Photovoltaic Conversion Enhancement of a Carbon Quantum Dots/p-Type CuAlO2/n-Type ZnO Photoelectric Device

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2015 Apr 22;7(15):7878-83. doi: 10.1021/acsami.5b00868. Epub 2015 Apr 8.

Abstract

Carbon quantum dots (C QDs)/p-type CuAlO2/n-type ZnO photoelectric bilayer film composites were prepared by a simple route, through which ZnO films were sputtered on crystal quartz substrates and CuAlO2 films were prepared by sol-gel on ZnO films and then these bilayer films were composited with C QDs on their surface. The characterization results indicated that C QDs were well combined with the surface of the CuAlO2 films. The photovoltage and photocurrent of these bilayer film composites were investigated under illumination and darkness switching, which demonstrated to be significantly enhanced compared with those of the CuAlO2/ZnO bilayer films. Through analysis, this enhancement of the photoconductivity was mainly attributed to C QDs with unique up-converted photoluminescence behavior.

Keywords: carbon quantum dots; photoelectric; p−n junction; transmittance; up-converted photoluminescence.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't