Cover
Preface
1 Metal Nanoparticle Decorated ZnO Nanostructure Based Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells
1. 1.1 Introduction
2. 1.2 Metal Dressed ZnO Nanostructures as Photoanodes
3. 1.3 Conclusions and Outlook
4. References
2 Cosensitization Strategies for Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells
1. 2.1 Introduction
2. 2.2 Cosensitization
3. 2.3 Conclusions
4. Acknowledgements
5. References
3 Natural Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells – Strategies and Measures
1. 3.1 Introduction
2. 3.2 Components of Dye‐sensitized Solar Cell
3. 3.3 Fabrication of Natural DSSCs
4. 3.4 Efficiency and Stability Enhancement in Natural Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells
5. 3.5 Other Strategies and Measures taken in DSSCs Using Natural Dyes
6. 3.6 Conclusions
7. References
4 Advantages of Polymer Electrolytes for Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells
1. 4.1 Why Solar Cells?
2. 4.2 Structure and Working Principle of DSSCs with Gel Polymer Electrolytes (GPEs)
3. 4.3 Gel Polymer Electrolytes (GPEs)
4. 4.4 Summary and Outlook
5. Acknowledgements
6. References
5 Advantages of Polymer Electrolytes Towards Dye‐sensitized Solar Cells
1. 5.1 Introduction
2. 5.2 Polymer Electrolytes
3. 5.3 Dye‐sensitized Solar Cells
4. 5.4 Quantum Dot Sensitized Solar Cells (QDSSC)
5. 5.5 Perovskite‐Sensitized Solar Cells (PSSC)
6. 5.6 Conclusion
7. Acknowledgements
8. References
6 Rational Screening Strategies for Counter Electrode Nanocomposite Materials for Efficient Solar Energy Conversion
1. 6.1 Introduction
2. 6.2 Principles of Next Generation Solar Cells
3. 6.3 Platinum‐free Counterelectrode Materials
4. 6.4 Summary and Outlook
5. References
7 Design and Fabrication of Carbon‐based Nanostructured Counter Electrode Materials for Dye‐sensitized Solar Cells
1. 7.1 Photovoltaic Solar Cells – An Overview
2. 7.2 Dye‐sensitized Solar Cells
3. 7.3 Carbon‐based Nanostructured CE Materials for DSSCs
4. 7.4 Conclusions
5. References
8 Highly Stable Inverted Organic Solar Cells Based on Novel Interfacial Layers
1. 8.1 Introduction
2. 8.2 Research Areas in Organic Solar Cells
3. 8.3 An Overview of Inverted Organic Solar Cells
4. 8.4 Issues in Inverted Organic Solar Cells and Respective Solutions
5. 8.5 Overcoming the Wettability Issue and Light‐soaking Issue in Inverted Organic Solar Cells
6. 8.6 Conclusions and Outlook
7. Acknowledgements
8. References
9 Fabrication of Metal Top Electrode via Solution‐based Printing Technique for Efficient Inverted Organic Solar Cells
1. 9.1 Introduction
2. 9.2 Organic Photovoltaic Cells
3. 9.3 Working Principle
4. 9.4 Device Architecture
5. 9.5 Fabrication Process
6. 9.6 Fabrication of Inverted Organic Solar Cells
7. 9.7 Device Morphology
8. 9.8 Device Performance
9. 9.9 Conclusion
10. Acknowledgements
11. References
10 Polymer Solar Cells – An Energy Technology for the Future
1. 10.1 Introduction
2. 10.2 Materials Developments for Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells
3. 10.3 Materials Developments for Molecular Heterojunction Solar Cells
4. 10.4 Developments in Device Structures
5. 10.5 Conclusions
6. Acknowledgements
7. References
11 Rational Strategies for Large‐area Perovskite Solar Cells
1. 11.1 Introduction
2. 11.2 Perovskite
3. 11.3 Perovskite Solar Cells
4. 11.4 Device Processing
5. 11.5 Enhancing the Stability of Devices
6. 11.6 Summary
7. Acknowledgement
8. References
12 Hot Electrons Role in Biomolecule‐based Quantum Dot Hybrid Solar Cells
1. 12.1 Introduction
2. 12.2 Classifications of Solar Cells
3. 12.3 Main Losses in Solar Cells
4. 12.4 Hot Electron Concept in Materials
5. 12.5 Methodology
6. 12.6 Material Synthesis
7. 12.7 Identification of Hot Electrons
8. 12.8 Quantum Dot Sensitized Solar Cells
9. 12.9 Conclusion
10. References
Index
End User License Agreement

