The Frontiers of Nanomaterials (SnS, PbS and CuS) for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Applications: An Exciting New Infrared Material

Overview

Journal Molecules

Publisher MDPI

Specialty Biology

Date 2019 Nov 24

PMID 31757087

Citations 4

Authors

Edson L Meyer

Johannes Z Mbese

Mojeed A Agoro

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

To date, extensive studies have been done on solar cells on how to harness the unpleasant climatic condition for the binary benefits of renewable energy sources and potential energy solutions. Photovoltaic (PV) is considered as, not only as the future of humanity's source of green energy, but also as a reliable solution to the energy crisis due to its sustainability, abundance, easy fabrication, cost-friendly and environmentally hazard-free nature. PV is grouped into first, second and third-generation cells. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), classified as third-generation PV, have gained more ground in recent times. This is linked to their transparency, high efficiency, shape, being cost-friendly and flexibility of colour. However, further improvement of DSSCs by quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) has increased their efficiency through the use of semiconducting materials, such as quantum dots (QDs), as sensitizers. This has paved way for the fabrication of semiconducting QDs to replace the ideal DSSCs with quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs). Moreover, there are no absolute photosensitizers that can cover all the infrared spectrum, the infusion of QD metal sulphides with better absorption could serve as a breakthrough. Metal sulphides, such as PbS, SnS and CuS QDs could be used as photosensitizers due to their strong near infrared (NIR) absorption properties. A few great dependable and reproducible routes to synthesize better QD size have attained much ground in the past and of late. The injection of these QD materials, which display (NIR) absorption with localized surface plasmon resonances (SPR), due to self-doped p-type carriers and photocatalytic activity could enhance the performance of the solar cell. This review will be focused on QDs in solar cell applications, the recent advances in the synthesis method, their stability, and long term prospects of QDSSCs efficiency.

Citing Articles

FeS/FeS nanoscale structures synthesized in one step from Fe(ll) dithiocarbamate complexes as a single source precursor.

Agoro M, Meyer E Front Chem. 2022; 10:1035594.

PMID: 36531333 PMC: 9755493. DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2022.1035594.

Star-shaped colloidal PbS nanocrystals: structural evolution and growth mechanism.

Abu-Hariri A, Budniak A, Horani F, Lifshitz E RSC Adv. 2022; 11(49):30560-30568.

PMID: 35479867 PMC: 9041140. DOI: 10.1039/d1ra04402h.

Electrochemistry of Inorganic OCT-PbS/HDA and OCT-PbS Photosensitizers Thermalized from (-diisopropyl--octyldithiocarbamato) Pb(II) Molecular Precursors.

Agoro M, Mbese J, Meyer E Molecules. 2020; 25(8).

PMID: 32326265 PMC: 7221899. DOI: 10.3390/molecules25081919.

Electrochemical Performance of Photovoltaic Cells using HDA Capped-SnS Nanocrystal from bis (-1,4-Phenyl--Morpho-Dithiocarbamato) Sn(II) Complexes.

Mbese J, Meyer E, Agoro M Nanomaterials (Basel). 2020; 10(3).

PMID: 32120983 PMC: 7152851. DOI: 10.3390/nano10030414.

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