Abstract
This research investigates the effect of composition on the fabrication and characteristics of hybrid solar cells which consist of an electron-donating conjugated polymer, namely Poly (3-hexylthiphene) (P3HT) combined with an electron-accepting component, which is a type of inorganic compound of ZnO nanoparticles. The composition of P3HT/ZnO blends is varied in thin films, and the optimum performance of the different devices created studied.
The first stage of the work involved synthesis of poly (3-hexylthiophene-2, 5-diyl) or (P3HT). The second stage focused on thin film preparation from a blend of P3HT and ZnO nanopowder in a solvent, and finally photovoltaic device construction.
Various techniques were used to characterise the polythiophene synthesised, such as Infrared Spectroscopy, Ultra Violet (UV) Spectroscopy, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) Spectroscopy, Fluorescence Spectroscopy, Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Conductivity measurements. The electrical characteristics of the photovoltaic device were tested using I-V measurements.
P3HT was synthesised successfully and the P3HT/ZnO films showed consistent results. Solar cells were constructed with different compositions. The photovoltaic effect was observed in the I-V curves, Photovoltaic conversion efficiences and Energy barrier heights were calculated for comparison.
| Original language | English |
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| Qualification | Master of Science by Research (MSc(R)) |
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| Publication status | Accepted/In press - Dec 2012 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Physical Location: This item is held in stock at Kingston University library.Keywords
- Chemistry