Web Release Date: December 29,
Hybrid Solar Cells with Prescribed Nanoscale Morphologies Based on Hyperbranched Semiconductor Nanocrystals
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%Materials Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, and Material and Chemical Research Laboratories, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan
Received November 14, 2006
Revised November 30, 2006
Abstract:
In recent years, the search to develop large-area solar cells at low cost has led to research on photovoltaic (PV) systems based on nanocomposites containing conjugated polymers. These composite films can be synthesized and processed at lower costs and with greater versatility than the solid state inorganic semiconductors that comprise today's solar cells. However, the best nanocomposite solar cells are based on a complex architecture, consisting of a fine blend of interpenetrating and percolating donor and acceptor materials. Cell performance is strongly dependent on blend morphology, and solution-based fabrication techniques often result in uncontrolled and irreproducible blends, whose composite morphologies are difficult to characterize accurately. Here we incorporate three-dimensional hyperbranched colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals in solution-processed hybrid organic-inorganic solar cells, yielding reproducible and controlled nanoscale morphology.
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