As a cheaper alternative to the industrial Pt electrode used in quantum-sensitized solar cells, the electrophoresis process is employed to create the low-cost FTO/PbS cathode. For structural cubic and sizes ranging from 40 nm to 200 nm, structure and morphology were investigated using high-resolution scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The conversion efficiency of solar cells is significantly impacted by the calcination temperatures of cathodes at 100 ℃, 150 ℃, 200 ℃, and 300 ℃ under vacuum. The FTO/PbS cathode electrode was therefore calcined at 150 ℃ with a maximum efficiency of 3.938%. This happens as a result of the complete fusion of PbS nanoparticles with crystal at 150 ℃, which reduces resistance and increases electron lifetime compared to other temperature combinations.
Citation: Ha Thanh Tung, Ho Kim Dan, Dang Huu Phuc. Effect of the calcination temperature of the FTO/PbS cathode on the performance of a quantum dot-sensitized solar cell[J]. AIMS Materials Science, 2023, 10(3): 426-436. doi: 10.3934/matersci.2023023
As a cheaper alternative to the industrial Pt electrode used in quantum-sensitized solar cells, the electrophoresis process is employed to create the low-cost FTO/PbS cathode. For structural cubic and sizes ranging from 40 nm to 200 nm, structure and morphology were investigated using high-resolution scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The conversion efficiency of solar cells is significantly impacted by the calcination temperatures of cathodes at 100 ℃, 150 ℃, 200 ℃, and 300 ℃ under vacuum. The FTO/PbS cathode electrode was therefore calcined at 150 ℃ with a maximum efficiency of 3.938%. This happens as a result of the complete fusion of PbS nanoparticles with crystal at 150 ℃, which reduces resistance and increases electron lifetime compared to other temperature combinations.
[1] | Zaban AMOI, Mićić OI, Gregg BA, et al. (1998) Photosensitization of nanoporous TiO2 electrodes with InP quantum dots. Langmuir 14: 3153–3156. https://doi.org/10.1021/la9713863 doi: 10.1021/la9713863 |
[2] | Yu P, Zhu K, Norman AG, et al. (2006) Nanocrystalline TiO2 solar cells sensitized with InAs quantum dots. J Phys Chem B 110: 25451–25454. https://doi.org/10.1021/jp064817b doi: 10.1021/jp064817b |
[3] | Yu WW, Wang YA, Peng X (2003) Formation and stability of size-, shape-, and structure-controlled CdTe nanocrystals: ligand effects on monomers and nanocrystals. Chem Mater 15: 4300–4308. https://doi.org/10.1021/cm034729t doi: 10.1021/cm034729t |
[4] | Beard MC (2011) Multiple exciton generation in semiconductor quantum dots. J Phys Chem Lett 2: 1282–1288. https://doi.org/10.1021/jz200166y doi: 10.1021/jz200166y |
[5] | Fang J, Wu J, Lu X, et al. (1997) Sensitization of nanocrystalline TiO2 electrode with quantum sized CdSe and ZnTCPc molecules. Chem Phys Lett 270: 145-151. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0009-2614(97)00333-3 doi: 10.1016/S0009-2614(97)00333-3 |
[6] | Lee W, Kwak WC, Min SK, et al. (2008) Spectral broadening in quantum dots-sensitized photoelectrochemical solar cells based on CdSe and Mg-doped CdSe nanocrystals. Electrochem Commun 10: 1699–1702. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elecom.2008.08.025 doi: 10.1016/j.elecom.2008.08.025 |
[7] | Liu D, Kamat PV (1993) Photoelectrochemical behavior of thin cadmium selenide and coupled titania/cadmium selenide semiconductor films. J Physical Chemistry 97: 10769-10773. https://doi.org/10.1021/j100143a041 doi: 10.1021/j100143a041 |
[8] | Peter LM, Riley DJ, Tull EJ, et al. (2002) Photosensitization of nanocrystalline TiO2 by self-assembled layers of CdS quantum dots. Chem Commun 10: 1030–1031. https://doi.org/10.1039/b201661c doi: 10.1039/b201661c |
[9] | Vogel R, Pohl K, Weller H (1990) Sensitization of highly porous, polycrystalline TiO2 electrodes by quantum sized CdS. Chem Phys Lett 174: 241–246. https://doi.org/10.1016/0009-2614(90)85339-E doi: 10.1016/0009-2614(90)85339-E |
[10] | Mora-Seró I, Giménez S, Moehl T, et al. (2008) Factors determining the photovoltaic performance of a CdSe quantum dot sensitized solar cell: the role of the linker molecule and of the counter electrode. Nanotechnology 19: 424007. https://doi.org/10.1088/0957-4484/19/42/424007 doi: 10.1088/0957-4484/19/42/424007 |
[11] | Shen YJ, Lee YL (2008) Assembly of CdS quantum dots onto mesoscopic TiO2 films for quantum dot-sensitized solar cell applications. Nanotechnology 19: 045602. https://doi.org/10.1088/0957-4484/19/04/045602 doi: 10.1088/0957-4484/19/04/045602 |
[12] | Lee YL, Lo YS (2009) Highly efficient quantum-dot-sensitized solar cell based on co‐sensitization of CdS/CdSe. Adv Funct Mater 19: 604–609. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.200800940 doi: 10.1002/adfm.200800940 |
[13] | Zhang Q, Zhang Y, Huang S, et al. (2010) Application of carbon counterelectrode on CdS quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs). Electrochem Commun 12: 327–330. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elecom.2009.12.032 doi: 10.1016/j.elecom.2009.12.032 |
