Are semiconductor nanowires a promising material for photovoltaic devices?

Recently, semiconductor nanowires grown by the vapour–liquid–solid (VLS) process have been shown to be a highly promising material system for photovoltaic devices 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 14. Owing to their single-crystalline nature, they have the potency for high-performance solar modules.

What is a solution-processed photovoltaic (OPV) cell?

Organic solution-processed photovoltaic (OPV) cells were developed in the 1980s, since then their efficiency has increased and dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), solution-processed inorganic solar cells (CZTS and CIGS) and colloidal quantum-dot (CQD) solar cells have been introduced.

What if a monolayer anchored to a planar electrode?

A monolayer of sensitizer molecules is anchored, with a linker, to an electron-accepting large-bandgap semiconductor such as titanium oxide, tin oxide or zinc oxide. If the monolayer was tethered to a planar electrode, it would absorb an insignificant fraction of solar radiation (less than 1%).

Can photovoltaics be mass deployed?

In recent years, tremendous progress has been made in developing photovoltaics that can be potentially mass deployed 1, 2, 3. Of particular interest to cost-effective solar cells is to use novel device structures and materials processing for enabling acceptable efficiencies 4, 5, 6.

Can flexible photovoltaic devices sustain large bending without structural degradation?

However, because the active devices are only a few micrometres thick (nanopillar length ∼ 2 μm) and are placed close to the centre of the PDMS substrate, the maximum observed strain in the nanopillars is only ∼ 0.01%, which suggests that the flexible photovoltaic devices can sustain large bending without structural degradation.

Can nanowires improve the efficiency of charge collection?

The core–shell geometry of nanowires is thought to be able to enhance the efficiency of charge collection by shortening the paths travelled by minority carriers 6, 7, 14.