Effective MgO-doped TiO<inf>2</inf> nanoaerogel coating for crystalline silicon solar cells improvement

Abstract

This study looks at investigating the influence of high surface area TiO2 and MgO‐doped TiO2 aerogel nanomaterials to improve the photovoltaic performance of monocrystalline silicon (mono‐Si) solar cells. TiO2 and MgO‐doped TiO2 anatase nanoaerogels were synthesized via a single‐step colloidal homogeneous precipitation sol‐gel method in a compact high‐pressure hydrogen reactor. TiO2‐based nanoparticles were encapsulated in ethylene vinyl acetate resins, and the obtained composite solutions were screen printed on the textured surface of the cells. The specific surface area, microstructural, composition, and optical properties of the nanoaerogels were characterized by Brunaur‐Emmett‐Teller, X‐ray powder diffractometer, energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, field emission transmission electron microscope, field emission scanning electron microscope, and ultraviolet‐visible spectrophotometry. We observed that the MgO‐doped TiO2 (2% mol) nanoaerogel exhibited a much superior specific surface area (231 m2/g) compared with the undoped TiO2 (154 m2/g). Experimental results showed that the calculated relative power conversion efficiency increased by 4.6% for the MgO‐doped TiO2 coating and 3.4% for the undoped TiO2 under a simulated one‐sun illumination.