Enhanced performance with bismuth ferrite perovskite in ZnO nanorod solid state solar cells

Abstract

This paper reports for the first time the use of perovskite bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3 or BFO) on ZnO-based solid state solar cells using only chemical solution methods for materials synthesis. As ZnO has poor chemical stability in acidic and corrosive environments, a buffer method using aminosilane ((3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane or H2N(CH2)3Si(OC2H5)3)) coating was used to provide a protective coating on the ZnO nanorods. The aminosilane layer was removed after BFO coating. The solid state solar cells, sensitized by N719, used CuSCN as the hole conductor and were tested under 100 mW cm(-2), AM 1.5G simulated sunlight. The photovoltaic performance showed current density improvement from 0.64 mA cm(-2) to 1.4 mA cm(-2) and efficiencies from 0.1% to 0.38% when comparing between ZnO and ZnO/BFO solar cells. The observed ca. 400% improved performance is shown to result from BFO's role as an electron blocking layer.

Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity of Heterostructured Ferroelectric BaTiO3/α-Fe2O3 and the Significance of Interface Morphology Control

“…10c). We have calculated the electron tunneling probability using previously reported methods, 41 see Figure S6, and show that the probability of tunneling is negligible. Therefore, it can be speculated that it is necessary for photoelectrons accumulated in the interface to have a direct contact with dye solution species to drive the photodegradation.…”

Routes to energy conversion with functional oxide films and nanostructures, a short review

“…In addition to BTO, BiFeO 3 (BFO) has been studied as a photocatalyst or incorporated into a photovoltaic device [28][29][30][31]. BFO is an interesting, or frustrating material depending on your end application, that has been variously described in the literature as having a direct, indirect band gap with a band gap reported from 2 to 3 eV or as a p or indeed n-type [32] material.…”

Control of organic–inorganic halide perovskites in solid-state solar cells: a perspective

“…For a planar-structured solar cell, there is only one compact layer that is generally composed of TiO 2 , and no mesoporous layer is involved [51]. For a mesoporous-structured solar cell, on top of the compact layer, there is always a mesoporous layer that is generally composed of TiO 2 or ZnO [27,[52][53][54][55][56][57]. For the mesoporous layer composed of an insulator, such as Al 2 O 3 or SiO 2 , it is called ''meso-superstructured'' solar cells [28].…”