Environmentally friendly Mn-alloyed core/shell quantum dots for high-efficiency photoelectrochemical cells

• Published in: Journal of materials chemistry. A, Materials for energy and sustainability Vol. 8; no. 21; pp. 1736 - 1741
• Main Authors: Wang, Rui, Tong, Xin, Channa, Ali Imran, Zeng, Qiugui, Sun, Jiachen, Liu, Cheng, Li, Xin, Xu, Jingyin, Lin, Feng, Selopal, Gurpreet Singh, Rosei, Federico, Zhang, Yanning, Wu, Jiang, Zhao, Haiguang, Vomiero, Alberto, Sun, Xuping, Wang, Zhiming M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Royal Society of Chemistry 2020
• Subjects: Alloying; Cadmium; Charge transfer; cost effectiveness; electric current; Energy conversion efficiency; Experimental Physics; Experimentell fysik; Fabrication; Irradiation; Lead; Photoelectric effect; Photoelectric emission; Photoelectrochemical devices; Quantum dots; Radiation; Recombination; toxicity; Transition metal alloys; Transition metals; Zinc sulfide
• ISSN: 2050-7488; 2050-7496; 2050-7496
• DOI: 10.1039/d0ta00953a

Colloidal quantum dot (QD)-based photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells are cost-effective devices showing remarkable solar-to-fuel conversion efficiency. However, the extensive use of highly toxic elements ( e.g. Pb and Cd) in QDs' synthesis and device fabrication is still a major challenge towards their practical development. Herein, we fabricate a solar-driven PEC cell based on environmentally friendly Mn-alloyed CuInS 2 (MnCIS)/ZnS core/shell QDs, showing more favorable band alignment, efficient charge transfer, reduced charge recombination and lower charge transfer resistance with respect to the control device fabricated using unalloyed CuInS 2 (CIS)/ZnS core/shell QDs. An unprecedented photocurrent density of ∼5.7 mA cm −2 with excellent stability was obtained for the as-fabricated MnCIS/ZnS core/shell QD-based PEC device when operated under standard one sun irradiation (AM 1.5G, 100 mW cm −2 ). These results indicate that the transition metal-alloyed environmentally friendly core/shell QDs are promising for next-generation solar technologies. A high performance photoelectrochemical cell fabricated using eco-friendly Mn-alloyed CuInS 2 /ZnS core/shell quantum dots is demonstrated.