MIT Graphene Solar Cell Efficiency 4.2%

MIT Graphene Solar Cell Efficiency 4.2%

MIT researchers recently successfully used graphene materials with ZnO nanowires and other materials to produce improved solar cells. Graphene replaces traditional transparent conductive oxide ITO in the cell, and the cell efficiency is close to that of a similar structure cell using ITO.

As the graphene material itself is structurally stable, it is very difficult to grow the semiconductor material directly on the surface of the original graphene without destroying its electrical characteristics and structure. Therefore, the researchers first tested a series of thin layers of polymers on the surface of graphene as a connecting layer between graphene and zinc oxide nanowires (n-type). Above it, a hole transport layer semiconductor material is further prepared. The efficiency of the p-type material used in the experiment was 4.2% and 0.5% for the lead sulfide (PbS) quantum dot and the conjugated polymer material P3HT, respectively.

According to Silvija Gradečak, an associate professor at the MIT School of Materials Science and Engineering who participated in the study, “Although our efficiency is still lower than that of ordinary silicon-based solar cells, it is already close to that of ITO-based ones. We demonstrated for the first time that the performance of nanowire solar cells is not due to adoption. Graphene replaces ITO and is greatly reduced."

She said that graphene can be used as a substitute for ITO, and the rare metal indium, which is commonly used in ITO, has a higher cost, while graphene has a much lower raw material carbon. At the same time, graphene also has characteristics such as bendability, light weight, high mechanical strength, and stable chemical properties.

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