Reducing the thickness of silicon wafers in solar cells below 40 μm typically results in decreased performance. Using black silicon for the wafer, however, which has a textured surface structure, can improve the wafer’s absorption capabilities. Researchers in Spain and Finland demonstrated this improvement by using ultrathin black silicon wafers to create interdigitated back-contact solar cells.
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Perovskite materials are some of the most hotly researched materials in the photovoltaic field right now. However, antiperovskite materials, which have an inverse perovskite structure, show promise as well. Two researchers in Korea used simulations to explore the potential of two antiperovskite oxides in photovoltaic applications.
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Improving Li-ion batteries using nanodots, scalable graphene yarn, and other materials stories that may be of interest for March 20, 2019.
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Researchers found simple thermal annealing can effectively dope titanium dioxide with nitrogen. Findings like this one can help expand the use of TiO2 in solar energy conversion technologies.
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Spray-on antennas from MXenes, fabricating low-cost, high-efficiency solar cells, and other materials stories that may be of interest for October 3, 2018.
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Sodium and potassium hold promise as alternatives to lithium-based batteries, new ultra-thin flexible sensors, and other materials stories that may be of interest for July 4, 2018.
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Researchers have created a material that replaces lead with titanium that could be used in inorganic thin-film perovskite solar cells. Their lead-free perovskite offers better stability and a more environmentally-friendly alternative for tandem solar cells.
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Graphene for space applications, conductive electrodes are key to fast-charging batteries, and other materials stories that may be of interest.
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Nanotube film may resolve longevity problem of challenger solar cells, Non-toxic thermoelectric material generates electricity through hot and cold, and other materials stories that may be of interest for March 29, 2017.
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Nano-modified aerospace composites from carbon nanotubes, bacteria-powered battery built from a single sheet of paper, and other materials stories that may be of interest for December 28, 2017.
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