Η παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία αφορά κυρίως τη μελέτη των Αυτόνομων Φωτοβολταϊκών συστημάτων καθώς και τη μεθοδολογία σχεδιασμού τους. Αρχικά, γίνεται μια εισαγωγή στη φωτοβολταϊκή τεχνολογία και παρουσιάζονται τα πλεονεκτήματα και τα μειονεκτήματα της χρήσης της. Στο δεύτερο κεφάλαιο, γίνεται λόγος για τα ηλιακά κύτταρα, για τον τρόπο λειτουργίας τους (φωτοβολταϊκό φαινόμενο), για τα ηλεκτρικά χαρακτηριστικά τους, καθώς και τις παραμέτρους που τα επηρεάζουν. Το τρίτο κεφάλαιο αναφέρεται στις ομαδοποιήσεις των ηλιακών κυττάρων και κυρίως στις συστοιχίες. Παρουσιάζονται τα προβλήματα που δημιουργούνται λόγω της σκίασης και της ανομοιομορφίας στα ηλεκτρικά χαρακτηριστικά των ηλιακών κυττάρων και είναι το φαινόμενο των Απωλειών Προσαρμογής και των Τοπικών Υπερθερμάνσεων (φαινόμενο hot-spot). Κατόπιν, παρουσιάζονται οι λύσεις για την αντιμετώπιση των παραπάνω φαινομένων που είναι η χρήση των διόδων παράκαμψης και αντεπιστροφής. Στο τέταρτο κεφάλαιο, γίνεται εκτενής αναφορά στους τύπους των συσσωρευτών, τη λειτουργία τους, καθώς και στα προβλήματα που αυτοί αντιμετωπίζουν κατά τη διάρκεια της ζωής τους (θειίκωση, στρωματοποίηση, γήρανση). Επιπλέον, παρουσιάζεται η χρήση των συσσωρευτών σε φωτοβολταϊκά συστήματα. Στο τελευταίο κεφάλαιο, αναπτύσσεται η μεθοδολογία σχεδιασμού ενός αυτόνομου φωτοβολταϊκού συστήματος, που συνίσταται στον υπολογισμό τριών χαρακτηριστικών μεγεθών του, δηλαδή της γωνίας κλίσης β της συστοιχίας, της επιφάνειας Α αυτής και της χωρητικότητας των συσσωρευτών C. Έχοντας ως δεδομένα τις απαιτήσεις του φορτίου και τις τιμές της ηλιακής ακτινοβολίας σε οριζόντια επιφάνεια με τη χρήση ηλεκτρονικού υπολογιστή, εκλέγεται ο κατάλληλος συνδυασμός των παραπάνω μεγεθών β, Α, C ώστε να ικανοποιούνται οι απαιτήσεις του συστήματος. / This thesis mainly concerns the study of autonomous photovoltaic systems and their design methodology. Initially, an introduction to solar technology is curried out and the advantages and disadvantages of its use are presented. The second chapter talks about solar cells, how they work (photovoltaic effect), their electrical characteristics and the parameters that affect them. The third chapter refers to groupings of solar cells and to arrays in particular. It discusses the problems created by shading and variations in the electrical characteristics of solar cells, which are the phenomenon of mismatch losses and local overheating (hot-spot phenomenon). Then, solutions are presented to address these problems, that is the use of by-pass and blocking diodes. The fourth chapter is a detailed report on the types of batteries, their operation as well as the problems they face during their life (sulfation, stratification and aging). Furthermore, we present the use of batteries in photovoltaic systems. The last chapter develops the methodology of designing a stand-alone photovoltaic system, which consists in measuring magnitudes of three characteristics, namely the angle of the array β, its surface A and the battery capacity C. Having the load requirements and the values of solar radiation on a horizontal surface as the data by using a computer, the appropriate combination of the above sizes β, A, C is chosen to meet the system requirements.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:31:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-02-26Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:02:11Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 goes_ms_dr_araiq.pdf: 3670097 bytes, checksum: d69a455bd6ce2d38167baa998e957859 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / Diferentes morfologias nanoestruturadas foram estudadas por Espectroscopia de Impedância visando ampliar as suas funcionalidades em células solares. As análises realizadas em células solares sensibilizadas por corante à base de nanotubos de ZnO são reportadas. Essas células exibiram uma alta eficiência para coleta dos elétrons ao longo dos nanotubos de ~64 μm de comprimento. A Espectroscopia de Impedância Eletroquímica, a análise de potencial de circuito aberto e de conversão dos fótons incidentes em corrente elétrica foram usados para estudar o transporte e o tempo de vida das cargas elétricas durante o processo de conversão de energia. Apesar de o fotoanodo ser relativamente extenso, o tempo de extração da carga foi muito mais rápido do que o observado para nanopartículas de TiO2 tradicionais aplicados a esse tipo de célula. A coleta rápida dos elétrons é de importância prática porque permite uma alternativa ao uso do par redox convencional ( ), uma vez que a dinâmica na intercepção do elétron é mais rápida ocasionando uma significativa redução de perda na fotocorrente. Em outra frente são relatadas as análises efetuadas em células à base de TiO2 recobertas com ZrO2 e que empregam Spiro-OMeTAD como molécula