Photoelectrochemical solar cells using nanocrystalline copper selenide photo electrode

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Photoelectrochemical solar cells using nanocrystalline copper selenide photo electrode

Kavita Gour, Preeti Pathak, M. Ramrakhiani, P. Mor

The development of thin film solar cells continues to be an active area of research. Nanocrystalline thin films of copper selenide have been grown on glass and indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates using a chemical method. The golden films have been synthesized at different temperatures, for different deposition times and from different concentration of solutions and annealed at 200ºC for 2H. They were then examined by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and (AFM) micrographs for their structural and morphological properties. Average spherical grains of the order of 25 nm to 35 nm in size aggregated over about 120 ± 10 nm for different concentration islands are visible in the AFM images. The conductivity in copper selenide thin films makes it a suitable candidate for solar cells. Their photoelectrochemical performance was investigated in a standard two electrodes configuration with redox electrolyte. The investigation may be useful in obtaining efficient, stable and low cost solar cells to compete with the existing technology.

Keywords
Copper Selenide Thin Films, Photoelectrochemical Cells, XRD, Surface Morphology

Published online 8/2/2017, 51 pages

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21741/9781945291371-5

Part of Recent Advances in Photovoltaics

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