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Micromachines
Special Issues
Graphene-Based Metamaterial Solar Energy Devices
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Graphene-Based Metamaterial Solar Energy Devices

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "D：Materials and Processing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2023) | Viewed by 3505

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ammar Armghan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, Jouf University, Sakaka 72388, Saudi Arabia
Interests: metamaterial; antennas; solar absorbers; biosensors; graphene; machine learning; photonics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Shobhit K. Patel

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Computer Engineering, Marwadi University, Rajkot 360003, India
Interests: metamaterial; graphene; solar absorbers; biosensors; antennas
Dr. Juveriya Parmar

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA
Interests: characterization; metamaterial; graphene; solar absorbers; biosensors

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The increased demand for solar-energy-based applications, including photovoltaics, thermophotovoltaics, and other solar-harvesting devices, has generated a high demand for solar absorbers, solar cells that absorb and convert solar energy over the whole solar spectrum compared to the largely available narrowband and multiband solar absorbers/solar cells. Photothermal materials with broad solar absorption and high conversion efficiency have recently piqued the interest of researchers. They are rapidly becoming a research priority in the field of solar-driven vaporisation for clean water production and other potential applications. Parallel development of thermal management strategies in both material and system designs has increased the overall efficiency of solar vaporisation. This green solar-powered water vaporisation technology has regained popularity as a long-term solution to water scarcity. There is also a need for highly efficient solar cells that convert solar energy to electric energy at highly efficient rates. Metamaterials and graphene are materials that can be incorporated into these designs to improve the efficiency of solar cells and solar absorbers.

We look forward to receiving your submissions.

Dr. Ammar Armghan
Dr. Shobhit K. Patel
Dr. Juveriya Parmar
Guest Editors

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. Micromachines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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

  • graphene
  • metamaterial
  • solar energy
  • solar absorber
  • solar cell
  • energy devices
  • renewable energy
  • numerical analysis
  • finite element method

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 3296 KiB  
Article
Integration of Inkjet Printed Graphene as a Hole Transport Layer in Organic Solar Cells
by Julia Kastner, Flavia Tomarchio, Nicolas Decorde, Matthias Kehrer, Günter Hesser and Anita Fuchsbauer
Micromachines 2023, 14(10), 1858; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14101858 - 28 Sep 2023
Viewed by 997
Abstract
This work demonstrates the green production of a graphene ink for inkjet printing and its use as a hole transport layer (HTL) in an organic solar cell. Graphene as an HTL improves the selective hole extraction at the anode and prevents charge recombination [...] Read more.
This work demonstrates the green production of a graphene ink for inkjet printing and its use as a hole transport layer (HTL) in an organic solar cell. Graphene as an HTL improves the selective hole extraction at the anode and prevents charge recombination at the electronic interface and metal diffusion into the photoactive layer. Graphite was exfoliated in water, concentrated by iterative centrifugation, and characterized by Raman. The concentrated graphene ink was incorporated into inverted organic solar cells by inkjet printing on the active polymer in an ambient atmosphere. Argon plasma was used to enhance wetting of the polymer with the graphene ink during printing. The argon plasma treatment of the active polymer P3HT:PCBM was investigated by XPS, AFM and contact angle measurements. Efficiency and lifetime studies undertaken show that the device with graphene as HTL is fully functional and has good potential for an inkjet printable and flexible alternative to PEDOT:PSS. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Graphene-Based Metamaterial Solar Energy Devices)
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13 pages, 7339 KiB  
Article
Thin-Film Solar Energy Absorber Structure for Window Coatings for Self-Sufficient Futuristic Buildings
by Haitham Alsaif, Jonas Muheki, Naim Ben Ali, Kaouther Ghachem, Jaymit Surve and Shobhit K. Patel
Micromachines 2023, 14(8), 1628; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14081628 - 17 Aug 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 844
Abstract
Energy-efficient buildings are a new demand in the current era. In this paper, we present a novel metamaterial design aimed at achieving efficient solar energy absorption through a periodic MMA structure composed of a W-GaAs-W. The proposed structure can be implemented as the [...] Read more.
Energy-efficient buildings are a new demand in the current era. In this paper, we present a novel metamaterial design aimed at achieving efficient solar energy absorption through a periodic MMA structure composed of a W-GaAs-W. The proposed structure can be implemented as the window coating and in turn it can absorb the incident solar energy and, then, this energy can be used to fulfill the energy demand of the building. Our results reveal significant improvements, achieving an average absorptance of 96.94% in the spectral range. Furthermore, we explore the influence of the angle of incidence on the absorber’s response, demonstrating its angle-insensitive behavior with high absorption levels (above 90%) for incidence angles up to 60° for TE polarization and 40° for TM polarization. The proposed structure presents a significant advancement in metamaterial-based solar energy absorption. By exploring the effects of structural parameters and incident angles, we have demonstrated the optimized version of our proposed absorber. The potential applications of this metamaterial absorber in self-sufficient futuristic building technologies and self-sustaining systems offer new opportunities for harnessing solar energy and are a valuable contribution to future developments in the fields of metamaterials and renewable energy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Graphene-Based Metamaterial Solar Energy Devices)
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15 pages, 2983 KiB  
Article
Broadband and Efficient Metamaterial Absorber Design Based on Gold–MgF2–Tungsten Hybrid Structure for Solar Thermal Application
by Ammar Armghan, Meshari Alsharari and Khaled Aliqab
Micromachines 2023, 14(5), 1066; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14051066 - 17 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1089
Abstract
We have presented a solar absorber design with gold–MgF2–tungsten materials. The solar absorber design is optimized with nonlinear optimization mathematical method to find and optimize geometrical parameters. The wideband absorber is made of a three-layer structure composed of tungsten, magnesium fluoride, [...] Read more.
We have presented a solar absorber design with gold–MgF2–tungsten materials. The solar absorber design is optimized with nonlinear optimization mathematical method to find and optimize geometrical parameters. The wideband absorber is made of a three-layer structure composed of tungsten, magnesium fluoride, and gold. This study analyzed the absorber’s performance using numerical methods over the sun wavelength range of 0.25 μm to 3 μm. The solar AM 1.5 absorption spectrum is a benchmark against which the proposed structure’s absorbing characteristics are evaluated and discussed. It is necessary to analyze the behavior of the absorber under a variety of various physical parameter conditions in order to determine the results and structural dimensions that are optimal. The nonlinear parametric optimization algorithm is applied to obtain the optimized solution. This structure can absorb more than 98% of light across the near-infrared and visible light spectrums. In addition, the structure has a high absorption efficiency for the far range of the infrared spectrum and the THz range. The absorber that has been presented is versatile enough to be used in a variety of solar applications, both narrowband and broadband. The design of the solar cell that has been presented will be of assistance in designing a solar cell that has high efficiency. The proposed optimized design with optimized parameters will help design solar thermal absorbers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Graphene-Based Metamaterial Solar Energy Devices)
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