Infrared-harvesting colloidal quantum dot inks for efficient photovoltaics: Impact of surface chemistry and device engineering

Abstract

Colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) are promising semiconducting materials, which can be used as a photoac-tive layer in various optoelectronic applications, because of their size-tunable bandgap energy, solution processability, and excellent optical and optoelectronic properties. In particular, these features have gen-erated great interest in the development of CQD solar cells and led to a rapid increase in their power con-version efficiency. These improvements were enabled by many innovative approaches in terms of CQD's surface chemistry and device architecture optimizations. In this review, a critical overview of the research progress in CQD solar cells is presented with a focus on the strategies adopted for achieving record effi-ciency in CQD solar cells. These strategies include the use of organic/inorganic surface ligands, pre-and post-treatment of CQDs, and solid-state/solution-phase ligand exchange. Additionally, we provide an un-derstanding of the research history to inspire the rational design of next-generation CQD optoelectronic devices, such as solar cells, light-emitting diodes, and photodetectors. Recent research on the develop-ment of infrared CQD solar cells as complementary platforms to other solar cell technologies is also crit-ically discussed to provide another perspective on CQD technologies.(c) 2023 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The editorial office of Journal of Materials Science & Technology.