Physics Access

A Journal of Physics and Emerging Technologies

A Publication of the Department of Physics, Kaduna State University, Nigeria.
ISSN Online: 2756-3898
ISSN Print: 2714-500X

Materials for third generation solar cells and other energy related applications

Call for papers on Materials for third generation solar cells and other energy related applications
Submission Deadline: 30th November, 2022  

Brief Overview

As it is known, the issues of energy have drawn much research interest due to environmental impact and use of resources that cannot be replenished. For few past years, various energy related devices, such as supercapacitors, batteries, solar cells including: Dye Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs), Perovskite Sensitized Solar Cells (PSCs) and Quantum Dot Sensitized Solar Cells (QDSSCs), have become the subject of debate in the horizon of energy storage and harvesting. It is worthy of note that materials such as polymer, compound semiconductors, quantum dots, perovskite nano crystals, metal nanoparticles (eg: Ag, Au, Cu, etc), play a crucial role in this related energy systems and their proper choice is a very necessary factor in determining high performance in energy devices. Moreover, this materials function as active layers, shells, electron transport layers, hole transport layers, dielectric matrices, metal contacts, plasmonic enhancers, to mention but a few. Their abilities to act that way is connected to their tunable structures, compositions and capacities to generate Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) effect for light amplification. This special issue is focused on the collection of recent and ongoing scientific research regarding materials for third generation solar cells and other energy related applications. We welcome original papers and review articles addressing this topic of concerned.

Scope of the Special Issue

Manuscripts can be related to any aspect of the following (but not limited to): Super-capacitors, Batteries, Perovskite nanocrystals, Perovskites solar cells, Quantum dot sensitized solar cells, Dye sensitized solar cells

Guest Editors

Eli
Dr. Eli Danladi (Lead Guest Editor)
danladielibako@gmail.com
Department of Physics
Faculty of Science
Federal University of Health Sciences, Otukpo
Benue State, Nigeria

Research Interests: semiconductor physics, surface science, dye and quantum dot sensitized solar cells, perovskite solar cells, batteries

Eli
Dr. Imosobomeh Lucky Ikhioya (Guest Editor)
imosobomeh.ikhioya@unn.edu.ng
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Faculty of Physical Sciences
University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Enugu State, Nigeria

Research Interests: Thin film, optical and electronic structures, dye sensitized solar cells, super-capacitors

Eli
Dr. Thomas Daniel (Guest Editor)
danielojonugwathomas@gmail.com
Department of Physics
Faculty of Physical Sciences
Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu Alike
Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Research Interests: Super-capacitors, battery, solar cells, transistors, surface science

Eli
Dr. Auwal Abdulkadir (Guest Editor)
auwal.abdulkadir@umyu.edu.ng
Department of Physics
Faculty of Natural and Applied Science
Umaru Musa Yar’adua University
Katsina State, Nigeria

Research Interests: Photovoltaics, Batteries, semiconductors

Eli
Dr. Jude Ozuomba (Guest Editor)
okananduj@gmail.com
Department of Physics
Faculty of Physical Science
Imo State University, Owerri
Imo State, Nigeria

Research Interests: Thin film, solar cells, nanotechnology, condensed matter physics

Eli
Dr. Ridwan Agbaoye (Guest Editor)
agbaoye@fedcodtten.edu.ng
Department of Applied Science
Faculty of Pure and Applied Science
Federal College of Dental Technology and Therapy, Enugu
Enugu State, Nigeria

Research Interests: Electronic Structure and Optical Absorption Spectra of Materials for Photovoltaic Applications

Eli
Prof. Muhammad Yusuf Onimisi (Guest Editor)
onimisimy@yahoo.com
Department of Physics
Faculty of Sciences
Nigerian Defense Academy, Kaduna
Kaduna State, Nigeria

Research Interests: Semiconductor physics, surface science, dye and quantum dot sensitized solar cells, perovskite solar cells, batteries

 

