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Nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots: Optical properties modification and photovoltaic applications

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Abstract

In this work, we utilize a bottom-up approach to synthesize nitrogen self-doped graphene quantum dots (NGQDs) from a single glucosamine precursor via an eco-friendly microwave-assisted hydrothermal method. Structural and optical properties of as-produced NGQDs are further modified using controlled ozone treatment. Ozone-treated NGQDs (Oz-NGQDs) are reduced in size to 5.5 nm with clear changes in the lattice structure and ID/IG Raman ratios due to the introduction/alteration of oxygen-containing functional groups detected by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer and further verified by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) showing increased atomic/weight percentage of oxygen atoms. Along with structural modifications, GQDs experience decrease in ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) absorption coupled with progressive enhancement of visible (up to 16 min treatment) and near-infrared (NIR) (up to 45 min treatment) fluorescence. This allows fine-tuning optical properties of NGQDs for solar cell applications yielding controlled emission increase, while controlled emission quenching was achieved by either blue laser or thermal treatment. Optimized Oz-NGQDs were further used to form a photoactive layer of solar cells with a maximum efficiency of 2.64% providing a 6-fold enhancement over untreated NGQD devices and a 3-fold increase in fill factor/current density. This study suggests simple routes to alter and optimize optical properties of scalably produced NGQDs to boost the photovoltaic performance of solar cells.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank TCU for providing funding from the TCU RCAF (Research and Creative Activities Fund), and TCU Invests in Scholarship grant funding. Also, a grant from the Robert A. Welch Foundation (Grant P-1212 to JLC) is gratefully acknowledged.

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  1. Md Tanvir Hasan and Roberto Gonzalez-Rodriguez contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas Christian University, TCU Box 298840, Fort Worth, Texas, 76129, USA

    Md Tanvir Hasan, Roberto Gonzalez-Rodriguez, Conor Ryan & Anton V. Naumov

  2. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Christian University, TCU Box 298860, Fort Worth, Texas, 76129, USA

    Kristof Pota, Kayla Green & Jeffery L. Coffer

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  1. Md Tanvir Hasan
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Hasan, M.T., Gonzalez-Rodriguez, R., Ryan, C. et al. Nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots: Optical properties modification and photovoltaic applications. Nano Res. 12, 1041–1047 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-019-2337-4

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