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Preparation of nano-flower-like SnO2 particles and their applications in efficient CdS quantum dots sensitized solar cells

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Abstract

Two kinds of hierarchical SnO2 particles as nano-flower-like SnO2 particles (NF-SnO2) and mesoporous-sphere-like SnO2 particles (MS-SnO2) have been synthesized and used in CdS quantum dots (QDs) sensitized solar cells (QDSSC). TEM images show that NF-SnO2 particles compose well interconnected nanoplates and MS-SnO2 spheres are consisted with large numbers of SnO2 nanoparticles with size about 7 nm. Owing to the larger Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area of NF-SnO2 particles, NF-SnO2 photoelectrode can load higher amounts of CdS QDs and shows enhanced light absorbance, resulting in higher short-circuit current density compared with that of MS-SnO2 photoelectrode. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analysis results show that the QDSSC with NF-SnO2 photoelectrode has a higher charge recombination resistance and a longer electron lifetime, so its photovoltaic performance is better than that of the QDSSC with MS-SnO2 photoelectrode. The QDSSC with NF-SnO2 photoelectrode can attain 3 % power conversion efficiency, which is higher than that of the cell with MS-SnO2 photoelectrode (1.97 %).

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. U1205112, 51002053, and 61474047), the Key Project of the Chinese Ministry of Education (212206), the Fujian Provincial Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars (2015J06011), the Programs for Prominent Young Talents and New Century Excellent Talents in Fujian Province University, and the Promotion Program for Yong and Middle-aged Teacher in Science and Technology Research of Huaqiao University (ZQN-YX102).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Engineering Research Center of Environment-Friendly Functional Materials, Ministry of Education, Xiamen, China

    Zhang Lan, Lu Liu, Miaoliang Huang, Jihuai Wu & Jianming Lin

  2. Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Fujian Higher Education, Xiamen, China

    Zhang Lan, Lu Liu, Miaoliang Huang, Jihuai Wu & Jianming Lin

  3. Institute of Materials Physical Chemistry, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, China

    Zhang Lan, Lu Liu, Miaoliang Huang, Jihuai Wu & Jianming Lin

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  1. Zhang Lan
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  2. Lu Liu
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  3. Miaoliang Huang
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  4. Jihuai Wu
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  5. Jianming Lin
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Correspondence to Zhang Lan.

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Lan, Z., Liu, L., Huang, M. et al. Preparation of nano-flower-like SnO2 particles and their applications in efficient CdS quantum dots sensitized solar cells. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 26, 7914–7920 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-015-3444-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-015-3444-y

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