Journal of Hebei University(Natural Science Edition) >

2020 , Vol. 40 >Issue 5: 469 - 476

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1000-1565.2020.05.004

Research progress of quantum dot-sentitized solar cells

  • LI Ling ,
  • MA Zeyuan ,
  • LI Zixiang ,
  • WEI Aichao ,
  • LI Fan ,
  • ZHANG Yikang ,
  • ZHAO Yajun
Expand
  • National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of New Energy Photoelectric Devices, Hebei Key Lab of Optic-electronic Information and Materials, College of Physics Science and Technology, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, China

Received date: 2020-05-01

  Online published: 2020-09-25

Fold

Abstract

Quantum dots sensitized solar cells have received much attention because of its many advantages(such as straight forward synthesis procedure, low spending and superior theoretical photoelectric conversion property), the highest efficiency has exceeded 13%.The performance of the solar cell is mainly caused by the photoanode, the counter electrode and the electrolyte. Therefore, optimizing the above parts can greatly improve the cells performance. This paper introduces the structure, working principle and the latest research progress of quantum dot sensitized solar cells. The current research results and existing problems of photoanodes are reviewed, and the optimization of photoanodes is further prospected.

Key words： quantum dot sensitized solar cells; photoanodes; quantum dot sensitizers; semiconductor oxides

Cite this article

LI Ling , MA Zeyuan , LI Zixiang , WEI Aichao , LI Fan , ZHANG Yikang , ZHAO Yajun . Research progress of quantum dot-sentitized solar cells[J]. Journal of Hebei University(Natural Science Edition), 2020 , 40(5) : 469 -476 . DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1000-1565.2020.05.004