List of Tables

Chapter 01
1. Table 1.1 Comparison of various metal nanoparticle dressed ZnO nanostructure DSSCs.
Chapter 02
1. Table 2.1 Photovoltaic properties of metal complexes cosensitized with organic sensitizers.
2. Table 2.2 Photovoltaic properties of organic–organic sensitizer cosensitization.
Chapter 03
1. Table 3.1 Photovoltaic parameters of natural DSSCs using solvents citric acid and acidified ethanol.
2. Table 3.2 Photovoltaic parameters of natural DSSCs with algal buffer layers using citric acid as solvent.
3. Table 3.3 Photovoltaic parameters of natural DSSCs with sodium‐doped nanorods as photoelectrode (with algal buffer layers and citric acid as solvent).
4. Table 3.4 Enhanced reported efficiencies of natural DSSCs with various strategies and measures.
5. Table 3.5 The enhanced photovoltaic performance of C. Pulcherrima and rose dye‐sensitized DSSCs.
Chapter 04
1. Table 4.1 Photovoltaic performance of DSSCs using chitosan‐based GPEs with their ambient conductivities.
2. Table 4.2 Photovoltaic performance of DSSCs using PhCh‐based GPEs with their ambient conductivities.
3. Table 4.3 Photovoltaic performance of DSSCs using PVA‐based GPEs with their ambient conductivities.
4. Table 4.4 Photovoltaic performance of DSSCs using PAN‐based GPEs with their ambient conductivities.
5. Table 4.5 Photovoltaic parameters of DSSCs using PVdF‐based GPEs with their ambient conductivities.
Chapter 07
1. Table 7.1 Photovoltaic characteristics of DSSCs using different carbon‐based nanostructured CEs.
Chapter 08
1. Table 8.1 Summary of recent development in device efficiency for inverted organic solar cells using various photoactive layer materials.
2. Table 8.2 IOSC device performance with various hole transport layer materials and deposition methods.
3. Table 8.3 IOSC device performance with various metal oxides and coating methods.
4. Table 8.4 List of chemical bath deposited oxide films on various substrates.
5. Table 8.5 Device performance of inverted organic solar cells with device architecture ITO/TiO_x/P3HT:PC₆₁BM/(PEDOT:PSS + additives)/Ag using various types of additives at TiO_x thickness of about 100 nm.
6. Table 8.6 Summary of light‐soaking time (τ_soak) of P3HT:PC₆₁BM, PTB‐7:PC₇₁BM and SMDPPEH:PC₆₁BM IOSC using (a) sol‐gel TiO_x and (b) F‐TiO_x as electron transport layer.
Chapter 09
1. Table 9.1 Photovoltaic parameters of inverted organic solar cells with respect to the spray time of silver top electrode.
Chapter 10
1. Table 10.1 The maximum efficiency attained for each type of polymer solar cell.
Chapter 12
1. Table 12.1 Fitting parameters for the fluorescent decay of pure and βC capped CdSe QDs.

