Efficient, Stable, and Low-Cost PbS Quantum Dot Solar Cells with Cr–Ag Electrodes

Abstract

PbS quantum dots (QDs) are a promising nanostructured material for solar cells. However, limited works have been done to explore the active layer thickness, layer deposition techniques, stability improvement, and cost reduction for PbS QD solar cells. We address those issues of device fabrication herein and suggest their possible solutions. In our work, to get the maximum current density from a PbS QD solar cell, we estimated the optimized active layer thickness using Matlab simulation. After that, we fabricated a high-performance and low-cost QD photovoltaic (PV) device with the simulated optimized active layer thickness. We implemented this low-cost device using a 10 mg/mL PbS concentration. Here, spin coating and drop-cast layer deposition methods were used and compared. We found that the device prepared by the spin coating method was more efficient than that by the drop cast method. The spin-coated PbS QD solar cell provided 6.5% power conversion efficiency (PCE) for the AM1.5 light spectrum. Besides this, we observed that Cr (chromium) interfaced with the Ag (Cr–Ag) electrode can provide a highly air-stable electrode.

Monolayer Quantum-Dot Based Light-Sensor by a Photo-Electrochemical Mechanism

“…Micromachines 2020, 11, 817 3 of 9 concentration caused a multilayered QD film. [30,31] All electrochemical measurements were performed with a three-electrode configuration. As-prepared quantum dots on ITOs were utilized as working electrodes.…”

“…By several tests, we came to know that the controlled concentration of “~10 7 particles/µL” asked two times (or less than) drop-deposition of 10 µL QD solution onto 2 cm 2 area of ITO for making a monolayered QD layer; more than 20 µL dropping and drying under current QD concentration caused a multilayered QD film. [ 30 , 31 ] All electrochemical measurements were performed with a three-electrode configuration. As-prepared quantum dots on ITOs were utilized as working electrodes.…”

A Review of the Improvements in the Performance and Stability of Ternary Semi-Transparent Organic Solar Cells: Material and Architectural Approaches

“…The ability of organic materials to tune their bandgap energy revealed a new field of practices for niche applications of building-integrated photovoltaics (PVs), such as self-powered greenhouses and powered windows, known as semi-transparent organic photovoltaics (ST-OPVs). Despite the fact that ST-OPVs have not yet been commercialized, the trade-off between device efficiency and average visible transparency (AVT) remains a challenge, and a number of researchers have assigned their research to increasing the efficiency to a commercial standard and optimizing (AVT) as well [17][18][19][20]. A review of the literature showed that there were useful reviews on ternary systems for bulk heterojunction structures [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30], as well as several interesting reviews on the progress of semi-transparent organic solar cells, from materials to device performance [31][32][33][34][35][36][37].…”