Reducing the Open-Circuit Voltage Loss of PbS Quantum Dot Solar Cells via Hybrid Ligand Exchange Treatment

Tengzuo Huang; Chunyan Wu; Jinpeng Yang; Pengyu Hu; Lei Qian; Tao Sun; Chaoyu Xiang

doi:10.1021/acsami.3c16599

Reducing the Open-Circuit Voltage Loss of PbS Quantum Dot Solar Cells via Hybrid Ligand Exchange Treatment

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2024 Jan 10;16(1):915-923. doi: 10.1021/acsami.3c16599. Epub 2023 Dec 25.

Authors

Tengzuo Huang^{1

2

3

4}, Chunyan Wu^{1

3

4}, Jinpeng Yang², Pengyu Hu², Lei Qian^{1

3

4}, Tao Sun², Chaoyu Xiang^{1

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Advanced Nano-Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Qianwan Institute of CNITECH, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315336, P. R. China.
² International Joint Research Center of China for Optoelectronic and Energy Materials, Energy Research Institute, Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan 650091, P. R. China.
³ Laboratory of Advanced Nano-Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Science, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315201, P. R. China.
⁴ Zhejiang Provincial Engineering Research Center of Energy Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology & Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315201, P. R. China.

PMID: 38145458
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c16599

Abstract

The interface V_OC loss between the active layer and the hole transport layer (HTL) of lead sulfide colloidal quantum dot (PbS-CQD) solar cells is a significant factor influencing the efficiency improvement of PbS colloidal quantum dot solar cells (PbS-CQDSCs). Currently, the most advanced solar cells adopt organic P-type HTLs (PbS-EDT) via solid-state ligand exchange with 1,2-ethanedithiol (EDT) on the CQD top active layer. However, EDT is unable to altogether remove the initial ligand oleic acid from the quantum dot surface, and its high reactivity leads to cracks in the HTL film caused by volume contractions, which inevitably results in significant V_OC loss. These flaws prompted this research to develop a method involving hybrid organic ligand exchange using 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) and 1,2-EDT (PbS-Hybrid) to overcome these drawbacks of V_OC loss. The results indicated that the new exchange strategy improved the quality of the HTL film and benefited from the enhanced passivation of the quantum dot surface and better alignment of energy levels, and the average V_OC of PbS-Hybrid devices is increased by approximately 25 mV compared to control devices. With the enhanced V_OC, the average power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the devices is improved by 10%, with the highest PCE reaching 13.24%.

Keywords: PbS CQDs; hole transport layer; ligand exchange; open-circuit voltage loss; solar cell.