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Metal Oxides for Photovoltaic and Photocatalytic Applications
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Metal Oxides for Photovoltaic and Photocatalytic Applications

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 November 2023) | Viewed by 6960

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Teresa I. Madeira

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Semiconductor Physics, Chemnitz University of Technology, D-09107 Chemnitz, Germany
Interests: micro & nano-spectroscopies; plasmonics; oxides; photovoltaics; applied photocatalysis; arts&CH

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The search for high-performance solar energy conversion systems is currently a hot topic in both academic and industrial sectors due to the growing concerns about environmental issues associated to the growing consumption of traditional energy resources. It is known since many years that the growth and progress of modern human societies require smart environmental friendly solutions for energy harvesting and energy consumption, while keeping the hazardous consequences of both practices under tolerable levels for Human-Nature coexistence and survival in a changing world. The duet Photovoltaics - Photocatalysis employing semiconductor metal oxides seems to be amongst the most reasonable sustainable solutions due to the combination of natural high efficient materials in solar light harvesting, while producing energy and reducing the contents of pollutant materials. Electrical charges are in both cases generated after interaction of light with the semiconductor material; the wide bandgaps of metal oxides hinders the spontaneous charge recombination process that tends to occur immediately afterwards. In photovoltaics the produced charges are employed in the production of electrical energy while in photocatalysis these charges are used in chemical oxidation reactions occurring on the surface of the materials that either disintegrate complex pollutant macromolecules or combine into simpler and smaller, less harmful components. Tunability and efficiency of both processes still face challenges and are therefore very active ongoing research. This volume is meant to create an open space for debate and exchange and therefore invites the whole community of academic and industrial researchers involved in both fundamental studies and applied solutions to share recent findings, views, and expectations in this challenging field of research and technology.

Dr. Teresa I. Madeira
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • photovoltaics
  • photocatalysis
  • metal oxides
  • thin films
  • nanostructures
  • energy harvesting
  • pollutants degradation
  • CO2 reduction

