TY - JOUR
T1 - Light-trapping in polymer solar cells by processing with nanostructured diatomaceous earth
AU - McMillon-Brown, Lyndsey
AU - Mariano, Marina
AU - Lin, Yun Hui L.
AU - Li, Jinyang
AU - Hashmi, Sara M.
AU - Semichaevsky, Andrey
AU - Rand, Barry P.
AU - Taylor, André D.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors gratefully acknowledge the National Science Foundation under Grant No. MRSEC DMR 1119826 (CRISP) for primary support. A.D.T. also thanks the NSF-PECASE award ( CBET-0954985 ) for partial support of this work. Facilities use was supported by YINQE and NSF MRSEC DMR 1119826 (CRISP). M.M. acknowledges the Yale Climate & Energy Institute fellowship for support during this work. B.P.R and Y.L.L acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation Award No. CBET-1604524 .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017
PY - 2017/12
Y1 - 2017/12
N2 - We demonstrate the use of fossilized diatoms (diatomaceous earth) as light traps in regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and fullerene derivative [6,6]-phenyl-C60-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) solar cells. Diatoms, the most common type of phytoplankton found in nature, are optimized for light absorption through millions of years of adaptive evolution. They are also an earth-abundant source of silica that can be incorporated into polymer solar cells without the need for complicated processing. Here we establish protocols dispersing the diatomaceous earth throughout the P3HT:PCBM active layer with characterization by optical and current-voltage measurements. We show that through the addition of diatomaceous earth, we can achieve the same power conversion efficiencies as standard thickness cells while using 36% thinner active layers. We find that adding the diatomaceous earth acts as a scattering center and textures the silver back contact, contributing to increases in the optical path length within devices. Results from this study open up pathways for incorporating hierarchical materials from nature into energy conversion devices.
AB - We demonstrate the use of fossilized diatoms (diatomaceous earth) as light traps in regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and fullerene derivative [6,6]-phenyl-C60-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) solar cells. Diatoms, the most common type of phytoplankton found in nature, are optimized for light absorption through millions of years of adaptive evolution. They are also an earth-abundant source of silica that can be incorporated into polymer solar cells without the need for complicated processing. Here we establish protocols dispersing the diatomaceous earth throughout the P3HT:PCBM active layer with characterization by optical and current-voltage measurements. We show that through the addition of diatomaceous earth, we can achieve the same power conversion efficiencies as standard thickness cells while using 36% thinner active layers. We find that adding the diatomaceous earth acts as a scattering center and textures the silver back contact, contributing to increases in the optical path length within devices. Results from this study open up pathways for incorporating hierarchical materials from nature into energy conversion devices.
KW - Biomimicry
KW - Diatom frustules
KW - Light trapping
KW - Nanophotonics
KW - Polymer solar cells
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U2 - 10.1016/j.orgel.2017.09.009
DO - 10.1016/j.orgel.2017.09.009
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85029911381
SN - 1566-1199
VL - 51
SP - 422
EP - 427
JO - Organic Electronics: physics, materials, applications
JF - Organic Electronics: physics, materials, applications
ER -