List of Illustrations

Chapter 01
1. Figure 1.1 Schematic representation of photoinduced charge separation and charge distribution in ZnO/metal nanocomposites. E_F and E′_F represent Fermi levels attained before and after charge distribution.
2. Figure 1.2 Various types of metal dressed ZnO nanostructure used as photoanodes in DSSCs.
3. Figure 1.3 (a) TEM image of Au@ZnO nanoparticles and (b) I–V curves obtained for the modified photoanode‐based DSSCs using N719 dye‐sensitized Au@ZnO nanoparticles. Inset: I–V curves obtained for the N719 dye‐sensitized ZnO nanoparticles based DSSCs.
4. Figure 1.4 Energy level diagram and mechanism of photocurrent generation in the DSSC with FTO/ZnO/Au/PCA/polymer electrolyte.
5. Figure 1.5 (a) TEM image of the Ag NPs/ZnO NRs composite arrays prepared by 10 adsorption–reduction cycles and (b) J–V characteristics of the solar cells prepared with the bare ZnO NR arrays and the Ag NPs/ZnO NR composite arrays (free dye). Energy level diagram and mechanism of the photocurrent generation in the photoelectrochemical cell prepared with (c) the Ag NPs/ZnO NR composite arrays and (d) the bare ZnO NRs array.
6. Figure 1.6 (a) SEM image of ZnO nanoflowers with gold nanoparticles and (b) HRTEM image of ZnO nanoflower petal surface loaded with gold nanoparticles. Inset (a) a single ZnO nanoflower with gold nanoparticles and (b) gold nanoparticles loaded ZnO nanoflower petals. (c) J–V curve obtained for N₃ dye‐sensitized ZnO nanoflowers films with and without gold nanoparticles.
7. Figure 1.7 (a) and (b) SEM image of sheaf‐like‐(ZnO@Ag)_NCM. (c) J–V curves recorded for ZnO NRs/eosin‐Y, sheaf‐like‐(ZnO@Ag)_NCM/eosin‐Y, ZnO NRs/N719, and sheaf‐like (ZnO@Ag)_NCM/N719 photoanodes with TiO₂ NPs modified PEO electrolyte based solid‐state DSSCs under simulated AM 1.5 G solar irradiation of 100 mW/cm². Area of the cell was 1 cm². (d) Mechanism of photocurrent generation at sheaf‐like‐(ZnO@Ag)_NCM modified photoelectrode based dye‐sensitized solar cells. Where E_fs and E_fm are Fermi level of semiconductor and metal, respectively. ɸ_s and ɸ_m are work function of semiconductor and metal, respectively.
Chapter 02
1. Figure 2.1 The composition of a dye‐sensitized solar cell.
2. Figure 2.2 IPCE spectrum and I–V curve of a JK2/TT1/TiO₂ DSSC with an active area of 0.2 cm² [35].
3. Figure 2.3 Molecular structures of cosensitized Zn–Phthalocyanine and organic sensitizers.
4. Figure 2.4 Molecular structures of porphyrin sensitizers.
5. Figure 2.5 Molecular structures of cosensitized organic sensitizers with porphyrin dyes.
6. Figure 2.6 Molecular structures of porphyrin sensitizers.
7. Figure 2.7 Molecular structures of cosensitized organic sensitizers.
8. Figure 2.8 Molecular structures of N3 and cosensitized organic sensitizers.
9. Figure 2.9 The fabrication process of DSC‐2‐TiO and image of light‐harvesting with a wide range of wavelength. A: glass; B: F‐doped SnO₂; BD: black dye and CD process: pressurized CO₂ condition [65].
10. Figure 2.10 IPCE spectrum of the selectively positioned three‐dye‐sensitized solar cell and those of the single‐dye cell with P5 on the bottom, N719 in the middle, and N749 on the top of the TiO₂ film [66].
11. Figure 2.11 Molecular structures of black dye and cosensitized organic sensitizers.
12. Figure 2.12 Molecular structures of N719 and cosensitized organic sensitizers.
13. Figure 2.13 Cosensitization of CCC and CTC dye molecules with N719 dye [85].
14. Figure 2.14 Molecular structures of ruthenium and cosensitized organic sensitizers.
15. Figure 2.15 Molecular structures of cosensitized organic dyes.
16. Figure 2.16 Molecular structures of the JD1, 5C, JD‐10, D35, Y1, HSQ3, HSQ4, T4BTD‐A, and HSQ5 organic dyes.
17. Figure 2.17 Molecular structures of the D131, XS41, TC2, WS‐26, S1, IQ21, S2, WS‐1, VG1‐C8, WS‐39, and WS‐2 organic dyes.
18. Figure 2.18 Molecular structures of the TA‐St‐CA, D, C239, C259, C258, FNE46, FNE53, WS64, TP3, YR‐6, LI‐102, SFD‐5, ADEKA‐1, and LEG4 organic dyes.
