Surface passivation <i>via</i> acid vapor etching enables efficient and stable solution-processed CdTe nanocrystal solar cells

Guo, Xin; Rong, Zhitao; Wang, Le; Liu, Songwei; Liu, Zhe; Luo, Kaiying; Chen, Bingchang; Qin, Donghuan; Ma, Yan; Wu, Hongbin; Hou, Lintao

doi:10.1039/c9se00902g

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…117 Given continuously improved PCE, the operation lifetime of the devices needs to be examined closely. Very stable devices of both type-I 47 and type-III 118 QD-based solar cells have been reported in the literature, though the PCE of these stable devices might not be high. Since both types of devices can be made purely in solid-state form without the involvement of organic molecules, highly efficient and highly stable devices are imaginable.…”

Section: Challenges and Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Current Status and Challenges of Solar Cells Based on Semiconductor Nanocrystals

Lin

Peng

2021

Energy Fuels

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Over the past decades, the synthetic chemistry of colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals (or quantum dots, QDs) has advanced rapidly, which offers a low-cost route for developing solar cells with QDs as the active materials. Solution-processed QD-based solar cells may simultaneously satisfy needs for low cost and high efficiency, yet a long lifetime. This article shall analyze three main types of QD-based solar cells including their specific design principle, brief history, and key breakthroughs. Though each type of QD-based solar cell is largely different from the others in its specific device design, there is a unique feature for all QD-based solar cells. When a QD absorbs a photon with energy greater than its optical bandgap, a bonded excitonan electron–hole pair bonded by electrostatic interactionis generated, instead of free carriers in their bulk counterparts. This article shall discuss the elementary steps involved in these exciton-centered devices.

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Section: Challenges and Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Current Status and Challenges of Solar Cells Based on Semiconductor Nanocrystals

Lin

Peng

2021

Energy Fuels

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“…Later on, a cross-linkable conjugated polymer poly(diphenylsilane–co–4–vinyl–triphenylamine) (Si-TPA) was adopted as HTL for CdTe NC solar cells. A high PCE of 8.34% was obtained due to low contact resistance as a result of good energy level matching [ 29 ]. After surface modifications of interface in both cathode and anode, the recombination at interfaces can be greatly decreased, and a PCE of as high as 9.2% was obtained [ 12 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficient Nanocrystal Photovoltaics with PTAA as Hole Transport Layer

Huang

Luo

et al. 2022

Nanomaterials

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The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of solution-processed CdTe nanocrystals (NCs) solar cells has been significantly promoted in recent years due to the optimization of device design by advanced interface engineering techniques. However, further development of CdTe NC solar cells is still limited by the low open-circuit voltage (Voc) (mostly in range of 0.5–0.7 V), which is mainly attributed to the charge recombination at the CdTe/electrode interface. Herein, we demonstrate a high-efficiency CdTe NCs solar cell by using organic polymer poly[bis(4–phenyl)(2,4,6–trimethylphenyl)amine] (PTAA) as the hole transport layer (HTL) to decrease the interface recombination and enhance the Voc. The solar cell with the architecture of ITO/ZnO/CdS/CdSe/CdTe/PTAA/Au was fabricated via a layer-by-layer solution process. Experimental results show that PTAA offers better back contact for reducing interface resistance than the device without HTL. It is found that a dipole layer is produced between the CdTe NC thin film and the back contact electrode; thus the built–in electric field (Vbi) is reinforced, allowing more efficient carrier separation. By introducing the PTAA HTL in the device, the open–circuit voltage, short-circuit current density and the fill factor are simultaneously improved, leading to a high PCE of 6.95%, which is increased by 30% compared to that of the control device without HTL (5.3%). This work suggests that the widely used PTAA is preferred as the excellent HTL for achieving highly efficient CdTe NC solar cells.

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“…Water-soluble CdTe or CdSe NCs can be fabricated based on Se and Te precursors obtained by this process. However, photovoltaic devices fabricated from such water-soluble CdTe/CdSe NCs showed lower devices performance, when compared to similar NC solar cells based on organic phase synthesized CdTe/CdSe NCs [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ]. In addition, as the reactivity of Te precursor is too high, it is difficult to control the size and morphology of the as-synthesized NCs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synthesis of Group II-VI Semiconductor Nanocrystals via Phosphine Free Method and Their Application in Solution Processed Photovoltaic Devices

Hou

Zhou

et al. 2021

Nanomaterials

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Solution-processed CdTe semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) have exhibited astonishing potential in fabricating low-cost, low materials consumption and highly efficient photovoltaic devices. However, most of the conventional CdTe NCs reported are synthesized through high temperature microemulsion method with high toxic trioctylphosphine tellurite (TOP-Te) or tributylphosphine tellurite (TBP-Te) as tellurium precursor. These hazardous substances used in the fabrication process of CdTe NCs are drawing them back from further application. Herein, we report a phosphine-free method for synthesizing group II-VI semiconductor NCs with alkyl amine and alkyl acid as ligands. Based on various characterizations like UV-vis absorption (UV), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD), among others, the properties of the as-synthesized CdS, CdSe, and CdTe NCs are determined. High-quality semiconductor NCs with easily controlled size and morphology could be fabricated through this phosphine-free method. To further investigate its potential to industrial application, NCs solar cells with device configuration of ITO/ZnO/CdSe/CdTe/Au and ITO/ZnO/CdS/CdTe/Au are fabricated based on NCs synthesized by this method. By optimizing the device fabrication conditions, the champion device exhibited power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 2.28%. This research paves the way for industrial production of low-cost and environmentally friendly NCs photovoltaic devices.

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Surface passivation via acid vapor etching enables efficient and stable solution-processed CdTe nanocrystal solar cells

Abstract: Achieving stable and low-resistance interfaces for hole transport layers with well-matched energy levels is crucial to maximize the performance of solution-processed CdTe nanocrystal (NC) based solar cells.

Cited by 10 publications

References 36 publications

Current Status and Challenges of Solar Cells Based on Semiconductor Nanocrystals

Current Status and Challenges of Solar Cells Based on Semiconductor Nanocrystals

Efficient Nanocrystal Photovoltaics with PTAA as Hole Transport Layer

Synthesis of Group II-VI Semiconductor Nanocrystals via Phosphine Free Method and Their Application in Solution Processed Photovoltaic Devices

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