Characterization and application of nano-composite zinc oxide/poly vinyl alcohol thin-film in solar cell performance enhancement

• Main Authors: Rahman, Mohammed Ataur, Shaheer, Ahmed Khan, Nur, Azam
• Format: Article
• Language: English; English
• Published: The Korean Society of Mechanical Enginers 2022
• Subjects: TL Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/99086/1/Acceptance%20Letter-JMST.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/99086/2/Gally%20Proof_%20JMST9-21-00421.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/99086/; https://www.editorialmanager.com/mest/default1.aspx
• Institution: Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia

Flexible, economical, and low-toxic organic solar cells are becoming highly popular in photovoltaic research. Interestingly, its efficiency of energy conversion remains lower than that of silicon-based solar cells. As a result, it is unavoidable to focus on organic solar cell efficiency enhancement. This article presents a nano-composite thin-film developed using Zinc oxide (ZnO) and Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with a solution casting technique varying weight per- centage (wt.%) of ZnO into the PVA matrix. The characterization of the thin-film of ZnO/PVA has been made using SEM, XRD, FTIR, and UV-Vis Spectroscopy. The characterization re- veals that the ZnO nanoparticle network forms an excellent path for electron flow in the PVA matrix at the optimal ZnO concentration of 16.66 % and a PVA concentration of 83.33 %. The thin film was applied to an organic solar cell of architecture consists of carbon fiber reinforced with ZnO-Epoxy Resin/CuO-Epoxy Resin for performance investigation. The solar cell's maxi- mum efficiency was determined to be 9.01 % before and 14.65 % after using the nano- composite film. 5.64 % increase in the efficiency of organic solar cells are observed after the ZnO/PVA nanocomposite thin film is applied.