Graphene Based Materials: Enhancing Solar Energy Harvesting

Due to excellent electronic and optical properties as well as tunable work functions, graphene and graphene-based materials are highly attractive for applications in enhancement of harvesting solar energy. In particular, they can be used as electron and hole transport materials, buffer layers, and window or/and counter electrodes in solar cells. This research news surveys very recent advances in this emerging field, with emphasis on fundamental understanding of their performance enhancement mechanisms for photovoltaic devices, and discusses future challenges.