condutora de buracos. Filmes mesoporosos de TiO2 recobertos com ZrO2 foram utilizados como elétrodos ativos para aplicação em células solares do estado sólido, sendo que os dispositivos foram caracterizados por Espectroscopia de Impedância Eletroquímica. A técnica de deposição de camadas atômicas de ZrO2 foi usada com o intuito de passivar os estados de aprisionamento superficiais durante o funcionamento do dispositivo. Isso foi realizado mediante o recobrimento (precisão em Angström) dos filmes mesoporosos de TiO2 com óxido de zircônio. Foi possível verificar que o recobrimento produz um aumento no desempenho geral da... / Different nanostructured anode morphologies - aiming at extending the functionality in solar cells - had been studied by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy. The analyses were carried out in dye-sensitized solar cells based on ordered arrays of polycrystalline ZnO nanotubes. These cells exhibit efficient electron collection over the entire photoanode of ~64 μm length. Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy, open circuit photovoltage decay and incident-photon-to-current efficiency spectra are used to quantify conductivity and lifetime. Although the photoanode used is relatively long, the extraction time was faster than in traditional photoanodes based on TiO2 nanoparticles. The fast collection of electrons is of practical importance; it allows an alternative to the use of the conventional redox electrolyte ( ), because electron-interception dynamics is faster, which reduces significantly the photocurrent loss. On the other hand, solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells based on TiO2/ZrO2 core/shell nanoparticles, using a hole transport molecule named Spiro-OMeTAD, were also characterized. The atomic layer deposition technique was used with the intention of passivating the TiO2 surface with ZrO2. It was observed that the coating enhances the general performance of the photoelectrochemical cell after two ZrO2 deposition cycles. The Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy measurements provided evidence that the ZrO2 coating reduces recombination losses at the TiO2/Spiro-OMeTAD interface. Besides, the technique showed that the ZrO2 coating reduces the inductive effect at low frequency, this reduction being attributed to the passivation of localized surface states. Finally, results on the study of the effect of the Spiro-OMeTAD concentration (5 to 25 %) in the fabrication of solar cells, are discussed. Variations in recombination and capacitance correlate well with the ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Organic field-effect transistors (OFET) have attracted considerable interests as a promising technology for the next-generation flexible electronics. Thioacenes have recently emerged as potential semiconducting materials for OFETs. On the other hand, Photovoltaic (PV) technology is regarded as a prospective alternative for green and renewable energy source. Recently, dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have drawn intensive attention and showed great potential for practical application. Herein, the research in this thesis would include the synthesis and characterization of novel thioacene-based semiconductors for OFET and DSSC applications. To begin with, a general review on the current status of organic semiconductors for OFET and DSSC applications was presented in Chapter 1. In chapter 2, a series of novel benzodithieno[3,2-b]thiophene derivatives (BDTT-n) with different lateral alkyloxy groups were designed and synthesized. In addition, alkyloxy-substituted benzo[2,1-b:3,4-b’]bis-[1]benzothiophenes derivatives (BBBT-n) were also synthesized. The performances of OFETs based on BDTT-n and BBBT-n have been fully investigated. Among them, BDTT-4 based OFET exhibited the highest hole mobility of 1.74 cm 2 /(Vs) with a current on/off ratio above 10 7 without annealing. In chapter 3, a novel series of naphthodithiophene-based oligomers with D-A- D-A- D structure motif were designed and synthesized. All these oligomers have 2 been fully characterized by NMR and mass spectrometry. The hole mobility properties of these oligomers were determined in OFETs as fabricated by drop- coating technique. These oligomers exhibited typical p-type semiconducting behavior. A mobility of 1.6x10 -2 cm 2 /(Vs) was demonstrated by ENBT based OFET with a current on/off ratio in the range of 10 5-7 after annealing at 160ºC. Besides, in chapter 4, a novel [pi]-bridge, namely naphthodithienothiophene was developed and employed to explore photosensitizers for DSSC application. In this work, four novel photosensitizers with D-A-[pi]-A or D-[pi]-A structure motif were designed and synthesized in which the carbazole or triphenylamine derivative was used as a donating group and benzothiadiazole was applied as auxiliary accepting group. The performances of DSSCs based on these photosensitizers have been fully investigated. Among them, CB-NDTT- CA based device exhibited the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 7.29%. Meanwhile, the interfacial properties of these photosensitizers anchored on TiO 2 have also been studied by ab-initio simulation and Gaussian calculations. In chapter 5, another novel series of photosensitizers with benzodithienothiophene as the [pi]-bridge would be presented, in which different donors, auxiliary acceptors, and structures were incorporated into the frameworks of D-[pi]-A motif to investigate the relationship between the structure and properties. The performances of DSSCs based on these photosensitizers have been fully investigated, and BD-5 based device exhibited the best power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 4.66%. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that molecular engineering was an efficient way to modulate the performance of the DSSCs in 3 which benzothiadiazole was used as an effective auxiliary accepting group in constructing photosensitizers with D-A-[pi]-A structure motif. The di-anchoring approach was also found to be a promising method to design photosensitizers with improved performance.

abstract: This dissertation describes the work on two projects which involves measuring molecular conductance and studying their properties on the nanoscale using various Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) techniques. The first molecule studied was a porphyrin-fullerene moiety known as a molecular Dyad for photovoltaic applications. This project is further divided into two section, the first one involving the characterization of the Dyad monolayers and conductance measurement in the dark. The Dyads are designed to form charge separated states on illumination. The lifetime of the charged states have been measured efficiently but the single-molecule conductance through the molecules have yet to be characterized. The second part of the project describes the set-up of a novel sample stage which enables the study of molecular conductance under illumination. This part also describes the subsequent study of the molecule under illumination and the observation of a unique charge-separated state. It also contains the verification of the presence of this charge-separated using other characterization techniques like transient absorption spectroscopy. The second project described in the dissertation was studying and comparing the predicted rectifying nature of two molecules, identical in every way except for one stereocenter. This project describes the formation of monolayers of the molecule on gold and then studying and analyzing the current-voltage characteristics of the molecules and looking for rectification. Both the molecules proved to be rectifying, one more than the other as predicted by theoretical calculations. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Chemistry 2011

This thesis examines the electro-optic, electric and electrochemical properties of liquid crystal (LC) materials in self-assembly systems, that is, liquid crystal-polymer electrolyte composites (LC-PEs), LC binary mixtures, and their potential application in dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSCs). The birefringence of LCs causes light modulation, which can be controlled by an applied voltage and electric field. In particular, the LCs are used as one of the components for the electrolyte redox couple which is responsible for charge transfer mechanism in DSSCs. In this work, LC-PEs were developed by dissolving LCs in polymer electrolytes; using a homologous series of cyanobiphenyls in a range of concentrations, alkyl chain lengths and dielectric permittivities. We found that doping the polymer electrolyte with 15% 4'-cyano-4'-pentylbiphenyl (5CB) improved ionic conductivity by up to 13 % compared to pure polymer electrolyte. Materials with positive dielectric permittivity and shorter alkyl chain length have been identified to be compatible with iodide/triiodide (I^-/I_3^-)-based polymer electrolytes. In DSSCs, 15% 5CB and 15% E7 LC-PEs exhibited the best efficiencies of 3.6 % and 4.0 %, respectively. In addition to LC-PEs, the self-assembly properties of smectic phase LCs were also utilised as templates for controlling the polymer structure in polymer electrolytes. A porous polymer network was prepared using various techniques including self-assembly, by applying an electric field and using a polyimide (PI) alignment layer. We found that the electrochemical and photovoltaic properties of these materials strongly correlated to the morphology/structure with the self-assembled structure, thus showing the best photovoltaic performance (5.9 %) even when compared with a reference solar cell (4.97 %). Finally, this thesis explores the interaction of LCs with graphene (Gr) in DSSC device architectures. Gr-based DSSCs were fabricated using different processing conditions, with the result being that Gr improved the performance of the DSSCs. The highest efficiency obtained was 5.48 % compared to the 4.86 % of a reference DSSC. The incorporation of LC-PEs in Gr-based DSSCs improved the performance of DSSCs was observed in devices with low concentrations of LCs due to the Gr inducing planar alignment of LCs. These results suggest a new strategy to improve DSSC efficiency by incorporating LC materials in the polymer electrolyte component. Even though these LCs are highly insulating, their self-assembly and dielectric polarisability help enhance ionic conductivity and optical scattering when doped into polymer electrolytes. This work can be extended in a fundamental way to elucidate the ionic conduction mechanism of LC-based electrolyte systems. Furthermore, it would be interesting if the benefits of using LC-PEs and smectic-templated polymer electrolytes (Sm-Pes) can be translated further in commercial electrochemical energy conversion systems.

Wireless backhaul communication and power transfer can make the deployment of outdoor small cells (SCs) more cost effective; thus, their rapid densification can be enabled. For the first time, solar cells can be leveraged for the two-fold function of energy harvesting (EH) and high speed optical wireless communication. In this thesis, two complementary concepts for power provision to SCs are researched using solar cells – the optical wireless power transfer (OWPT) in the nighttime and solar EH during daytime. A harvested power of 1W is considered to be required for an autonomous SC operation. The conditions of darkness – worst case scenario – are initially selected, because the SC needs to harvest power in the absence of ambient light. The best case scenario of daytime SC EH from sunlight is then explored to determine the required battery size and the additional power from optical sources. As a first approach, an indoor 5m experimental link is created using a white light-emitting diode for OWPT to an amorphous silicon (Si) solar panel. Despite the use of a large mirror for collimation, the harvested power and energy efficiency of the link are measured to be only 18:3mW and 0:1%, respectively. Up to five red laser diodes (LDs) with lenses and crystalline Si (c-Si) cells are used in a follow-up study to increase the link efficiency. A maximum power efficiency of 3:2% is measured for a link comprising two LDs and a mono-c-Si cell, and the efficiency of all of its components is determined. Also, the laser system is shown to achieve an improvement of the energy efficiency by 2:7 times compared with a state-of-the-art inductive power transfer system with dipole coils. Since the harvested power is only 25:7mW, an analytical model for an elliptical Gaussian beam is developed to determine the required number of LDs for harvesting 1W; this shows an estimated number of 61 red LDs with 50mW of output optical power per device. However, a beam enclosure of the developed Class 3B laser system of up to a 3:6m distance is required for eye safety. A simulation study is conducted in Zemax for the design of an outdoor 100m infrared wireless link able to harvest 1W under clear weather conditions. Harvesting 1:2W and meeting eye safety regulations for Class 1 are shown to be feasible by a 1550 nm laser link. The required number of laser power converters is estimated to be 47 with an area of 5 5mm2 per device. Also, the dimensions of the transmitter and receiver are considered to be acceptable for the practical application of SC EH. In the last part of this thesis, two multi-c-Si solar panels are initially used for EH in an outdoor environment during daytime. The power supply of at least 1W is shown to be achievable during hour periods under sunny and cloudy conditions. A maximum average power of 4:1W is measured in the partial presence of clouds using a 10W solar panel. Since the variability of weather conditions induces the harvested power to fluctuate with values of mW, the use of optical sources is required in periods of insufficient solar EH for SCs. Therefore, a hybrid solar/laser based EH design is proposed for a continuous annual SC provision of 1Win ‘darker’ places on earth such as Edinburgh, UK. The 10W multi-c-Si solar panel and the 1550 nm laser link are considered; thus, the feasibility of supplying the SC with at least 1Wper hour monthly using a battery with energy content of only 60Wh is shown through simulations. A maximum monthly average harvested power of 824mW is shown to be required by the 1550 nm laser system that has already been overachieved through simulations in Zemax.

This project will be a part of the LODESTAR experiment. LODESTAR is one of the experiments scheduled to fly on the REXUS/BEXUS 26 high altitude balloon flight. The primary objective of the experiment is to investigate the effects of cosmic radiation on CIGS solar cells. The objective of this project is to build a mechanical design that can fulfill all requirements set by the ESA user manual. The mechanical design will first be drawn in mechanical CAD, where the drawing will be constructed from the ESA requirements. Later the design will be simulated in order to choose appropriate materials and a design that can withstand all simulations. Lastly the design will be built according to the drawings and tested according to the simulations. The mechanical design withstood all the simulations and verification tests with no visual deformation, except for the simulation and verification of the drop test. Both the drop simulation and verification test resulted in deformation in one of the aluminium plates. Since this mechanical design is constructed to be used only once, small deformations is within the margin of error. The deformation resulted by the simulation and verification of the drop test matched with a high precision. This is a good confirmation of the results of the drop test. In conclusion, the executed tests gave very promising results. Therefor the design constructed fits all the requirements to travel with solar panels in stratospheric conditions. / LODESTAR -BEXUS Project

Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S)2 (CIGS) solar cells have attracted a lot of attention due to their high performance and the prospect for lower manufacturing costs over conventional crystalline silicon solar cells. All recent record efficiency CIGS absorbers have been deposited using vacuum processing which introduces high manufacturing costs. CIGS can also be compatible with low cost, atmospheric processing which can significantly reduce manufacturing costs. Recently, there has been some progress in developing atmospheric solution-based processes for CIGS. Among different solution approaches, deposition of molecular precursors can be advantageous in terms of simplicity and straightforward compositional control. Nonetheless, the developed methodologies involve highly toxic reagents or large impurity content in the device, limiting the potential for commercialisation. This thesis describes the development of a novel solution-based approach for the deposition of CIGS absorber layers. Metal chalcogenides are used as the starting precursors, which are free from detrimental impurities. These compounds contain strong covalent bonds and, consequently, they are insoluble in common solvents. Until recently, hydrazine, which is highly toxic and explosive, was the only solvent to effectively dissolve these types of precursors, limiting the feasibility of this approach for industrial applications. In this work, metal chalcogenides are dissolved in a safer solvent combination of 1,2-ethanedithiol and 1,2-ethylenediamine, completely eliminating hydrazine from the process. By using this solvent system, optically transparent solutions are formed which exhibit long-term stability. The precursor solutions are decomposed cleanly and they are converted to single phase CIGS upon selenisation. CuIn(S,Se)2 solar cells with power conversion efficiencies up to 8.0% were successfully fabricated by spray depositing the precursor solution, followed by a selenisation step. This progress has been made by continuously optimising the deposition, drying, and especially the selenisation configuration. Among other parameters, the working pressure during selenisation was found to have a dramatic effect on the material crystalline quality. Rapid thermal processing was also explored as an alternative selenisation configuration to tube furnace annealing and it was shown to improve the back contact/absorber interface. It has been demonstrated that Ga can easily be incorporated in the absorber for band-gap tuning and, consequently, for VOC enhancement of the solar cells. The structural properties of the films were investigated with Ga content, as well as the opto-electronic characteristics of the corresponding solar cells. The band-gap of the material was conveniently varied by simply adjusting the precursor ratio, allowing for fine compositional control. By using this technique, Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S)2 solar cells with conversion efficiencies of up to 9.8% were obtained. The solar cell performance in this work is limited by the porosity of the absorber and the back contact quality. Despite a significant improvement during the course of this work, the remaining porosity of the absorber causes selenium to diffuse towards the back forming a thick MoSe2 layer and causing a high series resistance in the device. A low cost, solution-based technique was also developed for the deposition of aluminium-doped zinc oxide films that can be used as the transparent conductive oxide layer in thin film solar cells. This methodology involves the use of an ultrasonic spray pyrolysis system, which is a very versatile and easily controlled deposition technique. Although the presence of oxygen makes the film closer to stoichiometric (fewer oxygen vacancies) good electronic and optical properties have been obtained by process optimisation. Films deposited with optimum conditions exhibited a sheet resistance of 23 Ω/sq, which can be further reduced by increasing the thickness with minimal transmittance losses. The simplicity, low toxicity and straightforward control make the proposed methodologies extremely potential for low cost and scalable deposition of thin film solar cells.

This thesis is about new ways to experimentally realise materials with desired nano-structures for solution-processable optoelectronic devices such as solar cells and light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and examine structure-performance relationships in these devices. Short exciton diffusion length limits the efficiency of most exciton-based solar cells. By introducing nano-structured architectures to solar cells, excitons can be separated more effectively, leading to an enhancement of the cell’s power conversion efficiency. We use diblock copolymer lithography combined with solvent-vapour-assisted imprinting to fabricate nano-structures with 20-80 nm feature sizes. We demonstrate nanostructured solar cell incorporating the high-performance polymer PBDTTT-CT. Furthermore, we demonstrated the patterning of singlet fission materials, including a TIPS-pentacene solar cell based on ZnO nanopillars. Recently perovskites have emerged as a promising semiconductor for optoelectronic applications. We demonstrate a perovskite light-emitting diode that employs perovskite nanoparticles embedded in a dielectric polymer matrix as the emissive layer. The emissive layer is spin-coated from perovskite precursor/polymer blend solution. The resultant polymer-perovskite composites effectively block shunt pathways within the LED, thus leading to an external quantum efficiency of 1.2%, one order of magnitude higher than previous reports. We demonstrate formations of stably emissive perovskite nanoparticles in an alumina nanoparticle matrix. These nanoparticles have much higher photoluminescence quantum efficiency (25%) than bulk perovskite and the emission is found to be stable over several months. Finally, we demonstrate a new vapour-phase crosslinking method to construct full-colour perovskite nanocrystal LEDs. With detailed structural and compositional analysis we are able to pinpoint the aluminium-based crosslinker that resides between the nanocrystals, which enables remarkably high EQE of 5.7% in CsPbI3 LEDs.

