Effect of Gas Flow Rate on Counter Electrode Performance of Nickel Nitride Thin Films Deposited by Magnetron Sputtering
Objective:To optimize the preparation process of nickel nitride thin film by developing counter electrodes with excellent performance and economical cost.Methods:DC magnetron reactive sputter-ing technology was used to investigate the effect of gas(nitrogen,argon)flow rate on the performance of thin film counter electrodes and the photoelectric conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells assembled.The phase composition of the thin film was analyzed by X-ray diffractometer,the transmittance of the thin film was analyzed by UV visible spectrophotometer,and the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the battery was determined by solar simulator and digital source meter.Results:The nickel nitride film was a tetragonal Ni2N material.Under the condition of a fixed Ar flow rate(16 mL·min-1),the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the battery increased with the increase of N2 input.Under the condition of a fixed N2 flow rate(10 mL·min-1),the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the battery decreased with the increase of Ar input,and was optimal(η= 2.87%)without Ar,which was very close to the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the battery under the conditions of Ar flow rate of 16 mL·min-1 and N2 flow rate of 10 mL·min-1,but with lower preparation costs.At this point,the transmittance of the thin film was close to 40%,which meet the requirement of using it as a translucent photovoltaic window to achieve green and low-carbon buildings.Conclusion:The translu-cent photovoltaic windows not only have the lighting function of windows,but also can generate electricity through photovoltaic modules to reduce energy consumption,which provides the possibility of combining dye-sensitized solar cells with integrated photovoltaic building technology,and has great energy-saving potential.