References

[1] LOHSE S E, MURPHY C J. Applications of colloidal inorganic nanoparticles: from medicine to energy[J]. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2012, 134(38):15607-15620. DOI:10.1021/ja307589n.
[2] HOERTZ P G, STANISZEWSKI A, MARTON A, et al. Toward exceeding the shockley-queisser limit: photoinduced interfacial charge transfer processes that store energy in excess of the equilibrated excited state[J]. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2006, 128(25):8234-8245. DOI:10.1021/ja060470e.
[3] NOZIK A J, BEARD M C, LUTHER J M, et al. Semiconductor quantum dots and quantum dot arrays and applications of multiple exciton generation to third-generation photovoltaic solar cells[J]. Chemical Reviews, 2010, 110(11):6873-6890. DOI: 10.1021/cr900289f.
[4] SHEN K, LUO G, LIU J, et al. Highly transparent photoelectrochromic device based on carbon quantum dots sensitized photoanode[J]. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 2019, 1(193):372-378. DOI:10.1016/j.solmat.2019.01.004.
[5] SAMBUR J B, NOVET T, PARKINSON B A. Multiple exciton collection in a sensitized photovoltaic system[J]. Science, 2010, 330(6000):63-66. DOI:10.1126/science.1191462.
[6] LI Z, YU L, WANG H, et al. TiO2 passivation layer on ZnO hollow microspheres for quantum dots sensitized solar cells with improved light harvesting and electron collection[J]. Nanomaterials, 2020, 10(4):631. DOI:10.3390/nano10040631.
[7] POLMAN A, ATWATER H A. Photonic design principles for ultrahigh-efficiency photovoltaics[J]. Nature Materials, 2012, 11(3):174-177. DOI:10.1038/nmat3263.
[8] HOD I, ZABAN A. Materials and interfaces in quantum dot sensitized solar cells: challenges, advances and prospects[J]. Langmuir, 2014, 30(25):7264-7273. DOI:10.1021/la403768j.
[9] NOZIK A. Quantum dot solar cells[J]. Physica E:Low-Dimensional Syst Nanostructures, 2002, 14(1-2):115-120. DOI:10.1016/S1386-9477(02)00374-0.
[10] LEE Y L, LO Y S. Highly efficient quantum-dot-sensitized solar cell based on co-sensitization of CdS/CdSe[J]. Advanced Functional Materials, 2009, 19(4):604-609. DOI:10.1002/adfm.200800940.
[11] YUAN B, GAO Q, ZHANG X, et al. Reduced graphene oxide(RGO)/Cu2S composite as catalytic counter electrode for quantum dot-sensitized solar cells[J]. Electrochimica Acta, 2018, 1(277):50-58. DOI:10.1016/j.electacta.2018.04.218.
[12] PAN Z, YUE L, RAO H, et al. Boosting the performance of environmentally friendly quantum dot-sensitized solar cells over 13% efficiency by dual sensitizers with cascade energy structure[J]. Advanced Materials, 2019, 31(49):1903696. DOI: 10.1002/adma.201903696.
[13] CHANDIRAN A K, ABDI-JALEBI M, NAZEERUDDIN M K, et al. Analysis of electron transfer properties of ZnO and TiO2 photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells[J]. ACS Nano, 2014, 8(3):2261-2268. DOI: 10.1021/nn405535j.
[14] LU Y, JIA J, LU C, et al. Enhancing the photoelectrochemical properties of quantum dot-sensitized solar cells based on TiO2 nanorods by using fast hole transfer channels[J]. Materials Letters, 2019, 15(243):176-179. DOI:10.1016/j.matlet.2019.01.110.
[15] HUANG K Y, LUO Y H, CHENG H M, et al. Performance enhancement of CdS/CdSe quantum dot-sensitized solar cells with(001)-oriented anatase TiO2 nanosheets photoanode[J]. Nanoscale Research Letters, 2019, 14(1):18. DOI:10.1186/s11671-018-2842-5.
[16] SHEN W, ZHANG J, WANG S, et al. Improve the performance of the quantum dot sensitized ZnO nanotube solar cells with inserting ZnS-MnS composites layers[J]. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2019, 787:751-758. DOI:10.1016/j.jallcom.2019.02.108.
[17] AHMED R, WILL G, BELL J, et al. Size-dependent photodegradation of CdS particles deposited onto TiO2 mesoporous films by SILAR method[J]. Journal of Nanoparticle Research, 2012, 14(9):1140. DOI:10.1007/s11051-012-1140-x.
[18] BUATONG N, TANG I M, PON-ON W. Quantum dot-sensitized solar cells having 3D-TiO2 flower-like structures on the surface of titania nanorods with CuS counter electrode[J]. Nanoscale Research Letters, 2015, 10(1):1-10. DOI:10.1186/s11671-015-0844-0.
[19] SANTRA P K, KAMAT P V. Mn-doped quantum dot sensitized solar cells: a strategy to boost efficiency over 5%[J]. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2012, 134(5):2508-2511. DOI:10.1021/ja211224s.
