THE 8th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED MATERIALS: ROCAM 2015

S1
Advanced Materials for solar energy conversion

Invited Papers

THE 8th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED MATERIALS: ROCAM 2015

THE 8th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED MATERIALS: ROCAM 2015

LARGE-AREA MAGNETRON SPUTTERING OF SOLAR CELLS AND ELECTRODES FOR WATER

SPLITTING FOR OUR FUTURE RENEWABLE ENERGY SUPPLY
Klaus Ellmer
Helmholtz-Zentrum fr Materialien und Energie, dept. solar fuels, Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, 14109 Berlin, Germany, email ellmer@helmholtz-berlin.de
Magnetron sputtering, invented by the renowned plasma physicist Penning already in 1939, is today a widely used
large-area, plasma-assisted deposition method for many industrial applications like

architectural and low emissivity glass coatings,

hard coatings,

optical and protective films,

magnetic layers for hard disk drives,

transparent electrodes

thin film solar cells, to name only a few.

In this lecture the potential distribution and energetic species in a magnetron discharge are explained and related to
electronic properties of Al-doped zinc oxide, a transparent conductive oxide (TCO), used for instance in thin film solar
cells.
The energies of the species contributing and assisting the film growth are significantly higher compared to thermal
or plasma-enhanced chemical vapour (PECVD) deposition processes. The sputtered species, forming the deposited film,
exhibit energies in the range of some to tens of electron volts. Since in typical magnetron sputtering systems the
discharge voltages can reach hundreds of volts, some species, especially negative ions (O-, S-, F- etc.), can even reach
energies of hundreds of eV. This is one of the reasons, why magnetron sputtering is not yet used on an industrial scale
for the deposition of active semiconducting films, for instance in thin film solar cells.
By using energy-resolved mass spectrometry we have shown that the detrimental high-energy flux of negative ions
is strongly reduced when the discharge frequency is increased from d.c. up to 27 MHz. On the other hand, the often
beneficial low-energy ion flux that the positive ions provide is enhanced for r.f. discharges. Thus, these quantitative ion
energy and flux measurements explain the empirical fact, that for TCOs and other semiconductors often r.f. magnetron
sputtering leads to better films.
This was demonstrated for ZnO:Al films, deposited as a function of the substrate temperature for 3 discharge
frequencies: d.c., 13.56 and 27.12 MHz.
The effects of the plasma excitation energy on the electronic properties of the active layers in thin film solar cells
and photoelectrodes are demonstrated for the materials Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 and BiVO4.
THE INFLUENCE OF VARYING GROWTH PARAMETERS ON THE QUALITY OF MULTICRYSTALLINE SILICON GROWN BY A BRIDGMAN TECHNIQUE
Radu Andrei Negrila, Vasile Pupazan, Alexandra Popescu and Daniel Vizman
Physics Faculty, West University of Timisoara, Bd. V. Parvan 4, 300223 Timisoara, Romania, corresponding author:
daniel.vizman@gmail.com
In the race to improve the price of solar energy by lowering the costs for silicon solar panel production, one of the
important production segments to be addressed are the purification and crystallization of photovoltaic grade silicon. It
stands for almost 1/3 of the total production cost. Currently, directionally solidified multi-crystalline silicon is
predominant in the market of photovoltaic silicon (2015: 60%) and is expected to stay so during the following decade.
Because of its low costs and its similarities with directional solidification, Bridgman growth of small diameter (max.
3cm) multi-crystalline silicon is a suitable technique for a fundamental study of the influence of growth parameters (like
growth rate and process time, temperature gradients, crucible coating) on the interface shape, grains size and impurity
distribution and precipitation, which are important parameters for the photovoltaic applications. As silicon is
crystallized in non-reusable silica crucibles with anti-sticking silicon nitride coatings, experimental investigations have
been performed on new different crucible-coating combinations for the identification of cheaper and maybe even
reusable crucible materials. Even though an electronic grade quality (very high purity) Silicon feedstock was employed
a large distribution of impurity precipitates (especially of SiC, which is highly undesirable because it induces damage
during wafering of silicon ingots) was found in most growth experiments. A very high neutral impurity (C and O)
concentration has been found. These impurities have largely entered the molten silicon through diffusion into the liquid
phase, aided by convective transport. Therefore the impurity concentration in the melt is strongly related with the time
duration in which the silicon was in the molten phase, but also to the different coating materials that were employed.
These observations are discussed in the interest of discerning the influence of the different growth conditions on the
accumulation and precipitation of impurities and crystalline structure. This understanding is a key aspect in improving
the quality of the photovoltaic material by tailoring the different growth parameters.
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THE 8th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED MATERIALS: ROCAM 2015

TOWARDS HIGH EFFICIENCY STABLE ORGANIC PHOTOVOLTAICS

Elizabeth von Hauff
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Organic semiconductors offer vast potential to realise low cost, large scale photovoltaic applications. Modification
to the chemical structure of the organic semiconductor allows for enormous flexibility to tune the opto-electronic
response of the molecule. The development of new absorber materials has led to rapid increases in power conversion
efficiency, and record efficiencies for organic solar cells have exceeded 10 %. This is generally considered a benchmark
value for the market entry of low cost photovoltaics. In addition to efficiency, the lifetime and reliability of a
photovoltaic technology is very critical for determining feasibility. Recent research efforts in the field have been
focussed on understanding the fundamental mechanisms which lead to performance loss in organic photovoltaic
devices. The challenge is to identify and localise microscopic loss processes in such complex device architectures. In
this talk I will discuss the opto-electronic properties of high performance organic solar cells. Frequency-resolved
techniques such as intensity modulated photocurrent spectroscopy and impedance spectroscopy are very powerful for
extracting highly detailed information related to electronic structure of materials and interfaces, as well as transport and
trapping phenomena which influence the current-voltage characteristic. This allows us to reconstruct the density of
electronic states, and monitor how the transport properties of the devices change over time.
ORGANIC AND HYBRID BIOLOGIC/ORGANIC STRUCTURES FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC APPLICATIONS
1

tefan Antohe1,2
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Physics, P.O.Box: MG-11, Bucharest-Magurele, 077125 ROMANIA, E-mail:
santohe@solid.fizica.unibuc.ro , 2Academy of Romanian Scientists-Physics

In the last decades the second and third generations of photovoltaic cells based organic thin films have attracted a
great deal of interest among scientists involved in the research efforts to produce efficient and low-cost solar cells.
More recently, the biological materials were tested successfully in electronic and optoelectronic applications. Among
the organic semiconductors envisaged to be used in such structures, small molecules like metal-doped phthalocyanines
(MePc, with Me=Cu, Mg, Zn, etc.) and polymers are the most studied, due to their peculiar optical properties. As
biologic semiconductor, the Chlorophyll-a is a potential candidate for photovoltaic structures. For these materials, the
optical absorption in the visible range of the solar spectrum is strong, but based on an excitonic mechanism. A typical
value for the diffusion length of the exciton in organic semiconductors is of 30-80 nm, while in order to achieve the
required efficiency in light absorption, the absorber layer has to be at least 100 nm thick. This inconvenient could be
avoid, by the preparation of the multilayered structures containing different organic and biologic absorbers, or creating
a large number of Donor/Acceptor Interfaces, spread in the whole volume of the composite absorber, leading to so call
,,Bulkheterojunctioncells.
In this work are summarized the electrical and photoelectrical properties of the photovoltaic cells based on the
organic (small molecules and polymers) and biologic thin films. In the case of second generation of photovoltaic cells,
first the single-layer structures (ITO/CuPc/Al and ITO/TPyP/Al) were been prepared and characterized. The doublelayer photovoltaic structures based on the p-n heterojunction present at the interface between two organic layers, like,
ITO/CuPc/TPyP/Al and ITO/Chl a/TPyP/Al, exhibits stronger spectral sensitivity and better spectral matching to a solar
spectrum than Schottky cells using either CuPc or TPyP layer, having a power conversion efficiency with about two
orders of magnitude, higher than those of single-layer structures. Three-layered organic solar cells with an interlayer of
co-deposited dyes of p-type CuPc and n-type TPyP, between the respective dye layers were also prepared and
characterized, showing an increased power conversion efficiency, with respect of doublelayer structures.
In the case of third generation of solar cells, the polymeric photovoltaic cells were produced by spin-coating
technique. The structures based on the P3HT: PCBM (1:1) blend and the hybrid structures of Chl/:P3HT:PCBM(1:1)
shows a promising photovoltaic response, with a power conversion efficiency increased of about two order of degree,
with respect of those measured in the case of structures based on single P3HT and PCBM or Chl-a thin films. Different
design of structures were prepared and characterized trying permanently to improve the performances and the stability
of the photovoltaic cells.
Keywords: organic thin films, chlorophyll-a, Bulkheterojunction photovoltaic cells

