Solar energy is one of the most promising forms of renewable energy, but the high cost of conventional solar cells has so far limited its popularity.
To increase the competitiveness of solar energy, scientists have turned to the development of dye-sensitized solar cells ā solar cells that use low-cost organic dyes and titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles in place of expensive semiconductor and rare earth elements to absorb sunlight. Zhaohong Huang at the A*STAR Institute of Materials Research and Engineering and co-workers have now reduced the cost of dye-sensitized solar cells even further by replacing indium tin oxide (ITO) ā the standard material for transparent electrodes ā with carbon nanotubes.
A typical dye-sensitized solar cell comprises a porous layer of TiO2 nanoparticles immersed in an organic dye. The dye absorbs the sunlight and converts the energy into electricity, which flows into the TiO2 nanoparticles. The sun-facing side of the solar cell is usually covered with a transparent electrode that carries the charge carriers away from the TiO2 and out of the solar cell. āUnfortunately, ITO electrodes are brittle and crack easily,ā says Huang. āThey are also expensive and could incur up to 60% of the total cost of the dye-sensitized solar cell.ā
Huang and his team therefore replaced the ITO electrode with a thin film of carbon nanotubes. Carbon nanotubes conduct electricity and are almost transparent, flexible and strong, which make them the ideal material for transparent electrodes. The only drawback is that photo-generated charge carriers in the nanotube may recombine with ions in the dye, which reduces the power conversion efficiency of the solar cell.
To overcome this problem, Huang and his team placed a TiO2 thin film in between the carbon nanotube thin film and the porous layer. They found that the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells with TiO2 thin film was significantly better than those without. However, they also found that the solar conversion efficiency of their new dye-sensitized solar cells was only 1.8%, which is lower than that of conventional solar cells using ITO electrodes. This is due to the higher electrical resistances and reduced optical transparency of the carbon nanotube films, which limits the amount of sunlight entering the cell.
āWe are now studying different ways to enhance the conductivity and transparency of the films,ā says Huang. āFurthermore, we are planning to replace the bottom platinum electrode with carbon nanotube thin film to reduce the cost of dye-sensitized solar cells further.ā
If successful, the results could have a great impact on the cost and stability of dye-sensitized solar cells.
The Latest on: Carbon nanotube thin films
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Carbon nanotube thin films” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Carbon nanotube thin films
- Opening up the potential of thin-film electronics for flexible chip designon April 23, 2024 at 5:00 pm
The mass production of conventional silicon chips relies on a successful business model with large 'semiconductor fabrication plants' or 'foundries'. New research by shows that this 'foundry' model ...
- Scientists stencil-paint carbon nanotube components for flexible transparent electronicson April 23, 2024 at 9:23 am
Researchers from Skoltech, MIPT, and elsewhere have found a fast and inexpensive way to create geometric patterns in carbon nanotube films. The resulting films turned out to have superior properties ...
- Comprehensive model unravels quantum-mechanical effects behind photoluminescence in thin gold filmson April 19, 2024 at 5:32 am
EPFL researchers have developed the first comprehensive model of the quantum-mechanical effects behind photoluminescence in thin gold films; a discovery that could drive the development of solar fuels ...
- Nanomaterials newson April 18, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Researchers from Skoltech, MIPT, and elsewhere have found a fast and inexpensive way to create geometric patterns in carbon nanotube films ... in thin gold films; a discovery that could drive ...
- New colorful plastic films for versatile sensors and electronic displayson April 14, 2024 at 5:00 pm
They also synthesized thin polymer films that incorporate the TAB and retain the sensing as well as the light emission properties of the TAB. This work is an important advance in plastic research ...
- What To Know About Thin Film Solar Panelson April 3, 2024 at 8:45 am
On top of that, CdTe panels provide the lowest overall carbon footprint of the thin film lot. So they're comparably affordable, relatively efficient, and are the most environmentally friendly.
- Carbon Nanotube and Graphene Device Physicson June 14, 2023 at 2:07 am
Chen, Pai-Yen and Alu, Andrea 2013. Terahertz Metamaterial Devices Based on Graphene Nanostructures. IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology, Vol. 3, Issue. 6, p. 748. Nguyen, Ngoc Hieu ...
- Progress and Constraints in Using Carbon Nanotube Films as Ultrasensitive Photodetectorson March 19, 2023 at 5:00 pm
With additional optimization and research, highly purified semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube (s-SWCNT) films will exceed current photodetector performance and efficiency at a significantly ...
- Flexible, Thin-Film Biosensorson December 27, 2022 at 8:06 pm
One class of biosensors that have really caught our attention is the so-called thin-film sensors, pioneered by the Rogers Research Group at Northwestern University. We’re no strangers to the ...
- Sew-able Carbon Nanotube Thread Could Spin A Lot Of Awesomeon September 28, 2021 at 5:35 pm
Well, we watch-less ones have something to look forward to, because a group of graduate students at Rice University have created extremely strong conductive thread woven from carbon nanotubes ...
via Bing News