Increasing Crystallinity for Improved Electrical Conductivity of TiO₂ Blocking Layers

Abstract

In this Research Article, we present our results on the optimization of the TiO2 blocking layer to improve the efficiency of organic and hybrid solar cells and make them more competitive with standard silicon devices. The major aim of the present work is to increase the electrical conductivity within the TiO2 blocking layer to guarantee for efficient charge carrier transport and separation. This is realized by optimizing the calcination processes toward an increase in particle/domain size to increase the unpercolated pathways for charge carriers and to get deeper insight into the morphology of the sol-gel produced films.

Solvent-Antisolvent Ambient Processed Large Grain Size Perovskite Thin Films for High-Performance Solar Cells

“…A record efficiency of 22.1% and excellent stability have been reported using mesoporous scaffolds deposited on charge extractors so that the perovskite would infiltrate the pores 21 . To enhance efficiency and improve device stability, materials such as TiO 2 , SnO 2 , phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as electron extractors and polymers 2,2′,7,7′-tetrakis ( N , N -di- p -methoxyphenyl-amine) 9,9′-spirobifluorene (Spiro-MeOTAD) poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) as hole extractors have been implemented using various deposition techniques 9 , 15 , 20 , 22 , 23 . The stability of PSCs exposed to 55–70% humidity range has been shown to improve by introducing chemical additives such as a thiocyanate (Pb(SCN) 2 ) 16 or phosphoric acid ω-ammonium chlorides 24 in the perovskite precursor solutions.…”

Effects of AlN and BCN Thin Film Multilayer Design on the Reaction Time of Ni/Ni-20Cr Thin Film Thermocouples on Thermally Sprayed Al2O3

“…With a lower intensity and accordingly a lower crystallinity, a higher electrical resistance is observed as well. In References [44,45] it is also reported that a higher crystallinity leads to a higher electrical conductivity. It can be summarized that the electrical resistance of Ni thin films is lower when compared to Ni-20Cr thin films, independent from the substrate layer used.…”

Structural Phase Transition from Tin (IV) Sulfide to Tin (II) Sulfide and the enhanced Performance by Introducing Graphene in Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

“…The device with the SnS 2 CE annealed at 300 C (without phase transition) was also checked as a reference. The PCEs of the cells with these CEs was quite low (5.30% for SnS 2 /RGO and 5.01% for SnS 2 ), which might be due to their poor crystallinity impeding the charge transport process [26][27][28][29]. The DSSC with the SnS CE produced a PCE of 6.02% (V oc = 768 mV, J sc = 14.09 mA Á cm À2 , FF = 55.63%).…”