Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-nmvwc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-24T07:08:03.248Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Luminescent material with functionalized graphitic carbon nitride as a photovoltaic booster in DSSCs: Enhanced charge separation and transfer

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 February 2019

Yanzhou Zhang ,
Kai Pan ,
Yang Qu ,
Guofeng Wang Open the ORCID record for Guofeng Wang [Opens in a new window] ,
Qilin Dai ,
Dingsheng Wang  and
Weiping Qin
Yanzhou Zhang
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Functional Inorganic Material Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Heilongjiang University, Harbin 150080, China
Kai Pan
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Functional Inorganic Material Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Heilongjiang University, Harbin 150080, China
Yang Qu
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Functional Inorganic Material Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Heilongjiang University, Harbin 150080, China
Guofeng Wang*
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Functional Inorganic Material Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Heilongjiang University, Harbin 150080, China
Qilin Dai
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi, USA
Dingsheng Wang*
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Weiping Qin
Affiliation:
College of Electronic Science and Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 120012, China
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: wanggf_w@163.com
Get access

Abstract

Small luminescent Y2O3:Eu3+ particles were prepared by a hydrothermal method first, and then, Y2O3:Eu3+/C3N4 nanocomposites were further prepared by a chemisorption method. The luminescent Y2O3:Eu3+/C3N4 nanocomposites are not only a promising down-conversion luminescent material, but also it could be used to improve the efficiencies of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Especially, the morphology of Y2O3:Eu3+ has great influence on the performance of DSSCs. Compared with Y2O3:Eu3+ nanorods, the introduction of small Y2O3:Eu3+ particles into the cells is conducive to the improvement of cell efficiency. The efficiencies of TiO2-Y2O3:Eu3+–C3N4 composite cells were not only higher than those of pure TiO2 cells but also higher than those of TiO2-Y2O3:Eu3+ or TiO2-C3N4 composite cells, resulting in the enhancement of the average efficiency of the TiO2-Y2O3:Eu3+–C3N4 composite cell from 7.16% to 8.14%, with 14% improvement over the pure TiO2 cell. The enhancement of the efficiency can be attributed to the synergetic effect of small Y2O3:Eu3+ particles and C3N4.

Keywords

lanthanideluminescencenanostructure
Type
Article
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 34 , Issue 4 , 28 February 2019 , pp. 616 - 625
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

O’Regan, B. and Graetzel, M.: A low-cost, high-efficiency solar cell based on dye-sensitized colloidal TiO2 films. Nature 353, 737 (1991).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fan, K., Yu, J., and Ho, W.: Improving photoanodes to obtain highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells: A brief review. Mater. Horiz. 4, 319 (2017).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, L., Wu, W., Rao, H., Chen, H., Feng, H., Kuang, D., and Su, C.: Hierarchical ZnO nanorod-on-nanosheet arrays electrodes for efficient CdSe quantum dot-sensitized solar cells. Sci. China Mater. 59, 807 (2016).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, X., Yue, G., and Zheng, H.: A promising vanadium sulfide counter electrode for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells. RSC Adv. 7, 12474 (2017).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cui, W., Ma, J., Wu, K., and Wu, M.: The preparation and performance of WO3@C as a counter electrode catalyst for dye-sensitized solar cell. Int. J. Electrochem. Sci. 12, 11487 (2017).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, T., Mai, X., Chen, H., Ren, J., Liu, Z., Li, Y., Gao, L., Wang, N., Zhang, J., He, H., and Guo, Z.: Carbon nanotube aerogel-CoS2 hybrid catalytic counter electrodes for enhanced photovoltaic performance dye-sensitized solar cells. Nanoscale 10, 4194 (2018).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kim, J., Lee, J., Shin, K., Jeong, H., Son, H., Lee, C., Park, J., Lee, S., Son, J., and Ko, M.: Highly crumpled graphene nano-networks as electrocatalytic counter electrode in photovoltaics. Appl. Catal., B 192, 342–349 (2016).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wu, Q., Feng, H., Chen, H., Kuang, D., and Su, C.: Recent advances in hierarchical three-dimensional titanium dioxide nanotree arrays for high-performance solar cells. J. Mater. Chem. A 5, 12699 (2017).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, D., Zhang, H., Liu, Y., and Li, J.: Graphene and its derivatives for the development of solar cells, photoelectrochemical, and photocatalytic applications. Energy Environ. Sci. 6, 1362 (2013).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ding, Y., Xia, X., Chen, W., Hu, L., Mo, L., Huang, Y., and Dai, S.: Inside-out Ostwald ripening: A facile process towards synthesizing anatase TiO2 microspheres for high efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells. Nano Res. 9, 1891 (2016).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, W., Wang, Y., Li, C., Wu, Y., Zhang, D., Hong, K., and Sun, Y.: Design, synthesis and electrocatalytic properties of coaxial and layer-tunable MoS2 nanofragments/TiO2 nanorod arrays. Chem. Commun. 53, 5461 (2017).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yang, R., Cai, J., Lv, K., Wu, X., Wang, W., Xu, Z., Li, M., Li, Q., and Xu, W.: Fabrication of TiO2 hollow microspheres assembly from nanosheets (TiO2-HMSs-NSs) with enhanced photoelectric conversion efficiency in DSSCs and photocatalytic activity. Appl. Catal., B 210, 184 (2017).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, M., Hou, Y., and Qua, X.: Enhanced power conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells with samarium doped TiO2 photoanodes. J. Mater. Res. 32, 3469 (2017).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Qi, L., Wang, Q., Wang, T., Li, C., Ouyang, Q., and Chen, Y.: Dye-sensitized solar cells based on ZnO nanoneedle/TiO2 nanoparticle composite photoelectrodes with controllable weight ratio. J. Mater. Res. 27, 2982 (2012).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, W., Liu, Y., Qu, J., Chen, Y., Tad, M., and Shao, Z.: Synthesis of hierarchical TiO2-C3N4 hybrid microspheres with enhanced photocatalytic and photovoltaic activities by maximizing the synergistic effect. ChemPhotoChem 1, 35 (2017).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, G., Ji, Q., Wu, Z., Wang, G., Liu, H., Qu, J., and Li, J.: Facile “Spot-Heating” synthesis of carbon dots/carbon nitride for solar hydrogen evolution synchronously with contaminant decomposition. Adv. Funct. Mater. 28, 1706462 (2018).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lü, X., Shen, J., Wu, Z., Wang, J., and Xie, J.: Deposition of Ag nanoparticles on g-C3N4 nanosheet by N,N-dimethylformamide: Soft synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic activity. J. Mater. Res. 29, 2170 (2014).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, Q., Guo, Y., Chen, Z., Zhang, Z., and Fang, X.: Constructing a novel ternary Fe(III)/graphene/g-C3N4 composite photocatalyst with enhanced visible-light driven photocatalytic activity via interfacial charge transfer effect. Appl. Catal., B 183, 231 (2016).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liang, Q., Li, Z., Bai, Y., Huang, Z., Kang, F., and Yang, Q.: Reduced-sized monolayer carbon nitride nanosheets for highly improved photoresponse for cell imaging and photocatalysis. Sci. China Mater. 60, 109 (2017).Google Scholar
Li, Y., Wang, G., Pan, K., Jiang, B., Tian, C., Zhou, W., and Fu, H.: NaYF4:Er3+/Yb3+-graphene composites: Preparation, upconversion luminescence, and application in dye sensitized solar cells. J. Mater. Chem. 22, 20381 (2012).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casalucia, S., Gemmib, M., Pellegrinic, V., Carloa, A., and Bonaccorso, F.: Graphene-based large area dye-sensitized solar cell modules. Nanoscale 8, 5368 (2016).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, X., Qu, Y., Pan, K., and Wang, G.: One-dimension carbon self-doping g-C3N4 nanotubes: Synthesis and application in dye-sensitized solar cells. Nano Res. 11, 1322 (2018).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xu, J., Shalom, M., Piersimoni, F., Antonietti, M., Neher, D., and Brenner, T.: Color-Tunable photoluminescence and NIR electroluminescence in carbon nitride thin films and light-emitting diodes. Adv. Opt. Mater. 3, 913 (2016).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xu, J., Brenner, T., Chen, Z., Neher, D., Antonietti, M., and Shalom, M.: Upconversion-agent induced improvement of g-C3N4 photocatalyst under visible light. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 6, 16481 (2014).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Xu, J., Brenner, T., Chabanne, L., Neher, D., Antonietti, M., and Shalom, M.: Liquid-based growth of polymeric carbon nitride layers and their use in a mesostructured polymer solar cell with V oc exceeding 1 V. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 136, 13486 (2014).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, L. and Li, Y.: Controlled synthesis and luminescence of lanthanide doped NaYF4 nanocrystals. Chem. Mater. 19, 727 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xia, Z. and Meijerink, A.: Ce3+-doped garnet phosphors: Composition modification, luminescence properties and applications. Chem. Soc. Rev. 46, 275 (2017).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Xu, J., Han, W., Cheng, Z., Yang, P., Bi, H., Yang, D., Niu, N., He, F., Gai, S., and Lin, J.: Bioresponsiveness and near infrared photon co-enhanced cancer theranostic based on upconversion nanocapsules. Chem. Sci. 9, 3233 (2018).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bai, X., Wang, S., Xu, S., and Wang, L.: Luminescent nanocarriers for simultaneous drug/gene delivery and imaging tracking. TrAC, Trends Anal. Chem. 73, 54 (2015).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hao, S., Shang, Y., Li, D., Ågrenb, H., Yang, C., and Chen, G.: Enhancing dye-sensitized solar cell efficiency through broadband near-infrared upconverting nanoparticles. Nanoscale 9, 6711 (2017).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Suyver, J., Aebischer, A., Biner, D., Gerner, P., Grimm, J., Heer, S., Krämer, K., Reinhard, C., and Güdel, H.: Novel materials doped with trivalent lanthanides and transition metal ions showing near-infrared to visible photon upconversion. Opt. Mater. 27, 1111 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cui, J., Li, Y., Liu, L., Chen, L., Xu, J., Ma, J., Fang, G., Zhu, E., Wu, H., Zhao, L., Wang, L., and Huang, Y.: Near infrared plasmonic enhanced solar energy harvest for highly efficient photocatalytic reactions. Nano Lett. 15, 6295 (2015).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ding, Z., Li, X., Zhang, P., Yu, J., and Hua, Y.: Enhanced electrochemical performance of sulfur on Y2O3-modified porous carbon aerogels for high performance lithium–sulfur batteries. New J. Chem. 41, 12726 (2017).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yu, M., Su, J., Wang, G., and Li, Y.: Pt/Y2O3:Eu3+ composite nanotubes: Enhanced photoluminescence and application in dye-sensitized solar cells. Nano Res. 9, 2338 (2016).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, L., Yeh, M., Chen, C., Wu, C., Vittal, R., and Ho, K.: Surface modification of TiO2 nanotube arrays with Y2O3 barrier layer: Controlling charge recombination dynamics in dye-sensitized solar cells. J. Mater. Chem. A 2, 8281 (2014).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, S., Lin, J., and Wu, J.: Improving photoelectrical performance of dye sensitized solar cells by doping Y2O3:Tb3+ nanorods. J. Mater. Sci.: Mater. Electron. 25, 2060 (2004).Google Scholar
Wang, P., Dai, Q., Zakeeruddin, S., Forsyth, M., MacFarlane, D., and Grätzel, M.: Ambient temperature plastic crystal electrolyte for efficient, all-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 126, 13590 (2004).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hagfeldt, A. and Grätzel, M.: Molecular photovoltaics. Acc. Chem. Res. 33, 269 (2000).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

Zhang et al. supplementary material

Zhang et al. supplementary material 1

Download Zhang et al. supplementary material(File)
File 1 MB