Fabrication of quantum dot sensitized solar cell based on ternary quaternary quantum dots

Abstract

The present thesis deals in the synthesis and characterization of quantum dot sensitized solar cell (QDSSC) based on ternary/quaternary quantum dots (QD). It includes the synthesis and characterizations of titanium dioxide (TiO2) for photoanode; copper-nickel-sulfide (Cu-Ni-S) alloy and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) for counter electrode; binary bismuth sulphide (Bi2S3) QDs, ternary silver-zinc-sulfide (Ag-Zn-S) QDs, and quaternary copper-zinc-lead-sulfide (Cu-Zn-Pb-S) QDs as sensitizers in QDSSC device. Morphological, crystallographic, optical, elemental analysis, electrochemical studies and conductivity measurements were performed to characterize materials. Also, for current-voltage curve, the final devices were tested on solar simulator. Further the thickness of the CE was varied by varying successive ionic layer adsorption (SILAR) cycles and its effect on the device performance was studied. Also, the concentration of ternary QDs was varied to test its effect on photovoltaic performance of the device. Our device with 10 SILAR cycles of Cu-Ni-S CE and 15 mM Ag+/ 10 mM Zn+/ 15 mM S- performed best among other prepared devices. newline