Carbon Counter-Electrode-Based Quantum-Dot-Sensitized Solar Cells with Certified Efficiency Exceeding 11%

Zhonglin Du, Zhenxiao Pan, Francisco Fabregat-Santiago, Ke Zhao, Donghui Long, Hua Zhang, Yixin Zhao, Xinhua Zhong, Jong Sung Yu, Juan Bisquert

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

177 Scopus citations

Abstract

The mean power conversion efficiency (PCE) of quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSCs) is mainly limited by the low photovoltage and fill factor (FF), which are derived from the high redox potential of polysulfide electrolyte and the poor catalytic activity of the counter electrode (CE), respectively. Herein, we report that this problem is overcome by adopting Ti mesh supported mesoporous carbon (MC/Ti) CE. The confined area in Ti mesh substrate not only offers robust carbon film with submillimeter thickness to ensure high catalytic capacity, but also provides an efficient three-dimension electrical tunnel with better conductivity than state-of-art Cu2S/FTO CE. More importantly, the MC/Ti CE can down shift the redox potential of polysulfide electrolyte to promote high photovoltage. In all, MC/Ti CEs boost PCE of CdSe0.65Te0.35 QDSCs to a certified record of 11.16% (Jsc = 20.68 mA/cm2, Voc = 0.798 V, FF = 0.677), an improvement of 24% related to previous record. This work thus paves a way for further improvement of performance of QDSCs.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3103-3111
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Physical Chemistry Letters
Volume7
Issue number16
DOIs
StatePublished - 18 Aug 2016

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 American Chemical Society.

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