Investigation on the Role of antimony in CdTe QDs sensitized solar cells

Abstract

In this work, the effect of Sb doping on the structural, optical and photovoltaic properties of the CdTe quantum dots (QDs) were reported. Sb doped CdTe (SDC) QDs were synthesized with different dopant concentration in aqueous phase. Prepared QDs were analytically characterized for their structural, optical and compositional informations. Prepared SDC QDs possessed cubic zinc blende crystalline structure, which was revealed through XRD studies. XRD patterns also elucidate that the crystalline nature was not altered by the dopant ion incorporation. The optical response of SDC QDs revealed the size and dopant dependent optical properties. Presence of different functional groups and it's composition confirmed the formation of SDC QDs and it also confirmed the superior capping effect of thiol capping agent. Formation of SDC QDs was further confirmed by XPS analysis through binding energy variation of individual elements. Sandwich type QDs senstized solar cell was fabricated to study the photovoltaic response of the prepared QDs. At the standard illumination condition, Sb doped CdTe QDs sensitized TiO2 photoanodes showed superior photovoltaic response than pure CdTe QDs.