title: Absorption Enhancement in "Giant" Core/Alloyed-Shell Quantum Dots for Luminescent Solar Concentrator.
abstract: Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) can potentially reduce the cost of solar cells by decreasing the photoactive area of the device and boosting the photoconversion efficiency (PCE). This study demonstrates the application of "giant" CdSe/CdxPb1-xS core/shell quantum dots (QDs) as light harvesters in high performance LSCs with over 1.15% PCE. Pb addition is critical to maximize PCE. First, this study synthesizes "giant" CdSe/CdxPb1-xS QDs with high quantum yield (40%), narrow size distribution (<10%), and stable photoluminescence in a wide temperature range (100-300 K). Subsequently these thick alloyed-shell QDs are embedded in a polymer matrix, resulting in a highly transparent composite with absorption spectrum covering the range 300-600 nm, and are applied as active material for prototype LSCs. The latter exhibits a 15% enhancement in efficiency with respect to 1% PCE of the pure-CdS-shelled QDs. This study attributes this increase to the contribution of Pb doping. The results demonstrate a straightforward approach to enhance light absorption in "giant" QDs by metal doping, indicating a promising route to broaden the absorption spectrum and increase the efficiency of LSCs.
authors: Centre for Energy, Materials and Telecommunications, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université du Québec, 1650 Boulevard Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, Québec, J3X1S2, Canada. haiguang.zhao@emt.inrs.ca.
authors: Haiguang
authors: H
authors: Zhao
authors: Centre for Energy, Materials and Telecommunications, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université du Québec, 1650 Boulevard Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, Québec, J3X1S2, Canada.
authors: Daniele
authors: D
authors: Benetti
authors: Centre for Energy, Materials and Telecommunications, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université du Québec, 1650 Boulevard Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, Québec, J3X1S2, Canada.
authors: Lei
authors: L
authors: Jin
authors: Centre for Energy, Materials and Telecommunications, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université du Québec, 1650 Boulevard Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, Québec, J3X1S2, Canada.
authors: Yufeng
authors: Y
authors: Zhou
authors: Centre for Energy, Materials and Telecommunications, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université du Québec, 1650 Boulevard Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, Québec, J3X1S2, Canada. Federico.rosei@emt.inrs.ca.|Institute for Fundamental and Frontier Science, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054, P. R. China. Federico.rosei@emt.inrs.ca.
authors: Federico
authors: F
authors: Rosei
authors: Department of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, 971 98, Sweden. alberto.vomiero@ltu.se.
authors: Alberto
authors: A
authors: Vomiero
keywords: giant core/shell quantum dots; luminescent solar concentrators; photovoltaics