Articles

Materials for third generation solar cells and other energy related applications

  • Open Access

    Investigating the Performance of Perovskite Solar Cells Using Nickel Oxide and Copper Iodide as Pty...
    Olayinka M Jimoh, Ikechiamaka N Florence, Akinsanmi Akinbolati, Chima Nnachi, Clement Ajani, Philibu
        View article     PDF   
    Lead-based perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have drawn much research attention over the years due to their impressive light-to-power conversion efficiency (PCE), low temperature with easy manufacturing, tolerance to defects, high absorption coefficient and low cost. In this paper, the effect of absorber thickness, absorber band gap, absorber doping concentration, and electron transport material (ETM) thickness of PSC with two inorganic hole transport materials (HTM) was investigated using one-dimensional solar capacitance simulation (SCAPS-1D) software. Results obtained indicates that solar cell containing CuI as HTM performed better than that with NiO. A power conversion efficiency of 16.65%, fill factor (FF) of 82.43%, current density (Jsc) of 24.83 mA/cm2 and voltage (Voc) of 0.83 V were obtained for CuI with an enhancement of 1.15 times in PCE, 1.10 in Jsc and 1.17 in FF over the initial device and PCE of 15.74%, FF of 74.69%, Jsc of 27.22 mA/cm2 and Voc of 0.77 V for NiO with an enhancement of 1.20 times in PCE, 1.25 times in Jsc and 1.15 in FF when compared with the initial device. The result, therefore, shows that CuI as HTM performed better than NiO and implies that critical selection of the absorber parameters is a very key factor to enhance solar cell devices.
  • Open Access

    Optical Behaviour of Caffeine Mixed Perovskite Photoanode for Photovoltaic Application
    Nicodemus Kure, Muhammad Y Onimisi, Haruna Ali, Olumide O Ige and Eli Danladi
        View article     PDF   
    Halide perovskites such as methylammonium lead triiodide (CH3NH3PbI3) are attracting attention as energy-efficient light absorber materials for photovoltaic applications owing to their solution processing-power, tunable bandgap, strong absorption coefficients and cost-effectiveness. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Ultra-Violet Visible Spectroscopy (UV-vis) were used to characterize the prepared samples. The substrates were rinsed with propanol to remove impurities and later sintered before precursor deposition with different caffeine ratios via spray pyrolysis. The deposition method was used due to its homogenous ability. The SEM results indicate that the introduction of caffeine enhances nucleation, leading to an increase in the growth rate compared to the control. The UV-vis result shows a redshift to a higher wavelength, indicating an increase in visible light absorption which is attributed to the spectral overlap between the CH3NH3PbI3 absorber and caffeine. The bandgap (Eg) energy analysis further confirmed that the caffeine-modified photoanode is a potential light absorber in perovskite solar cells application. This study provides a good understanding of the optical behaviour of caffeine-mixed perovskite photoanode nanostructures and a promising approach for photon energy management.
  • Open Access

    Optical and Morphological Study of Hydroxyapatite on Titanium Dioxide Particles for Photovoltaic Ap...
    Yunana Tanko, Haruna Ali and Muhammad Y Onimisi
        View article     PDF   
    In this study, a natural mineral termed hydroxyapatite (HA) (Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2) was produced with TiO2 stoichiometrically by normal sol-gel process. An investigation on how the different percentage weights of HA on TiO2 can affect its optical and morphological properties was carried out, while the morphological nature and elemental composition were verified through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis. Consequently UV–visible spectroscopy was used to measure the absorbance data, where optical constants such as absorption coefficient, extension coefficient, refractive index, transmittance, absorbance, thermal conductivity, the electron-phonon interaction and steepness parameter were evaluated. According to the optical examination, the transmittance in the visible range is between (400 and 800 nm), and the absorption response in the UV region is between (200 and 400 nm) with an absorption edge occurring between (650 and 950 nm). The value of the absorption coefficient (α) and extension coefficient (k) of HA/TiO2 increased with an increase in the percentage weight (wt%) of HA. Equally, the optical conductivity increases with an increase in photon energy. In addition, the band gap energy decreases as the percentage weight of HA increases.
  • Open Access