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

26 pages, 10230 KiB  
Article
Photocatalytic Performance of Sol-Gel Prepared TiO2 Thin Films Annealed at Various Temperatures
by Lu He, Dietrich R. T. Zahn and Teresa I. Madeira
Materials 2023, 16(15), 5494; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16155494 - 07 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1267
Abstract
Titanium dioxide (TiO2) in the form of thin films has attracted enormous attention for photocatalysis. It combines the fundamental properties of TiO2 as a large bandgap semiconductor with the advantage of thin films, making it competitive with TiO2 powders [...] Read more.
Titanium dioxide (TiO2) in the form of thin films has attracted enormous attention for photocatalysis. It combines the fundamental properties of TiO2 as a large bandgap semiconductor with the advantage of thin films, making it competitive with TiO2 powders for recycling and maintenance in photocatalytic applications. There are many aspects affecting the photocatalytic performance of thin film structures, such as the nanocrystalline size, surface morphology, and phase composition. However, the quantification of each influencing aspect needs to be better studied and correlated. Here, we prepared a series of TiO2 thin films using a sol-gel process and spin-coated on p-type, (100)-oriented silicon substrates with a native oxide layer. The as-deposited TiO2 thin films were then annealed at different temperatures from 400 °C to 800 °C for 3 h in an ambient atmosphere. This sample synthesis provided systemic parameter variation regarding the aspects mentioned above. To characterize thin films, several techniques were used. Spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) was employed for the investigation of the film thickness and the optical properties. The results revealed that an increasing annealing temperature reduced the film thickness with an increase in the refractive index. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was utilized to examine the surface morphology, revealing an increased surface roughness and grain sizes. X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and UV-Raman spectroscopy were used to study the phase composition and crystallite size. The annealing process initially led to the formation of pure anatase, followed by a transformation from anatase to rutile as the annealing temperature increased. An overall enhancement in crystallinity was also observed. The photocatalytic properties of the thin films were tested using the photocatalytic decomposition of acetone gas in a home-built solid (photocatalyst)–gas (reactant) reactor. The composition of the gas mixture in the reaction chamber was monitored using in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Finally, all of the structural and spectroscopic characteristics of the TiO2 thin films were quantified and correlated with their photocatalytic properties using a correlation matrix. This provided a good overview of which film properties affect the photocatalytic efficiency the most. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metal Oxides for Photovoltaic and Photocatalytic Applications)
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16 pages, 5203 KiB  
Article
Numerical Simulation and Optimization of Highly Stable and Efficient Lead-Free Perovskite FA1−xCsxSnI3-Based Solar Cells Using SCAPS
by Hussein Sabbah, Jack Arayro and Rabih Mezher
Materials 2022, 15(14), 4761; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15144761 - 07 Jul 2022
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 2380
Abstract
Formamidinium tin iodide (FASnI3)-based perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have achieved significant progress in the past several years. However, these devices still suffer from low power conversion efficiency (PCE=6%) and poor stability. Recently, Cesium (Cs)-doped Formamidinium tin [...] Read more.
Formamidinium tin iodide (FASnI3)-based perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have achieved significant progress in the past several years. However, these devices still suffer from low power conversion efficiency (PCE=6%) and poor stability. Recently, Cesium (Cs)-doped Formamidinium tin iodide (FA1−xCsxSnI3) showed enhanced air, thermal, and illumination stability of PSCs. Hence, in this work, FA1−xCsxSnI3 PSCs have been rigorously studied and compared to pure FASnI3 PSCs using a solar cell capacitance simulator (SCAPS) for the first time. The aim was to replace the conventional electron transport layer (ETL) TiO2 that reduces PSC stability under solar irradiation. Therefore, FA1−xCsxSnI3 PSCs with different Cs contents were analyzed with TiO2 and stable ZnOS as the ETLs. Perovskite light absorber parameters including Cs content, defect density, doping concentration and thickness, and the defect density at the interface were tuned to optimize the photovoltaic performance of the PSCs. The simulation results showed that the device efficiency was strongly governed by the ETL material, Cs content in the perovskite and its defect density. All the simulated devices with ZnOS ETL exhibited PCEs exceeding 20% when the defect density of the absorber layer was below 1015 cm−3, and deteriorated drastically at higher values. The optimized structure with FA75Cs25SnI3 as light absorber and ZnOS as ETL showed the highest PCE of 22% with an open circuit voltage Voc of 0.89 V, short-circuit current density Jsc of 31.4 mA·cm−2, and fill factor FF of 78.7%. Our results obtained from the first numerical simulation on Cs-doped FASnI3 could greatly increase its potential for practical production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metal Oxides for Photovoltaic and Photocatalytic Applications)
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12 pages, 2437 KiB  
Article
Numerical Simulation of 30% Efficient Lead-Free Perovskite CsSnGeI3-Based Solar Cells
by Hussein Sabbah
Materials 2022, 15(9), 3229; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15093229 - 29 Apr 2022
Cited by 26 | Viewed by 2665
Abstract
A cesium tin–germanium triiodide (CsSnGeI3) perovskite-based solar cell (PSC) has been reported to achieve a high-power-conversion efficiency (PCE > 7%) and extreme air stability. A thorough understanding of the role of the interfaces in the perovskite solar cell, along with [...] Read more.
A cesium tin–germanium triiodide (CsSnGeI3) perovskite-based solar cell (PSC) has been reported to achieve a high-power-conversion efficiency (PCE > 7%) and extreme air stability. A thorough understanding of the role of the interfaces in the perovskite solar cell, along with the optimization of different parameters, is still required for further improvement in PCE. In this study, lead-free CsSnGeI3 PSC has been quantitatively analyzed using a solar cell capacitance simulator (SCAPS–1D). Five electron transport layers (ETL) were comparatively studied, while keeping other layers fixed. The use of SnO2 as an ETL, which has the best band alignment with the perovskite layer, can increase the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of PSC by up to 30%. The defect density and thickness of the absorber layer has been thoroughly investigated. Results show that the device efficiency is highly governed by the defect density of the absorber layer. All the PSCs with a different ETL exhibit PCE exceeding 20% when the defect density of the absorber layer is in the range of 1014 cm−3–1016 cm−3, and degrade dramatically at higher values. With the optimized structure, the simulation found the highest PCE of CsSnGeI3-based PSCs to be 30.98%, with an open circuit voltage (Voc) of 1.22 V, short-circuit current density (Jsc) of 28.18 mA·cm−2, and fill factor (FF) of 89.52%. Our unprecedented results clearly demonstrate that CsSnGeI3-based PSC is an excellent candidate to become the most efficient single-junction solar cell technology soon. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metal Oxides for Photovoltaic and Photocatalytic Applications)
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