P-type conductive transparent materials

Stéphane Jobic (DR), Laurent Cario(DR) (Equipe PMN), Martine Bujoli-Doeuff (MC), Congcong Shang.

A transparent conducting material (TCM) is a solid that does not absorb visible light (optical gap greater than 3 eV) and exhibits a good electrical conductivity. Such materials are used in flat panel displays, low emissivity and electrochromic glasses, antistatic shields, defrosting windows, light emitting diodes, etc. At the laboratory, our field of interest concerns more specifically the synthesis of TCM as nanoparticles for applications in p-type semiconductor (SC) based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), i.e. cells where holes are injected from the photo-excited dye into the valence band (VB) of the p-type SC (inverse principle to that of the Grätzel cells). In that context, we are looking for materials with large specific surfaces (to promote the adsorption of dyes and therefore high photo-generated currents) and a deep valence band (to increase the open circuit voltage, V_oc).

More precisely, we focused our researches on potential substitutes of NiO, the material commonly used as photocathode for the aforementioned application. In that context, we studied delafossite materials (oxides and nitrides), oxysulphides, etc. In all cases, measurements of flat band potentials are carried out to determine on an absolute scale the position of the Fermi level. The deeper the valence band, the higher the flat band potential for a p-type semiconductor, the higher the expected Voc. The photovoltaic cells are assembled at the CEISAM laboratory (Nantes), that also synthesizes dyes for n- or p-type cells.

Schematic representation of a p-type dye cell

Nanostructuring of p-type conductive transparent materials

Diagrammes de Mott-Schottky enregistrés dans un électrolyte. La pente négative de la courbe 1/C² vs. potentiel confirme la conductivité de type p de ces deux matériaux (C = capacitance).

Involved people

Current: Stéphane Jobic (DR), Laurent Cario(DR) (Equipe PMN), Martine Bujoli-Doeuff (MC), Romain Gautier (CR), Camille Latouche (MC), Congcong Shang (Postdoc)
Past: R. Srinivasan, B. Chavillon, C. Doussier-Brochard, A. Renaud, T. Jiang

Publications

Tuning the size and color of the p-Type wide band gap Delafossite semiconductor CuGaO2 with an Ethylene glycol assisted Hydrothermal synthesis
R. Srinivasan, B. Chavillon, C. Doussier-Brochard, L. Cario, M. Paris, E. Gautron, P. Deniard, S. Jobic
J. Mater. Chem., 18, 5647-5653, 2008

p-type nitrogen doped ZnO nanoparticles stable over two years in ambient conditions
B. Chavillon, L. Cario, A. Renaud, F. Tessier, F. Cheviré, M. Boujtita, Y. Pellegrin, E. Blart, A. Smeigh, L. Hammarström, F. Odobel, S. Jobic
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 134, 464-470, 2012

CuGaO2: a promising alternative for NiO in p-type dye solar cells
A. Renaud, B. Chavillon, L. Lepleux, Y. Pellegrin, E. Bart, M. Boujtita, Thierry Pauporté, L. Cario, S. Jobic, F. Odobel
J. Mater. Chem., 22, 14353-14356, 2012

Origin of the black color of NiO used as photocathode in p-type dye sensitized solar cells
A. Renaud, B. Chavillon, L. Cario, L. Le Pleux, N. Szuwarski, Y. Pellegrin, E. Blart, E. Gautron, F. Odobel, S. Jobic
J. Phys. Chem. C, 17, 22478-22483, 2013

Impact of Mg doping on performances of CuGaO2 based p-type dye-sensitized solar cells
A. Renaud, L. Cario, P. Deniard, E. Gautron, X. Rocquefelte, Y. Pellegrin, E. Blart, F. Odobel, S. Jobic
J. Phys. Chem. C, 118, 54-59, 2014

The first dye-sensitized solar cell with p-type LaOCuS nanoparticles as photocathode
A. Renaud, L. Cario, Y. Pellegrin, E. Blart, M. Boujtita, F. Odobel, S. Jobic
RSC Adv., 5, 60148-60151, 2015

Synthesis of Ni-poor NiO nanoparticles for p-DSSC applications
B. Polteau, F. Tessier, F. Cheviré, L. Cario, F. Odobel, S. Jobic
Solid State Sci., 54, 37-42, 2016

Copper borate as photocathode in p-type dye-sensitized solar cells
T. Jiang, M. Bujoli-Doeuff, Y. Farré, E. Blart, Y. Pellegrin, E. Gautron, M. Boujtita, L. Cario, F. Odobel, S. Jobic
RCS Advances, 6, 1549-1553, 2016

Modulation of defects in semiconductors by facile and controllable reduction: the case of p-type CuCrO2 nanoparticles
T. Jiang, X. Li, M. Bujoli-Doeuff, E. Gautron, L. Cario, S. Jobic, R. Gautier
Inorg. Chem., 55, 7729-7733, 2016

CuO nanomaterials for p-type dye-sensitized solar cells
T. Jiang, M. Bujoli-Doeuff, Y. Farré, Y. Pellegrin, E. Gautron, M. Boujtita, L. Cario, S. Jobic, F. Odobel
RSC Adv., 6, 112765-112770, 2016

Engineering Processes at the Interface of p-Semiconductor for Enhancing the Open Circuit Voltage in p-Type Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
L. Favereau, Y. Pellegrin, L. Hirsch, A. Renaud, A. Planchat , E. Blart, G. Louarn, L. Cario, S. Jobic, M. Boujtita, F. Odobel
Adv. Energy Mater., 1601776, 2017

Collaborations

ANR and contracts

Financements régionaux: Perle, Perle2 ANR POSITIF (2013-2017) programme Investissement d’Avenir soutenu par le CNRS, les Universités de Nantes et Rennes1 et les Régions Bretagne et Pays de la Loire

Thesis

"Conception de cellules photovoltaïques à base de semi-conducteurs de type p sensibilisés par un colorant ", Loïc Le Pleux, 2010
"Synthèse de semi-conducteurs inorganiques transparents de type p pour cellules photovoltaïques ", Benoît Chavillon, 2011
"Semi-conducteurs de type p pour une application en cellules solaires à colorant ", Adèle Renaud, 2013
"Etude de semiconducteurs de type p nanostructurés à base de métaux de transition pour une application en DSSC-p", Baptiste Polteau, 2016