This
paper reports the successful synthesis of various copper sulfide
nanostructures via coprecipitation and hydrothermal routes using new
starting reagents such as Na2SO3 as a reducing
agent for converting Cu2+ to Cu+ and PMP dye–Cu(II)
and carminic acid–Cu(II) complexes as new copper precursors
for synthesizing quantum dots in aqueous medium. The as-synthesized
products were extensively characterized by techniques including XRD,
EDS, SEM, TEM, AFM, and DRS. Effects of different parameters such
as temperature, surfactant, solvent, concentration, copper precursor,
sulfide source, etc., on morphology and particle size of as-synthesized
nanostructures were investigated. Moreover, the efficiency of various
as-synthesized nanostructures in thin layer solar cells was evaluated.
The results showed that particle size and morphology have a salient
effect on solar cell efficiency. Also, utilizing prepared Cu2S quantum dots as a barrier layer in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs)
presented a remarkable increase in the efficiency of solar cells from
6.08% to 8.34% (∼37% improvement).
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