Nanoporous gold (np-Au) represents the fascinating class of mesoporous metals that have been intensively investigated in recent years. The current interest and the increasing number of scientific publications show that np-Au by itself is an outstanding nano-material that justifies a book devoted to all aspects of its properties and applications. The resulting publication is a discussion of this unique nano-material and is an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the field. The book provides a broad, multi-disciplinary platform to learn more about the properties of nanoporous gold from an inter-disciplinary perspective. It starts with an introduction and overview of state-of-the-art applications and techniques characterizing this material and its applications. It then covers the progress in research within the last years. The chapters are in-depth overviews written by the world's leading scientists in the particular field. Each chapter covers one technique or application so that the reader can easily target their favoured topic and will get the latest and state-of-the-art information in the field.

Download or read book Energy Engineering written by K.V. Raghavan and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-11-25 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book contains the proceedings of CAETS 2015 Convocation on ‘Pathways to Sustainability: Energy, Mobility and Healthcare Engineering’ that was held on October 13-14, 2015 in New Delhi. This 3 volume proceedings provide an international forum for discussion and communication of engineering and technological issues of common concern. This volume talks about ‘Energy’ and includes 22 chapters on diverse topics like renewable energy, advances and applications of bio-energy and bio-refinery, energy options and scenarios, wind energy for buildings and transportation, etc. The contents of this volume will be useful to researchers, professionals, and policy makers alike.

Download or read book Handbook of Nanomaterials for Industrial Applications written by Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2018-07-19 with total page 1143 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Handbook of Nanomaterials for Industrial Applications explores the use of novel nanomaterials in the industrial arena. The book covers nanomaterials and the techniques that can play vital roles in many industrial procedures, such as increasing sensitivity, magnifying precision and improving production limits. In addition, the book stresses that these approaches tend to provide green, sustainable solutions for industrial developments. Finally, the legal, economical and toxicity aspects of nanomaterials are covered in detail, making this is a comprehensive, important resource for anyone wanting to learn more about how nanomaterials are changing the way we create products in modern industry. - Demonstrates how cutting-edge developments in nanomaterials translate into real-world innovations in a range of industry sectors - Explores how using nanomaterials can help engineers to create innovative consumer products - Discusses the legal, economical and toxicity issues arising from the industrial applications of nanomaterials

Download or read book Springer Handbook of Inorganic Photochemistry written by Detlef Bahnemann and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-06-25 with total page 1914 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The handbook comprehensively covers the field of inorganic photochemistry from the fundamentals to the main applications. The first section of the book describes the historical development of inorganic photochemistry, along with the fundamentals related to this multidisciplinary scientific field. The main experimental techniques employed in state-of-art studies are described in detail in the second section followed by a third section including theoretical investigations in the field. In the next three sections, the photophysical and photochemical properties of coordination compounds, supramolecular systems and inorganic semiconductors are summarized by experts on these materials. Finally, the application of photoactive inorganic compounds in key sectors of our society is highlighted. The sections cover applications in bioimaging and sensing, drug delivery and cancer therapy, solar energy conversion to electricity and fuels, organic synthesis, environmental remediation and optoelectronics among others. The chapters provide a concise overview of the main achievements in the recent years and highlight the challenges for future research. This handbook offers a unique compilation for practitioners of inorganic photochemistry in both industry and academia.