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Interfacial passivation mechanism of sulfide towards quantum dot-sensitized nanocrystalline thin films

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Abstract

We report on the interfacial passivation mechanism in CdSe quantum dot-sensitized ZnO nanocrystalline thin film, where different sulfide semiconductors (such as ZnS and CdS) and sulfide ions are used to modify ZnO nanocrystalline thin film before deposition of CdSe quantum dots (QDs). It is noticed that the highest light-to-electric conversion efficiency of CdSe quantum dot-sensitized ZnO nanocrystalline thin film solar cell is attained up to 4.18 % after CdS interfacial modification. Meanwhile, a simple treatment of ZnO nanocrystalline thin film in Na2S solution can also increase the conversion efficiency of CdSe quantum dot-sensitized solar cell up to 3.45 %. The electron transfer and recombination processes occurred in the interface of QD-sensitized nanocrystalline thin films with and without the different interfacial modifications are detected by measuring intensity modulated photovoltage spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy of solar cells. These results indicate that adsorption of S2− ions on the surface active sites of ZnO nanoparticles is the main reason for the conversion efficiency improvement due to the interfacial passivation of sulfide semiconductors.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 21273160, 21172173, and 20873162), the Nature Science Foundation of Tianjin (Grant No. 14JCYBJC18000), and the Program for Innovative Research Team in the University of Tianjin (TD12-5038).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Inorganic-Organic Hybrid Functional Material Chemistry, Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Structure and Performance for Functional Molecules, College of Chemistry, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, 300387, China

    Jingbo Zhang, Yajiao Li & Kun Liu

  2. State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China

    Chuanzhen Sun, Shouli Bai, Ruixian Luo & Aifan Chen

  3. Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Photochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Chuanzhen Sun & Yuan Lin

  4. Shandong Academy of Pharmaceutical Science, Jinan, 250101, China

    Chuanzhen Sun

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  1. Jingbo Zhang
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  2. Chuanzhen Sun
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  3. Yajiao Li
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  4. Shouli Bai
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  5. Ruixian Luo
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  7. Kun Liu
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  8. Yuan Lin
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Correspondence to Jingbo Zhang or Shouli Bai.

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Zhang, J., Sun, C., Li, Y. et al. Interfacial passivation mechanism of sulfide towards quantum dot-sensitized nanocrystalline thin films. J Solid State Electrochem 21, 883–889 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-016-3438-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-016-3438-6

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