Approaches to enhance optical absorption and efficiency of photovoltaic device
Date
2017
Authors
Mayimele, Nhluvuko
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Abstract
Organic Photovoltaic (OPV) is an environmental friendly technology that promises
e cient and e ective harvesting of solar energy. The organic polymers used in the
fabrication of OPVs are characterized by low weight, tunable electrical and optical
properties. However, the low photo-conversion e ciency (PCE) and instability in air
remains a major drawback that limits their commercialization. The project seeks to
increase the PCE of a cheap photovoltaic device using plasmonic e ects and rare earth
doped waveguides to modify the optical response in the active layer. Incorporating
regularly shaped silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NPs) in OPVs through the surface plasmon
resonance will enhance tunable absorption and scattering of light. These NPs
are prepared by reducing AgNO3 with N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and using 2,2-
Poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) as a stabiliser at di erent reaction times. The Ag NPs
have shown di erent shapes such as spherical and prism shapes of 14, 15 and 16 nm
visualised by TEM.
Description
A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, School of Physics, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, 2016.
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Citation
Mayimele, Nhluvuko (2017) Approaches to enhance optical absorption and efficiency of photovoltaic device, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <http://hdl.handle.net/10539/22747>