title: Nitrogen-Doped Mesoporous Carbons as Counter Electrodes in Quantum Dot Sensitized Solar Cells with a Conversion Efficiency Exceeding 12.
abstract: The exploration of catalyst materials for counter electrodes (CEs) in quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSCs) that have both high electrocatalytic activity and low charge transfer resistance is always significant yet challenging. In this work, we report the incorporation of nitrogen heteroatoms into carbon lattices leading to nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon (N-MC) materials with superior catalytic activity when used as CEs in Zn-Cu-In-Se QDSCs. A series of N-MC materials with different nitrogen contents were synthesized by a colloidal silica nanocasting method. Electrochemical measurements revealed that the N-MC with a nitrogen content of 8.58 wt % exhibited the strongest activity in catalyzing the reduction of a polysulfide redox couple (Sn2-/S2-), and therefore, the corresponding QDSC device showed the best photovoltaic performance with an average power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 12.23% and a certified PCE of 12.07% under one full sun illumination, which is a new PCE record for quantum dot based solar cells.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology , Shanghai 200237, China.
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology , Shanghai 200237, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology , Shanghai 200237, China.
authors.forename: Zhonglin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology , Shanghai 200237, China.
authors.forename: Donghui
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3179-4822
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Long
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology , Shanghai 200237, China.
authors.forename: Wuyou
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology , Shanghai 200237, China.
authors.forename: Zhenxiao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology , Shanghai 200237, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology , Shanghai 200237, China.|College of Materials and Energy, South China Agricultural University , 483 Wushan Road, Guangzhou 510642, China.
authors.forename: Xinhua
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2062-8773
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhong