Shih-Chieh Yeh

Oxasmaragdyrins as New and Efficient Hole-Transporting Materials for High-Performance Perovskite Solar Cells

The high performance of the perovskite solar cells (PSCs) cannot be achieved without a layer of efficient hole-transporting materials (HTMs) to retard the charge recombination and transport the photogenerated hole to the counterelectrode. Herein, we report the use of boryl oxasmaragdyrins (SM01, SM09, and SM13), a family of aromatic core-modified expanded porphyrins, as efficient hole-transporting materials (HTMs) for perovskite solar cells (PSCs). These oxasmaragdyrins demonstrated complementary absorption spectra in the low-energy region, good redox reversibility, good thermal stability, suitable energy levels with CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite, and high hole mobility. A remarkable power conversion efficiency of 16.5% (Voc = 1.09 V, Jsc = 20.9 mA cm-2, fill factor (FF) = 72%) is achieved using SM09 on the optimized PSCs device employing a planar structure, which is close to that of the state-of-the-art hole-transporting materials (HTMs), spiro-OMeTAD of 18.2% (Voc = 1.07 V, Jsc = 22.9 mA cm-2, FF = 74%). In contrast, a poor photovoltaic performance of PSCs using SM01 is observed due to the interactions of terminal carboxylic acid functional group with CH3NH3PbI3.

Structure-property relationship study of donor and acceptor 2,6-disubstituted BODIPY derivatives for high performance dye-sensitized solar cells

Seven donor and acceptor 2,6-disubstituted 4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene (BODIPY) dyes have been synthesized and characterized. Including MPBTCA, which is a known compound, the seven BODIPY dyes have been characterized by varied physical methods, such as UV/Visible absorption spectroscopy, low energy photo-electron spectroscopy (AC-2), and HOMO-LUMO DFT/TDDFT calculation. All seven BODIPY dyes have absorption λmax around 535-545 nm, which is significantly longer than 499 nm of 4,4-difluoro-1,3,5,7,8-pentamethyl-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene (PM 546). Having structural variation on donor group, acceptor group, donor π-spacer, acceptor π-spacer, and the substituent on boron, some BODIPY dyes exhibit small extinction coefficients or spectral integrals in solution (MPCtBTCA, MPBT-pyO, MPBTT-pyO, MTBTCA), broadening absorption spectral profile (MTBTCA), weak intramolecular charge transfer characteristics (MPBT-pyO, MPBTT-pyO, MTBTCA), too low LUMO energy level (PPBTCA), or insufficient dye-uptake by TiO2 FTO (MPBT-pyO, MPBTT-pyO, MTBTCA). Two of the seven BODIPY dyes, MPBTCA and MPBTTCA, do not show the adverse properties like other BODIPY dyes. With our improved TiO2 FTO (fluorine doped tin oxide) dyeing method, namely a solution dropping method, high performance dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) have been realized by MPBTCA and MPBTTCA photosensitizers. Power conversion efficiencies of 6.3 and 6.4 % have been achieved by MPBTCA and MPBTTCA DSCs, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, MPBTCA and MPBTTCA are the most efficient dyes for the donor and acceptor 2,6-disubstituted BODIPY DSCs so far.

Functional graded fullerene derivatives for improving the fill factor and device stability of inverted-type perovskite solar cells

A graded fullerene derivative thin film was used as a dual-functional electron transport layer (ETL) in CH3NH3PbI3 (MAPbI3) solar cells, to improve the fill factor (FF) and device stability. The graded ETL was made by mixing phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) molecules and C60-diphenylmethanofullerene-oligoether (C60-DPM-OE) molecules using the spin-coating method. The formation of the graded ETLs can be due to the phase separation between hydrophobic PCBM and hydrophilic C60-DPM-OE, which was confirmed by XPS depth-profile analysis and an electron energy-loss spectroscope. Comprehensive studies were carried out to explore the characteristics of the graded ETLs in MAPbI3 solar cells, including the surface properties, electronic energy levels, molecular packing properties and energy transfer dynamics. The elimination of the s-shape in the current density-voltage curves results in an increase in the FF, which originates from the smooth contact between the C60-DPM-OE and hydrophilic MAPbI3 and the formation of the more ordered ETL. There was an improvement in device stability mainly due to the decrease in the photothermal induced morphology change of the graded ETLs fabricated from two fullerene derivatives with distinct hydrophilicity. Consequently, such a graded ETL provides dual-functional capabilities for the realization of stable high-performance MAPbI3 solar cells.

Recent progress on micro-piezoelectric energy harvesters fabricated with aerosol deposition method and the interfacing circuits

This paper presents a system integration of micro-piezoelectric energy harvester (MPEH) system based on MPEHs fabricated with an aero-deposited PZT technique, including both the device and the interface circuit design. An in depth look at the deposition method known as aerosol deposition is analyzed. Secondly, various structural designs throughout the years will be introduced and discussed. Thirdly, the non-linear synchronized switching technique interfacing circuit was designed to boost the harvested power in comparison to standard rectifying circuits. The boosting effect in comparison to theoretical expectations will also be presented. The power dissipation effects of self-powered SSHI under low current has also been discussed. Experimental results show that the device based on silicon substrate showed a maximum output power of 21 μW with the output voltage of 2.2 Vrms, excited at 215 Hz under a 1.5 g vibrating source. In comparison, the device based on stainless steel substrate, driven under the same acceleration, had a maximum output power of 34 μW with 1.8 Vrms at the resonant frequency of 202 Hz. The power densities were 4.7 μW mm-2 and 7.6 μW mm-2 for the silicon substrate and the stainless steel substrate based devices, each. The cantilever structured MPEG was later improved to the power output of 200.28 μW. To further improve the output characteristic, the device was tested under vacuumed circumstance, which then gave the output power of 241.60μW, with a 6.02 Vrms under 1.5 g, 104.4Hz. The power boosting circuit gave a power gain of 2.03 times, as the overall system outputs 91.4 μW using the self-powered nonlinear technique under 0.75 g with a similar device. The overall system, using only the standard rectifying circuit was able to light a low consumption red- colored SMD-0805 packaged LED in a duty ratio of approximately 25%.

Comparison of the piezoelectric energy harvesters with Si- MEMS and metal-MEMS

This paper presents the development of piezoelectric energy harvesters based on silicon and stainless steel substrates, which have the ability to harvest mechanical energy from surrounding vibrations and transform vibration energy into useful electrical power. Our experimental results show that the silicon-based device had a maximum output power of 0.9 μW with 1.0 VP-P output voltage excited at 107.9 Hz under a 0.25 g vibrating source. The metal- based device had a maximum output power of 2.7 μW with 1.5 VP-P output voltage at a vibration frequency of 108.6 Hz and 0.25 g acceleration. The areal power density was 0.02 μW mm−2 and 0.05 μW mm-2 for the devices based on silicon and on stainless steel, respectively. The silicon- based devices broke when the device excited exceed 0.25g acceleration, while the metal-based devices can sustained for vibration level higher than 2g acceleration. The stainless steel based device is therefore proved to be much more reliable than silicon based device.