Solution-processed all-oxide nanostructures for heterojunction solar cells

A low-cost, non-toxic, environmentally friendly, and solution-processed new oxide-based semiconducting material (Sn1−xCoxO2) was developed as an absorption material for all oxide solar cell fabrication in this work. The newly developed n-type cobalt-doped tin oxide (n-Sn1−xCoxO2) nanoparticles and p-type copper oxide (p-Cu2O) nanostructures were successfully synthesized via a low-temperature solution process. Combined with the use of non-vacuum spray and hot-press processes, the n-Sn1−xCoxO2/p-Cu2O heterojunction solar cells exhibit low-cost and large-scale fabrication advantages. The highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 1.2% can be obtained from the solar cells with n-Sn0.86Co0.14O2/p-Cu2O, under AM 1.5 illumination, a noteworthy improvement in solution-processed all-oxide-based nanostructures heterojunction solar cells.