Chapter 03
1. Figure 3.1 Comparison of the Z–scheme of photosynthesis and the dye‐sensitized solar cell.
2. Figure 3.2 (a), (b), (c) SEM image of TiO₂ film prepared at 160 °C, 180 °C, and 190 °C, respectively; (d) XRD spectra of TiO₂ film (180 °C); (e) UV‐VIS spectra of TiO₂ film (180 °C); (f), (g), (h) TEM image of TiO₂ nanorods
3. Figure 3.3 Graphical abstract on the effect of PCA in a DSSC [3].
4. Figure 3.4 Extraction of natural dye from the flowers rose (top) and C.Pulcherrima (bottom)using citric acid as solvent and sensitizing the TiO₂ film with the natural extract.
5. Figure 3.5 J‐V characteristics of (a) C.Pulcherrima and (b) rose sensitized DSSCs using different solvents respectively.
6. Figure 3.6 Fabrication of natural DSSC with algal buffer layers [5].
7. Figure 3.7 J‐V characteristics of DSSCs with algal buffer layers sensitized by (a) rose and (b) C.Pulcherrima dye (citric acid as solvent).
8. Figure 3.8 (a), (b), (c) FESEM image of TiO₂ nanorods prepared by the hydrothermal method; (d), (e), (f) FESEM images of sodium‐doped TiO₂ nanorods prepared by the hydrothermal method (6% dopant concentration).
9. Figure 3.9 J‐V characteristics of rose and C.Pulcherrima sensitized DSSCs with sodium‐doped nanorods as photoelectrode (with algal buffer layers and citric acid as solvent).
Chapter 04
1. Figure 4.1 Schematic diagram of the DSSC configuration.
2. Figure 4.2 J‐V characteristics of best performing N3 DSSC using PhCh‐PEO‐EC‐DMF‐TPAI(+I₂)‐BMII GPE.
Chapter 05
1. Figure 5.1 (a) Various generations of solar cell; (b) types of electrolytes used in third generation solar cells.
2. Figure 5.2 Mechanism of iodide ion transport in polymer electrolyte [P(MMA‐co‐EMA)] [51].
3. Figure 5.3 (a) Components of dye‐sensitized solar cells; (b) operational principle of dye‐sensitized solar cells.
4. Figure 5.4 Ruthenium polypyridyl complexes as metal‐based sensitizers.
5. Figure 5.5 General donor‐π‐bridge‐acceptor (D‐π‐A) structure of organic dyes and some examples of metal free dyes.
6. Figure 5.6 Schematic illustration of the dye‐sensitized photovoltaic cell [FTO/TiO2/dye/E/CCC/FTO] where E is HPA impregnated PVDF polymer electrolyte with TiO₂nanofiller [118].
7. Figure 5.7 Electrostatic interactions of amino groups of (a) acetamide and (b) urea with PEO ether groups [142,143].
8. Figure 5.8 UV‐Visible spectrum of 0.3% solution of GPEs in acetonitrile. A represents thiourea‐free GPE. B, C, and D represent GPEs containing 1, 2, and 3 wt‐% of thiourea, respectively (Inset: Dimerization reaction of thiourea (TU) with iodine molecule) [163].
9. Figure 5.9 (a) ABX₃ perovskite structure showing BX₆ octahedral and larger A cation occupied in cubooctahedral site. (b) The unit cell of cubic CH₃NH₃PbI₃ perovskite. Original figure in (b) was reprinted from Reference [187].
Chapter 06
1. Figure 6.1 Representative arrangement of a DSSC.
2. Figure 6.2 Basic working processes and constituent components of a DSSC.
3. Figure 6.3 Working processes of a QDSSCs, with energy band levels, flow of charge carriers.
4. Figure 6.4 Band diagram and main processes for a PSC: 1 absorption of photon and free charge generation; 2 charge transport; 3 charge extraction [62].
5. Figure 6.5 Schematic diagram of DSSCs developed with graphene‐based counterelectrode [90].
6. Figure 6.6 Graphic diagram of the fabrication steps of all‐carbon flexible CE based HTM‐free PSCs [98].
7. Figure 6.7 The schematic illustration of DSSCs based on MoS₂/CNF CE in visible‐light illumination [122].
8. Figure 6.8 Photocurrent–voltage curves of DSSCs fabricated with MoS₂, MoS₂/AB, MoS₂/VC, MoS₂/CNT, MoS₂/CNF, and MoS₂/RHA CEs [122].
Chapter 07
1. Figure 7.1 Typical schematic structure of a DSSC [15].
2. Figure 7.2 The chemical structures of N3, N719, and N749 (black) dyes.
3. Figure 7.3 (a–c) FE‐SEM images and (d) TEM images of the carbonized HPC sample under inert gas atmosphere [35].
