Improving the stability of solar cells using metal-organic frameworks

• Published in: Journal of materials chemistry. A, Materials for energy and sustainability Materials for energy and sustainability, 2016-01, Vol.4 (2), p.793-7935
• Main Authors: Nevruzoglu, Vagif, Demir, Selçuk, Karaca, Gökçehan, Tomakin, Murat, Bilgin, Nuray, Yilmaz, Fatih
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Chalcogenides; Copper; Diffusion; Metal-organic frameworks; Photovoltaic cells; Solar cells; Stability; Stores
• ISSN: 2050-7488; 2050-7496
• DOI: 10.1039/c6ta02609e

Although Cu 2 S-containing chalcogenide solar cells are appealing and cost-effective for photovoltaics (PVs), these materials suffer from rapid performance degradation as a result of the diffusion of copper ions into the CdS layer. In order to prevent this degradation, we report, for the first time, the use of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as copper sources. MOFs are a unique class of materials for use in solar cells as they can be tailored to have high porosity in combination with a high density of Lewis basic sites incorporated within the framework backbone. These properties allow for post-metalation reactions to be carried out, which can be exploited for use as copper reservoirs. Experimental evidence shows that the Lewis-basic sites of bipyridine moieties can store copper( i ) ions and these ions can be used to compensate for the diffused copper ions leading to an improvement in the stability of prepared Cu 2− x S/CdS PV cells. This achievement can ultimately lead to the fabrication of low-cost, long-lived Cu-containing PV cells by using MOFs as supporting materials. Although Cu 2 S-containing chalcogenide solar cells are appealing and cost-effective for photovoltaics (PVs), these materials suffer from rapid performance degradation as a result of the diffusion of copper ions into the CdS layer.