Design and synthesis of novel p-type transparent solar thin film with CuGaO2 nanoparticle
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Date
2016-05
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Publisher
The Ohio State University
Abstract
CuGaO2, a p-type transparent semiconductor, have a great potential to be used in various electronics, such as p-type dye-sensitized solar cell, since it has a high carrier mobility, approximately 10-2-10 cm2 V-1 s-1, and large optical bandgap, 3.4-3.7 eV. The purpose of this research is to develop an accessible approach to fabricate the CuGaO2 thin film at low cost. By studying the hydrothermal synthesis of CuGaO2, two recipes are established to produce the CuGaO2 nanoparticles with diameters of 200 nm and 5 μm. Also it has been found that the CuGaO2 nanoparticles of different dimensions have different colors. The 200 nm nanoparticle is grey while the 5 μm particle is yellow. To make the CuGaO2 thin film, 200 nm nanoparticle is mainly used in both the self-assembly approach and electro-spraying technique. Although, based on thermodynamics, self-assembly is a theoretically possible way to make single layer thin film, the actual films made through this process have very poor morphologies due to the amalgamation and non-even distribution of the CuGaO2 nanoparticles. The electro-spraying technique, a physical deposition process, can give much better morphology of the thin film. Samples made though the electro-spraying process can have a locally perfect morphology with thickness of approximately 500 nm, but the morphology of the whole film is still defective, containing holes and vacancies. Therefore, the electro-spraying process still need to be studied based on the established physical model to discover more suitable experimental-parameters.
Description
URS-College of Engineering
Keywords
Semiconductor, Thin film, Nanoparticle, Electro-spraying