4.9% Efficient Sb2S3 Solar Cells from Semitransparent Absorbers with Fluorene-Based Thiophene-Terminated Hole Conductors.

Fluorene-based hole transport materials (HTMs) with terminating thiophene units are explored, for the first time, for antimony sulfide (Sb2S3) solar cells. These HTMs possess largely simplified synthesis processes and high yields compared to the conventional expensive hole conductors making them reasonably economical. The thiophene unit-linked HTMs have been successfully demonstrated in ultrasonic spray-deposited Sb2S3 solar cells resulting in efficiencies in the range of 4.7-4.9% with an average visible transmittance (AVT) of 30-33% (400-800 nm) for the cell stack without metal contact, while the cells fabricated using conventional P3HT have yielded an efficiency of 4.7% with an AVT of 26%. The study puts forward cost-effective and transparent HTMs that avoid a post-coating activation at elevated temperatures like P3HT, devoid of parasitic absorption losses in the visible region and are demonstrated to be well aligned for the band edges of Sb2S3 thereby ascertaining their suitability for Sb2S3 solar cells and are potential candidates for semitransparent applications.

Copper-zinc oxide heterojunction catalysts exhibiting enhanced photocatalytic activity prepared by a hybrid deposition method.

Heterojunction copper-zinc oxide catalysts were prepared by a hybrid two-step methodology comprising hydrothermal growth of ZnO nanorods (ZnO-NR) followed by deposition of Cu2O nanoparticles using an advanced gas deposition technique (AGD). The obtained bicatalysts were characterized by SEM, AFM, XRD, XPS, PL and spectrophotometry and revealed well-dispersed and crystalline Cu2O nanoparticles attached to the ZnO-NR. The adsorption properties and photocatalytic degradation of Orange II dye in water solutions were measured. It was found that the bicatalysts exhibited a conversion rate and quantum yield that both were about 50% higher compared with ZnO-NR alone, which were attributed to the intrinsic electric field created at the p-n junction formed at the Cu2O/ZnO interface facilitating charge separation of electron-hole pairs formed upon interband photon absorption. The interpretation was evidenced by efficient quenching of characteristic deep level ZnO photoluminescence bands and photoelectron core-level energy shifts. By comparisons with known energy levels in Cu2O and ZnO, the effect was found to be most pronounced for the non-polar ZnO-NR side facets, which accounted for about 95% of the exposed surface area of the catalyst and hence the majority of dye adsorption. It was also found that the dye adsorption capacity of the ZnO nanorods increased considerably after Cu2O deposition thereby facilitating the oxidation of the dye. The results imply the possibility of judiciously aligning band edges on structurally controlled and well-connected low-dimensional semiconductor nanostructures using combined two-step synthesis techniques, where in particular vacuum-based techniques such as AGD allow for growth of well-connected nanocrystals with well developed heterojunction interfaces.

Correction: Copper-zinc oxide heterojunction catalysts exhibiting enhanced photocatalytic activity prepared by a hybrid deposition method.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/D1RA00691F.].

Photoluminescence of spray pyrolysis deposited ZnO nanorods.

Photoluminescence of highly structured ZnO layers comprising well-shaped hexagonal rods is presented. The ZnO rods (length 500-1,000 nm, diameter 100-300 nm) were grown in air onto a preheated soda-lime glass (SGL) or ITO/SGL substrate by low-cost chemical spray pyrolysis method using zinc chloride precursor solutions and growth temperatures in the range of 450-550°C. We report the effect of the variation in deposition parameters (substrate type, growth temperature, spray rate, solvent type) on the photoluminescence properties of the spray-deposited ZnO nanorods. A dominant near band edge (NBE) emission is observed at 300 K and at 10 K. High-resolution photoluminescence measurements at 10 K reveal fine structure of the NBE band with the dominant peaks related to the bound exciton transitions. It is found that all studied technological parameters affect the excitonic photoluminescence in ZnO nanorods.PACS: 78.55.Et, 81.15.Rs, 61.46.Km.

ZnO Nanorods via Spray Deposition of Solutions Containing Zinc Chloride and Thiocarbamide.

In this work we present the results on formation of ZnO nanorods prepared by spray of aqueous solutions containing ZnCl2and thiocarbamide (tu) at different molar ratios. It has been observed that addition of thiocarbamide into the spray solution has great impact on the size, shape and phase composition of the ZnO crystals. Obtained layers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy selected backscattered electron detection system (ESB), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). Small addition of thiocarbamide into ZnCl2solution (ZnCl2:tu = 1:0.25) supports development of significantly thinner ZnO nanorods with higher aspect ratio compared to those obtained from ZnCl2solution. Diameter of ZnO rods decreases from 270 to 100 nm and aspect ratio increases from ∼2.5 to 12 spraying ZnCl2and ZnCl2:tu solutions, respectively. According to XRD, well crystallized (002) orientated pure wurtzite ZnO crystals have been formed. However, tiny 'spot'-like formations of ZnS were detected on the side planes of hexagonal rods prepared from the thiocarbamide containing solutions. Being adsorbed on the side facets of the crystals ZnS inhibits width growth and promotes longitudinalc-axis growth.