Harvest of near infrared light in PbSe nanocrystal-polymer hybrid photovoltaic cells

Cui, Dehu; Xu, Jian; Tao, Zhu; Paradee, Gary; Ashok, S.; Gerhold, Michael

doi:10.1063/1.2201047

Cited by 227 publications

(171 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

168

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This simple ITO/NC/metal device features a higher NC loading and fewer heterojunctions than either NCsensitized Gratzel or NC/polymer blend designs, and outperforms existing lead salt NC solar cells. [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] Our work demonstrates that large EQEs are obtainable from NC cells without the need for sintering, superlattice order or separate phases for electron and hole transport. An improved understanding of electronic coupling, surface passivation, doping, and junction formation in NC films will lead to much more efficient and stable NC solar cells in the future.…”

mentioning

confidence: 70%

Schottky Solar Cells Based on Colloidal Nanocrystal Films

et al. 2008

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We describe here a simple, all-inorganic metal/NC/metal sandwich photovoltaic (PV) cell that produces an exceptionally large short-circuit photocurrent (>21 mA cm -2 ) by way of a Schottky junction at the negative electrode. The PV cell consists of a PbSe NC film, deposited via layer-by-layer (LbL) dip coating that yields an EQE of 55-65% in the visible and up to 25% in the infrared region of the solar spectrum, with a spectrally corrected AM1.5G power conversion efficiency of 2.1%. This NC device produces one of the largest short-circuit currents of any nanostructured solar cell, without the need for sintering, superlattice order or separate phases for electron and hole transport. Figure 1 shows the structure, current-voltage performance, EQE spectrum, and proposed band diagram of our device. Device fabrication consists of depositing a 60-300 nm-thick film of monodisperse, spheroidal PbSe NCs onto patterned indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass using a layer-by-layer dip coating method, followed by evaporation of a top metal contact. In this LbL method, 1 a layer of NCs is deposited onto the ITO surface by dip coating from a hexane solution and then washed in 0.01 M 1,2-ethanedithiol (EDT) in acetonitrile to remove the electrically insulating oleate ligands that originally solubilize the NCs (see Supporting Information). Large-area, crack-free and mildly conductive (σ ) 5 × 10 -5 S cm -1 ) NC films result. The NCs pack randomly in the films, are partially coated in adsorbed ethanedithiolate, and show p-type conductivity under illumination. 1 X-ray diffraction and optical absorption spectroscopy established that the NCs neither ripen nor sinter in response to EDT exposure. We have found that using methylamine instead of EDT yields similar device performance (Supporting Information, Figure 1). 2 We have also fabricated working devices from PbS and CdSe NCs (Supporting Information, Figures 2 and 3), which indicates that the approach adopted here is not restricted to EDT-treated PbSe NCs and that it should be possible to improve cell efficiency by engineering the surface of the NCs to attain longer carrier diffusion lengths and higher photovoltages through surface state passivation and prevention of Fermi level pinning.When tested in nitrogen ambient under simulated 1-sun test conditions (100 ( 5 mW cm -2 ELH white light illumination), EDT-treated PbSe devices exhibit large shortcircuit photocurrent densities (J SC ) and modest open-circuit voltages (V OC ) and fill factors (FF), with one of the most efficient devices yielding J SC ) 24.5 mA cm -2 , V OC ) 239 mV, FF ) 0.41 and a mismatch-corrected 3 AM1.5G efficiency of 2.1% (Figure 1a; see Supporting Information regarding spectral mismatch). The mismatch-corrected J SC values of these devices are reproducibly larger than those of other nanostructured solar cells, including the best organic 4 and dye-sensitized devices, 5 which is remarkable considering the unsintered, glassy microstructure of our NC films and the fact that the NCs retain quantum confinement...

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 70%

Schottky Solar Cells Based on Colloidal Nanocrystal Films

et al. 2008

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…1,6−9 A variety of promising hybrid solar cells have been reported which use π-conjugated polymers, such as polythiophenes or polyphenylenevinylene derivatives, in conjunction with inorganic nanomaterials, such as gallium arsenide (GaAs), 10 cadmium selenide (CdSe), 1,6,11 indium phosphide (InP), 12 zinc oxide (ZnO), 2,13,14 or lead selenide (PbSe). 15 Semiconductor nanowires (NWs) with high aspect ratio are particularly attractive for use in hybrid solar cells because they offer direct charge pathways to electrodes, large surface areas, high carrier mobility along the nanowires, and chemical and physical stability. 1,3,10,12,16,17 However, the charge transport in such nanowires has been shown to be strongly affected by the presence of surface defect states 18−20 that act as charge traps.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Strong Carrier Lifetime Enhancement in GaAs Nanowires Coated with Semiconducting Polymer

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ABSTRACT:The ultrafast charge carrier dynamics in GaAs/ conjugated polymer type II heterojunctions are investigated using time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy at 10 K. By probing the photoluminescence at the band edge of GaAs, we observe strong carrier lifetime enhancement for nanowires blended with semiconducting polymers. The enhancement is found to depend crucially on the ionization potential of the polymers with respect to the Fermi energy level at the surface of the GaAs nanowires. We attribute these effects to electron doping by the polymer which reduces the unsaturated surfacestate density in GaAs. We find that when the surface of nanowires is terminated by native oxide, the electron injection across the interface is greatly reduced and such surface doping is absent. Our results suggest that surface engineering via π-conjugated polymers can substantially improve the carrier lifetime in nanowire hybrid heterojunctions with applications in photovoltaics and nanoscale photodetectors.

show abstract

“…They studied charge [29] or zinc oxide [30], medium bandgap materials like cadmium sulfide [31], selenide [8,32,33] or telluride [34], copper indium sulfide [35] and selenide [36], as well as low band gap materials like lead sulfide [6], or selenide [37]. Recently, also other abundant and non-toxic materials like SnS 2 [38], FeS 2 [39] or Bi 2 S 3 [40] as well as silicon nanoparticles [41] have been researched concerning the incorporation in hybrid solar cells.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In situ syntheses of semiconducting nanoparticles in conjugated polymer matrices and their application in photovoltaics.

Rath¹,

Trimmel²

2014

Hybrid Materials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Hybrid solar cells based on conjugated polymers and inorganic semiconducting nanoparticles combine beneficial properties of organic and inorganic semiconductors and are, therefore, an exciting alternative to pure organic or inorganic solar cell technologies. Several approaches for the fabrication of hybrid solar cells are already elaborated and explored. In the last years routes have emerged, where the nanoparticles are prepared directly in the matrix of the conjugated polymer. Here, the conjugated polymer prevents the nanoparticles from excessive growth and thereby makes additional capping agents obsolete. This review focuses on in situ preparation methods of inorganic semiconducting nanoparticles in conjugated polymers in view of applications in hybrid solar cells. The details, advantages and disadvantages of the different in situ methods are critically examined and put in comparison to the classical route where pre-synthesized nanoparticles are used. Various key factors influencing the solar cell performance as well as future strategies for increasing the overall efficiency of hybrid solar cells prepared via in situ routes are discussed. KeywordsInorganic-organic hybrid solar cell • Nanocomposite • OPV

show abstract

Harvest of near infrared light in PbSe nanocrystal-polymer hybrid photovoltaic cells

Cited by 227 publications

References 19 publications

Schottky Solar Cells Based on Colloidal Nanocrystal Films

Schottky Solar Cells Based on Colloidal Nanocrystal Films

Strong Carrier Lifetime Enhancement in GaAs Nanowires Coated with Semiconducting Polymer

In situ syntheses of semiconducting nanoparticles in conjugated polymer matrices and their application in photovoltaics.

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About