Issue 27, 2015

Flexible graphene/silicon heterojunction solar cells

Abstract

Graphene/silicon heterojunction solar cells have attracted intensive research interest owing to their simple device structure as well as their low-cost process capability at room temperature. However, the use of thick silicon substrates hampers their application in flexible solar cells, despite the high flexibility of graphene. Here, we report the construction of flexible graphene/silicon solar cells by taking advantage of the high flexibility of ultrathin Si substrates. By systemically optimizing the device structures, including performing surface passivation on Si, inserting a layer of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as an electron blocking layer, and controlling the layer number and doping of graphene, a power conversion efficiency of 8.42% was successfully achieved. The photovoltaic characteristics of the graphene/ultrathin silicon heterojunctions were further evaluated under bending conditions, revealing their excellent flexibility and durability. Our work paves the way for low-cost, high-performance, flexible graphene/silicon heterojunction solar cells.

Graphical abstract: Flexible graphene/silicon heterojunction solar cells

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
19 May 2015
Accepted
29 May 2015
First published
01 Jun 2015

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015,3, 14370-14377

Author version available

Flexible graphene/silicon heterojunction solar cells

K. Ruan, K. Ding, Y. Wang, S. Diao, Z. Shao, X. Zhang and J. Jie, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015, 3, 14370 DOI: 10.1039/C5TA03652F

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