Structural and Optoelectronic Properties of CdSe Tetrapod Nanocrystals for Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cell Applications

Stability of Bulk-Heterojunction Blends for Solar Cell Applications

Polymer solar cells are a promising alternative to more traditional silicon solar cells. This is mainly due to the good solubility of organic semiconductors, which makes it possible to produce large-scale and mechanically flexible devices with roll-to-roll processes. To be able to fully utilise this promising technique the stability of the materials, used in these devices, must be guaranteed. T...

Seeded Synthesis of CdSe/CdS Rod and Tetrapod Nanocrystals

We demonstrate a method for the synthesis of multicomponent nanostructures consisting of CdS and CdSe with rod and tetrapod morphologies. A seeded synthesis strategy is used in which spherical seeds of CdSe are prepared first using a hot-injection technique. By controlling the crystal structure of the seed to be either wurtzite or zinc-blende, the subsequent hot-injection growth of CdS off of t...

Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells — Opportunities and Challenges

Investigation of bulk hybrid heterojunction solar cells based on Cu(In,Ga)Se2 nanocrystals

This work presents the systematic studies of bulk hybrid heterojunction solar cells based on Cu(In, Ga)Se2 (CIGS) nanocrystals (NCs) embedded in poly(3-hexylthiophene) matrix. The CIGS NCs of approximately 17 nm in diameter were homogeneously blended with P3HT layer to form an active layer of a photovoltaic device. The blend ratios of CIGS NCs to P3HT, solvent effects on thin film morphologies,...

Effect of ZnCdTe-Alloyed Nanocrystals on Polymer–Fullerene Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells

The photovoltaic properties of solar cell based on the blends of poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexoxy-1,4-phenylenevinylene) (MEH-PPV), fullerene (C60), and ZnCdTe-alloyed nanocrystals were investigated. Comparing the spectral response of photocurrent of the MEH-PPV:C60(+ZnCdTe) nanocomposite device with that of the devices based on MEH-PPV:C60and pristine MEH-PPV, one can find that the nanocomposit...