All-Metal-Oxide p-n Photovoltaic Junctions Fabricated from in-Situ Extraterrestrial Resources
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Authors
Genin, Chris
Date of Issue
2021-04-23
Type
Presentation
Language
en_US
Subject Keywords
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Abstract
An all-metal-oxide photovoltaic device was made by chemically joining an n-type metal oxide thin film to a p-type metal-oxide-alloy
thin film to form a p-n homojunction. A spin coating solution processing technique was used to sequentially deposit the metal oxide precursors to Fluorine-doped Tin Oxide (FTO) glass. The precursors were oxidized to the respective n-type and p-type materials and chemically joined through baking at 500 ⁰C. Formation of the all-metal-oxide p-n homojunction was confirmed by differential short circuit current values measured by cyclic voltammetry. The measured short circuit current values were found to correlate to different intensities of light as the plates were illuminated. The n-type and p-type materials used to fabricate the p-n homojunctions are consistent with materials present on Mars. Specifically, these materials have the potential to support future NASA mission goals of using in-situ Martian resources to generate renewable energy.