• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.17-23
• /
• 2005

The electrochemical behaviors of polycrystalline silver electrodes in 8M KOH solutions containing $Bi_2O_3$ were studied under various conditions by cyclic voltammetry, potentiostatic and galvanostatic techniques as well as the morphology of the silver oxide structures by SEM. It was found that three new compounds comprising silver, bismuth, and oxygen as well as $Bi_2O_3$, $Ag_2O$ and AgO were formed during the electrochemical oxidation of silver. In addition, the potentiostatic current transients were characterized by the appearances of the first current peaks corresponding to the formation of silver oxides, and the second current peaks corresponding to the Ag-Bi-O compounds, indicating the presence of the nucleation and 3D growth mechanism, in the potential regions of $Ag_2O$ and AgO, respectively. Microscopic examinations showed that two types of silver (I) oxide morphologies are formed in the potential region of $Ag_2O$.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.117-121
• /
• 2018

Perovskite solar cells have received increasing attention in recent years because of their outstanding power conversion efficiency (exceeding 22%). However, they typically contain toxic Pb, which is a limiting factor for industrialization. We focused on preparing Pb-free perovskite films of Ag-Bi-I trivalent compounds. Perovskite thin films with improved optical properties were obtained by applying an anti-solvent (toluene) washing technique during the spin coating of perovskites. In addition, the surface condition of the perovskite film was optimized using a multi-step thermal annealing treatment. Using the optimized process parameters, $AgBi_2I_7$ perovskite films with good absorption and improved planar surface topography (root mean square roughness decreased from 80 to 26 nm) were obtained. This study is expected to open up new possibilities for the development of high performance $AgBi_2I_7$ perovskite solar cells for applications in Pb-free energy conversion devices.