High-Efficiency Colloidal Quantum Dot Photovoltaics via Robust Self-Assembled Monolayers
Type
ArticleAuthors
Kim, Gi-HwanGarcía de Arquer, F. Pelayo
Yoon, Yung Jin
Lan, Xinzheng
Liu, Mengxia
Voznyy, Oleksandr

Yang, Zhenyu

Fan, Fengjia
Ip, Alexander H.
Kanjanaboos, Pongsakorn
Hoogland, Sjoerd
Kim, Jin Young
Sargent, Edward H.

KAUST Grant Number
KUS-11-009-21Date
2015-11-02Online Publication Date
2015-11-02Print Publication Date
2015-11-11Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/598487
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
© 2015 American Chemical Society. The optoelectronic tunability offered by colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) is attractive for photovoltaic applications but demands proper band alignment at electrodes for efficient charge extraction at minimal cost to voltage. With this goal in mind, self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) can be used to modify interface energy levels locally. However, to be effective SAMs must be made robust to treatment using the various solvents and ligands required for to fabricate high quality CQD solids. We report robust self-assembled monolayers (R-SAMs) that enable us to increase the efficiency of CQD photovoltaics. Only by developing a process for secure anchoring of aromatic SAMs, aided by deposition of the SAMs in a water-free deposition environment, were we able to provide an interface modification that was robust against the ensuing chemical treatments needed in the fabrication of CQD solids. The energy alignment at the rectifying interface was tailored by tuning the R-SAM for optimal alignment relative to the CQD quantum-confined electron energy levels. This resulted in a CQD PV record power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 10.7% with enhanced reproducibility relative to controls.Citation
Kim G-H, García de Arquer FP, Yoon YJ, Lan X, Liu M, et al. (2015) High-Efficiency Colloidal Quantum Dot Photovoltaics via Robust Self-Assembled Monolayers. Nano Lett 15: 7691–7696. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b03677.Sponsors
This publication is based in part on work supported by Award KUS-11-009-21, made by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), by the Ontario Research Fund - Research Excellence Program, by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada, and by the International Cooperation of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) grant funded by the Korea government Ministry of Knowledge Economy (2012T100100740). We thank Emre Yassitepe and Cao-Thang Dinh for helpful discussions. We also thank E. Palmiano, L. Levina, A. Labelle, R. Wolowiec, and D. Kopilovic for their help over the course of this study.Publisher
American Chemical Society (ACS)Journal
Nano LettersPubMed ID
26509283ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b03677