Carbon-Nanodot Solar Cells from Renewable Precursors.

It has recently been shown that waste biomass can be converted into a wide range of functional materials, including those with desirable optical and electronic properties, offering the opportunity to find new uses for these renewable resources. Photovoltaics is one area in which finding the combination of abundant, low-cost and non-toxic materials with the necessary functionality can be challenging. In this paper the performance of carbon nanodots derived from a wide range of biomaterials obtained from different biomass sources as sensitisers for TiO2 -based nanostructured solar cells was compared; polysaccharides (chitosan and chitin), monosaccharide (d-glucose), amino acids (l-arginine and l-cysteine) and raw lobster shells were used to produce carbon nanodots through hydrothermal carbonisation. The highest solar power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 0.36 % was obtained by using l-arginine carbon nanodots as sensitisers, whereas lobster shells, as a model source of chitin from actual food waste, showed a PCE of 0.22 %. By comparing this wide range of materials, the performance of the solar cells was correlated with the materials characteristics by carefully investigating the structural and optical properties of each family of carbon nanodots, and it was shown that the combination of amine and carboxylic acid functionalisation is particularly beneficial for the solar-cell performance.

[1]  Youfu Wang,et al.  Carbon quantum dots: synthesis, properties and applications , 2014 .

[2]  Moungi G. Bawendi,et al.  Improved performance and stability in quantum dot solar cells through band alignment engineering , 2014, Nature materials.

[3]  F. Fabregat‐Santiago,et al.  Carbon Counter-Electrode-Based Quantum-Dot-Sensitized Solar Cells with Certified Efficiency Exceeding 11. , 2016, The journal of physical chemistry letters.

[4]  N. S. Sariciftci,et al.  Conjugated polymer-based organic solar cells. , 2007, Chemical reviews.

[5]  S. Dunn,et al.  The Future of Using Earth‐Abundant Elements in Counter Electrodes for Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells , 2016, Advanced materials.

[6]  Zhiqiang Gao,et al.  Carbon quantum dots and their applications. , 2015, Chemical Society reviews.

[7]  Henry J. Snaith,et al.  Advances in Liquid‐Electrolyte and Solid‐State Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells , 2007 .

[8]  H. Queisser,et al.  Detailed Balance Limit of Efficiency of p‐n Junction Solar Cells , 1961 .

[9]  J. Bisquert,et al.  Band engineering in core/shell ZnTe/CdSe for photovoltage and efficiency enhancement in exciplex quantum dot sensitized solar cells. , 2015, ACS nano.

[10]  Dong Uk Lee,et al.  Highly Improved Sb2S3 Sensitized‐Inorganic–Organic Heterojunction Solar Cells and Quantification of Traps by Deep‐Level Transient Spectroscopy , 2014 .

[11]  E. Sargent,et al.  Colloidal quantum dot ligand engineering for high performance solar cells , 2016 .

[12]  Nam-Gyu Park,et al.  Perovskite solar cells: an emerging photovoltaic technology , 2015 .

[13]  Z. Tang,et al.  A fluorescent quenching performance enhancing principle for carbon nanodot-sensitized aqueous solar cells , 2015 .

[14]  Robin J. White,et al.  A sustainable synthesis of nitrogen-doped carbon aerogels , 2011 .

[15]  H. Zeng,et al.  Carbon and Graphene Quantum Dots for Optoelectronic and Energy Devices: A Review , 2015 .

[16]  Jiang Wu,et al.  Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Dots for “green” Quantum Dot Solar Cells , 2016, Nanoscale Research Letters.

[17]  Vaidyanathan Subramanian,et al.  Quantum dot solar cells. harvesting light energy with CdSe nanocrystals molecularly linked to mesoscopic TiO2 films. , 2006, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[18]  S. Hardman,et al.  Adsorption of dopamine on rutile TiO2 (110): a photoemission and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure study. , 2014, Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids.

[19]  Aaas News,et al.  Book Reviews , 1893, Buffalo Medical and Surgical Journal.

[20]  Xue-qing Gong,et al.  Effects of Metal Oxyhydroxide Coatings on Photoanode in Quantum Dot Sensitized Solar Cells , 2016 .

[21]  Robin J. White,et al.  Naturally inspired nitrogen doped porous carbon , 2009 .

