Claudia Martínez-Alonso

Simple one-step ultrasonic synthesis of anatase titania/polypyrrole nanocomposites.

In this work, hybrid nanocomposites based on anatase titania:polypyrrole (TiO(2):PPy) were directly obtained from a simple, one-step, ultrasonic (UT)-assisted synthesis. The properties of these crystalline nanocomposites were compared with those of others fabricated using cold (Cold)-assisted synthesis without any UT assistance, which required a hydrothermal treatment (HT) to yield crystalline anatase titania in the nanocomposite (TiO(2):PPy) at low temperature (130°C) and in a short time (3h). The SEM results demonstrated that the UT-assisted synthesis is a feasible method to obtain anatase TiO(2):PPy nanocomposites with controlled morphology using low energy. The Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) bands of the crystalline nanocomposites exhibited a shift with respect to neat components, which was attributed to the strong interaction between the secondary amine groups (N-H) of PPy and the oxygen from TiO(2). The acceptable absorption in the visible region (λ(max)=670nm) indicates that these nanocomposites are good candidates for harvesting energy in solar cells. Devices based on these nanocomposites were built to evaluate their electrical properties. An increase in the photocurrent was observed for the devices prepared with the nanocomposites from the UT-assisted synthesis.

Cadmium Sulfide Nanoparticles Synthesized by Microwave Heating for Hybrid Solar Cell Applications

Cadmium sulfide nanoparticles (CdS-n) are excellent electron acceptor for hybrid solar cell applications. However, the particle size and properties of the CdS-n products depend largely on the synthesis methodologies. In this work, CdS-n were synthetized by microwave heating using thioacetamide (TA) or thiourea (TU) as sulfur sources. The obtained CdS-n(TA) showed a random distribution of hexagonal particles and contained TA residues. The latter could originate the charge carrier recombination process and cause a low photovoltage (, 0.3 V) in the hybrid solar cells formed by the inorganic particles and poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT). Under similar synthesis conditions, in contrast, CdS-n synthesized with TU consisted of spherical particles with similar size and contained carbonyl groups at their surface. CdS-n(TU) could be well dispersed in the nonpolar P3HT solution, leading to a of about 0.6–0.8 V in the resulting CdS-n(TU) : P3HT solar cells. The results of this work suggest that the reactant sources in microwave methods can affect the physicochemical properties of the obtained inorganic semiconductor nanoparticles, which finally influenced the photovoltaic performance of related hybrid solar cells.

Microwave synthesized monodisperse CdS spheres of different size and color for solar cell applications

Monodisperse CdS spheres of size of 40 to 140 nm were obtained by microwave heating from basic solutions. It is observed that larger CdS spheres were formed at lower solution pH (8.4-8.8) and smaller ones at higher solution pH (10.8-11.3). The color of CdS products changed with solution pH and reaction temperature; those synthesized at lower pH and temperature were of green-yellow color, whereas those formed at higher pH and temperature were of orange-yellow color. A good photovoltage was observed in CdS:poly(3-hexylthiophene) solar cells with spherical CdS particles. This is due to the good dispersion of CdS nanoparticles in P3HT solution that led to a large interface area between the organic and inorganic semiconductors. Higher photocurrent density was obtained in green-yellow CdS particles of lower defect density. The efficient microwave chemistry accelerated the hydrolysis of thiourea in pH lower than 9 and produced monodisperse spherical CdS nanoparticles suitable for solar cell applications.

Photovoltaic Properties of CdSe/CdS and CdS/CdSe Core–Shell Particles Synthesized by Use of Uninterrupted Precipitation Procedures

Cadmium Selenide (CdSe) and cadmium sulfide (CdS) are good electron acceptors for hybrid solar cells. CdSe and CdS nanoparticles can be prepared at low temperatures (60–80°C) from alkaline aqueous solutions of a cadmium salt, sodium citrate, and thiourea, as sulfur source, or sodium selenosulfate, as selenium source. Under the same experimental conditions, the reaction kinetics for CdS were faster than for CdSe. Formation of CdSe/CdS core–shell particles (type I: CdSe as core and CdS as shell) could be achieved by use of an uninterrupted one-step process by setting high and low solution temperatures for the core and shell compounds, respectively. The yield of the CdSe product was higher at a pH 8.5–9.5 whereas that of the CdS product was higher at higher pH (10–11). Therefore, formation of the “inverse” CdS/CdSe structure (type II: CdS as core and CdSe as shell) was possible in a one-step solution process by choosing a high solution pH for the core and a lower pH for the shell. Photoluminescence spectra and electron micrographs confirmed formation of the two types of core–shell particle. The photovoltaic performance of heterojunctions prepared with core–shell particles and poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), also suggested formation of core–shell particles. Both the photovoltage and photocurrent density of hybrid solar cells depended on the shell compound and not on the core. It was shown that the interface of the heterojunctions plays is important in solar cell applications, and its modification could be realized by incorporating different shell compounds on core particles.