4. Figure 7.4 J‐V curves of fabricated DSSCs based on the platinum, PPy, MWCNT, and PPy/MWCNT CEs [38].
5. Figure 7.5 Schematic illustration of the formation mechanism for p‐GN@CuInS₂/C composite nanofibers [42].
6. Figure 7.6 CV curves of Cr‐Pt₃Ni/CNs, Pt₃Ni/CNs, Pt, and CNs CEs towards the I⁻/I₃⁻ redox couple [47].
7. Figure 7.7 The schematic representation of the synthesis of the NS‐GN [52].
8. Figure 7.8 Schematic illustration of device process: (a) synthesis of GMWNTs on SiO₂/Si, (b) lift‐off process of GMNTs, (c) transplant to FTO glass, and (d) half cell without TiO₂ and dye. [61].
9. Figure 7.9 Top view SEM images of (a) a 11.2 µm thick carbon/TiO₂ composite layer and (b) a pure TiO₂ nanoparticle layer on a FTO substrate. (c) Cross‐section SEM image of a carbon/TiO2 composite layer [71].
10. Figure 7.10 SEM morphological images of various carbon materials such as Ca – activated carbon, Cb – carbon black, Cc – conductive carbon, Cd – carbon dye, Cf – carbon fiber, Cn – carbon nanotube, Com – mesoporous carbon, Cp – discarded toner of a printer, C60 – fullerene [81]
Chapter 08
1. Figure 8.1 Research areas for organic solar cells.
2. Figure 8.2 Comparison of the lifetime of conventional and inverted P3HT:PC₆₁BM OSC under exposure to ambient condition without encapsulation.
3. Figure 8.3 Schematic representation for (a) conventional OSC cell structure and (b) an inverted OSC. Note the direction of charge collections between the two types of devices.
4. Figure 8.4 Schematic showing the necessity of UV ozone treatment on photoactive layers prior to coating PEDOT:PSS with conventional surfactant modification.
5. Figure 8.5 (a) Typical solar irradiance as a function of time for a typical sunny day in Singapore; (b) light‐soaking calculation with assumption of 10 minutes under the solar simulator; (c) the corresponding light‐soaking estimation under the sun by equating the energy densities (area under the curves in (b) and (c)).
6. Figure 8.6 Device performance showing (a) V_oc, (b) j_sc, (c) fill factor, and (d) efficiency of ITO/TiO_x/P3HT:PC₆₁BM/PEDOT:PSS:CFS‐31/Ag IOSC with various CFS‐31 concentrations (ranging from 0 to 15 v/v%).
7. Figure 8.7 Optical microscopy images showing P3HT:PC₆₁BM/PEDOT:CFS‐31 with (i–viii) 0, 0.5, 1.0, 3.0, 5.5, 8.0, 10.0, and 15.0%, respectively. The dark orange region is PEDOT:PSS, while the light yellow region is P3HT:PC₆₁BM. (a) Illuminated J‐V characteristics of representative devices with various CFS‐31 surfactant concentration; (b) shunt and series resistance of corresponding devices extracted from (a), the lines connecting the data points only serves as guidance.
8. Figure 8.8 Normalized V_oc, J_sc, fill factor, and efficiency of ITO/TiO_x/P3HT:PC₆₁BM/PEDOT:PSS:CFS‐31/Ag with 5.5 v/v% CFS‐31 concentration under exposure in N₂ (first 24 hours) and in air (subsequent exposure time) without encapsulation. The parameters were normalized by their respective maximum values. The pictures on the left show the freshly exposed IOSC while the ones on the right shows the same device exposed to air after 600 hours.
9. Figure 8.9 Current‐voltage (J‐V) characteristics of inverted organic solar cells with (a) sol‐gel TiO_x and (b) F‐TiO_x as electron transport layer when subjected to light‐soaking treatments; the illumination time are shown (guided by arrows). (c) Light‐soaking effect on the efficiency of sol‐gelTiO_x layers upon AM 1.5G illumination in P3HT:PC₆₁BM, PTB7:PC₇₁BM and SMDPPEH:PC₆₁BM devices. (d) Light‐soaking effect on the efficiency of F‐TiO_x layers upon AM 1.5G illumination in P3HT:PC₆₁BM, PTB7:PC₇₁BM and SMDPPEH:PC₆₁BM devices The symbols represent experimental data while the solid lines are fitted data. The figures were extracted from [32] and [34].
10. Figure 8.10 Schematic showing various combinations of TiO_x used for studying the contribution of different interfaces to the light‐soaking effect.
