In:
Current Chinese Science, Bentham Science Publishers Ltd., Vol. 1, No. 4 ( 2021-07), p. 438-452
Abstract:
Great achievements have been made in improving the power conversion efficiencies
of solar cells. However, the price of photovoltaic (PV)-generated electricity still cannot compete with that of conventionally generated power. Thus, novel solar cells made from non-toxic, earth-abundant,
and chemically stable materials are desirable to decrease the costs of PV electricity generation. Objective: All-oxide solar cells are a promising next-generation PV technology, fulfilling the requirement
of low-cost manufacturing under ambient conditions. This work aims to search for nontoxic, earth-abundant, and chemically stable narrow-bandgap semiconductors for energy applications
like all-oxide solar cells. Methods: This work examines a family of perovskite rare-earth (i.e., Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb,
Dy, Ho, Er, and Yb) orthoferrites with XRD analysis, SEM, photoresponse, absorption spectra, Xray photoelectron spectroscopy, fluorescence spectra measured with the laser Raman spectrometer,
valence band spectra, the Kelvin probe, the Hall Effect experiment, and theoretical calculation on band structure and the density of states, to screen for the narrow-bandgap semiconductors. Results: The novel Pb-free perovskite narrow-bandgap absorbers, CeFeO 3 , PrFeO 3 , TbFeO 3 ,
DyFeO 3 , HoFeO 3 , and YbFeO 3 , which are earth-abundant and non-toxic, were screened out potentially
for use in all-oxide solar cells or other photovoltaic and optoelectronic applications. Among them, YbFeO 3 is approved, having an indirect bandgap of approximately 1.0 eV with a maximum
Shockley-Queisser efficiency of 31% for single p-n junction solar cells. Conclusion: The chemically stable, non-toxic, earth-abundant, and narrow-bandgap semiconductors
of rare-earth orthoferrites promisingly serve as absorbers, photocatalysts, photoelectrodes, photodetectors, and photoelectronic materials. This work breaks new ground in the search for narrow
bandgap all-oxide semiconductors potential for energy applications.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
2210-2981
DOI:
10.2174/2210298101666210525101827
Language:
English
Publisher:
Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.
Publication Date:
2021
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