Photovoltaic conversion enhancement of single wall carbon-Si heterojunction solar cell decorated with Ag nanoparticles

We report that the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of single wall carbon nanotube (SCNT)-n-type crystalline silicon bulk heterojunction photovoltaic devices is significantly improved by Ag nanoparticles decorating on SCNTs film. PCE, open circuit voltage, short-circuit current density, and fill factor achieved for Ag decorating are 1.32%, 0.41 V, 12.6 mA/cm(2), 26% from 0.6%, 0.42V, 6.76 mA/cm(2), 21%, respectively. It is found that the overall PCE was significantly increased to more than 2-fold. These main reasons of improvements result from a combination of enhanced light absorption caused by the light scattering and localized surface plasmon resonance of Ag nanoparticles in the active layer. The fabrication of the Ag-nanoparticles SCNTs film-n-type crystalline silicon bulk heterojunction photovoltaic devices is easy, cost-effective, and easily scaled up. This paper demonstrates that such Ag-nanoparticles decorating on SCNTs film/Si solar cells possess promising potential in energy harvesting applications. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.