Exploring the potential of biomass-derived amorphous carbon as a sustainable active layer for photovoltaics

The development of more sustainable and cost-effective photovoltaic technologies has stimulated increasing interest in carbon-based semiconductors derived from renewable resources. In this work, we present a comprehensive investigation of biomass-derived amorphous carbon as an active material for next-generation photovoltaic devices by integrating numerical simulation and experimental fabrication. A systematic parametric study was conducted to evaluate the influence of key device design parameters, including layer thickness, optical bandgap, carrier mobility, and junction configuration, on device performance. Selected parameters were subsequently validated through the synthesis of locally sourced biomass-derived amorphous carbon, followed by thin-film fabrication and optoelectronic characterization. Among the investigated architectures, the p–i–n configuration exhibited the best performance, achieving a simulated power conversion efficiency of 0.12% and an experimental efficiency of 0.10%, with closely matched fill factor values (∼0.52), demonstrating good agreement between modeling and fabrication results. Optical analysis confirmed semiconducting bandgap energies suitable for photovoltaic applications, while electrical measurements revealed tunable p-type and n-type behaviors through doping modulation. This integrated simulation–experiment approach provides valuable insights into the structure–property–performance relationships of biomass-derived amorphous carbon and demonstrates its potential for photovoltaic applications based on renewable carbon resources.