Formulation of zinc oxide nanoparticle dispersions for metal oxide solar cells

光伏(PV)设备或太阳能电池是为社会提供清洁、可持续和可再生能源的最有前途的解决方案之一，因为太阳能丰富(且免费)，而且这些设备对环境的不利影响最小。目前，晶硅电池主导着太阳能电池市场。然而，硅太阳能电池的成本仍然高得足以阻碍其广泛的商业采用。硅太阳能电池的生产也非常耗能，会向环境排放有害物质。因此，新一代太阳能电池技术，如薄膜太阳能电池(如铜铟镓硒(CIGS)、镉镉等)、有机太阳能电池、染料敏化太阳能电池(DSCs)和最新的钙钛矿型太阳能电池，已被广泛研究以解决这些问题。然而，这些技术仍然面临着许多挑战，如效率低、对水分和氧气高度敏感、寿命短等。 以及对稀有金属(如铟)和剧毒材料(如镉和铅)的依赖。 氧化锌价格低廉，无毒，特别是在光电子学方面是一种非常有前途的半导体材料。该项目旨在开发使用低成本、低或无毒的金属氧化物作为有源层和电极的新型太阳能电池技术。特别是，Mark Pritzker教授将与Zochem合作开发并使用氧化锌颗粒作为这种新型太阳能电池的关键电子传输层。与其他商业氧化锌颗粒相比，中化的产品具有非常高的纯度，这是高电池性能所必需的，因为杂质充当电子陷阱，显著降低太阳能电池产生的电流。该项目的成功完成将有助于催生基于氧化锌的新太阳能电池技术，并为中化及其产品创造一个新的市场。通过该研究项目在太阳能电池的合成、配方、加工和制造方面获得的知识和技术进步也将具有广泛的意义，并有助于促进和创新加拿大的材料和能源行业。

Photovoltaic (PV) devices or solar cells are among the most promising solutions to provide clean, sustainable and renewable energy for society since solar energy is abundant (and free) and these devices have minimal adverse impacts on the environment. Currently, crystalline silicon-based cells dominate the solar cell market. However, the cost of silicon solar cells is still high enough to impede their wide-spread commercial adoption. The production of silicon solar cells is also very energy-intensive and emits harmful substances to the environment. Hence new generation solar cell technologies such as thin film solar cells (e.g., copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS), CdTe, etc.), organic solar cells, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and the most recent perovskite solar cells have been extensively studied to address these issues. However, these technologies still face numerous challenges such as low efficiency, high sensitivity to moisture and oxygen, short lifetime and the reliance on rare metals (such as indium) and highly toxic materials (e.g., Cd and Pb). ZnO is cheap, inexpensive, non-toxic and, in particular, a very promising semiconductor material for optoelectronics. This project aims to develop novel solar cell technology using low-cost and low or non-toxic metal oxides as the active layers and electrodes. In particular, Prof. Mark Pritzker will collaborate with Zochem to develop and use ZnO particles as the critical electron transport layer in this new type of solar cell. Compared to other commercial ZnO particles, Zochem's products have very high purity, which is necessary for high cell performance because impurities act as electron traps that significantly reduce the current generated by solar cells. A successful completion of this project will help lead to a new solar cell technology based on ZnO and create a new market for Zochem and its products. The knowledge and technical advances gained through the course of this research project regarding the synthesis, formulation, processing and fabrication of solar cells will also have broad significance and help promote and innovate Canada's materials and energy industries.