Abstract
The CdTe nanocrystal (NC) is an outstanding, low-cost photovoltaic material for highly efficient solution-processed thin-film solar cells. Currently, most CdTe NC thin-film solar cells are based on CdSe, ZnO, or CdS buffer layers. In this study, a wide bandgap and Cd-free ZnSe NC is introduced for the first time as the buffer layer for all solution-processed CdTe/ZnSe NC hetero-junction thin-film solar cells with a configuration of ITO/ZnO/ZnSe/CdTe/MoOx/Au. The dependence of the thickness of the ZnSe NC film, the annealing temperature and the chemical treatment on the performance of NC solar cells are investigated and discussed in detail. We further develop a ligand-exchanging strategy that involves 1,2-ethanedithiol (EDT) during the fabrication of ZnSe NC film. An improved power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 3.58% is obtained, which is increased by 16.6% when compared to a device without the EDT treatment. We believe that using ZnSe NC as the buffer layer holds the potential for developing high-efficiency, low cost, and stable CdTe NC-based solar cells.
Highlights
Solution-processed thin-film solar cells based on nanocrystals (NC), perovskites, or organic light absorbers have many merits such as low cost, easy large-area manufacturing, flexibility and high efficiency, which make them competitive when compared with traditional crystal Si or thin-film solar cells based on vacuum technics [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
We found that the J We increases from annealed at 350 °C with 2 treatment after five layers of CdTe NC are deposited.sc found that 2 to 10.35 mA/cm2 when ZnSe thickness increases from 25 nm to 110 nm and decreases
The device with EDT treatment performed the buffer layer shows an improved power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 3.58%, which is 16.6% higher than the device without on the buffer layer shows an improved PCE of 3.58%, which is 16.6% higher than the device without
Summary
Solution-processed thin-film solar cells based on nanocrystals (NC), perovskites, or organic light absorbers have many merits such as low cost, easy large-area manufacturing, flexibility and high efficiency, which make them competitive when compared with traditional crystal Si or thin-film solar cells based on vacuum technics [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. CdTe thin-film solar cells with efficiency >22% has been realized by optimizing the fabricating techniques, while other thin-film solar cells such as CuInx Ga(1−x) Se2 (CIGS) or perovskite with efficiency up to 23% are realized, which is prospective for low-cost and efficient solar cell products [12]. With the development of NC thin film treatment technics and device structure design, the PCE of solution-processed CdTe. Appl.
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