Photovoltaics articles within Nature Communications

Featured

• Article
  18 September 2018 | Open Access

  In-situ cross-linking strategy for efficient and operationally stable methylammoniun lead iodide solar cells

  The stability of perovskite solar cell remains the biggest challenge that hinders its commercialization. Here Li et al. incorporate crosslinkable molecules to form a crosslinked perovskite film and increase the device operational stability by 590 times to 400 h under standard Xenon lamp without filters.

  • Xiaodong Li
  • , Wenxiao Zhang
  •  & Junfeng Fang

• Article
  27 August 2018 | Open Access

  Transformation from crystalline precursor to perovskite in PbCl₂-derived MAPbI₃

  The existence of a crystalline precursor is key to perovskite film formation, but the precise chemistry of the precursor and its transformation into perovskite are poorly understood. Here, the authors identify the crystal structure and conversion chemistry of the precursor for PbCl₂-derived methylammonium lead iodide perovskites.

  • Kevin H. Stone
  • , Aryeh Gold-Parker
  •  & Christopher J. Tassone

• Article
  14 August 2018 | Open Access

  Charge carrier-selective contacts for nanowire solar cells

  Balancing the carrier selectivity and extraction by the selective contacts is of vital importance to the performance of the nanowire solar cells. Here Oener et al. employ a permanent local gate to overcome this tradeoff and substantially increase the open-circuit voltage by 335 mV.

  • Sebastian Z. Oener
  • , Alessandro Cavalli
  •  & Erik C. Garnett

• Article
  13 August 2018 | Open Access

  High efficiency planar-type perovskite solar cells with negligible hysteresis using EDTA-complexed SnO₂

  The development of high efficiency planar-type perovskite solar cell has been lagging behind the mesoporous-type counterpart. Here Yang et al. modify the oxide based electron transporting layer with organic acid and obtain planar-type cells with high certified efficiency of 21.5% and decent stability.

  • Dong Yang
  • , Ruixia Yang
  •  & Shengzhong (Frank) Liu

• Article
  05 June 2018 | Open Access

  Vapor transport deposition of antimony selenide thin film solar cells with 7.6% efficiency

  Antimony selenide possess several advantages for solar cell applications but state-of-the-art vapor transport deposition methods suffer from poor film quality. Here Wen et al. develop a fast and cheap method to reduce the defect density by 10 times and achieve a certified power conversion efficiency of 7.6%.

  • Xixing Wen
  • , Chao Chen
  •  & Jiang Tang

• Article
  25 May 2018 | Open Access

  Robust nonfullerene solar cells approaching unity external quantum efficiency enabled by suppression of geminate recombination

  The nonfullerene-based small molecules start to attract more attention for solar cell research than the fullerene acceptors due to their wider tunability. Here Baran et al. demonstrate nonfullerene-based solar cells with high power conversion efficiency of 12% and quantum efficiencies approaching 100%.

  • Derya Baran
  • , Nicola Gasparini
  •  & Iain McCulloch

• Article
  17 May 2018 | Open Access

  Probing femtosecond lattice displacement upon photo-carrier generation in lead halide perovskite

  The electron–phonon coupling is the key to understand optoelectronic properties in lead halide perovskites but it is difficult to probe. Here Batignani et al. observe two new phonon modes with impulsive vibrational spectroscopy providing the evidence of the polaronic nature of the photo-excitation.

  • Giovanni Batignani
  • , Giuseppe Fumero
  •  & Tullio Scopigno

• Article
  14 March 2018 | Open Access

  Surface passivation engineering strategy to fully-inorganic cubic CsPbI₃ perovskites for high-performance solar cells

  Inorganic cesium lead iodide perovskite is inherently more stable than the hybrid perovskites but it undergoes phase transition that degrades the solar cell performance. Here Li et al. stabilize it with poly-vinylpyrrolidone and obtain high efficiency of 10.74% with excellent thermal and moisture stability.

