Solution-Processed Transparent Electrodes for Emerging Thin-Film Solar Cells

Abstract

Solution-processed solar cells are appealing because of the low manufacturing cost, the good compatibility with flexible substrates, and the ease of large-scale fabrication. Whereas solution-processable active materials have been widely adopted for the fabrication of organic, dye-sensitized, and perovskite solar cells, vacuum-deposited transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) such as indium tin oxide, fluorine-doped tin oxide, and aluminum-doped tin oxide are still the most frequently used transparent electrodes (TEs) for solar cells. These TCOs not only significantly increase the manufacturing cost of the device, but also are too brittle for future flexible and wearable applications. Therefore, developing solution-processed TEs for solar cells is of great interest. This paper provides a detailed discussion on the recent development of solution-processed TEs, including the chemical synthesis of the electrode materials, the solution-based technologies for the electrode fabrication, the optical and electrical properties of the solution-processed TEs, and their applications on solar cells.

Cross-wavelength invisibility integrated with various invisibility tactics

“…Achieving the material parameters that work for our design is very challenging in practice. For example, transparent conducting materials, e.g., indium tin oxides, graphene, and carbon nanowires, usually have good optical transparency only with a higher than 1 ohm/□ sheet resistance (35,36). However, from the results in Fig.…”

Solution-processed ITO nanoparticles as hole-selective electrodes for mesoscopic lead-free perovskite solar cells

“…Indium-tin-oxide (ITO) films, sputtered or solution-processed, are widely used in diverse applications including solar cells. 42 While the sputtered ITO is a flat film type, the solution-processed ITO comprises ITO nanoparticles of <50 nm in diameter. Both ITOs serve as transparent electrodes, coupled with HTMs for semitransparent or tandem perovskite solar cells, due to the large band gap and have never used as light reflective electrodes in PSC.…”

Ultrasonic Spray Pyrolysis of Antimony‐Doped Tin Oxide Transparent Conductive Coatings

“…[4] However, the well-known issues of scarcity and cost of indium, along with slow and expensive vacuum-based deposition methods, are responsible for a large fraction of the total manufacturing costs for optoelectronic devices, which has negatively impacted the role of ITO in modern electronics. [5][6][7] In fact, with the constantly increasing demand for cheaper electronic devices, and the recent push toward an "Internet of Things" world where everything is connected and networked, the market for transparent electrodes needs to find alternative solutions, both in terms of materials and fabrication methods. [8,9] Although excellent results have been recently achieved for ITO films deposited via solution-based methods, therefore avoiding the use of costly vacuum depositions, the presence of indium still poses serious concerns for the future widespread development of many optoelectronic devices.…”