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THE 8th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED MATERIALS: ROCAM 2015

TRENDS IN THE NEW GENERATION SOLAR CELLS RESEARCH

Mihaela Girtan
LPHIA Photonics Laboratory, LUNAM - Angers University, 2 Bd. Lavoisier, 49045, Angers, France,
mihaela.girtan@univ-angers.fr
Since the 50s when the concept of the first semiconducting photovoltaic cell was practically proved, different
materials and technologies were tested in order to increase the conversion efficiencies and to reduce the fabrication
costs. Today world records conversion efficiencies for single junctions solar cells without concentrators are of 28,8%
for thin film GaAs[1], of 25% for single crystal monocrystalline Si [2], 21.7% for CIGS thin films [3], 19.3.% for
perovskites cells [4], 13.4% for amorphous silicon thin films solar cells [5], 11.9% for dye sensitized cells [6] and of
11.1 % for organic solar cells [7].
For the industrial development of different technologies many aspects should be taken into account: i) the
efficiency, ii) the materials cost and iii) the life time of materials and solar energy devices.
Due to the discrete band structure of semiconductors, only photons with energies equal or greater than the bandgap
energy (Eg) will be absorbed and contribute to the electrical photovoltaic solar cell output. Photons having higher
energies than Eg, even they are absorbed, their energies are underutilized due to the thermalization of charge carriers. In
order to reduce these spectral losses and increase the energy conversion efficacy, many strategies were considered, such
as: multi-junction cells (multiple semiconductors stacked cells, intermediate band semiconductors solar cell, up and
down converters. Up and down converters are based on rare earth doped materials which may modify the photons
energies in order to adapt them to the corresponding value of the band gap of the active material. Hence, the advantage
of this concept is that one that it could be applied to all types of solar cells.
Another important aspect represent the solar cells cost. A lot of work was done for all kind of photovoltaics devices
in order to reduce the fabrication costs, by looking for less expensive materials for transparent electrodes and active
layers and also less expensive technologies such as: spray, ink jet or roll to roll deposition methods.
Finally, but not less important is the life duration of materials and devices involved in solar cells and solar cells
panels fabrication. Silicon has the advantage to be a very stable material, but recent studies shows that also some
conducting polymers such as PEDOT-PSS, P3HT and PCDTBT usually used in the fabrication of organic solar cells
are enough stable too to be developed at industrial scale.
In this talk we present the state of art and the new trends in solar cells research.
References
[1] B.M. Kayes, L. Zhang, I.K. Ding, G.S. Higashi, Flexible Thin-Film Tandem Solar Cells With > 30%
Efficiency, Ieee J. Photovolt. 4 (2014) 729733. doi:10.1109/jphotov.2014.2299395.
[2] K. Masuko, M. Shigematsu, T. Hashiguchi, D. Fujishima, M. Kai, N. Yoshimura, et al., Achievement of More
Than 25% Conversion Efficiency With Crystalline Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cell, Ieee J. Photovolt. 4 (2014) 1433
1435. doi:10.1109/jphotov.2014.2352151.
[3] P. Jackson, D. Hariskos, R. Wuerz, O. Kiowski, A. Bauer, T.M. Friedlmeier, et al., Properties of Cu(In,Ga)Se2
solar cells with new record efficiencies up to 21.7%, Phys. Status Solidi RRL Rapid Res. Lett. 9999 (2014) n/an/a.
doi:10.1002/pssr.201409520.
[4] H.S. Jung, N.-G. Park, Perovskite solar cells: from materials to devices., Small Weinh. Bergstr. Ger. 11 (2015).
doi:10.1002/smll.201402767.
[5] O. Isabella, A.H.M. Smets, M. Zeman, Thin-film silicon-based quadruple junction solar cells approaching 20%
conversion efficiency, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells. 129 (2014) 8289. doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2014.03.021.
[6] M.K. Panda, K. Ladomenou, A.G. Coutsolelos, Porphyrins in bio-inspired transformations: Light-harvesting to
solar cell, Coord. Chem. Rev. 256 (2012) 26012627. doi:10.1016/j.ccr.2012.04.041.
[7] O. Adebanjo, P.P. Maharjan, P. Adhikary, M. Wang, S. Yang, Q. Qiao, Triple junction polymer solar cells,
Energy Environ. Sci. 6 (2013) 31503170. doi:10.1039/c3ee42257g.

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THE 8th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED MATERIALS: ROCAM 2015

SOLAR CELLS ON CELLULOSE PAPER TO BACK UP SMART PAPER ELECTRONICS

Rodrigo Martins, L. Pereira, A. Vicente, H. guas, D. Gaspar, T. Mateus, A. Arajo, Elvira Fortunato
CENIMAT/I3N, Departamento de Cincia dos Materiais, Faculdade de Cincias e Tecnologia, FCT, Universidade
Nova de Lisboa and CEMOP-UNINOVA, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal.
Nowadays there is a strong demand for smart packaging to provide comfort, welfare and security to owners, vendors
and consumers, by allowing them to know the contents and interact with the goods. This is of particular relevance for
low cost, fully disposable and recyclable products like identification tags, medical diagnostic tests and devices for
analysis and/or quality control in food and pharmaceutical industry1-3, most of them requiring continuous power which
can be addressed by a combined use of a small disposable solid state battery4, charged by a disposable solar cells5, able
to work under indoor lighting. Presently, the development of non-wafer-based photovoltaics allows supporting thin film
solar cells on a wide variety of low-cost recyclable and flexible substrates such as paper; thereby extending PV
solutions to a broad range of consumer-oriented indoor disposable applications where autonomous energy harvesting is
today a bottleneck issue. Here, we show a proof-of-concept of the pioneering production of thin-film amorphous silicon
(a-Si:H) photovoltaic cells with efficiencies of 4%5, by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), on
packaging cardboard (LPC)6 commonly used in the food and beverage industry. Such accomplishment put us one step
closer to this revolution, by providing a flexible, renewable and extremely cheap autonomous energy packaging system.
Moreover, such Si thin films take advantage of their good performance at low-light levels, which also makes them
highly desirable for cheap mobile indoor applications. We also process solar cells on paper coated with a layer of a
hydrophilic mesoporous (HM) material, where, as a proof f concept we produce solar cells with a 3.4% efficiency.
The way how cells were produced, the existing challenges and the plethora of electronics 7-10 that they can serve will
be presented and discussed in this presentation.
References
[1] R. Martins, L. Pereira, E. Fortunato, SID 2014Frontline Technology: The Future Is Paper Based, p20-24Vol 52
(2014), pp. 50-55
[2] R. Martins, I. Ferreira and E. Fortunato, Electronics with and on paper. Physica Status Solidi- RapidResearch
Letters, 5 (9) (2011), pp. 332-335.
[3] D. Tobjork, R. & Osterbacka, Paper Electronics. Advanced Materials 23, (2011), pp.1935-1961.
[4] I. Ferreira, B. Bras, J.I. Martins, N. Correia, P. Barquinha, E. Fortunato, R. Martins, Solid-state paper batteries
for controlling paper transistors. Electrochimica Acta 56 (2011) 10991105
[5] A. Vicente, H. guas, T. Mateus, A. Arajo, A. Lyubchyk, S. Siitonen, E. Fortunato, R. Martins, Solar Cells for
Self-Sustainable intelligent Packaging, J. Materials Chemistry A, 2015, DOI 10.1039/C5TA01752A.
[6] Stora Enso. http://www.storaenso.com. Accessed 15 November 2014.
[7] Martins, R. F. P., Ahnood, A., Correia, N., Pereira, L., Barros, R., Barquinha, P., Costa, R., Ferreira, I. M.M.,
Nathan, A. & Fortunato, E. Recyclable, Flexible, Low-Power Oxide Electronics. Advanced Functional Materials 23,
2153-2161, doi:10.1002/adfm.201202907 (2013).
[8] R. Martins, P. Barquinha, L. Pereira, N. Correia, G. Gonalves, I. Ferreira, E. Fortunato, Write-erase and read
paper memory transistor. Applied Physics Letters, 93 (2008) pp. 203501-203504
[9] E. Fortunato, N. Correia, P. Barquinha, L. Pereira, G. Gonalves, R. Martins, High-Performance Flexible
Hybrid Field-Effect Transistors Based on Cellulose Fiber Paper. IEEE Electron Device Letters, 29, (9) (2008) pp. 988990.
[10] Pedro Barquinha, Rodrigo Martins, Luis Pereira, Elvira Fortunato, Transparent Semiconductors: From
Materials to Devices. West Sussex: Wiley & Sons (March 2012), ISBN 9780470683736
BIOINTERFACES WITH BIO-INSPIRED ORGANIC SEMICONDUCTORS
Eric Daniel Gowacki
Linz Institute for Organic Solar Cells (LIOS), Physical Chemistry, Johannes Kepler University, Linz Austria; email:
eric_daniel.glowacki@jku.at
We review recent work from our group as well as other researchers demonstrating the efficacy of using naturalorigin materials in semiconductor-based devices for interfacing with biology. Many natural materials offer both
excellent semiconducting properties, and importantly, electronic as well as ionic conductivity. Biochemical systems are
ionic, and not electronic, thus any attempts of active bioelectronics devices must involve ionic/electronic transducing
elements. In particular, progress in the use of nanocrystalline and microcrystalline organic hydrogen-bonded pigments
will be discussed. These materials have been ubiquitous throughout history and are widely produced today industrially
as colorants in everyday products as various as cosmetics and printing inks, and have numerous properties that make
them intrinsically biocompatible. The bioconjugation chemistry of these materials and subsequent deployment in
electronic devices requiring reliable and specific bio-sensing will be covered.
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THE 8th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED MATERIALS: ROCAM 2015