[22]  T. K. Maiti,et al.  Simple one-step synthesis of highly luminescent carbon dots from orange juice: application as excellent bio-imaging agents. , 2012, Chemical communications.

[23]  King‐Chuen Lin,et al.  Unravelling the Multiple Emissive States in Citric-Acid-Derived Carbon Dots , 2016 .

[24]  H. Xiong,et al.  Full-Color Light-Emitting Carbon Dots with a Surface-State-Controlled Luminescence Mechanism. , 2015, ACS nano.

[25]  Wei Chen,et al.  N-doped carbon quantum dots for TiO2-based photocatalysts and dye-sensitized solar cells , 2013 .

[26]  Bai Yang,et al.  Common origin of green luminescence in carbon nanodots and graphene quantum dots. , 2014, ACS nano.

[27]  X. Zhong,et al.  Capping Ligand-Induced Self-Assembly for Quantum Dot Sensitized Solar Cells. , 2015, The journal of physical chemistry letters.

[28]  S. Dunn,et al.  Biomass-derived carbon quantum dot sensitizers for solid-state nanostructured solar cells. , 2015, Angewandte Chemie.

[29]  Bai Yang,et al.  Highly photoluminescent carbon dots for multicolor patterning, sensors, and bioimaging. , 2013, Angewandte Chemie.

[30]  W. Marsden I and J , 2012 .

[31]  X. Jing,et al.  Formation mechanism and optimization of highly luminescent N-doped graphene quantum dots , 2014, Scientific Reports.

[32]  Xiaoyun Qin,et al.  Hydrothermal Treatment of Grass: A Low‐Cost, Green Route to Nitrogen‐Doped, Carbon‐Rich, Photoluminescent Polymer Nanodots as an Effective Fluorescent Sensing Platform for Label‐Free Detection of Cu(II) Ions , 2012, Advanced materials.

[33]  Stephen R. Forrest,et al.  Small molecular weight organic thin-film photodetectors and solar cells , 2003 .

[34]  Liang-shi Li,et al.  Large, solution-processable graphene quantum dots as light absorbers for photovoltaics. , 2010, Nano letters.

[35]  F. Tuinstra,et al.  Raman Spectrum of Graphite , 1970 .

[36]  A. Zaban,et al.  Materials and interfaces in quantum dot sensitized solar cells: challenges, advances and prospects. , 2014, Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids.

[37]  Ke Zhao,et al.  Near infrared absorption of CdSe(x)Te(1-x) alloyed quantum dot sensitized solar cells with more than 6% efficiency and high stability. , 2013, ACS nano.

[38]  Steve Dunn,et al.  Aus Biomasse hergestellte Kohlenstoff‐Quantenpunkt‐Sensibilisatoren für nanostrukturierte Festkörper‐Solarzellen , 2015 .

[39]  D. B. Fischbach,et al.  Observation of Raman band shifting with excitation wavelength for carbons and graphites , 1981 .

[40]  Zhenxiao Pan,et al.  Mn doped quantum dot sensitized solar cells with power conversion efficiency exceeding 9 , 2016 .

[41]  M. Bonn,et al.  Boosting power conversion efficiencies of quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells beyond 8% by recombination control. , 2015, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[42]  G. Ozin,et al.  Solution phase synthesis of carbon quantum dots as sensitizers for nanocrystalline TiO2 solar cells , 2012 .

[43]  Jin-Song Hu,et al.  Zn-Cu-In-Se Quantum Dot Solar Cells with a Certified Power Conversion Efficiency of 11.6%. , 2016, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[44]  Illan J. Kramer,et al.  The architecture of colloidal quantum dot solar cells: materials to devices. , 2014, Chemical reviews.

[45]  Zhenhui Kang,et al.  Carbon nanodots: synthesis, properties and applications , 2012 .

[46]  M. Grätzel Dye-sensitized solar cells , 2003 .

[47]  J. Bisquert,et al.  Amorphous TiO2 Buffer Layer Boosts Efficiency of Quantum Dot Sensitized Solar Cells to over 9 , 2015 .

[48]  P. Kamat Quantum Dot Solar Cells. The Next Big Thing in Photovoltaics. , 2013, The journal of physical chemistry letters.

[49]  Samir Elouatik,et al.  Further understanding of the adsorption mechanism of N719 sensitizer on anatase TiO2 films for DSSC applications using vibrational spectroscopy and confocal Raman imaging. , 2010, Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids.