Synthesis of Alloyed CdxZn1-xS Quantum Dots for Photovoltaic Applications

• Published in: IEEE journal of photovoltaics Vol. 10; no. 5; pp. 1319 - 1328
• Main Authors: Solis, Omar E., Rivas, Jesus Manuel, Lopez-Luke, Tzarara, Zarazua, Isaac, de la Torre, Jorge, Esparza, Diego
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01-09-2020
• Subjects: <named-content xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:ali="http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" content-type="math" xlink:type="simple"> <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX"> {Cd_{x}Zn_{x-1}S}</tex-math> </inline-formula> </named-content> quantum dots; <named-content xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:ali="http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" content-type="math" xlink:type="simple"> <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX"> {TiO_{2}}</tex-math> </inline-formula> </named-content>; II-VI semiconductor materials; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaic systems; quantum dot sensitized solar cell (QDSSC); Quantum dots; successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method; surface passivation; Zinc compounds
• ISSN: 2156-3381; 2156-3403
• DOI: 10.1109/JPHOTOV.2020.2987181

This article describes the synthesis of Cd x Zn 1- x S quantum dots prepared using the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction method and incorporated into a photovoltaic device. The Cd x Zn 1- x S quantum dots exhibit good optical and electrical properties. The photovoltaic device has the configuration TiO 2 /Cd 0.75 Zn 0.25 S 1 /ZnS. A photoconversion efficiency of 3.6% was obtained with this device. This efficiency corresponds to a 16% relative increment compared with a reference sample with the configuration TiO 2 /Cd 1 Zn 0 S 1 /ZnS. The improvement is associated with an increment in the open-circuit voltage ( V oc ) from 0.517 to 0.725 V. The corresponding short-circuit current density ( J sc ) was reduced from 12.15 to 11.66 mA cm −2 . Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analyses confirm that the behavior of the device was due to a recombination rate reduction obtained as a result of surface passivation between the TiO 2 layer and the Cd x Zn x-1 S QDs interface.