VIS-ACTIVE PHOTOCATALYTIC TANDEM SYSTEMS- A FIRST STEP TOWARDS WATER RE-USE

Anca Duta*, Dana Perniu, Crisina Bogatu, Alexandru Enesca
Transilvania University of Brasov, R&D Centre Renewable Energy systems and Recycling, Eroilor 29, 500036 Brasov,
Romania, *Corresponding author: a.duta@unitbv.ro
Water is one of the most abundant natural resources; however, water that can be used with convenient costs in
industrial and day-to-day life processes is in much smaller amounts, continuously decreasing as result of the treated
wastewaters discharged in the environment with traces of recalcitrant or toxic pollutants. Cumulative, these pollutants
are slowly degrading the natural water quality, making the treatment processes more expensive. Thus, we are now
facing a water stress. One path to reduce it is to treat wastewater at the quality required for re-use and advanced
oxidation processes, based on heterogeneous photocatalysis are recognized as viable. To reduce the costs in the
photocatalytic processes requires the extended use of Vis- or solar radiation to activate the oxidation mechanism.
Based on a synthetic review of the mostly investigated routs to obtain Vis-active photocatalysts, the paper proposes
a group of tandem composite systems with 3 and 4 components. The activation mechanisms is comparatively discussed
for systems containing SnO2, CuxS and TiO2 or ZnO, deposited as thin films by Spray Pyrolysis.
The photocatalytic efficiency of the thin film tandems was tested on reference systems consisting of a dye
(methylene blue) and a pesticide precursor (phenol) and the factors affecting mineralization are outlined. The stability
of the best performing tandem is discussed based on the photo-corrosion resistance.
The results prove that in optimized photcatalytic systems, under optimized process parameters, the organic
pollutants in water can be mineralized at a level that allow the direct re-use of the treated water.

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THE 8th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED MATERIALS: ROCAM 2015

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THE 8th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED MATERIALS: ROCAM 2015

Oral Presentations

CORRELATION OF DEFECT STATES WITH P3HT:PCBM SOLAR CELL ELECTRICAL PARAMETERS

Michal Kaiser1,2, Vojtech Ndady1
Institute of Physics, Slovak Academy of Sciences; 2Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology,
Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava; e-mail: michal.kaiser@savba.sk

The understanding of degradation processes and related defect states represents important factor for further
improvement of organic solar cells (OSC). The charge capture and recombination at these states result in carrier
mobility decrease, photocurrent loss, and consequently, in the drop of power conversion efficiency. Most of previous
studies performed with various optical and electrical methods have focused on such a high degree of the organic film
degradation which was far behind OSC functionality and could not be correlated with OSC electrical parameters.
Here we present experiments which correlate defect states in OSC active layer and the degradation of OSC electrical
parameters. We investigated the defect states induced by ambient air, humid air, and UV/Vis irradiation. The purpose is
to identify the impact of these degradation agents on particular photovoltaic process. In order to find this correlation we
used charge deep-level transient spectroscopy (Q-DLTS) which was directly applied to OSC samples. The activation
energy, frequency factor, and the concentration of defect states were investigated with Q-DLTS via temperature and
isothermal scans. The basic electrical parameters of OSC including photocurrent, ideality factor, reverse saturation
current, shunt and series resistances as well as the exciton generation rate and its dissociation probability were
determined from dark and light I-V measurements.
We observed the formation of oxygen-related defect states with energy about 0.1 eV above HOMO of P3HT during
OSC degradation. Our preliminary results suggest that the oxygen-related defect states have a dominant impact on
exciton recombination leading mainly to photocurrent loss. The correlation of these states with OSC electrical
parameters indicates two stages of OSC degradation. The obtained results are discussed and compared with other
relevant published data.

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THE 8th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED MATERIALS: ROCAM 2015

BIOLOGIC/POLYMERIC SEMICONDUCTING THIN FILMS BASED PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS

1

S. Iftimie1, M.E. Barbinta-Patrascu1, A. Radu1, B. Bita1,2, N. Vasile1, N. Korganci1, L. Ion1 and S. Antohe1,3
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Physics, 405 Atomistilor, P.O. Box: MG-11, 077125, Magurele, Ilfov, Romania,
2
National Institute for Research and Development in Microtechnology IMT Bucharest, P.O. Box:38-160, 023573,
Bucharest, Romania, 3Academy of Romanian Scientists, 54 Splaiul Independentei, 050094, Bucharest, Romania

Photovoltaic cells based on biologic (Chlorophyll-a, Chl-a) and polymeric (poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl), P3HT)
and ([6,6]-phenyl-C61 butyric acid methyl ester, PCBM) thin films were fabricated and characterized. Two types of
structures were obtained, either a bi-layer Chl-a/P3HT:PCBM (1:1, wt. %) or a single layer Chl-a:P3HT:PCBM (10:1:1,
wt. %) architecture. The spin-coating technique was used for the deposition of the biologic and polymeric thin films on
the ITO glasses, used as substrate and thermal vacuum evaporation technique was used to prepare the aluminum (Al)
thin film as back contact . The optical and photovoltaic properties of the prepared photovoltaic cells, were analyzed and
compared with those for P3HT:PCBM (1:1, wt. %) structures. Similar values were registered for fill factor and open
circuit voltage, but the spectral response was enlarged for those cells containing Chl-a. For the moment, the short-circuit
current values for the non optimized cells Chl-a/P3HT:PCBM (1:1, wt.%) and Chl-a:P3HT:PCBM (10:1:1, wt.%) were
smaller than for P3HT:PCBM (1:1, wt.%) cells, but the future optimized structures (by a very good control of the film
thickness and design) will have improved performances.
Keywords: polymeric thin films, Chl-a, photovoltaic cells
TOWARDS OFFSETTING UP AN INTERMEDIATE BAND SOLAR CELL BASED ON TITANIUM OXIDES
SOL-GELS
S. Bechu1*, A. Goullet1, L. Cattin-Guenadez1, D. Duche2, J-J. Simon2, M. Girtan3, L. Brohan1, M. Richard-Plouet1
1. IMN-Universit de Nantes, Nantes, 2. IM2NP, Marseille, 3. LPHIA, Angers, * corresponding author :
solene.bechu@cnrs-imn.fr
Third generation solar cells aims at increasing efficiency to overtake the 31% theoretical efficiency of simple
junction photovoltaic cells established by Shockley and Queisser [1] in 1961. According to Marti and Luque [2],
intermediate band cell concept could increase the photocurrent via the absorption of sub-bandgap photons without
degrading the voltage.
In this perspective, we developed hybrid photosensitive sols-gels based on titanium clusters with specific optical and
electronic properties [3]. Once illuminated under UV light, an intermediate band appears in the band structure so the
absorption spreads over visible to near infrared due to reduction of Ti(IV) in Ti(III). Thanks to this absorption range
increase, these sols-gels can be used as active layers in solar cell.
In order to optimize light absorption properties of the sol-gel layer, shaping optimisation and optical properties
studies were carried out. Thin films were obtained with an accurate control over thickness in the range from 150 nm to
10 m. Ellipsometry and XPS studies were respectively undertaken to determine optimal thickness and electronic
structure evolution under UV illumination.
This layer with original properties could be implemented as active layers in new hybrid solar cells.
[1] Shockley, W., Queisser, H.J., Journal of Applied Physics, 32, 510 (1961)
[2] Luque, A., Marti, A., Physical Review Letters, 28, 78, (1997)
[3] Cottineau T., Brohan L., Pregelj M., Cevc P., Richard-Plouet M., Aron D., Advanced Functional Materials, 18,
2602 (2008)

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THE 8th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED MATERIALS: ROCAM 2015

EFFECT OF IONIZING RADIATIONS ON THE CdS/CdTe HETEROJUNCTIONS USED FOR SPACE

APPLICATIONS
A. Radu1, V. Ghenescu2, M.M. Gugiu3, N. Vasile1, N. Korganci1, S. Iftimie1, L. Ion1 and S. Antohe1,4
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Physics, MDEO R&D Center, 077125, Magurele-Ilfov, Romania, 2Institute of
Space Science, 077125, Magurele-Ilfov, Romania, 3Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear
Engineering, Magurele-Ilfov, 077125, Romania, 4Academy of Romanian Scientists, 050094, Bucharest, Romania
1

Cadmium sulfide (CdS)/ cadmium telluride (CdTe) heterojunction based photovoltaic cells were fabricated onto
optical glass substrates covered with a thin indium tin oxide (ITO) layer, in superstrate configuration. In order to
minimize the induced deposition defects, the window layer, cadmium sulfide, was deposited by rf-magnetron
sputtering; the substrate was purposely unheated. CdTe layers were deposited on top of cadmium sulfide by thermal
vacuum evaporation (TVE). To complete the photovoltaic structure a copper:gold (Cu:Au) back electrode was
deposited by TVE, too. With high absorption coefficients, suitable band gaps and reduced masses as thin films,
cadmium sulfide and cadmium telluride are candidates for terrestrial and space applications. Our fabricated structures
were irradiated with protons and alpha particles with 500 keV energies and 1011 particles/cm2 fluencies, respectively.
These values are similar with those hitting artificial satellites orbiting the Earth. Electrical and photo-electrical
measurements were performed in dark and AM 1.5, at room temperature. Monte-Carlo numerical simulations showed a
detailed image of interaction between our samples and protons and alpha particles. Determined external quantum
efficiencies values (EQE) decreased after irradiation with protons and alpha particles but the peaks attributed to
fundamental absorption thresholds for CdS and CdTe kept their as grown positions in the case of irradiation with
protons and were slightly shifted in the case of irradiation with alpha particles. Parameters characterizing a photovoltaic
cell, short-circuit current, open circuit voltage and fill factor, were determined and compared for as grown and
irradiated PV cells.
Keywords: cadmium sulfide, cadmium telluride, ionizing radiations, protons, alpha particles
ON THE STRUCTURAL AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF HYBRID PEROVSKITE THIN FILMS
Aurelian Catalin Galca, Andrei Gabriel Tomulescu, and Ioana Pintilie
National Institute of Materials Physics, Atomistilor 105 bis, 077125 Magurele, Ilfov, Romania, corresponding author:
ac_galca@infim.ro
Perovskite-based solar cells have been proposed as novel photovoltaic devices with relatively good conversion
efficiency [1-3]. Most of the reported studies are focused only on presenting the solar cells parameters (e.g. quantum
efficiency, spectral response, fill factor), while the pure optical and structural properties of each layer are roughly
presented and discussed.
In this work we report the exhaustive optical and microstructural properties of thin films of the active hybrid
perovskite. The thin films are obtained by using a complex recipe which includes a special cleaning of the amorphous
silicon oxide substrates and a careful mixing and treatment of the precursors, and by using afterwards the spin-coating
technique.
The hybrid perovskite with the chemical formula CH3NH3PbI3-xClx results from the combination of CH3NH3I and
PbI2/PbCl2 solutions. Depending on the preparation conditions the secondary phase of inorganic halide (PbI 2/PbCl2) is
more or less present.
The authors acknowledge funding from EEA Financial Mechanism Office through the project no 8SEE/30.06.2014:
Perovskites for Photovoltaic Efficient Conversion Technology.
References
1. M. M. Lee et al., Science 338 (2012) 643.
2. B. Conings et al. , Adv. Mater. 26 (2014) 2041.
3. H. Zhou et al. , Science 345 (2014) 542.

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THE 8th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED MATERIALS: ROCAM 2015

EFFICIENT PEROVSKITE SOLAR CELLS PREPARED BY SOLUTION PROCESSED VIA TWO STEP
DEPOSITION
Viorica Stancu, Marian Sima, Cristina Besleaga, Andrei Tomulescu, Mariana Sima, George Stan, Lucian Pintilie, Ioana
Pintilie
National Institute of Materials Physics,105bis Atomistilor, 077125 Magurele, Ilfov, Romania, stancu@infim.ro
Perovskite solar cells are the newest technology of photovoltaic systems. They are attractive due to their properties:
high conversion efficiency, offers significantly higher voltages and their fabrication techniques are simple. The essential
component of these solar cells is a light absorbing semiconductor material with a perovskite polycrystalline structure,
CH3NH3PbX3 (X= Cl, Br, I). In this work, we fabricate perovskite solar cells with high power conversion efficiency
(average value efficience 16.6%) using a two step deposition process of CH 3NH3PbI3-xClx perovskite film. The
preparation process of the perovskite film was completed using a solvent annealing technique, where solvent vapor is
introduced during the crystallization of the perovskite film to increase the crystallinity and grain size. Our perovskite
solar cell structure contains a glass/FTO substrate covered with a compact layer of TiO 2 semiconductor. Over that is
deposit a mesoporous scaffold from the same semiconductor which is in a close contact with a perovskite film.
Perovskite film which can work effectively as both absorber and an electron transporter is covered with a Li doped spiro
OMeTAD film (hole transporter). A metallic contact (Mo and Ag) is deposited on the spiro OMeTAD film.
INVESTIGATION OF NEW ABSORBERS MATERIALS FOR EFFICIENT PHOTOVOLTAIC SOLAR
CELLS
P. Wahnona, P. Palaciosa, E. Menendez-Proupinb, E. Castellanosa, Lucenac, JC Conesac
Instituto de Energa Solar, Universidad Politcnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040 Madrid, Spain;
b
Departamento de Fsica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile; cInstituto de Catlisis y
Petroleoqumica, CSIC, 28049 Madrid, Spain; perla@etsit.upm.es
a

One of the challenges of materials science today is to find new technologies that will be able to make the most of
renewable energies. An example of new proposals in this field is the intermediate-band (IB) materials, which promise
higher efficiencies in photovoltaic applications.
We present in this work several materials actively studied as good absorbers for photovoltaic applications. The first
alternative consists in the introduction of a properly chosen transition metal at high concentration in an octahedral
semiconductor which gives in-gap delocalized and partially occupied levels, required by the Intermediate Band concept.
The new intermediate band allows the absorption of low energy photon increasing the photo-current but maintaining the
photo-voltage. We have verified with accurate density functional theory (DFT) calculations and beyond, that
semiconductors as In2S3 and layered SnS2 can provide this situation when an octahedral cation in their structure is
partially substituted by an element such as vanadium. For layered semiconductors, the van der Waals cleavage plane
(0001) is characterized by hexagonal arrays of close packed chalcogenide ions which are covalently bound within X-MX sandwiches. These materials are ideal substrates to study fundamental aspects of the metal/semiconductor interaction.
Experimental work made via wet chemistry methods verifies that new absorption features appear in the optical
absorption spectrum which matches the predicted DFT-based theoretical absorption results. On the other hand, a
photocatalytic process (photooxidation of an organic compound in an aqueous suspension irradiated with wavelengthselected light) is used to experimentally assess, even on polycrystalline powder materials, the ability of subbandgap
photons to produce electron-hole pairs that can be extracted at the materials interface with scarce efficiency degradation
by recombination effects. The spectral responses show that these materials have the appropriate characteristics for
building photovoltaic devices of boosted efficiency using the whole range of the visible light spectrum.
Nowadays other actively studied as novel photovoltaic material is the methyl-ammonium lead iodide perovskite
(CH3NH3PbI3). We have computed its electronic structure and relevant properties of the othorhombic phase with
accurate DFT. The crystal structure, optimized using a van der Waals functional, reproduces closely the unit cell
volume. By combining spin-orbit effects, with hybrid functionals the experimental bandgap is also reproduced. The
computed binding energy of the unrelaxed exciton agrees with recently reported experimental data, and the values
found imply an easy exciton dissociation at room temperature. Fast dynamics and large diffusion lengths of the current
carriers are key for the high photovoltaic efficiencies shown by these materials.

