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Aydin E, El-Demellawi JK, Yarali E, Aljamaan F, Sansoni S, Rehman AU, Harrison G, Kang J, El Labban A, De Bastiani M, Razzaq A, Van Kerschaver E, Allen TG, Mohammed OF, Anthopoulos T, Alshareef HN, De Wolf S. Scaled Deposition of Ti 3C 2Tx MXene on Complex Surfaces: Application Assessment as Rear Electrodes for Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells. ACS Nano 2022; 16:2419-2428. [PMID: 35139300 PMCID: PMC8867910 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.1c08871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2021] [Accepted: 01/24/2022] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Two-dimensional transition metal carbides (MXenes) are of great interest as electrode materials for a variety of applications, including solar cells, due to their tunable optoelectronic properties, high metallic conductivity, and attractive solution processability. However, thus far, MXene electrodes have only been exploited for lab-scale device applications. Here, to demonstrate the potential of MXene electrodes at an industry-relevant level, we implemented a scalable spray coating technique to deposit highly conductive (ca. 8000 S/cm, at a ca. 55 nm thickness) Ti3C2Tx films (Tx: surface functional groups, i.e., -OH, -O, -F) via an automated spray system. We employed these Ti3C2Tx films as rear electrodes for silicon heterojunction solar cells as a proof of concept. The spray-deposited MXene flakes have formed a conformal coating on top of the indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated random pyramidal textured silicon wafers, leading to >20% power conversion efficiency (PCE) over both medium-sized (4.2 cm2) and large (243 cm2, i.e., industry-sized 6 in. pseudosquare wafers) cell areas. Notably, the Ti3C2Tx-rear-contacted devices have retained around 99% of their initial PCE for more than 600 days of ambient air storage. Their performance is comparable with state-of-the-art solar cells contacted with sputtered silver electrodes. Our findings demonstrate the high-throughput potential of spray-coated MXene-based electrodes for solar cells in addition to a wider variety of electronic device applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erkan Aydin
- KAUST
Solar Center (KSC), Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE) Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
(KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
| | - Jehad K. El-Demellawi
- Physical
Sciences and Engineering (PSE) Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
| | - Emre Yarali
- KAUST
Solar Center (KSC), Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE) Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
(KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
| | - Faisal Aljamaan
- KAUST
Solar Center (KSC), Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE) Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
(KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
| | - Simone Sansoni
- KAUST
Solar Center (KSC), Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE) Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
(KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
| | - Atteq ur Rehman
- KAUST
Solar Center (KSC), Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE) Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
(KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
| | - George Harrison
- KAUST
Solar Center (KSC), Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE) Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
(KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
| | - Jingxuan Kang
- KAUST
Solar Center (KSC), Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE) Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
(KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
| | - Abdulrahman El Labban
- KAUST
Solar Center (KSC), Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE) Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
(KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
| | - Michele De Bastiani
- KAUST
Solar Center (KSC), Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE) Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
(KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
| | - Arsalan Razzaq
- KAUST
Solar Center (KSC), Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE) Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
(KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
| | - Emmanuel Van Kerschaver
- KAUST
Solar Center (KSC), Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE) Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
(KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
| | - Thomas G. Allen
- KAUST
Solar Center (KSC), Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE) Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
(KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
| | - Omar F. Mohammed
- Physical
Sciences and Engineering (PSE) Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
| | - Thomas Anthopoulos
- KAUST
Solar Center (KSC), Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE) Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
(KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
| | - Husam N. Alshareef
- Physical
Sciences and Engineering (PSE) Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
| | - Stefaan De Wolf
- KAUST
Solar Center (KSC), Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE) Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
(KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
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