11. Figure 8.11 Light‐soaking control experiment of fresh inverted organic solar cells with sol‐gel TiO_x (80 nm), F‐TiO_x (80 nm), sol‐gel TiO_x (40 nm)/F‐TiO_x(40 nm), and F‐TiO_x(40 nm)/sol‐gel TiO_x (40 nm) as electron transport layers upon AM 1.5G illumination. The symbols represent experimental data while the solid lines are fitted data by logistic function. The indicated time represents the corresponding light‐soaking time (τ_soak) for each sample as defined in the main text.
12. Figure 8.12 (a) Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) secondary cut‐off spectra of ITO, ITO/sol‐gel TiO_x, and ITO/F‐TiO_x before light‐soaking. (b) Normalized photocurrent of sol‐gel TiO_x (O at%) /Ag (∎) and F‐TiO_x(1.3 F at%)/Ag (•) under UV illumination; the step (—) indicates UV light ON/OFF state. (c) A proposed model for trap‐filling phenomenon of sol‐gel TiO_x and F‐TiO_x before and after light‐soaking treatment. (d) Resulting energy band diagrams at ITO/TiO_x interface before light‐soaking treatment. All values were obtained from UPS measurements, the bandgaps were estimated by their respective absorption spectra and the arrows at the ITO/TiO_x interface represent the resulting barrier width due to the Fermi level realignment. The evolution behavior of light‐soaking effect was adopted from [91].
Chapter 09
1. Figure 9.1 Renewable electricity capacity growth (GW).
2. Figure 9.2 India sets targets to reach ambitious 2021 solar goal.
3. Figure 9.3 Organic conducting materials (donor and acceptor) for OPVs devices.
4. Figure 9.4 Mechanism of photocurrent generation in an OPV device.
5. Figure 9.5 OPV device architectures: (a) single layer, (b) planar heterojunction, (c) bulk heterojunction, and (d) ordered bulk heterojunction.
6. Figure 9.6 Schematic illustration of an OPV device: (a) conventional structure and (b) inverted structure.
7. Figure 9.7 Schematic illustration of the Hybrid‐EHDA set‐up.
8. Figure 9.8(a–b) Influence of applied potential on spray or atomization mode of silver ink at constant pneumatic pressure: (a) 0.0 bar and (b) 0.3 bar.
9. Figure 9.8(c–d) Influence of applied potential on spray or atomization mode of silver ink at constant pneumatic pressure: (c) 0.5 bar and (d) 0.7 bar.
10. Figure 9.8(e–f) (e) Influence of applied potential on spray or atomization mode of silver ink at constant pneumatic pressure of 1 bar and (f) influence of pneumatic pressure on spray at constant applied potential (15 kV)
11. Figure 9.9 The cross‐sectional view of the organic device.
12. Figure 9.10 (a) Thickness of silver thin films with respect to spray times; (b) sheet resistance of silver films with respect to film thickness (in both figures, the error bars represents the standard deviation).
13. Figure 9.11 Energy level diagram of inverted organic solar cells.
14. Figure 9.12 The current density–voltage characteristics of inverted organic solar cells produced with silver top contact via the Hybrid‐EHDA process.
Chapter 10
1. Figure 10.1 General operating principle of a polymer solar cell.
2. Figure 10.2 Structures of commonly used polymer donors and fullerene acceptors.
3. Figure 10.3 Structures of widely investigated conjugated polymers.
4. Figure 10.4 Chemical structures of heteroatoms such as Se, Si and Ge present in the core structure of donor polymers.
5. Figure 10.5 Chemical structures of non‐fullerene electron acceptors ITIC and PMI‐F‐PMI.
6. Figure 10.6 Structures of non‐fullerene polymer electron acceptor materials.
7. Figure 10.7 Structures of the charm‐bracelet type double‐cable polymers COP2, D3, and PPV‐C₆₀.
8. Figure 10.8 (a) Layer stacks of the triple‐junction tandem solar cell in the inverted architecture. (b) Optical parameters n and k for P3HT:ICBA, PTB:PC₇₁BM, and LBG:PC₇₁BM structures used in the simulations. (c) Energy levels of the materials investigated in this study.
