Solution-Processed Thin Film Semiconductors for Photovoltaic and Photoelectrochemical Applications

减少温室气体排放以减缓气候变化，同时满足日益增长的全球能源需求，是我们这个时代面临的最大挑战之一。可再生能源技术，如光伏（PV），已被政府间气候变化专门委员会（IPCC）确定为在从化石燃料为基础的能源的必要过渡中发挥主导作用。但是，必须克服广泛实施的障碍，例如成本竞争力和太阳能固有的能源间歇性。******油墨沉积技术有可能降低成本，并允许可再生技术的可持续发展，因为它们具有低资本支出，高材料利用率和高吞吐量，如果可以同时获得高设备效率和良性反应机制。基于硫族化物和钙钛矿吸收剂的薄膜太阳能电池尤其有前景，因为它们的功率转换效率超过22%，代表了薄膜太阳能电池中最高的价值，超过了市场领先的硅技术，可以通过液体沉积方法和选择刚性或柔性衬底来制造。此外，这两种技术都具有广泛的带隙可调性，这使得它们可以集成在溶液处理的串联太阳能电池中，从而进一步提高设备效率40%以上，并有可能将太阳能电价降低到接近煤炭或天然气的水平。串联装置产生的高电压进一步允许它们用于催化太阳能燃料的反应。光电化学（PEC）减少CO2作为太阳能光伏发电间歇性的潜在解决方案，同时减少大气中过量CO2的数量，受到越来越多的关注。因此，PV收集的太阳能被用来将二氧化碳转化为增值的碳氢化合物化学物质，作为可储存的燃料，可以在现有的运输基础设施中使用。与太阳能光伏类似，需要低成本的沉积方法和催化剂和PEC装置的材料来保证该技术的发展以及具有成本竞争力的太阳能燃料。******提议的研究项目旨在为PV和PEC应用设计、制造和表征溶液处理半导体层和器件，这是一个高度跨学科的领域，有望为半导体工程领域的HQP提供全面的资格，这是学术界和工业界高度期望的。此外，这项研究有可能引发半导体制造和能源生产的范式转变，挑战溶液处理薄膜材料质量低劣的传统观念，并利用加拿大在日益重要的可再生能源领域获得知识产权和就业机会。*****

The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate climate change while meeting the growing global energy demand is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Renewable energy technologies, such as photovoltaics (PV), have been identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to play a leading role in the necessary transition away from fossil-combustion-based energy sources. However, hurdles for widespread implementation such as cost competitiveness and the inherent energy intermittency of solar energy must be overcome. ******Ink-based deposition techniques have the potential to bring down costs and allow sustainable growth of renewable technologies due to their low capital expenditure, high material utilization, and high throughput, if high device efficiencies and benign reaction mechanisms can be obtained at the same time. Thin film solar cells based on chalcogenide and perovskite absorbers are particularly promising as they have achieved power conversion efficiencies of over 22%, representing the highest value among thin film solar cells exceeding the market-leading silicon technology and can be fabricated by liquid deposition methods and on a choice of rigid or flexible substrates. Moreover, both technologies exhibit a wide range of bandgap tunability, which allows for their integration in solution-processed tandem solar cells that can further boost device efficiencies by over 40% and potentially reduce solar electricity prices to approach those of coal or gas. High voltages from tandem devices further allow their use in catalysis reactions for solar fuels. The photoelectrochemical (PEC) reduction of CO2 has received growing attention as a potential solution to the intermittency of solar PV while reducing the amount of excess CO2 in the atmosphere. Solar energy harvested by PV is thereby used to convert CO2 into value-added hydrocarbon chemicals for storable fuels that may be used within the existing transportation infrastructure. Similar to solar PV, low-cost deposition methods and materials for catalysts and PEC devices are needed to guarantee the growth of the technology as well as cost-competitive solar fuels. ******The proposed research program to design, fabricate, and characterize solution-processed semiconductor layers and devices for PV and PEC applications is a highly interdisciplinary field that is expected to generate comprehensive qualifications for HQP in the area of semiconductor engineering, which is highly desired by both academia and industry. Further, this research has the potential to trigger a paradigm shift in semiconductor manufacturing and energy generation, challenging traditional conceptions of inferior material quality for solution-processed films and leverage Canada to gain IP and jobs in the ever-more-important renewable energy sector.*****