Colloidal CuInS_2 Based Nanocrystals/TiO_2 Nanotube Arrays Composite Solar Cells Fabrication and Testing

摘要

To develop alternative and low cost photovoltaic technologies we have synthesized CuInS2 nanocrystals with tunable optical properties and characterization was carried out thoroughly with TEM, SEM, EDAX and XRD. Furthermore large self-organized arrays of TiO2 nanotubes were fabricated on Ti foil followed by simple electrochemical anodization technique and characterized their structure by SEM and then for the first time coupled both the nanocrystals and nanotubes to form a p-n junction type photovoltaic device. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of photovoltaic cells were measured to test the proof of concept. Some preliminary experiments showed that device generates some current upon illumination. However, in our case we fabricated a device without sandwiching any buffer or barrier layers in between nanocrystals and nanotube arrays. We have been optimizing our solar cells efficiency by improving quality of nanotubes and nanocrystals. Some of the interesting finding are presented and discussed.