02151nas a2200229   4500008004100000022001400041245009400055210006900149260000800218300001600226490000700242520140100249653001101650653001301661653001601674653001501690653002401705100002201729700002701751700001901778856012401797       2019                        eng d  a1944-824400aThiol and halometallate, mutually passivated quantum dot ink for photovoltaic application0 aThiol and halometallate mutually passivated quantum dot ink for   cJUL  a26100-261080 v113 a<p>Tunable-band-gap colloidal QDs are a potential building block to harvest the wide-energy solar spectrum. The solution-phase surface passivation with lead halide-based halometallate ligands has remarkably simplified the processing of quantum dots (QDs) and enabled the proficient use of materials for the development of solar cells. It is, however, shown that the hallometalate ligand passivated QD ink allows the formation of thick crystalline shell layer, which limits the carrier transport of the QD solids. Organic thiols have long been used to develop QD solar cells using the solid-state ligand exchange approach. However, their use is limited in solution-phase passivation due to poor dispersity of thiol-treated QDs in common solvents. In this report, a joint passivation strategy using thiol and halometallate ligand is developed to prepare the QD ink. The mutually passivated QDs show a 50% reduction in shell thickness, reduced trap density, and improved monodispersity in their solid films. These improvements lead to a 4 times increase in carrier mobility and doubling of the diffusion length, which enable the carrier extraction from a much thicker absorbing layer. The photovoltaic devices show a high efficiency of 10.3% and reduced hysteresis effect. The improvement in surface passivation leads to reduced oxygen doping and improved ambient stability of the solar cells.</p>
10aligand10amobility10aquantum dot10asolar cell10asurface passivation1 aMandal, Debranjan1 aGoswami, Prasenjit, N.1 aRath, Arup, K.  uhttps://library.ncl.res.in/content/thiol-and-halometallate-mutually-passivated-quantum-dot-ink-photovoltaic-application02718nas a2200265   4500008004100000022001400041245008000055210006900135260000800204300001400212490000600226520192400232653001502156653001102171653001902182653001602201653001602217653001402233100001902247700001902266700001802285700001902303700001902322856011102341       2021                        eng d  a2574-097000aCrack-free conjugated PbS quantum dot-hole transport layers for solar cells0 aCrackfree conjugated PbS quantum dothole transport layers for so  cAPR  a4016-40250 v43 a<p>Colloidal quantum dots (QDs) benefit from solution-phase processing and band-gap tuning for their application in solar cell development. Today's QD solar cells rely on solid-state ligand exchange (SLE) to replace bulky oleic acid (OA) ligands with small 1,2-ethanedithiol (EDT) ligands to develop a conducting hole transport layer (HTL). High volume contraction in EDT conjugated QD films, however, leads to crack and porosity in the HTL, which is a major cause of concern for the device reproducibility and large-area solar cell development. We show that partial removal of the OA ligands in the solution phase reduces the volume contraction in solid films, thereby allowing the growth of crack-free QD films in the SLE process. The cleaning of QDs by repeated precipitation and redispersion using a protic methanol (MeOH) solvent helps with partial removal of the OA ligands, but it is detrimental to the electronic properties of QDs. We develop a one-step solution-phase partial ligand-exchange process using ammonium salts, which enable partial replacement of the OA ligands and passivation of the QD surface. Introduction of the facile partial ligand-exchange process eliminates the need for tedious and wasteful multiple cleaning steps with MeOH, while improving the photophysical properties of QDs. The advancement in QD processing helps to build crack-free, smooth, and conjugated QD films for their deployment as HTLs in solar cell development. Partial ligand exchange with NH4SCN leads to a 1.5 times increase in p doping and mobility over multiple MeOH-cleaned PbS QD films. HTLs developed using NH4SCN QDs show an improved photovoltaic performance to attain a 10.5% power conversion efficiency. Improvement in the depletion width and hole collection efficiency leads to a superior photovoltaic performance, as confirmed from experimental studies and one-dimensional solar cell capacitance simulation.</p>10aEfficiency10aligand10apolydispersity10aquantum dot10asolar cells10athin film1 aSharma, Ashish1 aDambhare, Neha1 aBera, Jayanta1 aSahu, Satyajit1 aRath, Arup, K.  uhttps://library.ncl.res.in/content/crack-free-conjugated-pbs-quantum-dot-hole-transport-layers-solar-cells01764nas a2200229   4500008004100000022001400041245010300055210006900158260000900227300001600236490000700252520100500259653001101264653001301275653001601288653001501304653002401319100002201343700001901365700001901384856013101403       2021                        eng d  a1944-824400aReduction of hydroxyl traps and improved coupling for efficient and stable quantum dot solar cells0 aReduction of hydroxyl traps and improved coupling for efficient   cOCT   a46549-465570 v133 aProgress in quantum dot (QD)-based solar cells has been underpinned by the improvements in surface passivation and advancements in device engineering. Acute control over the surface properties is crucial to restrict the formation of in-gap trap states and improve the QD coupling in achieving conducting QD films. In this report, we demonstrate a solution-phase hybrid passivation strategy, which is beneficial in removing detrimental hydroxyl traps and improving the coupling between QDs by reducing the interdot distance. Advancement in surface passivation is translated to the long carrier lifetime, higher carrier mobility, and superior protection toward degradations in QD solids. The performance of solar cell devices is increased by 26% to reach an efficiency of 10.6%, compared to the state-of-the-art lead halide passivated solar cells. The improvement in solar cell performance is supported by the reduction of trap states and an 80 nm increase in thickness of the light-absorbing QD layer.10aligand10amobility10aquantum dot10asolar cell10asurface passivation1 aMandal, Debranjan1 aDambhare, Neha1 aRath, Arup, K.  uhttps://library.ncl.res.in/content/reduction-hydroxyl-traps-and-improved-coupling-efficient-and-stable-quantum-dot-solar-cells