9. Figure 10.9 (a) Solar cell device stack and chemical structures for PTB7‐Th, PC₇₁BM, and PEOz. (b) Flat energy band diagram for PTB7‐Th:PC₇₁BM BHJ solar cells with ZnO/PEOz ECBL/interlayer. The blue arrow denotes the shift in ZnO work function caused by the PEOz. (c) Absorption coefficient (α) spectra for pristine films of PTB7‐Th and PC71BM, and for a BHJ PTB7‐Th:PC₇₁BM blend film.
Chapter 11
1. Figure 11.1 ABX₃ crystal structure [14].
2. Figure 11.2 Evolution of PSCs [29].
3. Figure 11.3 A schematic representation of (a) and (b) n‐i‐p mesoporous and planar, (c) and (d) p‐i‐n n‐i‐p mesoporous and planar structures [36].
4. Figure 11.4 (a) Schematic representation of interfacial engineering using DMSO as solvent [59]. (b) First principle studies on 2D/3D interface using simulation [79].
5. Figure 11.5 (a) Series connected five subcells and cross‐section FESEM images with the variation of effect in solvent [90]. (b) pictorial representation of four subcells with active area of 4 cm² [91].
6. Figure 11.6 (a) Pictorial representation of doctor blade instrument with its growth of grain size [94]. (b) Image of large area module of 100 cm² fabricated using doctor blade method [95].
7. Figure 11.6 (c) Schematic representation of the facile one‐step processing of perovskite film using a slot die coater [99]. (d) Kinetic growth study of perovskite crystal. Figure adapted from [101].
8. Figure 11.7 (a) Schematic representation of the screen printing method. (b) Pictorial representation of the spray coating method for PSCs. Figure adapted from [105].
9. Figure 11.7 (c) Schematic representation of lateral crystal growth fabricated using R‐R. Figure adapted from [119].
10. Figure 11.8 (a) Schematic representation of the CVD setup. Figure adapted from [121]. (b) Pictorial representation of smaller module with 1 cm² to larger module of 8.8 cm² grown using CVD [122].
11. Figure 11.8 (c) Schematic representation of the SCD method for fabricating PSCs [125].
Chapter 12
1. Figure 12.1 Classification of solar cells.
2. Figure 12.2 Energy conversion loss process in standard solar cells.
3. Figure 12.3 (a) The bulk band structure of a semiconductor. Here the photoexcited higher energy state of electrons relaxes through the continuous states of CB and reaches CB edge state. (b) Energy band structure of QD. Here the photoexcited electrons relax through the defect levels (hence in both the systems, slowing down of cooling process is challenging one).
4. Figure 12.4 Hot injection method experimental setup and QD nucleation.
5. Figure 12.5 Emission spectra of CdSe QD with different βC concentration in comparison with bare CdSe QD.
6. Figure 12.6 Schematic representation of arrested nonradiative relaxation of CdSe QD.
7. Figure 12.7 Three dimensional plot showing the excitation energy dependent PL behavior for a bare CdSe QD sample.
8. Figure 12.8 Three dimensional plot showing the excitation energy dependent PL behavior for a CdSe QD‐βC hybrid sample.
9. Figure 12.9 The calculated quantum yield as a function of excitation energy for the bare (curve a) and CdSe QD‐βC hybrid (curve b) samples.
10. Figure 12.10 Interfacial energy level diagram between a CdSe QD and beta‐carotene explaining various possible quenching mechanisms.
11. Figure 12.11 PL decay curves for bare and CdSe QD‐βC hybrid samples recorded at 620 nm and 500 nm.
12. Figure 12.12 Transient absorption spectra recorded from a βC‐CdSe QD hybrid sample.
13. Figure 12.13 Schematic representation of the electron transfer process.
14. Figure 12.14 Schematic representation of the back transfer process.
15. Figure 12.15 Time dependent absorption profiles of CdSe QDs at 620 nm (a) and beta‐carotene at 450 nm (b).
16. Figure 12.16 General schematic structure of the QD sensitized solar cell showing all the components and a process of excited electron transfer under illumination.
17. Figure 12.17 Schematic representation of a QD sensitized solar cell device structure.

