Issue

Vol. 7 No. 4 (2015)

Novel Hybrid Ligands for Passivating PbS Colloidal Quantum Dots to Enhance the Performance of Solar Cells

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-015-0046-4
Yuehua Yang
State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials & Devices, Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials & Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, People’s Republic of China
Baofeng Zhao
State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials & Devices, Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials & Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, People’s Republic of China
Yuping Gao
State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials & Devices, Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials & Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, People’s Republic of China
Han Liu
State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials & Devices, Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials & Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, People’s Republic of China
Yiyao Tian
State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials & Devices, Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials & Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, People’s Republic of China
Donghuan Qin
State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials & Devices, Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials & Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, People’s Republic of China
Hongbin Wu
State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials & Devices, Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials & Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, People’s Republic of China
Wenbo Huang
State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials & Devices, Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials & Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, People’s Republic of China
Lintao Hou
Siyuan Laboratory, Department of Physics, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, People’s Republic of China

Corresponding Author: Donghuan Qin

qindh@scut.edu.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 7 No. 4 (2015), Article Number: 325-331

Abstract

We developed novel hybrid ligands to passivate PbS colloidal quantum dots (CQDs), and two kinds of solar cells based on as-synthesized CQDs were fabricated to verify the passivation effects of the ligands. It was found that the ligands strongly affected the optical and electrical properties of CQDs, and the performances of solar cells were enhanced strongly. The optimized hybrid ligands, oleic amine/octyl-phosphine acid/CdCl2 improved power conversion efficiency (PCE) to much higher of 3.72 % for Schottky diode cell and 5.04 % for p–n junction cell. These results may be beneficial to design passivation strategy for low-cost and high-performance CQDs solar cells.

