Carbon Nanotubes in Thin-Film Solar Cells

Thin-film photovoltaics offer the promise of cost-effective and scalable solar energy conversion, but the lifetime and efficiency of these solar cells continue to trail their inorganic silicon counterparts. Carbon nanotubes have recently been explored as materials in thin-film solar cells due to their optical absorption in the visible and infrared, high chemical stability, and exceptional charge transport properties. In particular, developments in the isolation of carbon nanotubes with homogeneous structures and properties have enabled their use as active absorbing materials, interfacial charge transport layers, and transparent conductive electrodes in organic and perovskite solar cells. This progress report highlights these recent advances and suggests future directions for carbon nanotubes in thin-film organic and inorganic nanomaterial solar cells.