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Nanomaterials
Volume 8
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10.3390/nano8070460
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Article

Interface Passivation Effects on the Photovoltaic Performance of Quantum Dot Sensitized Inverse Opal TiO2 Solar Cells

by
Kanae Hori
1,
Yaohong Zhang
1,*,
Pimsiri Tusamalee
1,2,
Naoki Nakazawa
1,
Yasuha Yoshihara
1,
Ruixiang Wang
3,
Taro Toyoda
1,
Shuzi Hayase
4 and
Qing Shen
1,*
1
Department of Engineering Science, The University of Electro Communications, 1-5-1 Chofugaoka, Chofu, Tokyo 182-8585, Japan
2
Department of Physics, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, 1 Soi Chalongkrung 1, Ladkrabang, Bangkok 10520, Thailand
3
Beijing Engineering Research Centre of Sustainable Energy and Buildings, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing 102616, China
4
Graduate school of Life Science and Systems Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, 2-4 Hibikino, Wakamatsu-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka 808-0196, Japan
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Nanomaterials 2018, 8(7), 460; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano8070460
Received: 5 May 2018 / Revised: 19 June 2018 / Accepted: 23 June 2018 / Published: 25 June 2018
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Abstract

Quantum dot (QD)-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) are expected to achieve higher energy conversion efficiency than traditional single-junction silicon solar cells due to the unique properties of QDs. An inverse opal (IO)-TiO2 (IO-TiO2) electrode is useful for QDSSCs because of its three-dimensional (3D) periodic nanostructures and better electrolyte penetration compared to the normal nanoparticles (NPs)-TiO2 (NPs-TiO2) electrode. We find that the open-circuit voltages Voc of the QDSSCs with IO-TiO2 electrodes are higher than those of QDSSCs with NPs-TiO2 electrodes. One important strategy for enhancing photovoltaic conversion efficiency of QDSSCs with IO-TiO2 electrodes is surface passivation of photoanodes using wide-bandgap semiconducting materials. In this study, we have proposed surface passivation on IO-TiO2 with ZnS coating before QD deposition. The efficiency of QDSSCs with IO-TiO2 electrodes is largely improved (from 0.74% to 1.33%) because of the enhancements of Voc (from 0.65 V to 0.74 V) and fill factor (FF) (from 0.37 to 0.63). This result indicates that ZnS passivation can reduce the interfacial recombination at the IO-TiO2/QDs and IO-TiO2/electrolyte interfaces, for which two possible explanations can be considered. One is the decrease of recombination at IO-TiO2/electrolyte interfaces, and the other one is the reduction of the back-electron injection from the TiO2 electrode to QDs. All of the above results are effective for improving the photovoltaic properties of QDSSCs. View Full-Text
Keywords: quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs); inverse opal-TiO2; surface passivation quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs); inverse opal-TiO2; surface passivation
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MDPI and ACS Style

Hori, K.; Zhang, Y.; Tusamalee, P.; Nakazawa, N.; Yoshihara, Y.; Wang, R.; Toyoda, T.; Hayase, S.; Shen, Q. Interface Passivation Effects on the Photovoltaic Performance of Quantum Dot Sensitized Inverse Opal TiO2 Solar Cells. Nanomaterials 2018, 8, 460. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano8070460

AMA Style

Hori K, Zhang Y, Tusamalee P, Nakazawa N, Yoshihara Y, Wang R, Toyoda T, Hayase S, Shen Q. Interface Passivation Effects on the Photovoltaic Performance of Quantum Dot Sensitized Inverse Opal TiO2 Solar Cells. Nanomaterials. 2018; 8(7):460. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano8070460

Chicago/Turabian Style

Hori, Kanae, Yaohong Zhang, Pimsiri Tusamalee, Naoki Nakazawa, Yasuha Yoshihara, Ruixiang Wang, Taro Toyoda, Shuzi Hayase, and Qing Shen. 2018. "Interface Passivation Effects on the Photovoltaic Performance of Quantum Dot Sensitized Inverse Opal TiO2 Solar Cells" Nanomaterials 8, no. 7: 460. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano8070460

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