Special Issue: “Advanced Thin Film Materials for Photovoltaic Applications”

Photovoltaic (PV) technology is rapidly entering the energy market, providing clean energy for sustainable development in society, reducing air pollution. In order to accelerate the use of PV solar energy, both an improvement in conversion efficiency and reduction in manufacturing cost should be carried out continuously in the future. This can be achieved by the use of advanced thin film materials produced by low-cost growth techniques in novel device architectures. This effort intends to provide the latest research results on thin film photovoltaic solar energy materials in one place. This Special Issue presents the growth and characterisation of several PV solar energy materials using low-cost techniques to utilise in new device structures after optimisation. This will therefore provide specialists in the field with useful references and new insights into the subject. It is hoped that this common platform will serve as a stepping-stone for further development of this highly important field.

CO2 conversion into methanol under ambient conditions using efficient nanocomposite photocatalyst/solar-energy materials in aqueous medium

CNT-based nanocomposite photocatalyst/solar-energy materials serving as in situ hydrogen generators for selective conversion [hydrogenation] of CO2 into methanol: a mechanistic/photoelectrochemical outlook.

An assessment on crystallization phenomena of Si in Al/a-Si thin films via thermal annealing and ion irradiation

In the present study, crystallization of amorphous-Si (a-Si) in Al/a-Si bilayer thin films under thermal annealing and ion irradiation has been investigated for future solar energy materials applications.

Photocatalytic Conversion of CO2 into Oxygenate Fuels/Chemicals Using Efficient, Eco-Friendly, Titania/Hematite-Based Nanostructured Solar-Energy Materials

Photocatalytic hydrogenation of carbon dioxide (CO2), using water feedstock (H source), sunlight and appropriate semiconducting low-cost/eco-friendly/solar-energy materials, is a promising route for sequestration of this greenhouse gas and its conversion into value-added oxygenate fuels (compounds). Herein, by employing three hematite-based nanostructured photocatalyst/solar-energy materials, the CO2 photoreduction (hydrogenation) process was carried out inside a water photosplitting reactor, and various oxygenate (C/H/O) products [including ethanol, methanol and formaldehyde as well as oxalic, acetic and formic acids] were synthesized in the reaction medium. Concerning the complexity of system and the diversity of products—being photocatalytically synthesized during the photoconversion process, two straightforward problem-solving strategies were proposed [one, focusing on a single/particular product and pursuing its quantity (concentration) at different illumination periods, and the other, simultaneous investigation of various products being produced at a fixed reaction period, in the aqueous or gas-phase medium]. Finally, the matter of CO2 photoconversion into oxygenate fuels/chemicals was explained in detail from photoelectrochemical [semiconductor band structure and redox potential] as well as mechanistic perspectives.