Research Article
Effect of Surface Morphology and Dispersion Media on
the Properties of PEDOT:PSS/n-Si Hybrid Solar Cell Containing
Functionalized Graphene
Pham Van Trinh,
1
Phan Ngoc Hong,
1,2
Bui Hung Thang,
1
Nguyen Tuan Hong,
3
Duong Van Thiet,
4
Nguyen Van Chuc,
1,2
and Phan Ngoc Minh
1,2,3
1
Institute of Materials Science, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet Str., Cau Giay Distr., Hanoi, Vietnam
2
Graduate University of Science and Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet Str.,
Cau Giay Distr., Hanoi, Vietnam
3
Center for High Technology Development, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet Str.,
Cau Giay Distr., Hanoi, Vietnam
4
School of Engineering Physics, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, 1 Dai Co Viet Road, Hai Ba Trung Distr., Hanoi, Vietnam
Correspondence should be addressed to Pham Van Trinh; trinhpv@ims.vast.vn and Phan Ngoc Minh; pnminh@vast.ac.vn
Received 22 June 2017; Revised 5 October 2017; Accepted 15 October 2017; Published 6 November 2017
Academic Editor: Mikhael Bechelany
Copyright © 2017 Pham Van Trinh et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly
cited.
We present the results on the efect of surface morphology and dispersion media on the properties of PEDOT:PSS/n-Si hybrid solar
cell containing functionalized graphene (Gr). Te hybrid solar cells based on SiNWs showed higher power conversion efciency
(PCE) compared to the planar based cells due to suppressing the carrier recombination and improving carrier transport efciency.
Te PCE of hybrid solar cells could be improved by adding Gr into PEDOT:PSS. Diferent solvents including deionized (DI) water,
ethylene glycol (EG), and isopropyl alcohol (IPA) were used as media for Gr dispersion. Te best performance was obtained for
the cell containing Gr dispersed in EG with a measured PCE of 7.33% and nearly 13% and 16% enhancement in comparison with
the cells using Gr dispersed in IPA and DI water, respectively. Te increase in PCE is attributed to improving the carrier-mobility,
electrical conductivity, PEDOT crystallinity, and ordering.
1. Introduction
Traditional sources of energy like petroleum, coal, and
natural gas are being depleted of due to high usage rate which
is further expected to rise in the future. Solar energy is by
far the renewable energy source with the most signifcant
potential. Utilization of solar energy is very expensive and
therefore not widely used for commercial electricity produc-
tion. Demanding for the development of the next generations
of solar cell with higher efciency, lower price and longer life
are indispensable.
Nanomaterials and nanostructures based solar cells hold
promising potency to enhance the performance of solar cells
by improving both light trapping and photocarrier collec-
tion [1, 2]. Many approaches have been taken to lower the
production cost of Si PVs, among which thin-flm Si solar
cells ofer a promising low-cost solution. However, thin-flm
Si solar cells have lower efciency than bulk Si, due to their
limited absorption thickness [3–5]. As evidenced by recent
literature reports, silicon nanowire (SiNW) array exhibits
not only perfect absorption but also a high surface to volume
ratio compared to planar Si. Consequently, the next genera-
tion solar cells based on SiNW have attracted a great interest
of scientists, engineers, and technology developers due to
their potential for higher conversion efciency and being
cost-efective compared to the conventional bulk Si solar cell
generation [6–10]. Unfortunately, all-inorganic solar cells
based on SiNW usually require energy-intensive semicon-
ductor processes, including high-temperature thermal difu-
sion, thermal annealing of the electrodes, and high-vacuum
Hindawi
Advances in Materials Science and Engineering
Volume 2017, Article ID 2362056, 9 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/2362056