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Spinel zinc ferrite nanostructured thin-films for enhanced light-harvesting in polycrystalline solar cells

Arun Kumar Shanmugam
Arun Kumar Shanmugam
, 
Rajasekar Rathanasamy
Rajasekar Rathanasamy
, 
Gobinath Velu Kaliyannan
Gobinath Velu Kaliyannan
, 
Nithyavathy Nagarajan
Nithyavathy Nagarajan
 and 
Manivasakan Palanisamy
Manivasakan Palanisamy
   | Jun 08, 2021
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Published Online: Jun 08, 2021
Page range: 24 - 32
Received: Feb 09, 2021
Accepted: Feb 21, 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/msp-2021-0002
Keywords
© 2021 Arun Kumar Shanmugam et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Fig. 1

Pictorial representation for the synthesis of spinel ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles and deposition of spinel ZnFe2O4 nanostructures
Pictorial representation for the synthesis of spinel ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles and deposition of spinel ZnFe2O4 nanostructures

Fig. 2

XRD pattern of as synthesized spinel ZnFe2O4 nanocrystallites.
XRD pattern of as synthesized spinel ZnFe2O4 nanocrystallites.

Fig. 3

FTIR spectra of as synthesized spinel ZnFe2O4 nanocrystallites.
FTIR spectra of as synthesized spinel ZnFe2O4 nanocrystallites.

Fig. 4

AFM images of spinel ZnFe2O4 nanocrystallites coated PSSCs: a) single layer coating, b) double layers coating, c) triple layers coating and d) quarter layers coating
AFM images of spinel ZnFe2O4 nanocrystallites coated PSSCs: a) single layer coating, b) double layers coating, c) triple layers coating and d) quarter layers coating

Fig. 5

(a) FE-SEM, (b) EDAX spectra and (c) percentage of the elemental composition of ZnFe2O4 three layer (L3) coated PSSC.
(a) FE-SEM, (b) EDAX spectra and (c) percentage of the elemental composition of ZnFe2O4 three layer (L3) coated PSSC.

Fig. 6

UV transmittance spectra of spinel ZnFe2O4 nanocrystallites coated and uncoated solar cells
UV transmittance spectra of spinel ZnFe2O4 nanocrystallites coated and uncoated solar cells

Fig. 7

Reflectance of spinel ZnFe2O4 nanocrystallites coated and uncoated solar cells.
Reflectance of spinel ZnFe2O4 nanocrystallites coated and uncoated solar cells.

Fig. 8

Electrical resistivity of spinel ZnFe2O4 nanocrystallites coated PSSCs.
Electrical resistivity of spinel ZnFe2O4 nanocrystallites coated PSSCs.

Fig. 9

I–V characteristics of spinel ZnFe2O4 nanocrystallites coated and uncoated PSSCs.
I–V characteristics of spinel ZnFe2O4 nanocrystallites coated and uncoated PSSCs.

XRF analysis of as synthesized spinel ZnFe2O4 nanocrystallites

Elements ZnO Fe2O3 MnO CaO CuO NiO Sc2O3 Cr2O3
Chemical Composition (%) 33.377 66.157 0.280 0.072 0.071 0.025 0.014 0.002

PCE of spinel ZnFe2O4 nanocrystallites coated and uncoated PSSCs.

Solar cell Jsc (mA/cm2) Voc (V) Fill factor (%) Efficiency η (%)
Ref. cell 32.1 0.625 76 15.24
L1 33.6 0.636 76.4 16.37
L2 37.71 0.641 77.1 18.63
L3 39.30 0.652 78.2 20.03
L4 38.5 0.651 77.5 19.39

Average crystallite sizes of ZnFe2O4 sample determined from various diffraction lines

2 Theta FWHM Crystallite Size D (nm)
32.8560 0.1407 58.86575
34.6856 0.2047 40.65779
36.4940 0.1919 43.58997
43.0009 0.1791 47.67414
47.7918 0.1023 84.93736
56.4434 0.1279 70.49320
63.0784 0.0895 104.1472
68.3362 0.1023 93.85715
eISSN:
2083-134X
Language:
English
Publication timeframe:
4 times per year
Journal Subjects:
Materials Sciences, other, Nanomaterials, Functional and Smart Materials, Materials Characterization and Properties
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