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The photovoltaic performance of green quantum dots and dye-sensitized solar cells

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Abstract

The liquid-junction film solar cells was co-sensitized with sole green quantum dots (QDs) Ag2S and molecular dye N719 via the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) and soaking method, respectively. The results of XRD, SEM, EDX, TEM, BET and UV–Vis. DRS measurements proved that crystalline Ag2S QDs distributed in TiO2 porous film uniformly with 6–7 nm diameter and co-sensitization with Ag2S QDs and N719 dye caused stronger light absorption in visible-near-infrared range. The introduction of Ag2S QDs can decrease the impedance of photoanode/electrolyte interface and increase the lifetime of photo-excited carriers according to electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurement results. Under one sun (AM 1.5, 100 mW/cm2), cell sample deposited with Ag2S QDs in 4 SILAR cycles showed the best photovoltaic performance with the photocurrent density of 10.99 mA/cm2 and a power conversion efficiency of 4.82%, which was higher than that of N719-sensitized solar cell (8.35 mA/cm2 and 3.35%). The improving mechanism of photovoltaic performance was discussed based on the energy level alignment in co-sensitized photoanodes and interface situation in cells.

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The authors promise to comply with Type 3 data policy that all data in this manuscript will be freely available to any researcher wishing to use them for non-commercial purposes, without breaching participant confidentiality. All data resulted from the experiments expressed in this manuscript.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by Heilongjiang Province Natural Science Fund (Grant No. E2018044).

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  1. School of Material Science and Chemical Engineering, Harbin University of Science and Technology, Harbin, 150040, China

    Xintong Chen & Wei Zheng

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  1. Xintong Chen
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  2. Wei Zheng
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All authors promised that we: (1) made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work and interpretation of data in the work, (2) drafted the work and revised it critically for important intellectual content, (3) approved the version to be published, (4) agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

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Correspondence to Wei Zheng.

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Chen, X., Zheng, W. The photovoltaic performance of green quantum dots and dye-sensitized solar cells. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 33, 23714–23721 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-022-09130-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-022-09130-8

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