Le but de cette thèse était de fabriquer des structures cœur / coquille à base de nanofils d’oxyde de zinc (ZnO) pour des applications en photovoltaïques principalement, et ensuite pour des détecteurs UV. Des réseaux de nanofils de ZnO de dimensions contrôlées ont été synthétisés en utilisant la méthode d’électrodéposition de ZnO (ECD). Nous avons également synthétisé des oursins organisés à base de nanofils de ZnO (U-ZnO NWs) en combinant les méthodes de nanostructuration de surface (auto-assemblage de sphères de polystyrène), dépôt de couche atomique (ALD) et ECD de ZnO. Plusieurs approches concernant le contrôle des dimensions de ces nanofils ont été envisagées. Les diamètres, la densité et la morphologie de ces nanofils ont été ajustés soit en modifiant les diamètres des sphères utilisés soit en modulant les paramètres expérimentaux durant la déposition (ALD et/ou ECD). Des monocouches et des multicouches de U-ZnO NWs de longueur variant de 750 nm jusqu'à 1500 nm ont été obtenus dans une large gamme de diamètre (57-170 nm).Ces matériaux ont été utilisés pour la construction de cellules solaires à colorant (DSSC) à base de réseaux de nanofils et des U-ZnO NWs, recouverts de couches minces d’oxyde de titane (TiO2) par dépôt de couches atomiques (ALD). Des rendements de conversion solaire de ~ 2% ont été atteints, sachant que le ZnO absorbe seulement dans l’UV. Ces matériaux ont été également utilisés pour la construction de cellules solaires de type II formés des U-ZnO NWs recouverts de couches d’oxyde de cuivre (Cu2O) de différentes épaisseurs par ECD. Les effets de la morphologie et des dimensions des nanofils et des U-ZnO NWs sur la diffusion de la lumière et la performance électronique des dispositifs ont été étudiés. Des capteurs d’ultraviolet ont été testés en utilisant les nanofils et les U-ZnO NWs. Une amélioration significative de la performance et de la stabilité en matière de détection UV a été observée en utilisant ces nanostructures de ZnO. Cela est dû à l'augmentation de la surface active offerte par les nanofils et les U-ZnO NWs en comparaison avec la performance obtenue avec les couches minces de ZnO. Finalement, une bioélectrode à base de nanofibres de polyacrylonitrile (PAN) recouverts par une couche d’or a été préparée pour la réduction électrochimique du CO2 en biocarburants utiles. L'électrode de PAN / Or a été préparée en utilisant une méthode de synthèse basée sur l'électrofilage suivi d'une pulvérisation d'Or. Une amélioration significative de l'activité électrochimique et de la stabilité de la bioélectrode a été observée. / The aim of this thesis was to fabricate core / shell structures based on zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires for photovoltaic applications mainly, and UV sensors as well. ZnO nanowire arrays of controlled size were grown using electrodeposition method (ECD). We also synthesized organized urchins based on ZnO nanowires by combining methods of surface nanostructuring (self-assembly of polystyrene spheres), atomic layer deposition (ALD) and electrodeposition of ZnO (ECD). Several approaches concerning the control of dimensions on these nanowires have been investigated. The diameter, density and morphology of these nanowires were adjusted either by modifying the diameters of spheres or by modulating the experimental parameters during deposition (ALD and / or ECD). Organized monolayers and multilayers of urchins based on ZnO nanowires ranging between 750 -1500 nm in length were obtained in a diameter range between 50-170 nm. The construction of dye solar cells (DSSC) was based on nanowire arrays and organized urchins based on ZnO nanowires coated with thin shells of titanium oxide (TiO2) obtained by atomic layer deposition (ALD). As proof of concept, solar conversion efficiencies of ~ 2% were achieved, bearing in mind that ZnO absorbs only in UV range. These materials have also been used for solar cells construction of type II based on organized urchin-like ZnO nanowires coated with copper oxide (Cu2O) layers of different thicknesses by electrodeposition of Cu2O. The effects of the morphology and the dimension of the organized nanowires and urchin-like ZnO nanowires on light scattering and electronic performance of the devices have been studied. UV sensors were tested using nanowires and urchin-like ZnO nanowires. A significant improvement in the performance and stability in UV detection was observed when using these ZnO nanostructures. This is due to the increase in active area offered by the ZnO nanowires and urchins compared to the performance obtained with ZnO thin films. Finally, a bioelectrode based on polyacrylonitrile nanofibers (PAN) coated with a layer of gold has been prepared for the electrochemical reduction of CO2 into useful biofuels. The PAN/gold electrode was prepared using a homemade synthesis method, based on electrospinning followed by gold sputtering. A significant improvement in the electrochemical activity and the stability of the bioelectrode was observed.