[20] DE LA FUENTE M S, SÁNCHEZ R S, GONZÁLEZ-PEDRO V, et al. Effect of organic and inorganic passivation in quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells[J]. The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2013, 4(9):1519-1525. DOI: 10.1021/jz400626r.
[21] GOPI C V V M, VENKATA-HARITHA M, KIM S K, et al. Improved photovoltaic performance and stability of quantum dot sensitized solar cells using Mn-ZnSe shell structure with enhanced light absorption and recombination control[J]. Nanoscale, 2015, 7(29):12552-12563. DOI:10.1039/c5nr03291a.
[22] MENG K, SUROLIA P K, BYRNE O, et al. Efficient CdS quantum dot sensitized solar cells made using novel Cu2S counter electrode[J]. Journal of Power Sources, 2014, 248:218-223. DOI:10.1016/j.jphotochem.2019.03.044.
[23] KHODAM F, AMANI-GHADIM A R, ABER S. Preparation of CdS quantum dot sensitized solar cell based on ZnTi-layered double hydroxide photoanode to enhance photovoltaic properties[J]. Solar Energy, 2019, 181:325-332. DOI:10.1016/j.solener.2019.02.019.
[24] LIU D, LIU J, LIU J, et al. The photovoltaic performance of CdS/CdSe quantum dots co-sensitized solar cells based on zinc titanium mixed metal oxides[J]. Physica E: Low-dimensional Systems and Nanostructures, 2020, 115:113669. DOI:10.1016/j.physe.2019.113669.
[25] LV K, SHI C, MA C, et al. Introduction of polysulfide anions to increase the loading quantity of PbS quantum-dots for efficient solid-state quantum-dot sensitized TiO2 nanorod array solar cells[J]. Journal of Nanoparticle Research, 2019, 21(1):2. DOI:10.1007/s11051-018-4446-5.
[26] ESPARZA D, ZARAZU 'A I, LÓPEZ-LUKE T, et al. Photovoltaic properties of Bi2S3 and CdS quantum dot sensitized TiO2 solar cells[J]. Electrochimica Acta, 2015, 180:486-492. DOI:10.1016/j.electacta.2015.08.102.
[27] LI W, PENG Z, SUN Z, et al. Orientation modulation of ZnO nanorods on charge transfer performance enhancement for Sb2S3 quantum dot sensitized solar cells[J]. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2020, 816:152628. DOI:10.1016/j.jallcom.2019.152628.
[28] ZHANG Q, GUO X, HUANG X, et al. Highly efficient CdS/CdSe-sensitized solar cells controlled by the structural properties of compact porous TiO2 photoelectrodes[J]. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 2011, 13(10):4659-4667. DOI:10.1039/c0cp02099k.
[29] BRAGA A, GIMÉNEZ S, CONCINA I, et al. Panchromatic sensitized solar cells based on metal sulfide quantum dots grown directly on nanostructured TiO2 electrodes[J]. The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2011, 2(5):454-460. DOI:10.1021/jz2000112.
[30] GONZÁLEZ-PEDRO V, SIMA C, MARZARI G, et al. High performance PbS quantum dot sensitized solar cells exceeding 4% efficiency: the role of metal precursors in the electron injection and charge separation[J]. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 2013, 15(33):13835-13843. DOI:10.1039/c3cp51651b.
[31] DU J, DU Z, HU J S, et al. Zn-Cu-In-Se quantum dot solar cells with a certified power conversion efficiency of 11.6%[J]. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2016, 138(12):4201-4209. DOI:10.1021/jacs.6b00615.
[32] YANG J, ZHONG X. CdTe based quantum dot sensitized solar cells with efficiency exceeding 7% fabricated from quantum dots prepared in aqueous media[J]. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2016, 4(42):16553-16561. DOI:10.1039/c6ta07399a.
[33] LI L, YANG X, ZHANG W, et al. Boron and sulfur co-doped TiO2 nanofilm as effective photoanode for high efficiency CdS quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells[J]. Journal of Power Sources, 2014, 272:508-512. DOI:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2014.08.116.
[34] BAI Y, HAN C, CHEN X, et al. Boosting the efficiency of quantum dot sensitized solar cells up to 7.11% through simultaneous engineering of photocathode and photoanode[J]. Nano Energy, 2015, 13:609-619. DOI:10.1016/j.nanoen.2015.04.002.
[35] ZARBSKA K, ŁCKI T, SKOMPSKA M. Synthesis of CdSe on FTO-supported ZnO nanorods by SILAR and electrochemical methods and comparison of photoelectrochemical properties of FTO/ZnO/CdSe systems in aqueous S2-/S2-n electrolyte[J]. Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, 2018, 819:459-468. DOI:10.1016/j.jelechem.2017.12.036.
