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Calligraphic solar cells: acknowledging paper and pencil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 August 2016

Mallika Dasari ,
Pradeep Ramiah Rajasekaran ,
Ratnasabapathy Iyer  and
Punit Kohli
Mallika Dasari
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA
Pradeep Ramiah Rajasekaran
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
Ratnasabapathy Iyer
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, Claflin University, Orangeburg, SC 29115, USA
Punit Kohli*
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA
*
a) Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

We demonstrate fabrication and characterization of photovoltaic (PV) devices made using pencil, paper, and commonly available economical chemicals with a power conversion efficiency of ∼1.8%. The current collecting electrode of the device composed of multilayered graphene (MuLG) was hand-drawn on the cellulosic paper using an H2B pencil. CdSe quantum dots (QD) were used for charge generation, and 3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA) as a bridging molecule to facilitate transfer of the photo-induced charges to the electrodes through MuLG. MuLG acted both as charge carrier and current collector electrode. The device fabrication and testing were accomplished in a wet lab under ambient conditions with minimum use of sophisticated instrumentation. The materials and devices were characterized using UV–visible, fluorescence, x-ray diffraction spectroscopy, and scanning and transmission electron microscopy. I–V characteristics of the PV devices fabricated on paper and polyester transparency substrates were performed using a solar simulator (AM 1.5) under ambient wet laboratory conditions. The use of pencil and paper makes the device fabrication simple, environmentally responsible, and accessible to layperson thus opening a new window for low cost PV and opto-electronic devices.

Keywords

photovoltaicorganicnanoscale
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 31 , Issue 17 , 14 September 2016 , pp. 2578 - 2589
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Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2016 

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References

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