New Antimony Selenide/Nickel Oxide Photocathode Boosts the Efficiency of Graphene Quantum-Dot Co-Sensitized Solar Cells

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Abstract

A novel assembly of a photocathode and a photoanode is investigated to explore their complementary effects in enhancing the photovoltaic performance of a quantum-dot solar cell (QDSC). While p-type nickel oxide (NiO) has been used previously, antimony selenide (Sb₂Se₃) has not been used in a QDSC, especially as a component of a counter electrode (CE) architecture that doubles as the photocathode. Here, near-infrared (NIR) light-absorbing Sb₂Se₃ nanoparticles (NPs) coated over electrodeposited NiO nanofibers on a carbon (C) fabric substrate was employed as the highly efficient photocathode. Quasi-spherical Sb₂Se₃ NPs, with a band gap of 1.13 eV, upon illumination, release photoexcited electrons in addition to other charge carriers at the CE to further enhance the reduction of the oxidized polysulfide. The p-type conducting behavior of Sb₂Se₃, coupled with a work function at 4.63 eV, also facilitates electron injection to polysulfide. The effect of graphene quantum dots (GQDs) as co-sensitizers as well as electron conduits is also investigated in which a TiO₂/CdS/GQDs photoanode structure in combination with a C-fabric CE delivered a power-conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.28%, which is a vast improvement over the 4.23% that is obtained by using a TiO₂/CdS photoanode (without GQDs) with the same CE. GQDs, due to a superior conductance, impact efficiency more than Sb₂Se₃ NPs do. The best PCE of a TiO₂/CdS/GQDs-nS2-/S_n2--Sb₂Se₃/NiO/C-fabric cell is 5.96% (0.11 cm2 area), which, when replicated on a smaller area of 0.06 cm2, is seen to increase dramatically to 7.19%. The cell is also tested for 6 h of continuous irradiance. The rationalization for the channelized photogenerated electron movement, which augments the cell performance, is furnished in detail in these studies.

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