List of Contributors

Sambandam Anandan
Nanomaterials and Solar Energy Conversion Laboratory
National Institute of Technology
India

A.K. Arof
Centre for Ionics University of Malaya
Physics Department
Faculty of Science
University of Malaya
50603 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia

Arunachalam Arulraj
University College of Engineering‐Bharathidasan Institute of Technology (BIT) campus
Anna University
India

Prabhakarn Arunachalam
Electrochemistry Research Group
King Saud University
Saudi Arabia

Muthupandian Ashokkumar
School of Chemistry
University of Melbourne
Australia

R. Balasundaraprabhu
Centre for Surface Science
PSG College of Technology
India

G. Bharathi
Department of Physics
Bharathiyar University
India

Kyung‐Hyun Choi
Department of Mechatronics Engineering
Jeju National University
Republic of Korea

Navaneethan Duraisamy
Department of Chemistry
Periyar University
India

Dhanaraj Gopi
Department of Chemistry
Periyar University
India

Gregory Thien Soon How
Department of Physics
University of Malaya
Malaysia

Kandasamy Jothivenkatachalam
Department of Chemistry
Anna University‐ BIT Campus
Tiruchirappalli‐ 620024
Tamilnadu
India

Kavitha Kandiah
Department of Microbiology
Periyar University
India

Ananthanarayanan Krishanamoorthy
SRM Research Institute and Department of Chemistry
SRM University
India

Giovanni Landi
Department of Industrial Engineering
University of Salerno
Italy
Institute for Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials (IPCB),
National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Italy

Fang Jeng Lim
Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS)
National University of Singapore
Singapore

Jagannathan Madhavan
Solar Energy Laboratory
Thiruvalluvar University
India

Nay Ming Huang
Faculty of Engineering
University Xiamen Malaysia
Malaysia

D. Nataraj
Department of Physics
Bharathiyar University
India

D. Navaneethan
Department of Chemistry
Periyar University
India

Maadeswaran Palanisamy
Department of Energy Studies
Periyar University
India

Alagarsamy Pandikumar
Functional Materials Division
CSIR‐Central Electrochemical Research Institute
Karaikudi‐630006
India

Nagaraj Pavithra
Nanomaterials and Solar Energy Conversion Laboratory
National Institute of Technology
India

T. Pazhanivel
Department of Physics
Periyar University
India

N. Prabavathy
Centre for Surface Science
PSG College of Technology
India

Ramesh Rajendran
Department of Physics
Periyar University
India

Alagar Ramar
Graduate Institute of Applied Science and Technology
National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
Taiwan, R.O.C.

Mohan Ramesh
CSIR‐Central Electrochemical Research Institute
India

R. Ramesh
Department of Chemistry
Periyar University
India

Gachumale Saritha
Nanomaterials and Solar Energy Conversion Laboratory
National Institute of Technology
India

Raja Arumugam Senthil
Solar Energy Laboratory
Thiruvalluvar University
India

Andrea Sorrentino
Institute for Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials (IPCB)
National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Italy

Jayaraman Theerthagiri
Centre of Excellence for Energy Research
Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology
India
Solar Energy Laboratory
Thiruvalluvar University
India

L.P. Teo
Centre for Ionics University of Malaya
Physics Department
Faculty of Science
University of Malaya
50603 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia

Pazhanivel Thangavelu
Department of Physics
Periyar University
India

Dhayalan Velauthapillai
Faculty of Engineering
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences
Norway

Fu‐Ming Wang
Graduate Institute of Applied Science and Technology
National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
Taiwan, R.O.C.

Rational Design of Solar Cells for Efficient Solar Energy Conversion

Biographies

List of Contributors

Preface