3-D solar cells by electrochemical-deposited Se layer as extremely-thin absorber and hole conducting layer on nanocrystalline TiO2 electrode

• Published in: Nanoscale research letters Vol. 8; no. 1; p. 8
• Main Authors: Nguyen, Duy-Cuong, Tanaka, Souichirou, Nishino, Hitoshi, Manabe, Kyohei, Ito, Seigo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer New York 03.01.2013; Springer Nature B.V; BioMed Central Ltd; Springer
• Subjects: Chemistry and Materials Science; Materials Science; Molecular Medicine; Nano Component 2011; Nano Express; Nanochemistry; Nanoscale Science and Technology; Nanotechnology; Nanotechnology and Microengineering; electrode; 3-D solar cells; Se layer; Nanocrystalline TiO
• ISSN: 1931-7573; 1556-276X; 1556-276X
• DOI: 10.1186/1556-276X-8-8

A three-dimensional selenium solar cell with the structure of Au/Se/porous TiO 2 /compact TiO 2 /fluorine-doped tin oxide-coated glass plates was fabricated by an electrochemical deposition method of selenium, which can work for the extremely thin light absorber and the hole-conducting layer. The effect of experimental conditions, such as HCl and H 2 SeO 3 in an electrochemical solution and TiO 2 particle size of porous layers, was optimized. This kind of solar cell did not use any buffer layer between an n-type electrode (porous TiO 2 ) and a p-type absorber layer (selenium). The crystallinity of the selenium after annealing at 200°C for 3 min in the air was significantly improved. The cells with a selenium layer deposited at concentrations of HCl = 11.5 mM and H 2 SeO 3  = 20 mM showed the best performance, resulting in 1- to 2-nm thickness of the Se layer, short-circuit photocurrent density of 8.7 mA/cm 2 , open-circuit voltage of 0.65 V, fill factor of 0.53, and conversion efficiency of 3.0%.