  • Bo Li
  • , Yanan Zhang
  •  & Longwei Yin

• Article
  26 February 2018 | Open Access

  Sodium enhances indium-gallium interdiffusion in copper indium gallium diselenide photovoltaic absorbers

  Sodium doping is necessary to achieve high performance in polycrystalline chalcopyrite solar cells, but retards gallium interdiffusion, and thus efficiency optimisation. Here, Colombara et al. show that in contrast to the polycrystalline case, sodium accelerates atomic interdiffusion in monocrystalline samples.

  • Diego Colombara
  • , Florian Werner
  •  & Susanne Siebentritt

• Article
  18 January 2018 | Open Access

  Bimolecular recombination in methylammonium lead triiodide perovskite is an inverse absorption process

  Radiative bimolecular processes will dominate charge-carrier recombination in hybrid perovskite solar cells operating near the Shockley-Queisser limit. Here, the authors show that such processes are the inverse of absorption and increase as distribution functions sharpen towards lower temperatures.

  • Christopher L. Davies
  • , Marina R. Filip
  •  & Laura M. Herz

• Article
  01 December 2017 | Open Access

  Thin single crystal perovskite solar cells to harvest below-bandgap light absorption

  Thin films of halide perovskites are promising for solar cell technology but they do not perform well at the band edge due to the low optical absorption. Herein, Chen et al. fabricate a high efficiency single crystal perovskite solar cell with thicker single crystals to harvest the below-bandgap photons.

  • Zhaolai Chen
  • , Qingfeng Dong
  •  & Jinsong Huang

• Article
  24 November 2017 | Open Access

  Spectroscopic detection of halogen bonding resolves dye regeneration in the dye-sensitized solar cell

  Dye-sensitized solar cells rely on molecular dyes to absorb light and conduct electrons. Parlane et al. show that weak forces such as hydrogen bonding can be responsible for the dye regeneration step of solar cells and have an impact on the photovoltage and the efficiency.

  • Fraser G. L. Parlane
  • , Chantal Mustoe
  •  & Curtis P. Berlinguette

• Article
  23 November 2017 | Open Access

  Ultrafast bridge planarization in donor-π-acceptor copolymers drives intramolecular charge transfer

  Tracking and understanding charge transfer process is central yet challenging to designing efficient organic photovoltaics. Roy et al. monitor real-time structural changes in donor-π-acceptor polymer backbone, and enumerate the role of π-bridge torsions during intramolecular charge transfer.

  • Palas Roy
  • , Ajay Jha
  •  & Jyotishman Dasgupta

• Article
  25 September 2017 | Open Access

  Ultrathin high band gap solar cells with improved efficiencies from the world’s oldest photovoltaic material

  Wide band gap semiconductors are important for the development of tandem photovoltaics. By introducing buffer layers at the front and rear side of solar cells based on selenium; Todorov et al., reduce interface recombination losses to achieve photoconversion efficiencies of 6.5%.

  • Teodor K. Todorov
  • , Saurabh Singh
  •  & Richard Haight

• Article
  20 September 2017 | Open Access

  Dipole-field-assisted charge extraction in metal-perovskite-metal back-contact solar cells

  Simplified device concepts may become important for the development of low cost photovoltaics. Lin et al. report solar cells based on interdigitated gold back-contacts and metal halide perovskites where charge extraction is assisted via a dipole field generated by self-assembled molecular monolayers.

  • Xiongfeng Lin
  • , Askhat N. Jumabekov
  •  & Udo Bach

• Article
  19 September 2017 | Open Access

  Consolidation of the optoelectronic properties of CH₃NH₃PbBr₃ perovskite single crystals

  Metal halide perovskites for optoelectronic devices have been extensively studied in two forms: single-crystals or polycrystalline thin films. Using spectroscopic approaches, Wenger et al. show that polycrystalline thin films possess similar optoelectronic properties to single crystals.

