Issue 37, 2016

Solid-state colloidal CuInS2 quantum dot solar cells enabled by bulk heterojunctions

Abstract

Colloidal copper indium sulfide (CIS) nanocrystals (NCs) are Pb- and Cd-free alternatives for use as absorbers in quantum dot solar cells. In a heterojunction with TiO2, non-annealed ligand-exchanged CIS NCs form solar cells yielding a meager power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 0.15%, with photocurrents plummeting far below predicted values from absorption. Decreasing the amount of zinc during post-treatment leads to improved mobility but marginal improvement in device performance (PCE = 0.30%). By incorporating CIS into a porous TiO2 network, we saw an overall drastic improvement in device performance, reaching a PCE of 1.16%, mainly from an increase in short circuit current density (Jsc) and fill factor (FF) and a 10-fold increase in internal quantum efficiency (IQE). We have determined that by moving from a bilayer to a bulk heterojunction architecture, we have reduced the trap-assisted recombination as seen in changes in the ideality factor, the intensity dependence of the photocurrent and transient photocurrent (TPC) and photovoltage (TPV) characteristics.

Graphical abstract: Solid-state colloidal CuInS2 quantum dot solar cells enabled by bulk heterojunctions

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
14 Jul 2016
Accepted
27 Aug 2016
First published
29 Aug 2016

Nanoscale, 2016,8, 16776-16785

Solid-state colloidal CuInS2 quantum dot solar cells enabled by bulk heterojunctions

D. So, S. Pradhan and G. Konstantatos, Nanoscale, 2016, 8, 16776 DOI: 10.1039/C6NR05563J

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