Ab Initio Simulation of Charge Transfer at the Semiconductor Quantum Dot/TiO 2 Interface in Quantum Dot-Sensitized Solar Cells
Abstract
Quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) have emerged as a promising solar architecture for next-generation solar cells. The QDSSCs exhibit a remarkably fast electron transfer from the quantum dot (QD) donor to the TiO2 acceptor with size quantization properties of QDs that allows for the modulation of band energies to control photoresponse and photoconversion efficiency of solar cells. In order to understand the mechanisms that underpin this rapid charge transfer, the electronic properties of CdSe and PbSe QDs with different sizes on the TiO2 substrate are simulated using a rigorous ab initio density functional method. Our method capitalizes on localized orbital basis set, which is computationally less intensive. Quite intriguingly, a remarkable set of electron bridging states between QDs and TiO2 occurring via the strong bonding between the conduction bands of QDs and TiO2 is revealed. Such bridging states account for the fast adiabatic charge transfer from the QD donor to the TiO2 acceptor, and may be a general feature for strongly coupled donor/acceptor systems. All the QDs/TiO2 systems exhibit type II band alignments, with conduction band offsets that increase with the decrease in QD size. This facilitates the charge transfer from QDs donors to TiO2 acceptors and explains the dependencemore »
- Authors:
-
- Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
- Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Ames Lab., Ames, IA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1226915
- Report Number(s):
- IS-J 8567
Journal ID: ISSN 0934-0866
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-07CH11358
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Particle & Particle Systems Characterization
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 32; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 0934-0866
- Publisher:
- Wiley
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 14 SOLAR ENERGY; 25 ENERGY STORAGE; quantum dot-sensitized solar cells; CdSe and PbSe quantum dots; ab initio simulation; charge transfer; bridging state
Citation Formats
Xin, Xukai, Li, Bo, Jung, Jaehan, Yoon, Young Jun, Biswas, Rana, and Lin, Zhiqun. Ab Initio Simulation of Charge Transfer at the Semiconductor Quantum Dot/TiO 2 Interface in Quantum Dot-Sensitized Solar Cells. United States: N. p., 2014.
Web. doi:10.1002/ppsc.201400111.
Xin, Xukai, Li, Bo, Jung, Jaehan, Yoon, Young Jun, Biswas, Rana, & Lin, Zhiqun. Ab Initio Simulation of Charge Transfer at the Semiconductor Quantum Dot/TiO 2 Interface in Quantum Dot-Sensitized Solar Cells. United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppsc.201400111
Xin, Xukai, Li, Bo, Jung, Jaehan, Yoon, Young Jun, Biswas, Rana, and Lin, Zhiqun. Thu .
"Ab Initio Simulation of Charge Transfer at the Semiconductor Quantum Dot/TiO 2 Interface in Quantum Dot-Sensitized Solar Cells". United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppsc.201400111. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1226915.
@article{osti_1226915,
title = {Ab Initio Simulation of Charge Transfer at the Semiconductor Quantum Dot/TiO 2 Interface in Quantum Dot-Sensitized Solar Cells},
author = {Xin, Xukai and Li, Bo and Jung, Jaehan and Yoon, Young Jun and Biswas, Rana and Lin, Zhiqun},
abstractNote = {Quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) have emerged as a promising solar architecture for next-generation solar cells. The QDSSCs exhibit a remarkably fast electron transfer from the quantum dot (QD) donor to the TiO2 acceptor with size quantization properties of QDs that allows for the modulation of band energies to control photoresponse and photoconversion efficiency of solar cells. In order to understand the mechanisms that underpin this rapid charge transfer, the electronic properties of CdSe and PbSe QDs with different sizes on the TiO2 substrate are simulated using a rigorous ab initio density functional method. Our method capitalizes on localized orbital basis set, which is computationally less intensive. Quite intriguingly, a remarkable set of electron bridging states between QDs and TiO2 occurring via the strong bonding between the conduction bands of QDs and TiO2 is revealed. Such bridging states account for the fast adiabatic charge transfer from the QD donor to the TiO2 acceptor, and may be a general feature for strongly coupled donor/acceptor systems. All the QDs/TiO2 systems exhibit type II band alignments, with conduction band offsets that increase with the decrease in QD size. This facilitates the charge transfer from QDs donors to TiO2 acceptors and explains the dependence of the increased charge transfer rate with the decreased QD size.},
doi = {10.1002/ppsc.201400111},
journal = {Particle & Particle Systems Characterization},
number = 1,
volume = 32,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Jul 24 00:00:00 EDT 2014},
month = {Thu Jul 24 00:00:00 EDT 2014}
}
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