Nano Express
Strong, conductive carbon nanotube fibers as efficient hole collectors
1 Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials Processing Technology, Ministry of Education and Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, People's Republic of China
2 Department of Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, People's Republic of China
3 Center for Nano and Micro Mechanics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, People's Republic of China
Nanoscale Research Letters 2012, 7:137 doi:10.1186/1556-276X-7-137
Published: 17 February 2012Abstract
We present the photovoltaic properties of heterojunctions made from single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) fibers and n-type silicon wafers. The use of the opaque SWNT fiber allows photo-generated holes to transport along the axis direction of the fiber. The heterojunction solar cells show conversion efficiencies of up to 3.1% (actual) and 10.6% (nominal) at AM1.5 condition. In addition, the use of strong, environmentally benign carbon nanotube fibers provides excellent structural stability of the photovoltaic devices.
