Issue 12, 2014

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.

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

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
18 Feb 2014
Accepted
01 Apr 2014
First published
20 May 2014

Nanoscale, 2014,6, 7072-7078

Author version available

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

L. Loh, J. Briscoe and S. Dunn, Nanoscale, 2014, 6, 7072 DOI: 10.1039/C4NR00911H

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