Reduced graphene oxide coated modified SnO2 forms excellent potassium storage properties

In this work, SnO₂ and Sn nanoparticles adhered to the surface of rGO (SnO₂/Sn/rGO) applied as potassium ion batteries (KIBs) anode materials were synthesized via thermal reduction. Preparing SnO₂ material into a nanostructure for modification can reduce ion diffusion distance to improve the number of active sites appropriate for K⁺ adsorption, and efficiently reduce the volume change which is conducive to enhancing the potassium storage capacity. Besides, layered rGO inhibits SnO₂/Sn aggregation, while increased surface area also reduces diffusion channel and electrolyte contact. However, larger specific surface area result in a lower initial Coulomb efficiency (ICE). The approach adopted here is to force the solid electrolyte interface (SEI) to fully emerge during the first charge-discharge cycle by using electrolytes containing 1 M KFSI in EC and DEC (1:1, v/v). According to density functional theory (DFT) analysis, the doping of rGO and SnO2 effectively enhanced the adsorption of potassium atoms and reduced the diffusion barrier of K⁺. Therefore, SnO₂/Sn/rGO nanocomposites have a high specific capacity (325.8 mAhg⁻¹ after 350 cycles at 0.1 Ag^-1), an excellent ICE (66.57%), and a long cycle life (203.6 mAhg⁻¹ after 1000 cycles at 0.5 Ag^-1).     

Optimization of n/i and i/p buffer layers in n-i-p hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon solar cells

Hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon （μc-Si：H） intrinsic films and solar cells with n-i-p configuration were prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition （PECVD）. The influence of n/i and i/p buffer layers on the μc-Si：H cell performance was studied in detail. The experimental results demonstrated that the efficiency is much improved when there is a higher crystallinity at n/i interface and an optimized a-Si：H buffer layer at i/p interface. By combining the above methods, the performance of μc-Si：H single-junction and a-Si：H/μc-Si：H tandem solar cells has been significantly improved.     

本征微晶硅薄膜的结构演变及其对太阳电池光伏性能的影响

采用高压射频等离子体增强化学气相沉积（RF-PECVD）方法制备本征硅薄膜和n-i-p结构太阳电池,研究了氢稀释率对本征硅薄膜的电学特性和结构特性的影响. 采用光发射谱（OES）和喇曼（Raman）散射光谱研究了处于过渡区的本征硅薄膜的纵向结构演变过程. 结果表明：光发射谱和喇曼散射光谱可以作为研究硅薄膜的纵向结构演变有效手段. 随着氢稀释率的增加,硅薄膜从非晶相向微晶相过渡时,其纵向结构的改变会严重影响硅薄膜太阳电池的光伏性能.     

Effects of element chemical states and grain orientation growth of ITO targets on photoelectric properties of the film

A study was carried out to compare element chemical states and grain orientation growth between two ITO targets, which were respectively sintered at 1560 °C (target A#) and 1600 °C (target B#). The lower sintering temperature can be beneficial to increase mass content ratio of In₂O₃ to SnO₂, reduce the production of Sn²⁺ ions and the component of O-In as well as increase oxygen holes, and can also promote grain orientation growth of In₂O₃ and In₄Sn₃O₁₂ phase. Three groups of ITO films were deposited at 230 °C using these targets to investigate the effects of sputtering parameters on the photoelectric properties of ITO films. Under different sputtering pressures, the sheet resistance for target A# has higher sensitivity to low O₂ flow, while target B# displays higher sensitivity to high O₂ flow. In the case of sputtering pressure of 0.5 Pa, ITO films for target A# displays the highest visible transmittance. In addition, annealing process could decrease the sheet resistance and improve the transmittance of ITO films because of its effect on the crystallinity and surface morphology of ITO films.     

Study#$TABon#$TABsputtering#$TABZn(O,S)#$TABbuffer#$TABlayers for eco-friendly Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells

An eco-friendly Zn(O,S) film with a wider band gap is emerging as one of the promising Cd-free replacement material, which can be deposited by radio frequency sputtering. The effect of sputtering pressure on the Zn(O,S) films properties and the devices performance are studied systematically. At high pressure, the ZnS phase is found in the Zn(O,S) films resulting in a higher barrier at Zn(O,S) /CIGS interface which would lead to a low recombination activation energy (Ea). By reducing sputtering pressure, single phase of Zn(O,S) films are conducive to carrier transport as well as pro- mote the films electric properties, ultimately improving the performance of Zn(O,S)/CIGS solar cells. This work has been supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos.61774089, 51572132 and 61504067), and the Yang Fan Innovative & Entrepreneurial Research Team Project (No.2014YT02N037). E-mail:wwl@nankai.edu.cn      

The impact of Al2O3 back interface layer on low-temperature growth of ultrathin Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells

With reducing the absorber layer thickness and processing temperature, the recombination at the back interface is severe, which both can result in the decrease of open-circuit voltage and fill factor. In this paper, we prepare Al2O3 by atomic layer deposition (ALD), and investigate the effect of its thickness on the performance of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cell. The device recombination activation energy (EA) is increased from 1.04 eV to 1.11 eV when the thickness of Al2O3 is varied from 0 nm to 1 nm, and the height of back barrier is decreased from 48.54 meV to 38.05 meV. An efficiency of 11.57 % is achieved with 0.88-μm-thick CIGS absorber layer.     

Semitransparent Perovskite Solar Cells: From Materials and Devices to Applications

Semitransparent solar cells (ST-SCs) have received great attention due to their promising application in many areas, such as building integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs), tandem devices, and wearable electronics. In the past decade, perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have revolutionized the field of photovoltaics (PVs) with their high efficiencies and facile preparation processes. Due to their large absorption coefficient and bandgap tunability, perovskites offer new opportunities to ST-SCs. Here, a general overview is provided on the recent advances in ST-PSCs from materials and devices to applications and some personal perspectives on the future development of ST-PSCs.     

Influence of growth temperature and thickness on the orientation of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 film

Cu(In,Ga)Se2(CIGS) films are deposited on the Na-free glass substrate using three-stage co-evaporation process,and the effects of thickness and growth temperature on the orientation of CIGS film are investigated by X-ray diffraction(XRD) and scanning electron microscopy(SEM).When the growth of CIGS film does not experience the Cu-rich process,the increase of the growth temperature at the second stage(Ts2) promotes the(112) orientation of CIGS film,and weakens the(220) orientation.Nevertheless,when the growth of CIGS film experiences Cu-rich process,the increase of Ts2 significantly promotes the(220) orientation.In addition,with the thickness of CIGS film decreasing,the extent of(In,Ga)2Se3(IGS) precursor orientation does not change except for the intensity of Bragg peak,yet the(220) orientation of following CIGS film is hindered,which suggests that(112) plane preferentially grows at the initial growth of CIGS film.