Self-Healing Polymeric Hetero-Nano-Structures for Monolithic Quantum Dot Perovskite Tandem Solar Cells
A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Smart and Functional Polymers".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022)
Special Issue Editors
Interests: nanotechnology; advanced materials; energy systems; solar cells; nanobiotech
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: pharmaceutical biotechnology; synthesis and characterization; magnetofection; bioprocess and fermentation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: coatings for heat transfer applications; cell membrane interaction and transport; self-assemblies and emulsions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Photovoltaic perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have been considered the most promising substitutes for high-caliber solar energy harvesting systems. For tandem solar cells, many narrow bandgap semiconductors, such as crystalline silicon (c-Si), Cu(In, Ga)Se, and polymers, are paired to increase efficiency beyond the present Shockley–Queisser limit (>29.5%). Monolithic tandem solar cells are fabricated sequentially on a single substrate with one transparent front electrode and one opaque rear electrode interconnected with an interconnection layer (ICL). However, additional electrodes and corresponding optical loss usually result in a high cost and complex fabrication process. In fact, an ideal ICL is required to have low reflection, low parasitic absorption, low contact resistance, and high light transmittance and must form ohmic contact with individual subcells. Nevertheless, ICL structures have limitations, e.g., satisfactory sustainability and flexibility, that prevent the full advantage of tandem structures from being harnessed. The parasitic absorption of indium tin oxide, indium-doped zinc oxide, or gold leads to the loss of short-circuit current density for tandem solar cells. and the sputtering process damages underlying functional layers, reducing the device’s fill factor. Additionally, under frequent temperature variations, damaged or cracked solar cells reduce efficiency by deteriorating photon transfer tunneling. This Special Issue invites original and review articles that target self-healing solar cells, e.g., using smart polymeric layers, to overcome the above issues without curtailing efficiency in energy harvesting cells.
Dr. Abbas Amini
Dr. Ahmad Gholami
Dr. Anju Gupta
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- self-healing polymers
- perovskite tandem
- solar cells
- monolithic quantum dot
- smart composite
- pico-energy harvesting
