TY - JOUR
T1 - Effect of sodium acetate additive in successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction on the performance of CdS quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells
AU - Liu, I. Ping
AU - Chen, Liang Yih
AU - Lee, Yuh Lang
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors are grateful for the research funding provided by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) of Taiwan under the projects MOST 103-2221-E-006-248-MY3 , 104-2119-M-006-003 , and 105-2623-E-006-011-ET . The financial support from the Headquarters of University Advancement at the National Cheng Kung University , which is sponsored by the Ministry of Education , is also appreciated. We acknowledge Prof. Peter Chen for fruitful discussions and helpful suggestions. I-Ping Liu thanks the scholarship received from the Hsing Tian Kong in Taiwan.
PY - 2016/9/1
Y1 - 2016/9/1
N2 - Sodium acetate (NaAc) is utilized as an additive in cationic precursors of the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) process to fabricate CdS quantum-dot (QD)-sensitized photoelectrodes. The effects of the NaAc concentration on the deposition rate and distribution of QDs in mesoporous TiO2 films, as well as on the performance of CdS-sensitized solar cells are studied. The experimental results show that the presence of NaAc can significantly accelerate the deposition of CdS, improve the QD distribution across photoelectrodes, and thereby, increase the performance of solar cells. These results are mainly attributed to the pH-elevation effect of NaAc to the cationic precursors which increases the electrostatic interaction of the TiO2 film to cadmium ions. The light-to-energy conversion efficiency of the CdS-sensitized solar cell increases with increasing concentration of the NaAc and approaches a maximum value (3.11%) at 0.05 M NaAc. Additionally, an ionic exchange is carried out on the photoelectrode to transform the deposited CdS into CdS1−xSex ternary QDs. The light-absorption range of the photoelectrode is extended and an exceptional power conversion efficiency of 4.51% is achieved due to this treatment.
AB - Sodium acetate (NaAc) is utilized as an additive in cationic precursors of the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) process to fabricate CdS quantum-dot (QD)-sensitized photoelectrodes. The effects of the NaAc concentration on the deposition rate and distribution of QDs in mesoporous TiO2 films, as well as on the performance of CdS-sensitized solar cells are studied. The experimental results show that the presence of NaAc can significantly accelerate the deposition of CdS, improve the QD distribution across photoelectrodes, and thereby, increase the performance of solar cells. These results are mainly attributed to the pH-elevation effect of NaAc to the cationic precursors which increases the electrostatic interaction of the TiO2 film to cadmium ions. The light-to-energy conversion efficiency of the CdS-sensitized solar cell increases with increasing concentration of the NaAc and approaches a maximum value (3.11%) at 0.05 M NaAc. Additionally, an ionic exchange is carried out on the photoelectrode to transform the deposited CdS into CdS1−xSex ternary QDs. The light-absorption range of the photoelectrode is extended and an exceptional power conversion efficiency of 4.51% is achieved due to this treatment.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2016.06.095
DO - 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2016.06.095
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84976448905
VL - 325
SP - 706
EP - 713
JO - Journal of Power Sources
JF - Journal of Power Sources
SN - 0378-7753
ER -