Enhanced conductivity of hole transport layers via nickel oxide and graphenated-carbon nanotube (G-CNT) composites

Shafie, Suhaidi and Norddin, Nurbahirah and Hamidon, Mohd Nizar and Liu, Xinzhi and Idris, Muhammad Idzdihar and Ahmad, Fauzan (2024) Enhanced conductivity of hole transport layers via nickel oxide and graphenated-carbon nanotube (G-CNT) composites. Malaysian Journal of Microscopy, 20 (2). pp. 186-196. ISSN 1823-7010

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Abstract

Perovskite solar cells represent a highly promising renewable energy technology due to their exceptional efficiency and cost-effectiveness. However, limitations exist in commonly used hole transport layers (HTLs) like Spiro-OMeTAD and PEDOT: PSS, which have their drawbacks. Nickel oxide (NiO) is a potential alternative HTL material but suffers from high resistivity which involves low carrier concentration, defect density,and poor charge mobility. In this study, the influence of a graphenated carbon nanotube (g-CNT) mixture on the physical, electrical, and surface morphological properties of NiO thin films was investigated. NiO:g-CNT were synthesized using a sol-gel method and characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) to analyze surface morphology, X-ray diffraction (XRD) for structural properties, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) for elemental analysis. Electrical properties were measured using a four-point probe to assess conductivity. The results revealed that incorporating 0.5 wt% g-CNT into NiO significantly reduced the resistance of the thin films from 255 kΩ to 67 kΩ. This improvement is attributed to the g-CNT’s ability to bridge grain boundaries, enhancing charge transport, even though the crystallite size was smaller compared to pristine NiO. These findings suggest that NiO could improve the performance of perovskite solar cells by enhancing their conductivity.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Perovskite, Nickel oxide, Graphenated-carbon nanotubes, Electrical conductivity
Divisions:	Faculty Of Electronics And Computer Technology And Engineering
Depositing User:	Sabariah Ismail
Date Deposited:	11 Feb 2025 09:36
Last Modified:	11 Feb 2025 09:36
URI:	http://eprints.utem.edu.my/id/eprint/28345
Statistic Details:	View Download Statistic

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