Why is ZnO important in photovoltaic applications?

The ZnO acts as electron transport material, thereby it plays a major role in all the emerging third-generation PV devices. The ZnO thin films have manifold properties to make it interesting in photovoltaic applications.

Can ZnO be used as an active layer in solar cells?

The interface in various solar cell designs using ZnO as an active layer or as supporting layer should be made more effective via further interface engineering. Such developments may lead to an improved PCE and device stability.

Will ZnO-based PV devices be sustainable?

Further, the progress in achieving a cost-effective method of producing high quality ZnO with good reproducibility and the further development of a sustainable and environment friendly green method in this regard will definitely lead to socio-economic, efficient, and reliable ZnO-based PV devices in the near future.

Does ZnO film thickness affect PSC performance?

For example, Lee et al. used ALD-based compact ZnO films as the ETL and carried out a detailed investigation on the influence of ZnO film thickness on the performance of the PSCs. On a similar approach, Dong et al. achieved a PCE of 13.1% by using ALD-ZnO .

Is ZnO a good ETL in planar PSCs?

Besides, as mentioned earlier, the ZnO has a very good structural flexibility at nanoscale to form diverse morphology, such as nanoparticles, nanorods, nanowires, nanoflowers and therefore like in DSSCs, it has also been extensively investigated as the ETL in planar PSCs.

How does ZnO layer synthesis affect the performance of inverted OPV devices?

It is also to be noted that the performance of inverted OPVs devices is largely influenced by the method of ZnO layer synthesis and hence the properties of the ZnO layer such as morphology, microstructure, thickness, crystallinity, and the optoelectronic properties.