© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim. Here we report a solution-based passivation scheme is developed featuring the use of molecular iodine and PbS colloidal quantum dots (CQDs). The improved passivation translates into a longer carrier diffusion length in the solid film. This allows thicker solar-cell devices to be built while preserving efficient charge collection, leading to a certified power conversion efficiency of 9.9%, which is a new record in CQD solar cells.

Colloidal quantum dot (CQD) optoelectronics offers a compelling combination of low-cost, large-area solution processing, and spectral tunability through the quantum size effect. Since early reports of size-tunable light emission from solution-synthesized CQDs over 25 years ago, tremendous progress has been made in synthesis and assembly, optical and electrical properties, materials processing, and optoelectronic applications of these materials. Here some of the major developments in this field are reviewed, touching on key milestones as well as future opportunities. Colloidal quantum dots offer a compelling combination of low-cost and large-area solution processing and spectral tunability via the quantum size effect. These materials are promising in a wide range of optoelectronic applications. The quarter-century-long history of the colloidal quantum dot field is reviewed, beginning with early discoveries in synthesis and physical chemistry, through foundational advances in materials processing, chemistry, and understanding, and concluding with an account of recent breakthroughs that have produced record-setting solar cells. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A bulk heterojunction of ordered titania nanopillars and PbS colloidal quantum dots is developed. By using a pre-patterned template, an ordered titania nanopillar matrix with nearest neighbours 275 nm apart and height of 300 nm is fabricated and subsequently filled in with PbS colloidal quantum dots to form an ordered depleted bulk heterojunction exhibiting power conversion efficiency of 5.6%. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.