[14] | Sudhagar P, Jung JH, Park S, et al. (2009) The performance of coupled (CdS: CdSe) quantum dot-sensitized TiO2 nanofibrous solar cells. Electrochem Commun 11: 2220–2224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elecom.2009.09.035 doi: 10.1016/j.elecom.2009.09.035 |
[15] | Yu Z, Zhang Q, Qin D, et al. (2010) Highly efficient quasi-solid-state quantum-dot-sensitized solar cell based on hydrogel electrolytes. Electrochem Commun 12: 1776–1779. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elecom.2010.10.022 doi: 10.1016/j.elecom.2010.10.022 |
[16] | Wang S, Tian J (2016) Recent advances in counter electrodes of quantum dot-sensitized solar cells. RSC Adv 6: 90082–90099. https://doi.org/10.1039/C6RA19226B doi: 10.1039/C6RA19226B |
[17] | Kamaja CK, Devarapalli RR, Dave Y, et al. (2016) Synthesis of novel Cu2S nanohusks as high performance counter electrode for CdS/CdSe sensitized solar cell. J Power Sources 315: 277–283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2016.03.027 doi: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2016.03.027 |
[18] | Kim HJ, Kim DJ, Rao SS, et al. (2014) Highly efficient solution processed nanorice structured NiS counter electrode for quantum dot sensitized solar cells. Electrochim Acta 127: 427–432. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2014.02.019 doi: 10.1016/j.electacta.2014.02.019 |
[19] | Chen H, Zhu L, Liu H, et al. (2014) Efficient iron sulfide counter electrode for quantum dots-sensitized solar cells. J Power Sources 245: 406–410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2013.06.004 doi: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2013.06.004 |
[20] | Raj CJ, Prabakar K, Savariraj AD, et al. (2013) Surface reinforced platinum counter electrode for quantum dots sensitized solar cells. Electrochim Acta 103: 231–236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2013.04.016 doi: 10.1016/j.electacta.2013.04.016 |
[21] | Selopal GS, Zhao H, Tong X, et al. (2017) Highly stable colloidal "giant" quantum dots sensitized solar cells. Adv Funct Mater 27: 1701468. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201701468 doi: 10.1002/adfm.201701468 |
[22] | Jiao S, Shen Q, Mora-Sero I, et al. (2015) Band engineering in core/shell ZnTe/CdSe for photovoltage and efficiency enhancement in exciplex quantum dot sensitized solar cells. ACS Nano 9: 908–915. https://doi.org/10.1021/nn506638n doi: 10.1021/nn506638n |
[23] | Kim JY, Yang J, Yu JH, et al. (2015) Highly efficient copper-indium-selenide quantum dot solar cells: suppression of carrier recombination by controlled ZnS overlayers. ACS Nano 9: 11286–11295. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.5b04917 doi: 10.1021/acsnano.5b04917 |
[24] | Tachan Z, Shalom M, Hod I, et al. (2011) PbS as a highly catalytic counter electrode for polysulfide-based quantum dot solar cells. J Phys Chem C 115: 6162–6166. https://doi.org/10.1021/jp112010m doi: 10.1021/jp112010m |
[25] | Nguyen TP, Ha TT, Nguyen TT, et al. (2018) Effect of Cu2+ ions doped on the photovoltaic features of CdSe quantum dot sensitized solar cells. Electrochim Acta 282: 16–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2018.06.046 doi: 10.1016/j.electacta.2018.06.046 |
[26] | Thulasi-Varma CV, Rao SS, Ikkurthi KD, et al. (2015) Enhanced photovoltaic performance and morphological control of the PbS counter electrode grown on functionalized self-assembled nanocrystals for quantum-dot sensitized solar cells via cost-effective chemical bath deposition. J Mater Chem C 3: 10195–10206. https://doi.org/10.1039/C5TC01988E doi: 10.1039/C5TC01988E |
[27] | Yang Y, Zhu L, Sun H, et al. (2012) Composite counter electrode based on nanoparticulate PbS and carbon black: towards quantum dot-sensitized solar cells with both high efficiency and stability. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 4: 6162–6168. https://doi.org/10.1021/am301787q doi: 10.1021/am301787q |
[28] | Shyju TS, Anandhi S, Sivakumar R, et al. (2014) Studies on lead sulfide (pbs) semiconducting thin films deposited from nanoparticles and its nlo application. Int J Nanosci 13: 1450001. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0219581X1450001X doi: 10.1142/S0219581X1450001X |
[29] | Turgut G, Koçyiğit A, Sönmez E (2015) Influences of Pr and Ta doping concentration on the characteristic features of FTO thin film deposited by spray pyrolysis. Chinese Phys B 24: 107301. https://doi.org/10.1088/1674-1056/24/10/107301 doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/24/10/107301 |
[30] | Zhang JB, Zhao FY, Tang GS, et al. (2013) Influence of highly efficient PbS counter electrode on photovoltaic performance of CdSe quantum dots-sensitized solar cells. J Solid State Electr 17: 2909–2915. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-013-2210-4 doi: 10.1007/s10008-013-2210-4 |