Fabrication of ZnO nanostructures sensitized with CdS quantum dots for photovoltaic application using a convenient solution method
- Key Laboratory for the Physics and Chemistry of Nanodevices and Department of Electronics, Peking University, Beijing 100871 (China)
- College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871 (China)
Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures sensitized with cadmium sulfide quantum dots (CdS QDs) were fabricated using a simple and inexpensive solution method. ZnO nanostructures, in the form of either nanocones or nanorods, were first grown directly from fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates in aqueous solutions of zinc nitrate (Zn(NO{sub 3}){sub 2}) and hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA, C{sub 6}H{sub 12}N{sub 4}) under external voltages. Then, CdS QDs were attached to these ZnO nanostructures via reactions in the mixed aqueous solutions of cadmium nitrate (Cd(NO{sub 3}){sub 2}) and thioacetamide (C{sub 2}H{sub 5}NS). Photovoltaic responses were obtained from the quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) in which these CdS QD-covered ZnO nanostructures were employed as the photoanodes. The morphologies of the ZnO nanostructures, which could be effectively modulated via the substrate location in the solutions during the fabrication, were found to have played an important role in determining the properties of the QDSSCs.
- OSTI ID:
- 22420784
- Journal Information:
- Materials Research Bulletin, Vol. 61; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2014 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0025-5408
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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