13.2% efficiency Si nanowire/PEDOT:PSS hybrid solar cell using a transfer-imprinted Au mesh electrode

Abstract

In recent years, inorganic/organic hybrid solar cell concept has received growing attention for alternative energy solution because of the potential for facile and low-cost fabrication and high efficiency. Here, we report highly efficient hybrid solar cells based on silicon nanowires (SiNWs) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) using transfer-imprinted metal mesh front electrodes. Such a structure increases the optical absorption and shortens the carrier transport distance, thus, it greatly increases the charge carrier collection efficiency. Compared with hybrid cells formed using indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes, we find an increase in power conversion efficiency from 5.95% to 13.2%, which is attributed to improvements in both the electrical and optical properties of the Au mesh electrode. Our fabrication strategy for metal mesh electrode is suitable for the large-scale fabrication of flexible transparent electrodes, paving the way towards low-cost, high-efficiency, flexible solar cells.

Evidences for redox reaction driven charge transfer and mass transport in metal-assisted chemical etching of silicon

“…In particular, silicon nanowires (NWs) find a wide array of usage in areas such as electronics12, photovoltaics34, energy storage5, optical devices67, catalysis8, drug delivery9, thermoelectrics10, as well as biological and chemical sensors111213. The importance of fabricating reliable Si nanowires has provided the motivation for the exploration of many different fabrication methods.…”

Nanowires for High-Efficiency, Low-Cost Solar Photovoltaics

“…At present, the polymer/NW hybrid solar cell has reached an efficiency of well over 10% [164,166]. However, these high-efficiency hybrid solar cells were using top-down etched NWs [167,168]. For bottom-up NW solar cells, the efficiency is commonly lower than 5% [169], which could be due to the challenges of managing the interface properties between the NW and the substrate.…”

Composition analysis of two different PEDOT:PSS commercial products used as an interface layer in Au/n-Si Schottky diode

“…Nowadays, the application of PEDOT:PSS thin lms are not limited only to organic devices but also extend to organic/inorganic hybrid semiconductor devices. 8,9,10 Metal-polymer-semiconductor (MPS) Schottky diodes are the simplest devices to fully understand the nature of the electrical behavior of the polymer. Lin et.al.…”