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The Influence of TiO 2 Particle Size in TiO 2 /CuInS 2 Nanocomposite Solar Cells
Author(s) -
O'Hayre R.,
Nanu M.,
Schoonman J.,
Goossens A.,
Wang Q.,
Grätzel M.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.200500647
Subject(s) - materials science , nanocomposite , solar cell , particle size , heterojunction , nanoparticle , chemical engineering , absorption (acoustics) , particle (ecology) , nanotechnology , charge carrier , optoelectronics , composite material , geology , oceanography , engineering
The recently developed CuInS 2 /TiO 2 3D nanocomposite solar cell employs a three‐dimensional, or “bulk”, heterojunction to reduce the average minority charge‐carrier‐transport distance and thus improve device performance compared to a planar configuration. 3D nanocomposite solar‐cell performance is strongly influenced by the morphology of the TiO 2 nanoparticulate matrix. To explore the effect of TiO 2 morphology, a series of three nanocomposite solar‐cell devices are studied using 9, 50, and 300 nm TiO 2 nanoparticles, respectively. The photovoltaic efficiency increases dramatically with increasing particle size, from 0.2 % for the 9 nm sample to 2.8 % for the 300 nm sample. Performance improvements are attributed primarily to greatly improved charge transport with increasing particle size. Other contributing factors may include increased photon absorption and improved interfacial characteristics in the larger‐particle‐size matrix.