[36] LEE J W, SON D Y, AHN T K, et al. Quantum-dot-sensitized solar cell with unprecedentedly high photocurrent[J]. Scientific Reports, 2013, 3:1050. DOI:10.1038/srep01050.
[37] BHANDE S S, AMBADE R B, SHINDE D V, et al. Improved photoelectrochemical cell performance of Tin oxide with functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes-cadmium selenide sensitizer[J]. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2015, 7(45):25094-25104. DOI:10.1021/acsami.5b05385.
[38] KUMAR D K, LOSKOT J, K(ˇoverR)Í(ˇoverZ)J, et al. Synthesis of SnSe quantum dots by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction(SILAR)method for efficient solar cells applications[J]. Solar Energy, 2020, 199:570-574. DOI:10.1016/j.solener.2020.02.050.
[39] 舒婷. 量子点敏化太阳能电池电解质的研究进展[J]. 化学工程师, 2013,27(4): 42-44. DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1002-1124.2013.04-013.
[40] DENG Y, LU S, XU Z, et al. Enhanced performance of CdS/CdSe quantum dot-sensitized solar cells by long-persistence phosphors structural layer[J]. Science China Materials, 2020, 63(4):516-523. DOI:10.1007/s40843-019-1248-6.
[41] LEE H J, CHANG D W, PARK S M, et al. CdSe quantum dot(QD)and molecular dye hybrid sensitizers for TiO2 mesoporous solar cells: working together with a common hole carrier of cobalt complexes[J]. Chemical Communications, 2010, 46(46): 8788-8790. DOI:10.1039/c0cc03808c.
[42] CHEBROLU V T, KIM H J. Recent progress in quantum dot sensitized solar cells: an inclusive review of photoanode, sensitizer, electrolyte, and the counter electrode[J]. Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 2019, 7(17):4911-4933. DOI:10.1039/c8tc06476h.
[43] ZHAO K, YU H, ZHANG H, et al. Electroplating cuprous sulfide counter electrode for high-efficiency long-term stability quantum dot sensitized solar cells[J]. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2014, 118(11):5683-5690. DOI:10.1021/jp4118369.
[44] TYAGI J, GUPTA H, PUROHIT L P. Cascade structured ZnO/TiO2/CdS quantum dot sensitized solar cell[J]. Solid State Sciences, 2020, 102:106176. DOI:10.1016/j.solidstatesciences.2020.106176.
[45] GUO W, ZHANG X, YU R, et al. CoS NWs/Au hybridized networks as efficient counter electrodes for flexible sensitized solar cells[J]. Advanced Energy Materials, 2015, 5(11):1500141. DOI:10.1002/aenm.201500141.
[46] WANG G, DONG W, MA P, et al. Interconnected nitrogen and sulfur co-doped graphene-like porous carbon nanosheets with high electrocatalytic activity as counter electrodes for dye-sensitized and quantum dot-sensitized solar cells[J].Electrochimica Acta, 2018, 290: 273-281. DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta. 2018.09.063.
[47] HESSEIN A, EL-MONEIM A A. Hybrid CuS-PEOT: PSS counter electrode for quantum sensitized solar cell[J].Optik, 2019, 193: 162974. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijleo.2019.162974.
[48] CHEN Y, ZHANG X, TAO Q, 2015. High catalytic activity of a PbS counter electrode prepared via chemical bath deposition for quantum dots-sensitized solar cells[J]. RSC Advances, 2015, 5(3), 1835-1840. DOI: 10.1039/c4ra08076a.
[49] QUY V H V, VIJAYAKUMAR E, HO P, et al. Electrodeposited MoS2 as electrocatalytic counter electrode for quantum dot-and dye-sensitized solar cells[J]. Electrochimica Acta, 2018, 260: 716-725. DOI. 10.1016/j.electacta.2017.12.023.
[50] SARKAR A, BERA S, CHAKROBORTY A. NiS/rGO nanohybrid: an excellent counter electrode for dye sensitized solar cell[J].Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells,2018,182: 314-320. DOI.10.1016/j.solmat.2018.03.026.
[51] GOPI C V, BAE J H, VENKATA-HARITHA M, et al. One-step synthesis of solution processed time-dependent highly efficient and stable PbS counter electrodes for quantum dot-sensitized solar cells[J]. RSC Advances, 2015, 130:107522-107532. DOI:10.1039/c5ra22715a.
[52] SELOPAL G S, CONCINA I, MILAN R, et al. Hierarchical self-assembled Cu2S nanostructures: Fast and reproducible spray deposition of effective counter electrodes for high efficiency quantum dot solar cells[J]. Nano Energy, 2014, 6:200-210. DOI:10.1016/j.nanoen.2014.04.003.
[53] LUO S, KE J, YUAN M, et al. CuInS2 quantum dots embedded in Bi2WO6 nanoflowers for enhanced visible light photocatalytic removal of contaminants[J]. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 2018, 221:215-222. DOI:10.1016/j.apcatb.2017.09.028.
Options
Outlines

/

〈 〉