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THE 8th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED MATERIALS: ROCAM 2015

STRUCTURAL, MORPHOLOGICAL AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF RF-SPUTTERED CdS THIN

FILMS FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC APPLICATIONS
Ovidiu Toma, Sorina Iftimie, Lucian Ion, Stefan Antohe*
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Physics, 405 Atomistilor Street, PO Box MG-11, 077125, Magurele-Ilfov,
Romania, Presenting author: thtoma72@yahoo.com , *Corresponding author: santohe@solid.fizica.unibuc.ro
Cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanocrystalline semiconductor thin films of different thickness were deposited using the
technique of magnetron sputtering in radio-frequency plasma (RF MS). As cathodes high purity solid CdS targets
were used while optical glasses were employed as anode-substrates (the substrates were maintained at room
temperatures). Optical, structural and morphological characterizations were carried out for the prepared CdS thin films.
For the characterization of the optical properties of the CdS thin films spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) was used in the
range of 250 nm to 1700 nm. Optical constants (refractive indices, extinction coefficients, optical band gaps, etc.), as
well as film thicknesses and surface rugosities were measured by spectroscopic ellipsometry. This optical method was
combined with optical spectrophotometry (absorption spectra, transmission spectra, reflection spectra) in UV VIS
NIR for a better verification of the results. Structural investigations were carried out by X-Ray diffraction (XRD)
technique, while morphological characterizations were performed using atomic force microscopy (AFM).

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THE 8th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED MATERIALS: ROCAM 2015

Poster Presentations

OXIDE LAYERS CHARACTERIZATION IN GaSb TECHNOLOGY FOR PHOTOSENSITIVE

STRUCTURES
1

C. Cotirlan-Simioniuc1, C. Logofatu1, R.V. Ghita1, F. Frumosu1, M. Rusu2

National Institute of Materials Physics, P.O.Box MG-7, 077125 Magurele, Ilfov, ROMANIA, E-mail: ghitar@infim.ro
2
National Institute for Optoelectronics-INOE 2000

GaSb-based semiconductor alloys have potential in cutting-edge applications for mid-infrared optoelectronics (Eg~
0.73 eV at 273 K) and thermophotovoltaics. It is stated [1] that the performance and reliability of GaSb devices largely
depend on surface preparation techniques (e.g. n-GaSb (100)) and requires a significant reduction of high levels of
reverse current and surface instabilities. GaSb surface is much more reactive than that of GaAs or InP and quickly
oxidizes under atmospheric conditions [2]. This work presents an XPS (X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy) of the native
oxides on n-GaSb (Te doped ) where the irreversible nature of the reaction is related to the fact that the oxygen atoms
are involved in chemical bonds. The evolution of Ga2O3 and Sb2O3 with temperature is presented in high vacuum
heating. Low temperature action can produce on GaSb a non-equilibrium Ga2O3-Sb2O3 surface oxide layer in wet
thermal oxidation process putted into evidence by XPS analysis. There are discussed the evolution of Sb2O3 and Ga 2O3
in four oxidation processes, namely: dry thermal oxidation in furnace (p=1 atm, T (150-200)0C ); wet thermal oxidation
(water vapors T~(90-100)0C, N2 flux ); dry thermal oxidation at low temperatures (T~550C ) and anodic oxidation. The
quality of surface oxide was also examined by Spectroscopic Ellipsometry technique. Due to the fact that the only stable
phases that can exist in thermodynamic equilibrium with GaSb are Ga2O3 and elementary Sb, the problem of developing
a stable oxide layer on GaSb surface to be used further for device processing is vital in GaSb technology. This work is
devoted to the study of a viable route in the technology of a Schottky photosensitive device on n-GaSb (100).
References
[1] M.Perotin et al, Journal of Electronic Materials, Vol.23, No.1, pp.7-12 (1994).
[2] E Papis-Polakowska , Electron Technology-Internet Journal 37/38, 4, pp.1-34 (2005/2006).
Acknowledgements:
The financial and encouragement support provided by the Ministry of Educations of the Romania-UEFISCDI,
Project No. 68/2014

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THE 8th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED MATERIALS: ROCAM 2015

NICKEL OXIDE COMPOSITES AS HOLE TRANSPORT LAYER IN POLYMER PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS

AND AS ELECTRODE MATERIAL FOR SUPERCAPACITORS
a

Diana M. Brusa, Luis Echegoyenb, Marta E. Plonska-Brzezinska*a

Institute of Chemistry, University of Bialystok, Hurtowa 1, 15-399 Bialystok, Poland. e-mail: mplonska@uwb.edu.pl,
b
Department of Chemistry, University of Texas at El Paso, 500 W. University Ave., El Paso, TX 79968, USA.

The main subject of this work was synthesis of Carbon Nano-Onions (CNOs) and NiO composites which were
prepared by loading of Ni(OH)2 in different mass ratio on the carbon structures in the presence of 4-DMAP ((4dimethylamino)pyridine), followed by calcination to obtain CNO/NiO. CNOs consist of 6-8 carbon shells (5-6 nm in
diameter) and they can be also referred as multi-shelled fullerenes. The interest in carbon nano-onions is driven by their
unusual physico-chemical properties as well as by promising applications in electronics, optics, biosensors, and in
energy conversion and storage. CNOs/NiO were characterized by TEM, SEM, XRD, TGA-DTG-DTA, AFM, Raman,
FT-IR spectroscopy, and the cyclic voltammetric and impedimetric measurements.
Carbon-based composites are currently being investigated as supercapacitor electrodes because of the synergistic
properties arising from the carbon materials (high power density) and from the pseudocapacitive nanomaterials (high
energy density). Therefore, NiO/4-DMAP could act as an efficient hole-transport layer (HTL) in polymer solar cells
(PSCs) which are very promising organic-based devices for low-cost solar energy conversion. Nevertheless, one of the
greatest drawback of PSCs is their poor stability in ambient conditions. One of well-known HTL is PEDOT:PSS that is
strongly acidic in nature and lead degradation of the devices and limit their life. Therefore, the alternative is a
substitution of PEDOT:PSS by NiO. The hybrid material characterizes excellent stability, charge transport properties,
charge selectivity and hole collection in PSCs.
We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the National Science Centre, Poland, grant:
#2012/05/E/ST5/03800 to M.E.P.-B. L.E. thanks the Robert A. Welch Foundation for an endowed chair, grant #AH0033 and the US NSF, grants: CHE-1110967 and CHE-1124075.
HYBRID PEROVSKITE SOLAR CELLS: AGING EFFECTS AND RELIABILITY
C. Besleaga1, V. Stancu1, A.G. Tomulescu1, M. Sima1, L.M. Trinca1, G.E. Stan1, A.C. Galca1, L. Pintilie1, I. Pintilie1,
A. Radu2, S. Iftimie2, L. Ion2, S. Antohe2, A. Nemnes2, C. Goehry3 and A. Manolescu3
1
National Institute of Materials Physics, Atomistilor 105 bis, 077125 Magurele, Ilfov, Romania, 2Faculty of Physics,
University of Bucharest, Atomistilor 405, 077125 Magurele, Ilfov, Romania, 3School of Science and Engineering,
Reykjavik University, Menntavegur 1, IS-101 Reykjavik, Iceland
Perovskite-based solar cells have attracted the interest of the photovoltaics community due to their low fabrication
costs and very good conversion. Up to now, external efficiencies measured on this type of structures surpass 10% [1,2]
with a best of 19% reported by Zhou et al. in 2014 [3]. In this work we report studies on high-performance solar cells
based on CH3NH3PbI3-xClx with PCEs up to 16% on fresh devices. The hybrid perovskite thin film is obtained by spin
coating, as well as the anatase (TiO2) and the spiro-OMeTAD, which play the roles of the blocking layer and the hole
transport material (HTM), respectively. Degradation in time of the prepared devices was observed. The source of this
instability is still under debate, being frequently suggested in literature that the aging of spiro-OMeTAD layer degrades
the cell and its efficiency [4]. The stability in time of the obtained photovoltaic devices, with and without spiroOMeTAD, was assessed and discussed, in the search for performance enhancement paths. The effect of the HTM on the
efficiency was also evaluated with numerical simulations. The research leading to these results has received funding
from EEA Financial Mecanism 2009 - 2014 under the project contract no 8SEE/30.06.2014.
References
1. M. M. Lee et al., Science 338 (2012) 643.
2. B. Conings et al. , Adv. Mater. 26 (2014) 2041.
3. H. Zhou et al. , Science 345 (2014) 542.
4. Anyi Mei et al. , Science 345 (2014) 295-298.

