Assembly of CdS nanoparticles on boron and fluoride co-doped TiO2 nanofilm for solar energy conversion applications

Abstract

A highly crystalline mesoporous boron and fluoride (B/F) co-doped TiO₂ nanomaterial is successfully synthetized using a facile process, followed by chemical bath deposition (CBD) in an organic solution to prepare the QD-cell to ensure high wettability and superior penetration ability of the B/F co-doped TiO₂ films. A modified polysulfide redox couple, ((CH₃)₄N)₂S/((CH₃)₄N)₂S_n, was employed in a cadmium sulfide (CdS) quantum dot (QD)-sensitized B/F co-doped TiO₂ solar cell covered with ZnS passivation layers with cobalt sulfide (CoS) as a counter electrode; then, an open-circuit photovoltage of 1.223 V, a high FF of 85.9%, a short-circuit photocurrent (J_sc) of 4.52 mA cm⁻², and a high overall energy conversion of 4.74% were obtained.