Accelerated and Outdoor Weathering of Silver Nanowire Transparent Conductors under Electrical Stress in Pseudo-modules

In realistic applications, silver nanowires (AgNWs) are encapsulated in optoelectrical devices to function as transparent conductors and electrodes. Environmental stressors along with the essential electrical stress are inevitably harmful to the AgNWs inside the devices. Herein, to investigate the degradation behavior discrepancy between materials-level and device-level tests, we adopted pseudo-module to mimic the encapsulation. The pseudo-module allows the application of electrical stress and facilitates the interim specimen access for materials characterization through assembly-disassembly. Indoor accelerated and outdoor weathering tests with applied electrical stress to the pseudo-module encapsulated AgNW networks were performed. The impaired optoelectrical properties and morphological changes of AgNWs due to multiple or individual stressor(s) are investigated. Results indicate UVA exposure at elevated temperature coupled with electrical stress is responsible for the electrical failure of AgNW networks. Sulfidation that depresses optical transparency of AgNW networks is prone to occur at lower temperature. This work provides unambiguous degradation behaviors of AgNWs inside encapsulants, helping to improve the design of AgNWs related optoelectrical devices in the applications of solar irradiation environments.

Alcohol Assisted Solution-Combustion Technique for the Synthesis of Phase-Pure BaSnO3 Nanoparticles at 130 °C

Lowering the synthesis temperature to obtain phase pure BaSnO3, which is the host material for high figure-of-merit (FOM) perovskite transparent conductors (TCs), can expand the horizons for its optoelectronic applications, with an obvious reduction in the thermal budget. In this work, we have developed a novel solution combustion technique for the synthesis of BaSnO3 nanoparticles. A peroxo/superoxo precursor to the nanoparticles is first synthesized by co-precipitation of the tin and barium salts via the H2O2 assisted or the `CSMC' route. The phase evolution, under different drying conditions of the wet precursor to crystalline BaSnO3 nanoparticles is then studied. We find that the crystallization temperature of BaSnO3 is significantly reduced by adding an organic solvent such as ethanol or propanol to the precursor; temperatures as low as 130 °C yield phase pure BaSnO3 nanoparticles. We establish that the organic solvent increases the reactive O2 ligand content, which plays a pivotal role in the synthesis. Due to this, an exothermic reaction occurs around 130 °C, thereby providing the heat of reaction for conversion of the precursor to phase-pure BaSnO3. Importantly, this method should also allow for the facile incorporation of dopants, paving the way for synthesis of high FOM TCs at low temperatures. Such low synthesis temperatures enable BaSnO3 to be used in devices having temperature limitations during device processing, such as heterojunction Si solar cells or perovskite-based solar cells in an n-i-p architecture.

Recycling lead and transparent conductors from perovskite solar modules

Perovskite photovoltaics are gaining increasing common ground to partner with or compete with silicon photovoltaics to reduce cost of solar energy. However, a cost-effective waste management for toxic lead (Pb), which might determine the fate of this technology, has not been developed yet. Here, we report an end-of-life material management for perovskite solar modules to recycle toxic lead and valuable transparent conductors to protect the environment and create dramatic economic benefits from recycled materials. Lead is separated from decommissioned modules by weakly acidic cation exchange resin, which could be released as soluble Pb(NO3)2 followed by precipitation as PbI2 for reuse, with a recycling efficiency of 99.2%. Thermal delamination disassembles the encapsulated modules with intact transparent conductors and cover glasses. The refabricated devices based on recycled lead iodide and recycled transparent conductors show comparable performance as devices based on fresh raw materials. Cost analysis shows this recycling technology is economically attractive.

Achieving high carrier density and high mobility in graphene using monolayer tungsten oxyselenide

Highly doped graphene holds promise for next-generation electronic and photonic devices. However, chemical doping cannot be precisely controlled, and introduces external disorder that significantly diminishes the carrier mobility and therefore the graphene conductivity. Here, we show that monolayer tungsten oxyselenide (TOS) created by oxidation of WSe2 acts as an efficient and low-disorder hole-dopant for graphene. When the TOS is directly in contact with graphene, the induced hole density is 3 × 1013 cm-2 , and the room-temperature mobility is 2,000 cm2 /V·s, far exceeding that of chemically-doped graphene. Inserting WSe2 layers between the TOS and graphene tunes the induced hole density as well as reduces charge disorder such that the mobility exceeds 20,000 cm2 /V·s and reaches the limit set by acoustic phonon scattering, resulting in sheet resistance below 50 Ω/□. An electrostatic model based on work-function mismatch accurately describes the tuning of the carrier density with WSe2 interlayer thickness. These films show unparalleled performance as transparent conductors at telecommunication wavelengths, as shown by measurements of transmittance in thin films and insertion loss in photonic ring resonators. This work opens up new avenues in optoelectronics incorporating two-dimensional heterostructures including infrared transparent conductors, electro-phase modulators, and various junction devices.