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THE 8th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED MATERIALS: ROCAM 2015

ZnO-BASED CONDUCTIVE OXIDE THIN FILMS AS TRANSPARENT CONTACT FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC

CELLS
L.M. Trinca1,2, A.C. Galca1, C. Besleaga1, A.G. Boni1, V. Stancu1, A.G. Tomulescu1, M. Sima1, L. Pintilie1, I. Pintilie1
1
National Institute of Materials Physics, Atomistilor 105 bis, Magurele, Ilfov, Romania,2Faculty of Physics, University
of Bucharest, Atomistilor 405, Magurele, Ilfov, Romania, Contact author: liliana.trinca@infim.ro
ITO (Sn:In2O3) and FTO (F:SnO2) are the most common conductive oxides (TCOs) used as electrodes for
photovoltaic cells. Due to their high price, researchers are looking forward to replace them with abundant and low
production cost materials that pose both good transparency and conductivity. Al:ZnO (AZO) is given as an alternative,
having resistivities as low as those of ITO (~10-4 cm) and also being highly transparent in visible spectrum.
In this work, AZO thin films were deposited on different substrates (glass, single crystal ZnO, polymer foil, single
crystal SrTiO3). The optical and electrical properties of the films were correlated with the structural properties, with the
nature of the substrate and with the deposition parameters.
The optimized AZO thin film was used as bottom electrode of hybrid perovskite solar cells. The photovoltaic
response (external efficiency) was compared with the one of FTO - solar cell, fabricated in identical conditions.
The research leading to these results has received funding from EEA Financial Mecanism 2009 - 2014 under the
project contract no 8SEE/30.06.2014
Liliana M. Trinca acknowledge to the strategic grant POSDRU/159/1.5/S/137750.
NEW CHALCOGENIDE MATERIAL FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
Z.S.ELMandouh and H.A.ELMeleegi
National Research Centre,EL-Tahrir St., Dokki,Cairo, Egypt, Affiliation ID: 60014618
Solar cell has been prepared from PbxIn25-xSe75 thin films by Pulsed Laser Deposition method. Pb0.01In0.24Se75
and Pb0.03In0.22Se75 was confirmed to be p-and n- types respectively using Seebeck experiment as a thermoelectric
effect property proof of the thin film alloys under investigation. The disordered structure of such specimens were
confirmed by diffraction electron microscope mode of JEM-1230 TEM. Current- voltage characteristics where
measured under illumination and in dark using KEITHLEY 6517A and, VIRTINS MULTI-INSTRUMENTS,
oscilloscope and signal generator system. Short circuit current and open-circuit voltage was measured to deduce the
Fill-Factor as a property of such cell. The photoelectric Efficiency assured the participation probability for such
materials as a good candidate for solar cells.
MAPLE OBTAINED METAL PHTHALOCYANINES THIN FILMS ON FLEXIBLE SUBSTRATES
M. Socol1, N. Preda1, O. Rasoga1, C. Breazu1,2, F. Stanculescu2, G. Socol3, F. Gherendi3, M Girtan4
1

National Institute of Material Physics,105 bis Atomistilor Street, 077125, Bucharest-Magurele, Romania, University
of Bucharest, Faculty of Physics, 405 Atomistilor Street, 077125, Bucharest-Magurele, Romania, 3National Institute for
Lasers, Plasma and Radiation Physics, 409 Atomistilor Street, 077125, Bucharest-Magurele, Romania, 4Laboratoire de
Photonique d'Angers, Universit dAngers, 2, Bd. Lavoisier, 49045, Angers, France, marcela.socol@infim.ro
Organic heterostructures based on metal (Zn and Mg) phthalocyanes (p types semiconductors) and 5,10,15,20tetra(4-pyrydil)21H,23H-porphyne (n type semiconductor) were prepare by Matrix-Assisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation
(MAPLE) tehnique on ITO flexible substrates. Structural, morphological, and optical properties of the bilayer and bulk
heterojunctions were investigated by UV-VIS, Photoluminescence (PL) and FTIR spectroscopy as well as Atomic Force
Microscopy (AFM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The layers preserved the properties of the initial
materials and exhibited a large absorption in the visible range of the solar spectrum. The morphology was characteristic
to the MAPLE organic films with large grains. I-V characteristics of (Al/ZnPc(MgPc)/TPyP/ITO and
Al/ZnPc(MgPc):TPyP/ITO) structures were recorded in dark and under the illumination with an solar simulator
(AM1.5). In the bulk heterojunctions, the current value were found to be improved (at least one order of magnitude)
compared to the value obtained in the bilayer heterojunction in the both case of the structures made with ZnPc or MgPc.

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THE 8th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED MATERIALS: ROCAM 2015

EFFICIENCY ENHANCEMENT OF DSSC USING PLASMONIC NANOPARTICLES

a

Mohammed S. Rasheeda, A. K. Alib, Mihaela Girtana , Khaleel I. Hassoonb

POMA Lab., FRE CNRS 2988, Angers University, 2, Bd. Lavoisier, 49045, Angers, France, b Department of Applied
Sciences, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq, E-mail address: msr197575@yahoo.com

In this work, Au nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by pulsed laser ablation in liquid (PLAL) technique using NdYag laser with three different energies per pulse (600, 700, and 800 mJ). The gold NPs have been added to Ru based
dye (N719) in order to form a plasmonic dye. After the adding of Au NPs colloidal to N719, the absorbance of the
plasmonic dye has increased significantly compared with the pure dye as revealed by UV-VIS spectroscopic analysis in
the figure below. In order to prepare the photo-electrode of the dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC), titanium dioxide film
of thickness about 10 m was deposited on a FTO glass and then immersed in the plasmonic dyes for 30 min. The TiO2
coatings were sintered in air at 500 C for 30 min. The XRD analysis for the sintered TiO 2 pastes showed the usual
peaks observed in TiO2 powders. However, the spectral Responsivity calculations demonstrated enhance photocurrent
in the range from 500-580 nm. IV characteristics of the DSSC under AM1 illumination showed enhanced Isc and Voc
by 19 % and 17% respectively.

References
[1] Guowei Yang, Laser Ablation in Liquids: Principles and Applications in the Preparation of Nanomaterials, 2012
Pan Stanford Publishing Pte. Ltd.
[2] M. D. Brown, T. Suteewong, R. Kumar, V. DInnocenzo, A. Petrozza, M. M. Lee, U. Wiesner, and H. J.
Snaith, Plasmonic Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Using Core-Shell Metal-Insulator Nanoparticles. Nano Lett. 2011, 11,
438445.
STRUCTURAL AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF RF SPUTTERED ZnO:Ga THIN FILMS
Fawzy. A. Mahmoud1,2*, Mohammed Rasheed3, Ahmed F. Mabied1, M.Girtan3
Solid State Physics Dept., National Research Centre, P.O. 12311, Dokki, Giza, Egypt, 2Renewable Energy Group,
Center of Excellence for Advanced Sciences, National Research Centre, P.O.12311, Dokki, Giza, Egypt, 3Angers
University, Photonics Laboratory, Angers, France

ZnO:Ga films were deposited on quartz substrates by RF magnetron sputtering using ZnO:Ga target. Four types of
samples were prepared with various RF magnetron powers of 100, 150, 200 and 300Watt. The properties of these films
were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical transmittance and reflectance, FESEM, and spectroscopic
ellipsometry in the spectral region of 200 to 1200 nm. The structural and optical properties of the prepared films were
affected by RF power. Relationships between structure of sputtered ZnO:Ga films and the optical constants were
investigated with varying RF power. The refractive and extinction coefficients were calculated by ellipsometry and the
data were correlated with the spectrophotometry measurements. Also the optical band gap was calculated from both
spectrophotometry and ellipsometry measurements, and very good correlations were founded.

