CdS/CdSe quantum dots and ZnPc dye co-sensitized solar cells with Au nanoparticles/graphene oxide as efficient modified layer

Co-sensitization by using two or more sensitizers with complementary absorption spectra to expand the spectral response range is an effective approach to enhance device performance of quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs). To improve the light-harvesting in the visible/near-infrared (NIR) region, organic dye zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) was combined with CdS/CdSe quantum dots (QDs) for co-sensitized solar cells based on ZnO inverse opals (IOs) as photoanode. The resulting co-sensitized device shows an efficient panchromatic spectral response feature to similar to 750 nm and presents an overall conversion efficiency of 4.01%, which is superior to that of the individual ZnPc-sensitized solar cells and CdS/CdSe-sensitized solar cells. Meanwhile, an Au nanoparticles/graphene oxide (Au NPs/GO) composite layer was successfully prepared to modify Cu2S counter electrode for the co-sensitized solar cells. Reducing the carrier recombination process by GO and catalytic process of Au NPs leads to increased power conversion efficiency(PCE) from 4.01 to 4.60% and sustainable stability remains 85% of its original value after 60 min light exposure. In this paper, introduction of the organic dyes as co-sensitizer and Au NPs/GO as counter electrode modified layer has been proved to be an effective route to improve the performance of QDSSCs. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.