Carbon nanotube-silicon hybrid solar cells with hydrogen peroxide doping

High efficient solar cells are desired for the future clean power supply. Here, we report a method to improve the efficiency of the promising CNT-Si solar cells to about 10% by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) doping. It forms hybrid solar cells consisting of numerous CNT-Si heterojunction cells and CNT-Si-H2O2 photoelectrochemical cells in parallel by dilute H2O2 doping. The quantum efficiency of the H2O2-doped solar cell is higher than that of the original cell because of the photoelectrochemical cells as well as the passivation surface.

Graphical abstractThe efficiency of CNT-Si solar cell is improved to ∼10% by H2O2 doping. It forms hybrid solar cells consisting of numerous heterojunction cells and photoelectrochemical cells in parallel. The figure shows the model of photoelectrochemical cell and heterojunction cell, respectively.Download high-res image (44KB)Download full-size imageHighlights► The efficiency of CNT-Si solar cell is improved to ∼10% by H2O2 doping. ► Quantum efficiency of the solar cells is improved significantly after H2O2 doping. ► It forms heterojunction and photoelectrochemical hybrid cell by H2O2 doping. ► We provide a proof of forming CNT-Si-H2O2 photoelectrochemical cells.