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THE 8th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED MATERIALS: ROCAM 2015

NORMAL AND INVERTED ORGANIC SOLAR CELLS BASED ON SMALL MOLECULE COMPOUNDS
M. Socol1, O. Rasoga1, C. Breazu1, 2, N. Preda1, F. Stanculescu2, A. Stanculescu1, G. Socol3, M Girtan4
1

National Institute of Material Physics, 105 bis Atomistilor Street, 077125, Bucharest-Magurele, Romania, University
of Bucharest, Faculty of Physics, 405 Atomistilor Street, 077125, Bucharest-Magurele, Romania, 3National Institute for
Lasers, Plasma and Radiation Physics, 409 Atomistilor Street, 077125, Bucharest-Magurele, Romania, 4Laboratoire de
Photonique d'Angers, Universit dAngers, 2, Bd. Lavoisier, 49045, Angers, France, marcela.socol@infim.ro and
oana.rasoga@infim.ro

In order to improve the electrical properties of the normal and inverted solar cell structures based on a zinc
phthalocyanine (ZnPc) and an 1,4,5,8-naphthalene-tetracarboxylic dianhydride (NTCDA) donor, respectively acceptor
layer, we study the effect of a fullerene aditional layer inserted between them. Indium tin oxide (ITO) was used as
transparent conductive electrod coated with a poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)
layer in order to increase the charge conduction. The final structures are: glass/ITO/PEDOT:PSS/ZnPc
/fullerene/NTCDA/Al and: glass/Al/NTCDA/fullerene/ZnPc/PEDOT:PSS/ITO for the inverted one. The metods used
for the realization of the organic thin film structures were thermal vacuum evaporation for the small molecule
compounds and spin-coating for fullerene and PEDOT-PSS layers. Because a determinant role in the electrical
properties is played by the morphology of the layers, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron
microscopy (SEM) were used to investigate the surface of the thin films. Optical properties of the coatings have been
investigated by UV-VIS, photoluminescence (PL) and FTIR spectroscopy. I-V characteristics of the realized structures
were recorded in dark and under the illumination with a solar simulator (AM1.5). An improvment in the electrical
properties was observed for the inverted structures.
STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES OF CIGS THIN FILMS DEPOSITED BY MAGNETRON SPUTTERING
TECHNIQUE
a

P. Prepelitaa,1, V. Craciuna, M. Filipescua, I. Stavaracheb, D. Craciuna, F. Garoia, G. Sbarceac, A. Vlada

National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, 409 Atomistilor Street, PO Box MG-36, 077125 Magurele,
Ilfov, Romania (1 Married as Garoi), b National Institute of Materials Physics, Magurele 077125, Romania, c National
Institute for R & D in Electrical Engineering ICPE-CA, Splaiul Unirii Street, Nr. 313, District 3, 030138, Bucharest
Romania

Copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) thin films with various thicknesses (750 1200 nm) were deposited by RF
magnetron sputtering method. To simplify this procedure for deposition of chalcopyrite-type thin films, only a single
CIGS sintered target was used.
Deposition conditions for this study were: Ar pressure p = 4 10-4 4.3 10-4 Torr, deposition rate rd = 1.6 1.7
/s, 100 mm diameter target (CIGS circular disk of 99.99% purity).
The CIGS layer deposited on Mo coated glass substrate, with a thickness of 500 nm. Next, a CdS layer of 60 nm
was deposited by thermal vacuum evaporation technique. The top transparent contact electrode, ITO, was subsequently
deposited by RF magnetron sputtering method. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy
(SEM) investigations showed that the surface morphology changes depending on the deposition techniques and it is
influenced by the increase in thicknesses of the layers..
Profilometry measurements showed evidence of changes in the step of the deposited layers, due to the interdiffusion
from the level of each deposited layer or that will be deposited. From X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements it was
found that all films were polycrystalline. CIGS films have a tetragonal structure with (112) plane parallel with the
surface of the substrate, and the grain size is influenced by thickness. The influence of thickness on the samples
electrical and optical properties was also studied by quantum efficiency measurements.

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THE 8th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED MATERIALS: ROCAM 2015

DEGRADATION CHARACTERISTICS OF ZnO:B TREATED H/Ar FOR THIN FILM SOLAR CELL BY
DAMP HEAT
1,3

Jae-Seong Jeong, 2Chang-Keun Park, 2Heon-Do Kim, and 3Joongho Choi

Components and Materials Research Center, Korea Electronics Technology Institute (KETI), 1,3Robust Components and
System Research Center, Korea Electronics Technology Institute (KETI), 2 Advanced process development group,
Jusung Engineering Co. Ltd., 3 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Seoul,
The TCO(transparent conducting oxide) thin film is an important layer which influence on Rs (series resistance) of
a-Si:H PV(photovoltaic) modules. ZnO thin film for TCO is known that it is weak to damp heat (85C, 85%RH) stress.
Therefore robust design of ZnO is need to avoid degradation from moisture. ZnO:B thin film growth by MOCVD was
used for TCO. This study was investigated degradation reaction of ZnO:B thin film treated H/Ar due to the moisture.
Electrical characteristics of ZnO:B thin film treated H/Ar were analyzed. The physical/chemical properties of ZnO:B
thin film treated H/Ar were analyzed by XPS and SIMS.
NEW HYBRID MATERIAL WITH APPLICATIONS IN THE SOLAR ENERGY AREA
Nandina Vlatanescu2, Daniel Berki2, Adina Segneanu1, Daniel Damian1,2 and Ioan Grozescu1,2
National Institute of R&D for Electrochemistry and Condensed Matter INCEMC Timisoara University Politehnica
Timisoara
Current global energy consumption is about 15 TW/year, and over two thirds of it is obtained from fossil fuels. The
energy that arrives on the Earth in an hour from the Sun can provide global annual consumption. It is estimated that
from more than 105 TW of sunlight hitting the earth, up to 600 TW is technically feasible to be used. Solar energy may
be harvested through its conversion to heat (solar- thermal), electrons (photovoltaic), or chemicals (solar-fuels). The
former is perhaps the most straightforward, with installations ranging in scale from 1kW household water heaters to 50
MW power plants located in areas of high solar insolation. Common approaches to solar fuels include the
photoelectrochemical splitting of water to produce H 2 and the reduction of CO2 into liquid fuels such as methanol. Solar
fuels remains the least developed strategy to harness solar energy, and is currently the focus of renewed efforts at the
basic research level.
The paper investigates the synthesis of a new organic-inorganic hybrid material for application in solar energy
area. This new material comprises from an organic phosphorus derivate and Zn, Mg and P oxide type composite.
Complete morpho-structural characterisation of this material was performed using XRD, SEM-EDAX, FT-IR and
UV-Vis spectroscopy.
TIO2 PHOTOCATALYTIC INKS FOR COLD SPRAYING DEPOSITION OF THIN FILMS
Panait Ramona, Nicoara Lavinia, Cristina Bogatu, Dana Perniu, Anca Duta*
Transilvania University of Brasov, The Center Renewable Energy Systems and Recycling, Corresponding author:
a.duta@unitbv.ro
Titania nanoparticles are widely investigated considering their applications: from photocatalysis (advanced
wastewaters treatment, air purification), to solar cells, sensors, self-cleaning surfaces, paints, ceramic and coating etc.
Photocatalytic inks represent viable and cost effective solution if special applications like flexible substrates for solar
cells, or self-cleaning fabrics based on photocatalysis are targeted. Due to the nanoparticles spontaneous agglomeration
and sedimentation tendency in the continuous medium, ink stability remains the major problem that can limit the
applications.
In this study, Degussa P25 nanoparticles were dispersed under ultrasonication, in water or water-alcohol media to
obtain stable dispersions. UV-Vis transmittance spectra were used to evaluate the dispersions stability.
To balance the van der Waals attractions and prevent the nanoparticles agglomeration, electrostatic repulsions can
be generated by using different stabilizers: surfactants (cationic-DTAB, HTAB, anionic-SDS, non-ionic-PEG),
polymers (polyvinylpyrrolidone) and capping agents (TODA). The formation and changes in the particles double layer
and the interactions developed at the particles/stabilizers/solvent interface were discussed considering the values of PZC
and dispersion pH, concentration and ionic strength. Based on these, stabilization mechanisms were proposed.
The photocatalytic activity of the stabilized dispersions was tested on thin films obtained by cold spraying
deposition. Methylene blue was used as test solution. Correlations between the film stability- photocatalytic properties
were developed and discussed in direct relation with the dispersions composition, but also considering the interactions
between the dispersions components and dispersion substrate.

