Boosting the cell efficiency of CdSe quantum dot sensitized solar cell via a modified ZnS post-treatment

Quantum dot sensitized solar cell: Recent advances and future perspectives in photoanode

“…ZnS is commonly used a passivation layer synthesized via SILAR method which effectively suppress electron-hole recombination [162]. In order to suppress electron back transfer from TiO 2 to the electrolyte, coating of sensitized photoanode with SiO 2 blocking layer gives better results [163].…”

Stability of Quantum Dot Solar Cells: A Matter of (Life)Time

“…The shelf stability of CdSe QDSCs has been reported to be rather poor, with a sharp decrease in performance after relatively short periods (e.g., 80% loss after 3 days). [200,201] The stability was further reduced when the performance of the devices was tracked under continuous illumination. For example, CdSe QDSCs showed a decrease of 25% in PCE after only 200 s of irradiation, while an additional ZnS/ ZnSe shelling could improve their stability to nearly no loss in PCE over a span of minutes.…”

“…For example, CdSe QDSCs showed a decrease of 25% in PCE after only 200 s of irradiation, while an additional ZnS/ ZnSe shelling could improve their stability to nearly no loss in PCE over a span of minutes. [201] Several examples of hybrid QD solar cells, based on combinations of two II-VI semiconductor materials (e.g., CdSe/CdTe, CdS/CdTe, or CdS/CdSe), yielded better stabilities than CdSe QDs alone, reaching several hours under constant illumination and up to 6 months for storage in the dark. [168,171] It was found that Mn 2+ doping of QDs was an effective way to boost both performance and stability [168,196] When Mn 2+ ions are present at the shell of these QDs, they generate in-band states which boost the charge extraction by reducing the recombination rate at the core-shell interface.…”

Interfacial Engineering for Quantum‐Dot‐Sensitized Solar Cells

“…ZnSe is a good alternative material, with a bandgap of 2.70 eV, which is narrower than that of ZnS. It has been reported that ZnSe is beneficial for several types of QDs, such as CdS, CdSe, and CuInS 2 . Kim and co‐workers showed that the trend in the PCEs of CdS/CdSe‐sensitized solar cells followed the sequence QD/Mn−ZnSe>QD/Mn‐ZnS>QD/ZnSe>QD/ZnS, mainly because of decreased recombination rates and enhanced light absorption (Figure b) …”