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Facile synthesis of CdSe nanocrystals for bulk-heterojunction solar cells

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Abstract

Oleic acid (OA)-capped cadmium selenide (CdSe) nanocrystals (NCs) have been synthesized via a new high-scale route. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy confirmed that rod-like hexagonal (wurtzite) CdSe NCs with an average size of 10 nm were obtained via this new route. The obtained CdSe NCs were treated individually with pyridine and tert-butylamine (t-BA) for ligand exchange. Fourier transform infrared spectra of the as-synthesized and treated CdSe NCs confirmed the removal of OA ligands from the surface of CdSe NCs after treatments with pyridine and t-BA. Bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) solar cell devices were prepared using untreated and surface treated CdSe NCs blended with poly (3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) polymer. BHJ solar cell devices made from P3HT:(surface treated CdSe NCs) blends showed greater improvement in photovoltaic performances compared to P3HT:(untreated CdSe NCs) blend. The improvement in photovoltaic performances was due to the increase of electron mobility in P3HT:(CdSe NCs) blends after surface treatment of CdSe NCs.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) for financial support of this work. They also appreciate the help of Dr. Hamed Najari (Department of Chemistry, Laval University) for the fabrication and characterization of solar cell devices.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CREPEC, Chemical Engineering Department, Laval University, Quebec, QC, G1V 0A6, Canada

    Jayesh Patel & Frej Mighri

  2. CREPEC, Chemical Engineering Department, Ecole Polytechnique of Montreal, Succ. Centre-Ville, C.P. 6079, Montreal, QC, H3C 3A7, Canada

    Abdellah Ajji

  3. Dr. K.C. Patel Research and Development Centre, Charotar University of Science and Technology, Changa, Petlad, Anand, 388421, Gujarat, India

    Tapas K. Chaudhuri

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  1. Jayesh Patel
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  2. Frej Mighri
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Correspondence to Frej Mighri.

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Patel, J., Mighri, F., Ajji, A. et al. Facile synthesis of CdSe nanocrystals for bulk-heterojunction solar cells. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 25, 4051–4057 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-014-2128-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-014-2128-3

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