Surface Micro-/Nanotextured Hybrid PEDOT:PSS-Silicon Photovoltaic Cells Employing Kirigami Graphene

Kirigami graphene allows a two-dimensional material to transform into a three-dimensional structure, which constitutes an effective transparent electrode candidate for photovoltaic (PV) cells having a surface texture. The surface texture of an inverted pyramid was fabricated on a Si substrate using photolithography and wet etching, followed by metal-assisted chemical etching to obtain silicon nanowires on the surface of the inverted pyramid. Kirigami graphene with a cross-pattern array was prepared using photolithography and plasma etching on a copper foil. Then, kirigami graphene was transferred onto hybrid heterojunction PV cells with a poly(ethylene terephthalate)/silicone film. These cells consisted of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) as the p-type semiconductor, Si(100) as the inorganic n-type semiconductor, and a silver comb electrode on top of PEDOT:PSS. The conductivity of PEDOT:PSS was greatly improved. This improvement was significantly higher than that achieved by the continuous graphene sheet without a pattern. Transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy results revealed that the greater improvement with kirigami graphene was due to the larger contact area between PEDOT:PSS and graphene. By using two-layer graphene having a kirigami pattern, the power conversion efficiency, under simulated AM1.5G illumination conditions, was significantly augmented by up to 9.8% (from 10.03 to 11.01%).