We directly configured double-walled carbon nanotubes as energy conversion materials to fabricate thin-film solar cells, with nanotubes serving as both photogeneration sites and a charge carriers collecting/transport layer. The solar cells consist of a semitransparent thin film of nanotubes conformally coated on a n-type crystalline silicon substrate to create high-density p-n heterojunctions between nanotubes and n-Si to favor charge separation and extract electrons (through n-Si) and holes (through nanotubes). Initial tests have shown a power conversion efficiency of >1%, proving that DWNTs-on-Si is a potentially suitable configuration for making solar cells. Our devices are distinct from previously reported organic solar cells based on blends of polymers and nanomaterials, where conjugate polymers generate excitons and nanotubes only serve as a transport path.

Various approaches to improve the efficiency of solar cells have followed the integration of nanomaterials into Si-based photovoltaic devices. Here, we achieve 13.8% efficiency solar cells by combining carbon nanotubes and Si and doping with dilute HNO(3). Acid infiltration of nanotube networks significantly boost the cell efficiency by reducing the internal resistance that improves fill factor and by forming photoelectrochemical units that enhance charge separation and transport. Compared to conventional Si cells, the fabrication process is greatly simplified, simply involving the transfer of a porous semiconductor-rich nanotube film onto an n-type crystalline Si wafer followed by acid infiltration.