Water-repelling behavior of the 1-D hematite nano-network

Hematite is an attractive material used as electron transport layer in perovskite-based solar cells. Being hydrophilic in nature it attracts moisture, which can be damaging for perovskite layers. Therefore, it is important to make hematite moisture repelling, which can be beneficial for applications...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Soft matter 2023-07, Vol.19 (28), p.536-537
Main Authors: Patra, Shyamapada, Chatterjee, Sriparna, Das, Pritam, Chatterjee, Shyamal
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Argon ions
Density functional theory
Electrical conductivity
Electrical junctions
Electrical resistivity
Electron transport
Hematite
Hydrophobicity
Irradiation
Moisture effects
Nanorods
Perovskites
Photovoltaic cells
Radiation
Roughening
Solar cells
Water chemistry
Wettability
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Summary:Hematite is an attractive material used as electron transport layer in perovskite-based solar cells. Being hydrophilic in nature it attracts moisture, which can be damaging for perovskite layers. Therefore, it is important to make hematite moisture repelling, which can be beneficial for applications in solar cells or for protecting iron surfaces from further rust formation. In this work, we demonstrate that the systematic irradiation of nanostructured hematite with low-energy argon ions (Ar + ) at various ion fluences can change the surface wettability as well as promote the formation of junctions between nanorods. The nano-welded network of the irradiated hematite turns out to be hydrophobic. Using TRI3DYN simulations, ion-induced surface roughening, the presence of surface oxygen vacancies, and joining between adjacent nanorods are predicted. Furthermore, the water-repelling behavior of the irradiated nano-network is evaluated using density functional theory (DFT) simulations by determining the interaction of water molecules with the surface. The interconnected hematite nano-network also shows a notable improvement in electrical conductivity. Hematite is an attractive material used as electron transport layer in perovskite-based solar cells.
ISSN:1744-683X
1744-6848
DOI:10.1039/d3sm00483j