    First Principle Investigation on Electronic Properties of Cationic and Anionic CO-Alloyed Cu2ZnSnS4...
    Aliyu A Masanawa, Alhassan Shuaibu, Muhammed M Aliyu and Ismail Magaji
        View article     PDF   
    The primary goal of kesterite alloying is to allow for fine tweaking of the material's characteristics for advanced device engineering. Additionally, it is seen as a viable solution to inherent kesterite absorber difficulties such as the Cu/Zn disorder or Sn multivalency. The most interesting alloying elements for kesterite are Ag replacing Cu, Cd replacing Zn, and Ge replacing Sn for cationic substitution, as well as Se replacing S for anionic substitution. This research work investigates the effect of alloying CZTS with Silver (Ag) (Cation) and Selenium (Se) (Anion) theoretically using Density Functional Theory (DFT). The compounds were found to exhibit indirect bandgap characteristics, with conduction band minima (CBM) and valence band maxima (VBM) located between the N and gamma points of the Brillouin zone for pure kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4 and between the N and A points for alloyed Ag2ZnSnSe4 respectively. The bandgap of around 1.22 eV and 0.78 eV were recorded for the pure and alloyed kesterite materials. From the obtained results, a shrink in bandgap was observed due to the presence of heavy anion (Se) and cation (Ag) alloying at the same time. It was also found that the contribution of different atomic orbitals to the formation of the valence and conduction bands is approximately identical for pure and alloyed materials.
  • Open Access

    Influence of Front Contact Layer on the Performance of Bismuth-Based Perovskite Solar Cells...
    Faruk Sani and Sanusi Abdullahi
        View article     PDF   
    Numerical analysis has been carried out using SCAPS-1D to investigate the power conversion efficiency of bismuth-based perovskite solar cells employing various Transparent Conductive Oxides (TCOs) such as Molybdenum Trioxide (MoO3), Boron-doped Zinc Oxide (BZO) and Zinc Oxide (ZnO). For the initial simulation, the power conversion efficiencies obtained for MoO3, BZO and ZnO were 0.24 %, 0.17 % and 0.17 % respectively. The influence of thickness, donor concentration and working temperature of the TCOs were varied to study their impact on the device's photovoltaic performance. By varying the thickness, doping concentration and operating temperature, the electrical parameters observed for the three selected TCOs exhibited insignificant impact on the device’s performance. However, the highest performance was achieved using MoO3 at the thickness of 200 nm, donor concentration of 1 × 10ଵ଻ 𝑐𝑚ିଷand the operating temperature of 300 K with the corresponding power conversion efficiency of 0.24 %, Jsc, Voc and FF of 0.2610 mA/cm2, 1.6509 V and 54.97 % respectively. The numerical simulation shows the potential of designing and fabricating an improved bismuth-based perovskite solar cell with MoO3 as front contact as an alternative to Fluorine-doped Tin Oxide (FTO) and Indium-doped Tin Oxide (ITO).
  • Open Access

    Effect of Molar Concentrations on the Structural and Optical Properties of Zinc Oxide Thin Films...
    Ejelonu A Chioma and Joseph O Emegha
        View article     PDF   
    Thin films of zinc oxide (ZnO) were deposited on soda-lime (glass) substrate using chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique. The structural and optical properties of the deposited films were investigated using X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and UV- spectrophotometric measurements. The absorption data were used to determine the energy band gap and other optical parameters. It was observed that the films were polycrystalline in nature with high optical transmittance. The energy band gaps were found to vary between 3.09 and 3.45 eV using the absorption spectrum fitting (ASF) method. The influence of molar concentrations on the extinction coefficient, refractive index, real and imaginary dielectric constants was also discussed. The study shows that the optical parameters were greatly influenced by the molar concentrations.

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