The efficiency of polymer solar cells was improved by patterning indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode layer in this work. Light absorbance was enhanced with ITO layer patterning resulting in the improvement of power conversion efficiency of polymer solar cells. The line-and-space grooved patterns of polystyrene layer are formed on the top of 100 nm thick indium tin oxide layer by capillary force lithography process. The surface patterning of the ITO layer were completed with O2 and Ar plasma etching with various step heights of 22 nm to 64 nm. The active layer was fabricated with one-to-one ratio of P3HT (poly-3-hexylthiophene) and PCBM ([6,6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester) conjugated polymers on the top of the patterned ITO layer. Efficiency of the polymer solar cell was improved from 0.96% to 1.35% with this approach. We attribute the efficiency improvement to periodic grooved patterns of electrode. The periodic grooved patterns are believed to enhance light trapping resulting in the increase of diffraction and also to increase contact area of the electron-collecting electrode leading to increase of short circuit current.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1166/jnn.2008.1087 | DOI Listing |
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces
January 2025
School of Artificial Intelligence Science and Technology, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China.
Passive radiative cooling has recently gained significant attention as a highly promising technology that offers a zero-energy and electricity-free solution to tackle the pressing issue of global warming. Nevertheless, research efforts have predominantly focused on enhancing daytime and hot-day radiative cooling efficacy, often neglecting the potential downsides associated with excessive cooling and the consequent increased heating expenses during cold nights and winter days. Herein, we demonstrate a micro-nanostructured engineered composite film that synergistically integrates room-temperature adaptive silica-shell/oil-core phase change microcapsules (S-PCMs) with commercially available cellulose fibers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMater Horiz
January 2025
Key Laboratory of Polymer Processing Engineering of the Ministry of Education, National Engineering Research Center of Novel Equipment for Polymer Processing, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Technique and Equipment for Macromolecular Advanced Manufacturing, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, People's Republic of China.
Passive daytime radiative cooling offers a promising approach to address energy, environmental, and safety issues caused by global warming. However, the contradiction between high radiative cooling performance and long-lasting ultraviolet (UV) durability is a primary limitation at the current stage. Here, inspired by the ability of epidermal cells and palisade cells on the leaf surface to protect internal leaf structures (such as chloroplasts and nuclei) under drought and high-temperature conditions, a double-layer passive radiative cooling (PRC) porous membrane, which consists of an upper protective layer densely packed with highly ultraviolet-reflective inorganic particles and a bottom cooling layer doped with a variety of optically characterized inorganic particles, was developed to overcome these challenges.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlant J
January 2025
Systems Biotechnology Group, Department Microbial Biotechnology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig, 04318, Germany.
Biophotovoltaics offers a promising low-carbon footprint approach to utilize solar energy. It aims to couple natural oxygenic photosynthetic electrons to an external electron sink. This lays the foundation for a potentially high light-to-energy efficiency of the Biophotovoltaic process.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFiScience
January 2025
Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China.
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have developed rapidly in recent years. However, the energy loss ( ) remains a major obstacle to further improving the photovoltaic performance. To address this issue, a ternary strategy has been employed to precisely tune the and boost the efficiency of OSCs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRSC Adv
January 2025
College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University Changsha Hunan 410083 China
In the past two decades, organic solar cells (OSCs) have begun to attract attention as the efficiency of inorganic solar cells gradually approaches the theoretical limit. In the early development stage of OSCs, p-type conjugated polymers and n-type fullerene derivatives were the most commonly used electron donors and acceptors. However, with further research, the shortcomings of fullerene materials have become increasingly apparent.
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