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THE 8th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED MATERIALS: ROCAM 2015

SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERISATION OF ANTIMONY SULPHIDE (Sb2S3) THIN FILMS

P.A. Nwofe, and N.E. Idenyi
Division of Materials Science and Renewable Energy, Department of Industrial Physics, Ebonyi State University,
Abakaliki, P.M.B 053, Ebonyi State, Nigeria, E-mail: patricknwofe@gmail.com (P.A. Nwofe),
edennaidenyi@yahoo.com (N.E. Idenyi)
Thin films of antimony sulphide were successfully grown using the solution growth technique and the effect of pH
on the properties of the films was investigated. The pH range was varied between 4.2 - 8.5 and other deposition
variables were kept constant. The films were characterised using X-ray diffractometry (XRD) to investigate the
structural properties, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to study the morphological properties, Rutherford
Backscattering (RBS) techniques for the compositional analysis, and optical spectroscopy to investigate the
transmittance, absorbance and reflectance versus wavelength measurements. The results show that films with
thicknesses 500 nm were obtained at pH range of 4.2 - 6.0. Loss of stoichiometry was observed more in the alkaline
range. The results of the optical analysis indicate that the films had direct energy band gap with optical absorption
coefficient () > 104 cm-1. The refractive index was typically 2.5, decreasing with increasing photon energies. The
values of the extinction coefficient and the optical density are typically less than unity. The high optical absorption
coefficient and direct energy bandgap obtained in the study, suggests possible use of the films as absorber layers in thin
film photovoltaic (PV) solar cell devices.
GROWTH AND CHARACTERISATION OF DOPED NANOCRYSTALLINE ANTIMONY SULPHIDE
(Sb2S3) THIN FILMS
P.A. Nwofe
Division of Materials Science and Renewable Energy, Department of Industrial Physics, Ebonyi State University,
Abakaliki, P.M.B 053, Ebonyi State, Nigeria, E-mail: patricknwofe@gmail.com
In this study, the influence of zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu) impurities on the properties of antimony sulphide (Sb2S3)
thin films grown using the solution growth technique is reported. The films were deposited at room temperature of
28C, a deposition time of 4 h, and an initial pH of 4.80. The films were then doped with equal concentrations of the
respective impurities and then annealed at annealing temperature of 300 C. The films were characterised using X-ray
diffractometry (XRD) to investigate the structural properties, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to study the
morphological properties, Rutherford Backscattering (RBS) techniques for the compositional analysis, and optical
spectroscopy to investigate the transmittance, absorbance and reflectance versus wavelength measurements. The results
indicate that the film thickness was typically 600 nm, with an increase in the film thicknesses of the doped layers
compared to the as-deposited films. Information extracted from the XRD studies were used to deduce the crystallites
size, strain, number of crystallites, and the dislocation density. The transmittances of the doped layers were found to be
reduced compared to the un-doped case. The results of the optical analysis show that the films had direct energy band
gap with optical absorption coefficient () > 104 cm-1 in both the doped and un-doped layers. The refractive index was
typically 3.0, with higher values obtained from the doped layers.
SOLAR-THERMAL COATINGS FOR NOVEL FLAT PLATE SOLAR THERMAL COLLECTORS
Lavinia Nicoara, Anca Duta*, Dana Perniu, Ramona Panait
Transilvania University of Brasov, R&D Centre Renewable Energy systems and Recycling, Eroilor 29, 500036 Brasov,
Romania, *Corresponding author: a.duta@unitbv.ro
The extended use of renewable energy systems is one of the main path for implementing sustainable development at
communities level. Besides efficiency, the renewables integrated in communities, in/near the buildings have to gain
architectural acceptance. Solar-thermal collectors represent one of the most common solution, already implemented in
the built environment, on rooftops or terraces. However, solar-thermal facades are seldom, especially because of the
common colours of the flat plate solar-thermal collectors (black or dark blue).
The paper discusses the paths to increase the architectural acceptance of the flat plate solar thermal collectors, and
proposes a range of composite nanostructures with various colours (red, green, orange) obtained using alumina matrix
and inorganic oxides (pigments) with controlled morphology. The optical performances are discussed in terms of visabsorptance and thermal emittance and show that spectral selective solar-thermal coatings with spectral selectivity S>9
(market acceptable) can be obtained through wet chemical routes (sol-gel or chemical bath deposition). The addition of
Au-nanoparticles in very low concentrations is also discussed, in terms of materials control (nucleation) and output
(colour, spectral selectivity). Optimised coatings are presented and the scaled-up flat plate solar-thermal demonstrator is
described.
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THE 8th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED MATERIALS: ROCAM 2015

COMPARISON OF THE QUALITY OF PHENYL (3-HEXYTHIOPHENE) (P3HT) BLEND WITH

DIFFERENT ACCEPTOR ORGANIC MOLECULES HETEROJUNCTION ORGANIC SOLAR CELLS
Zainab Alhashim, Iulia Salaoru and Shashi Paul
Emerging Technologies Research Centre, De Montfort University, Hawthorn Building Leicester LE1 9BH, UK
Among the renewable energy technologies, solar cells are one of the fastest growing technologies. Traditional ways
of harvesting this energy from the sun is through the use of inorganic materials such as silicon, CdTe and GaAs in solar
cells. Despite the high conversion efficiency, these traditional inorganic solar cells are very expensive due to their high
costs of production. Because of this, alternative materials for use in solar cells are thus very important. Solar cells from
organic materials offer some important advantages compared such as lightweight, potentially low-cost, environmentally
friendly, no rare metals and minerals, no high temperature required during production and unlimited room for further
material modification and improvement. Nevertheless, two significant problems of organic solar cells still need to be
resolved; these include: a low power conversion efficiency and low stability. Bulk heterojunction organic solar cells are
highly promising and are those that have produced the best power conversion efficiencies.
In this work, bulk heterojunction solar cells made of blend of photoconductive polymer (P3HT) and different small
organic molecules (PCBM, C60, TCNQ) have been fabricated and their quality assessed by their fill factor. The
different heterojunction blends were (P3HT:PCBM, P3HT:C60 and P3HT:TCNQ) investigated.
Ni0.2Ti0.1Y0.16Zr0.54O2- AND Cu0.2Ti0.1Y0.16Zr0.54O2- AS ANODES FOR IT-SOFCs ANODE
1

Mihaela E. Trandafir1, Simona omcescu2, Jose Calderon-Moreno2, Petre Osiceanu2, Mihaela Florea1
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Chemistry, Bucharest, Romania, 2Ilie Murgulescu Institute of Physical
Chemistry, Romanian Academy, Spl. Independentei 202, 060021, Bucharest, Romania

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) offer a promising way of converting chemical energy into electrical energy with great
efficiency. SOFC devices need to possess simultaneously an ionic conductivity induced by the presence of oxygen
vacancies and an electronic conductivity induced by the added metal together with a high porosity allowing the fuel
transport through the anodic layer. Our goal is to develop a synthesis method that favors uniformity of the crystalline
network and an improvement of the ionic and electronic conductivity as well as of the catalytic activity. The selfassembling method using Triton X100 as template was used for synthesis of Ni0.2Ti0.1Y0.16Zr0.54O2- (NTYZ) and
Cu0.2Ti0.1Y0.16Zr0.54O2- (CTYZ).
The XRD pattern of sample CTYZ corresponds to a fluorite type (Fm3m) cubic stabilized zirconia phase with lattice
parameter c= 5.112 . The cubic structure is stable at room temperature due to the incorporation of the yttrium,
titanium and copper cations in the zirconia-based lattice and the formation of quaternary oxide solid solution
nanocrystals, with crystal size around 6 nm. The XRD pattern of sample NTYZ corresponds also to a fluorite type
(Fm3m) cubic stabilized zirconia phase with lattice parameter c= 5.131 , with crystal size around 3.4 nm with the
present of bunsenite as minor phase. After calcination at 900 oC, the XRD pattern of sample shows a very significant
growth of the crystallite size of the zirconia phase to about 17 nm, as well as a very small increase in the lattice
parameter, c= 5.134 .e structure (less than 5 vol.%), and crystal size of about 28 nm. The new composites show high
methane conversion and CO selectivity in the catalytic partial oxidation of methane. Conductivity results showed a
predominately n-type behaviour, highlighting a promising IT-SOFC anode.
This work was supported by a grant of Partnerships in priority S&T domains Program (PNII), MEN UEFISCDI,
project number 26/2012.
MODELING THE ELECTRON TRANSFER IN DYE-ELECTROLITE SYSTEMS FOR DYE-SENSITIZED
SOLAR CELLS
Anamaria Trandafir1,2,*, Corneliu I. Oprea1, and Mihai A. Girtu1
Ovidius University of Constana, Department of Physics, 900527 Constana, Romania, 2University of Bucharest,
Faculty of Physics, 077125 Magurele-Ilfov, Romania, *Email: anamaria.trandafir@yahoo.ro

Dye-sensitized solar cells have gained widespread attention in the past few years due to low cost fabrication. Since
the conversion efficiency of these photovoltaic systems highly depends on the electron transfer at the dye-electrolyte
interface, we studied the dye regeneration of various dye-electrolyte systems for dye-sensitized solar cells. These
systems are formed of various dyes (L0, D35 and Y123) and Co-based electrolytes. Using density functional theory
(DFT) we determined the potential energy surfaces for the singlet, triplet and quintet states. We applied Marcus theory
to determine the electron transfer rate and reorganization energy for these systems. Optical characterization was
obtained using time dependent DFT for the dyes and electrolytes. Computations were made using the Gaussian03
package.
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