CdS-decorated ZnO nanorod heterostructures for improved hybrid photovoltaic devices.
Cadmium sulfide (CdS)-decorated zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorod heterostructures have been grown by a combination of hydrothermal and pulsed laser deposition techniques. Hybrid photovoltaic devices have been fabricated with CdS modified and unmodified ZnO nanorods blended separately with regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) polymer as the active layer. The solar cell performance has been studied as a function of ZnO concentration and the casting solvent (chlorobenzene, chloroform, and toluene) in the unmodified ZnO:P3HT devices. The power conversion efficiency is found to be enhanced with the increase of ZnO concentration up to a certain limit, and decreases at a very high concentration. The surface modification of ZnO nanorods with CdS leads to an increase in the open circuit voltage and short-circuit current, with enhanced efficiency by 300% over the unmodified ZnO:P3HT device, because of the cascaded band structure favoring charge transfer to the external circuit.
Advanced Technology Development Centre, IIT Kharagpur 721302, India.
Tamita
T
Rakshit
Suvra P
SP
Mondal
Indranil
I
Manna
Samit K
SK
Ray
D019187:Cadmium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D016566:Organoselenium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D018036:Selenium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D012993:Solar Energy; D015034:Zinc Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*
D019187:Cadmium Compounds; D016566:Organoselenium Compounds; D018036:Selenium Compounds; C526212:poly(3-hexyl)selenophene; C058667:cadmium selenide; D015034:Zinc Oxide