Influence of Cu vacancy on knit coir mat structured CuS as counter electrode for quantum dot sensitized solar cells

A. Dennyson Savariraj, Kodakkal Kannan Viswanathan, Kandasamy Prabakar

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

83 Scopus citations

Abstract

Knit-coir-mat-like structured CuS thin films prepared by chemical bath deposition with different time duration were used as counter electrode in qunatum dot sensitized solar cells. The film deposited at 4 h exhibited better electrochemical and photovoltaic performance with JSC, VOC, and FF values of 14.584 mA cm-2, 0.566 V, and 54.57% and efficiency of 4.53%. From the UV-vis absorption spectra, it is observed that CuS thin film exhibits free carrier intraband absorption in the longer wavelengh region. The enhanced performance of CuS counter electrodes is due to Cu vacancies with increased S composition, and the quasi-Fermi energy level in semiconductors with respect to electrolyte redox potential is one of the causes that affects the electrocatalytic activity of counter electrodes. (Chemical Equation Presented).

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)19702-19709
Number of pages8
JournalACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Volume6
Issue number22
DOIs
StatePublished - 26 Nov 2014

Keywords

  • CuS counter electrodes
  • Impedance spectroscopy
  • Knit coir mat
  • Quantum dot solar cells

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