Influence of Cationic Precursors on CdS Quantum-Dot-Sensitized Solar Cell Prepared by Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction

Abstract

Successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) is the most extensively used method for the direct and simultaneous synthesis and deposition of quantum dots (QDs) onto porous oxide films for quantum-dot-sensitized solar cell (QDSC) applications. In this work, the noticeable influences of the cationic precursors on the deposition of CdS QDs and the QDSC performance have been studied. A careful comparison of two cationic precursors, cadmium nitrate and cadmium acetate, for the preparation of CdS QDSCs by the SILAR method showed that, compared to the commonly used cadmium nitrate, cadmium acetate provided a significantly higher deposition rate of CdS QDs on TiO2 films. A solar cell power conversion efficiency of 2.15% was achieved for a CdS QDSC employing cadmium acetate as the cationic precursor, much higher than the value of 1.44% obtained for the cell prepared using cadmium nitrate for the same number of SILAR cycles. Control experiments in which the recipes of the cationic precursor solutions were...