Abstract
In present work, two-dimensional g-C3N4 was used to modify TiO2 nanorod array photoanodes for CdS quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs), and the improved cell performances were reported. Single crystal TiO2 nanorods are prepared by hydrothermal method on transparent conductive glass and spin-coated with g-C3N4. CdS quantum dots were deposited on the g-C3N4 modified TiO2 photoanodes via successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction method. Compared with pure TiO2 nanorod array photoanodes, the g-C3N4 modified photoanodes showed an obvious improvement in cell performances, and a champion efficiency of 2.31 % with open circuit voltage of 0.66 V, short circuit current density of 7.13 mA/cm2, and fill factor (FF) of 0.49 was achieved, giving 23 % enhancement in cell efficiency. The improved performances were due to the matching conduction bands and valence bands of g-C3N4 and TiO2, which greatly enhanced the separation and transfer of the photogenerated electrons and holes and effectively suppressed interfacial recombination. Present work provides a new direction for improving performance of QDSSCs.
Highlights
As one kind of novel solar cells, quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) have attracted worldwide scientific and technological interest [1]
Scheme 1 Schematic illustration of CdS/Graphite carbon nitride (g-C3N4)/TiO2 nanorod photoanode structure pure TiO2 nanorod array photoanodes, the g-C3N4 modified photoanodes showed an obvious improvement in cell performances
We investigated the effect of g-C3N4 as both recombination retarding layer and sensitizer on the performance of QDSSC
Summary
As one kind of novel solar cells, quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) have attracted worldwide scientific and technological interest [1]. The structure of a QDSSC includes photoanode (a layer of porous oxide semiconductor with wide bandgap covered by semiconductor QDs as sensitizers), liquid electrolyte, and counter electrode. Many factors such as morphologies of oxide semiconductors, selection of sensitizers, and counter electrodes et al could greatly affect the photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) of QDSSCs. many efforts have been devoted to investigate these factors. A PCE of 9.01 % was achieved using CdSe0.65Te0.35 quantum dot (QD) as sensitizers [2]. The combination of wide bandgap semiconductors and CdS QDs can preferably collect the visible light used in photoelectrochemical applications
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