New Options for transparent contact electrodes
Scanning Electron Microscopy of Nanowires of Silver.
They have diameters around 0,1 micrometer and lenghts
between 5 and 10 micrometern. © ACS Nano 3: 1767-1774
Found in flat screens, solar modules, or in new organic light-emitting diode (LED) displays, transparent electrodes have become ubiquitous. Typically, they consist of metal oxides like In2O3, SnO2, ZnO and TiO2 .
But since raw materials like indium are becoming more and more costly, researchers have begun to look elsewhere for alternatives. A new review article by HZB scientist Dr. Klaus Ellmer, published in the renowned scientific journal Nature Photonics, is hoping to shed light on the different advantages and disadvantages of established and new materials for use in these kinds of contact electrodes.
Metallic (Ag or Cu) or carbon based nanostructures exhibit many interesting properties that could potentially be exploited pending further research.Even graphene, a modified form of carbon, could turn out to be a suitable transparent electrode, since it is both transparent and highly conductive. These properties depend, to a large extent, on the material's composition:graphene, which consists of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged into a hexagonal "honeycomb" grid, is two-dimensional, and, within these dimensions, electrons can freely move about.
According to Ellmer, "these new kinds of materials could be combined with more conventional solutions or find their way into entirely new areas of application." For this to become a reality, researchers have yet to come up with solutions to nanostructure problems like short circuits and continue to illuminate the relevant transport mechanisms. It would also be interesting to determine whether these two-dimensional "electron gases" also form in materials other than graphene. Success ultimately depends on whether or not the new materials prove stable in the long run in their practical application and whether or not they can be produced relatively inexpensively.
Ellmer is sole author of an extensive review article published in Nature photonics online on 30. November 2012, doi: 10.1038/nphoton.2012.282
- Clean cooking fuel with a great impact for southern AfricaBurning biomass for cooking causes harmful environmental and health issues. The German-South African GreenQUEST initiative is developing a clean household fuel. It aims to reduce climate-damaging CO2 emissions and to improve access to energy for households in sub-Saharan Africa.
- A simpler way to inorganic perovskite solar cellsInorganic perovskite solar cells made of CsPbI3 are stable over the long term and achieve good efficiencies. A team led by Prof. Antonio Abate has now analysed surfaces and interfaces of CsPbI3 films, produced under different conditions, at BESSY II. The results show that annealing in ambient air does not have an adverse effect on the optoelectronic properties of the semiconductor film, but actually results in fewer defects. This could further simplify the mass production of inorganic perovskite solar cells.
- BESSY II: How pulsed charging enhances the service time of batteriesAn improved charging protocol might help lithium-ion batteries to last much longer. Charging with a high-frequency pulsed current reduces ageing effects, an international team demonstrated. The study was led by Philipp Adelhelm (HZB and Humboldt University) in collaboration with teams from the Technical University of Berlin and Aalborg University in Denmark. Experiments at the X-ray source BESSY II were particularly revealing.