  • Bernard Wenger
  • , Pabitra K. Nayak
  •  & Henry J. Snaith

• Article
  29 August 2017 | Open Access

  Ultrafast carrier thermalization in lead iodide perovskite probed with two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy

  Carrier-carrier scattering rates determine the fundamental limits of carrier transport and electronic coherence. Using two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy with sub-10 fs resolution, Richter and Branchi et al. extract carrier thermalization times of 10 to 85 fs in hybrid perovskites.

  • Johannes M. Richter
  • , Federico Branchi
  •  & Felix Deschler

• Article
  19 July 2017 | Open Access

  Impact of interfacial molecular orientation on radiative recombination and charge generation efficiency

  Molecular orientation profoundly affects the performance of donor-acceptor heterojunctions, whilst it has remained challenging to investigate the detail. Using a controllable interface, Ran et al. show that the edge-on geometries improve charge generation at the cost of non-radiative recombination loss.

  • Niva A. Ran
  • , Steffen Roland
  •  & Thuc-Quyen Nguyen

• Article
  12 June 2017 | Open Access

  Diffusion engineering of ions and charge carriers for stable efficient perovskite solar cells

  Ion migration in perovskite solar cells are known to cause hysteresis and instability. Biet al., report a charge extraction layer based on graphene, fullerenes and carbon quantum dots which suppresses ion diffusion and enhances charge carrier diffusion leading to efficient devices with improved stability.

  • Enbing Bi
  • , Han Chen
  •  & Liyuan Han

• Article
  09 June 2017 | Open Access

  11% efficiency solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells with copper(II/I) hole transport materials

  Inadequate pore infiltration and low conductivity of hole transporter materials limit the performance of solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells. Using fast charge-exchange Cu(II/I) complexes as part of the hole transporting material, Caoet al. overcome these issues to achieve a record photoconversion efficiency of 11%.

  • Yiming Cao
  • , Yasemin Saygili
  •  & Michael Grätzel

• Article
  06 April 2017 | Open Access

  Two-step photon up-conversion solar cells

  Harvesting incident photons with energy below the bandgap may lead to highly efficient solar cells. By introducing InAs quantum dots at the hetero-interface, Asahiet al. achieve efficient two step photon up-conversion resulting in additional photocurrent and very high external quantum efficiency.

  • Shigeo Asahi
  • , Haruyuki Teranishi
  •  & Takashi Kita

• Article
  27 February 2017 | Open Access

  Synergy of ammonium chloride and moisture on perovskite crystallization for efficient printable mesoscopic solar cells

  The commercialization of solar cells based on hybrid perovskites requires challenges of device stability and scalable production to be addressed. Ronget al. report ambient-processed printable mesoscopic perovskite solar cells with a lifetime of over 130 days in ambient air with 30% relative humidity.

  • Yaoguang Rong
  • , Xiaomeng Hou
  •  & Hongwei Han

• Article
  17 January 2017 | Open Access

  Thermal engineering of FAPbI₃ perovskite material via radiative thermal annealing and in situ XRD

  Processing is crucial to ensure material quality and stability in perovskite solar cells. Here, Poolet al. develop a scalable infrared annealing method and use in situXRD to map the processing phase space relative to the device efficiency. This provides a tool to determine processing requirements.

  • Vanessa L. Pool
  • , Benjia Dou
  •  & Michael F. Toney

• Article
  16 January 2017 | Open Access

  Long-term efficient organic photovoltaics based on quaternary bulk heterojunctions

  Organic photovoltaics suffer from degradation. Here, Namet al. develop a quaternary blend and fabricate devices which lose 28% of their initial efficiency after one year of operation at 65 °C.

  • Minwoo Nam
  • , Minjeong Cha
  •  & Doo-Hyun Ko

• Article
  19 December 2016 | Open Access

  Fluorination-enabled optimal morphology leads to over 11% efficiency for inverted small-molecule organic solar cells

  Organic solar cells based on solution-processable small molecules still lag behind their macromolecule counterparts. Here, Denget al. develop molecular donors to pair with PC₇₁BM and study how the degree of fluorination impacts the morphology of the heterojunction and the efficiency of the devices.