Keywords

PbS Colloidal quantum dot Solar cells Ligands
Yang, Yuehua, Baofeng Zhao, Yuping Gao, Han Liu, Yiyao Tian, Donghuan Qin, Hongbin Wu, Wenbo Huang, and Lintao Hou. 2015. “Novel Hybrid Ligands for Passivating PbS Colloidal Quantum Dots to Enhance the Performance of Solar Cells”. Nano-Micro Letters 7 (4):325-31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-015-0046-4.
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)
BibTeX
References
  1. I.J. Kramer, L. Levina, R. Debnath, D. Zhitomirsky, E.H. Sargent, Solar cells using quantum funnels. Nano Lett. 11(9), 3701–3706 (2011). doi:10.1021/nl201682h
  2. O.E. Semonin, J.M. Luther, S. Choi, H.Y. Chen, J. Gao, A.J. Nozik, M.C. Beard, Peak external photocurrent quantum efficiency exceeding 100 % via meg in a quantum dot solar cell. Science 334(6062), 1530 (2011). doi:10.1126/science.1209845
  3. I. Gur, N.A. Fromer, M.L. Geier, A.P. Alivisatos, Air-stable all-inorganic nanocrystal solar cells processed from solution. Science 310(5747), 462 (2005). doi:10.1126/science.1117908
  4. J. Tang, E.H. Sargent, Infrared colloidal quantum dots for photovoltaics: fundamentals and recent progress. Adv. Mater. 23(1), 12–29 (2011). doi:10.1002/adma.201001491
  5. M.G. Panthani, J.M. Kurley, R.W. Crisp, T.C. Dietz, T. Ezzyat, J.M. Luther, D.V. Talapin, High efficiency solution processed sintered CdTe nanocrystal solar cells: the role of interfaces. Nano Lett. 14(2), 670–675 (2014). doi:10.1021/nl403912w
  6. J. Zhu, Y. Yang, Y. Gao, D. Qin, H. Wu, L. Hou, W. Huang, Enhancement of open-circuit voltage and the fill factor in CdTe nanocrystal solar cells by using interface materials. Nanotechnology 25(36), 365203 (2014). doi:10.1088/0957-4484/25/36/365203
  7. Y. Tian, Y. Zhang, Y. Lin, K. Gao, Y. Zhang et al., Solution-processed efficient CdTe nanocrystal/CBD-CdS heterojunction solar cells with ZnO interlayer. J. Nanoparticle Res. 15, 2053 (2013). doi:10.1007/s11051-013-2053-z
  8. Z. Chen, H. Zhang, X. Du, X. Cheng, X. Chen, Y. Jiang, B. Yang, From planar-heterojunction to n-i structure: an efficient strategy to improve short-circuit current and power conversion efficiency of aqueous-solution-processed hybrid solar cells. Energy Environ. Sci. 6, 1597–1603 (2013). doi:10.1039/c3ee40481a
  9. Z. Chen, H. Zhang, Q. Zeng, Y. Wang, D. Xu, L. Wang, H. Wang, B. Yang, In situ construction of nanoscale CdTe-CdS bulk heterojunctions for inorganic nanocrystal solar cells. Adv. Energy Mater. 4(10), 1400235 (2014). doi:10.1002/aenm.201400235
  10. Y.-G. Nir, S.-H. Michal, Z. Marina, K. Shifi, S. Asher, T. Nir, Molecular control of quantum-dot internal electric field and its application to CdSe-based solar cells. Nat. Mater. 10, 974–979 (2011). doi:10.1038/nmat3133
  11. E.J.D. Klem, C.W. Gregory, G.B. Cunningham, S. Hall, D.S. Temple, J.S. Lewis, Planar PbS quantum dot/C60 heterojunction photovoltaic devices with 5.2 % power conversion efficiency. Appl. Phys. Lett. 100(17), 173109 (2012). doi:10.1063/1.4707377
  12. D.C.J. Neo, C. Cheng, S.D. Stranks, S.M. Fairclough, J.S. Kim et al., Influence of shell thickness and surface passivation on PbS/CdS core/shell colloidal quantum dot solar cells. Chem. Mater. 26(13), 4004–4013 (2014). doi:10.1021/cm501595u
  13. G.H. Kim, B. Walker, H.B. Kim, J.Y. Kim, E.H. Sargent, J. Park, J.Y. Kim, Inverted colloidal quantum dot solar cells. Adv. Mater. 26(20), 3321–3327 (2014). doi:10.1002/adma.201305583
  14. B.A. Gonfa, H. Zhao, J. Li, J. Qiu, M. Saidani et al., Air-processed depleted bulk heterojunction solar cells based on PbS/CdS core-shell quantum dots and TiO2 nanorod arrays. Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 124, 67–74 (2014). doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2014.01.037
  15. W. Ma, S.L. Swisher, T. Ewers, J. Engel, V.E. Ferry, H.A. Atwater, A.P. Alivisatos, Photovoltaic performance of ultrasmall PbSe quantum dots. ACS Nano 5(10), 8140–8147 (2011). doi:10.1021/nn202786g
  16. M. Tabachnyk, B. Ehrler, S. Gelinas, M.L. Bohm, B.J. Walker et al., Resonant energy transfer of triplet excitons from pentacene to PbSe nanocrystals. Nat. Mater. 13, 1033–1038 (2014). doi:10.1038/nmat4093
  17. J. Gao, J.M. Luther, O.E. Semonin, R.J. Ellingson, A.J. Nozik, M.C. Beard, Quantum dot size dependent J-V characteristics in heterojunction ZnO/PbS quantum dot solar cells. Nano Lett. 11(3), 1002–1008 (2011). doi:10.1021/nl103814g
  18. B.D. Weil, S.T. Connor, Y. Cui, CuInS2 solar cells by air-stable ink rolling. JACS 132(13), 6642–6643 (2010). doi:10.1021/ja1020475
  19. M.A. Hines, G.D. Scholes, Colloidal PbS nanocrystals with size-tunable near-infrared emission: observation of post-synthesis self-narrowing of the particle size distribution. Adv. Mater. 15(21), 1844–1849 (2003). doi:10.1002/adma.200305395
  20. S.A. McDonald, G. Konstantatos, S. Zhang, P.W. Cyr, E.J.D. Klem, L. Levina, E.H. Sargent, Solution-processed PbS quantum dot infrared photodetectors and photovoltaics. Nat. Mater. 4, 138–142 (2005). doi:10.1038/nmat1299
  21. J. Tang, X. Wang, L. Brzozowski, D.A.R. Barkhouse, R. Debnath, L. Levina, E.H. Sargent, Schottky quantum dot solar cells stable in air under solar illumination. Adv. Mater. 22(12), 1398–1402 (2010). doi:10.1002/adma.200903240
  22. J.M. Luther, M. Law, M.C. Beard, Q. Song, M.O. Reese, R.J. Ellingson, A.J. Nozik, Schottky solar cells based on colloidal nanocrystal films. Nano Lett. 8(10), 3488–3492 (2008). doi:10.1021/nl802476m
  23. D. Zhitomirsky, M. Furukawa, J. Tang, P. Stadler, S. Hoogland, O. Voznyy, H. Liu, E.H. Sargent, N-type colloidal-quantum-dot solids for photovoltaics. Adv. Mater. 24(46), 6181–6185 (2012). doi:10.1002/adma.201202825
  24. H. Liu, J. Tang, I.J. Kramer, R. Debnath, G.I. Koleilat et al., Electron acceptor materials engineering in colloidal quantum dot solar cells. Adv. Mater. 23(33), 3832–3837 (2011). doi:10.1002/adma.201101783
  25. A.H. Ip, S.M. Thon, S. Hoogland, O. Voznyy, D. Zhitomirsky, R. Debnath, L. Levina, A. Amassian, E.H. Sargent, Hybrid passivated colloidal quantum dot solids. Nat. Nanotechnol. 7(9), 577–582 (2012). doi:10.1038/nnano.2012.127
  26. C.M. Chuang, P.R. Brown, V. Bulovic, M.G. Bawendi, Improved performance and stability in quantum dot solar cells through band alignment engineering. Nat. Mater. 13, 796–801 (2014). doi:10.1038/nmat3984
  27. Z. Ning, O. Voznyy, J. Pan, S. Hoogland, V. Adinolfi et al., Air-stable n-type colloidal quantum dot solids. Nat. Mater. 13, 822–828 (2014). doi:10.1038/nmat4007
  28. L.J. Kramer, E.H. Sargent, The architecture of colloidal quantum dot solar cells: materials to devices. Chem. Rev. 114(1), 863–882 (2014). doi:10.1021/cr400299t
  29. W. Yoon, J.E. Boercker, M.P. Lumb, D. Placencia, E.E. Foos, J.G. Tischler, Enhanced open-circuit voltage of PbS nanocrystal quantum dot solar cells. Sci. Rep.-UK 3, 2225 (2013). doi:10.1038/srep02225
  30. V. Malgras, A. Nattestad, Y. Yamauchi, S.X. Dou, J.H. Kim, The effect of surface passivation on the structure of sulphur-rich PbS colloidal quantum dots for photovoltaic application. Nanoscale 7(13), 5706–5711 (2015). doi:10.1039/C4NR07006B
  31. R. Ciach, Y.P. Dotsenko, V.V. Naumov, A.N. Shmyryeva, Injection technique for the study of solar cell test structures. Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 76(4), 613–624 (2003). doi:10.1016/S0927-0248(02)00271-4
Read More
Author biographies are not available.
Download this PDF file
PDF
Statistic
Read Counter : 3142 Download : 2387

Most read articles by the same author(s)

Similar Articles

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.