  • Dan Deng
  • , Yajie Zhang
  •  & Zhixiang Wei

• Article
  10 November 2016 | Open Access

  Trapped charge-driven degradation of perovskite solar cells

  Improving the stability of perovskite solar cells remains crucial. Here, Ahn et al. show that trapped charges at grain boundaries induce the dissociation of the perovskite compound in the presence of moisture, and explain why degradation is irreversible under illumination and reversible in the dark.

  • Namyoung Ahn
  • , Kwisung Kwak
  •  & Mansoo Choi

• Article
  26 October 2016 | Open Access

  Donor polymer design enables efficient non-fullerene organic solar cells

  In organic photovoltaics, electron acceptors are developed to replace fullerenes, and new donors need to be designed to match these acceptors. Here, the authors show that a polymer with strong temperature dependent aggregation and intentionally reduced crystallinity matches non-fullerene acceptors.

  • Zhengke Li
  • , Kui Jiang
  •  & He Yan

• Article
  24 October 2016 | Open Access

  In-depth analysis of chloride treatments for thin-film CdTe solar cells

  High performance CdTe thin film solar cells typically require a chloride activation treatment. Here, Majoret al. show that the main effect of the most effective chloride-based treatments is chloride accumulation at grain boundaries and that it results in improved open circuit voltages.

  • J. D. Major
  • , M. Al Turkestani
  •  & K. Durose

• Article
  11 October 2016 | Open Access

  Theory of highly efficient multiexciton generation in type-II nanorods

  Multiple exciton generation could help limit thermalization losses in solar cells, but the efficiency of the process is still limited. Here, the authors show by atomistic calculations that type-II interfaces in nanostructures along with a change in exciton cooling rate favour multiple exciton generation.

  • Hagai Eshet
  • , Roi Baer
  •  & Eran Rabani

• Article
  05 October 2016 | Open Access

  Enhancing stability and efficiency of perovskite solar cells with crosslinkable silane-functionalized and doped fullerene

  Perovskite solar cells reach high efficiencies but their stability remains a challenge. Here, Bai et al. functionalize the fullerene-based transport layer with hydrophobic and crosslinkable molecules to prepare devices reaching 19% efficiency and degrading by 10% over a month in ambient conditions.

  • Yang Bai
  • , Qingfeng Dong
  •  & Jinsong Huang

• Article
  07 September 2016 | Open Access

  Upscaling of integrated photoelectrochemical water-splitting devices to large areas

  The realization of photoelectrochemical water splitting requires the upscale of associated technologies. Here, the authors report a scalable design based on independent photovoltaic and electrochemical silicon thin-film modules and assess its solar hydrogen generation performance.

  • Bugra Turan
  • , Jan-Philipp Becker
  •  & Stefan Haas

• Article
  02 September 2016 | Open Access

  The fate of electron–hole pairs in polymer:fullerene blends for organic photovoltaics

  Charge generation and transport are crucial to the performance of organic solar cells, but the mechanism remains controversial. Causa’ et al. show that the phase morphology of polymer:fullerene blends determines the exciton dissociation at femtoseconds, although the spatial separation can occur at picoseconds.

  • Martina Causa'
  • , Jelissa De Jonghe-Risse
  •  & Natalie Banerji

• Article
  27 July 2016 | Open Access

  Structural and compositional dependence of the CdTe_xSe_1−x alloy layer photoactivity in CdTe-based solar cells

  Using a CdTe_xSe_1−x alloy in CdTe solar cells leads to better performances. Here, Poplawsky et al. show that the photoactive properties of the alloy depend on its chemical composition and structural properties, and derive a phase diagram to further optimize alloy growth for photovoltaic devices.

  • Jonathan D. Poplawsky
  • , Wei Guo
  •  & Yanfa Yan