Stabilizing Surface Passivation Enables Stable Operation of Colloidal Quantum Dot Photovoltaic Devices at Maximum Power Point in an Air Ambient

Jongmin Choi; Min Jae Choi; Junghwan Kim; Filip Dinic; Petar Todorovic; Bin Sun; Mingyang Wei; Se Woong Baek; Sjoerd Hoogland; F. Pelayo García de Arquer; Oleksandr Voznyy; Edward H. Sargent

doi:10.1002/adma.201906497

Stabilizing Surface Passivation Enables Stable Operation of Colloidal Quantum Dot Photovoltaic Devices at Maximum Power Point in an Air Ambient

Jongmin Choi, Min Jae Choi, Junghwan Kim, Filip Dinic, Petar Todorovic, Bin Sun, Mingyang Wei, Se Woong Baek, Sjoerd Hoogland, F. Pelayo García de Arquer, Oleksandr Voznyy, Edward H. Sargent^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Chemistry

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

29 Scopus citations

Abstract

Colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) are promising materials for photovoltaic (PV) applications owing to their size-tunable bandgap and solution processing. However, reports on CQD PV stability have been limited so far to storage in the dark; or operation illuminated, but under an inert atmosphere. CQD PV devices that are stable under continuous operation in air have yet to be demonstrated—a limitation that is shown here to arise due to rapid oxidation of both CQDs and surface passivation. Here, a stable CQD PV device under continuous operation in air is demonstrated by introducing additional potassium iodide (KI) on the CQD surface that acts as a shielding layer and thus stands in the way of oxidation of the CQD surface. The devices (unencapsulated) retain >80% of their initial efficiency following 300 h of continuous operation in air, whereas CQD PV devices without KI lose the amount of performance within just 21 h. KI shielding also provides improved surface passivation and, as a result, a higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 12.6% compared with 11.4% for control devices.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	1906497
Journal	Advanced Materials
Volume	32
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201906497
State	Published - Feb 1 2020

Keywords

colloidal quantum dots
continuous operation
device stability
oxidation
solar cells

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Materials Science(all)
Mechanics of Materials
Mechanical Engineering

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1002/adma.201906497

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Choi, J., Choi, M. J., Kim, J., Dinic, F., Todorovic, P., Sun, B., Wei, M., Baek, S. W., Hoogland, S., García de Arquer, F. P., Voznyy, O., & Sargent, E. H. (2020). Stabilizing Surface Passivation Enables Stable Operation of Colloidal Quantum Dot Photovoltaic Devices at Maximum Power Point in an Air Ambient. Advanced Materials, 32(7), [1906497]. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201906497

@article{6474979882d54197a2ffb040123145b1,

title = "Stabilizing Surface Passivation Enables Stable Operation of Colloidal Quantum Dot Photovoltaic Devices at Maximum Power Point in an Air Ambient",

abstract = "Colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) are promising materials for photovoltaic (PV) applications owing to their size-tunable bandgap and solution processing. However, reports on CQD PV stability have been limited so far to storage in the dark; or operation illuminated, but under an inert atmosphere. CQD PV devices that are stable under continuous operation in air have yet to be demonstrated—a limitation that is shown here to arise due to rapid oxidation of both CQDs and surface passivation. Here, a stable CQD PV device under continuous operation in air is demonstrated by introducing additional potassium iodide (KI) on the CQD surface that acts as a shielding layer and thus stands in the way of oxidation of the CQD surface. The devices (unencapsulated) retain >80% of their initial efficiency following 300 h of continuous operation in air, whereas CQD PV devices without KI lose the amount of performance within just 21 h. KI shielding also provides improved surface passivation and, as a result, a higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 12.6% compared with 11.4% for control devices.",

keywords = "colloidal quantum dots, continuous operation, device stability, oxidation, solar cells",

author = "Jongmin Choi and Choi, {Min Jae} and Junghwan Kim and Filip Dinic and Petar Todorovic and Bin Sun and Mingyang Wei and Baek, {Se Woong} and Sjoerd Hoogland and {Garc{\'i}a de Arquer}, {F. Pelayo} and Oleksandr Voznyy and Sargent, {Edward H.}",

note = "Funding Information: J.C., M.-J.C., and J.K. contributed equally to this work. The authors acknowledge the financial support from QD Solar. This work was supported by Ontario Research Fund-Research Excellence program (ORF7-Ministry of Research and Innovation, Ontario Research Fund-Research Excellence Round 7), and by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada. J.C. received financial support by the DGIST Start-up Fund Program of the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (2019010116), and by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (NRF-2019R1G1A1099673). Computations were performed using the Niagara supercomputer at the SciNet HPC Consortium. SciNet is funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Government of Ontario, the Ontario Research Fund—Research Excellence, and the University of Toronto. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim",

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doi = "10.1002/adma.201906497",

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Choi, J, Choi, MJ, Kim, J, Dinic, F, Todorovic, P, Sun, B, Wei, M, Baek, SW, Hoogland, S, García de Arquer, FP, Voznyy, O & Sargent, EH 2020, 'Stabilizing Surface Passivation Enables Stable Operation of Colloidal Quantum Dot Photovoltaic Devices at Maximum Power Point in an Air Ambient', Advanced Materials, vol. 32, no. 7, 1906497. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201906497

TY - JOUR

T1 - Stabilizing Surface Passivation Enables Stable Operation of Colloidal Quantum Dot Photovoltaic Devices at Maximum Power Point in an Air Ambient

AU - Choi, Jongmin

AU - Choi, Min Jae

AU - Kim, Junghwan

AU - Dinic, Filip

AU - Todorovic, Petar

AU - Sun, Bin

AU - Wei, Mingyang

AU - Baek, Se Woong

AU - Hoogland, Sjoerd

AU - García de Arquer, F. Pelayo

AU - Voznyy, Oleksandr

AU - Sargent, Edward H.

N1 - Funding Information: J.C., M.-J.C., and J.K. contributed equally to this work. The authors acknowledge the financial support from QD Solar. This work was supported by Ontario Research Fund-Research Excellence program (ORF7-Ministry of Research and Innovation, Ontario Research Fund-Research Excellence Round 7), and by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada. J.C. received financial support by the DGIST Start-up Fund Program of the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (2019010116), and by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (NRF-2019R1G1A1099673). Computations were performed using the Niagara supercomputer at the SciNet HPC Consortium. SciNet is funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Government of Ontario, the Ontario Research Fund—Research Excellence, and the University of Toronto. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

PY - 2020/2/1

Y1 - 2020/2/1

N2 - Colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) are promising materials for photovoltaic (PV) applications owing to their size-tunable bandgap and solution processing. However, reports on CQD PV stability have been limited so far to storage in the dark; or operation illuminated, but under an inert atmosphere. CQD PV devices that are stable under continuous operation in air have yet to be demonstrated—a limitation that is shown here to arise due to rapid oxidation of both CQDs and surface passivation. Here, a stable CQD PV device under continuous operation in air is demonstrated by introducing additional potassium iodide (KI) on the CQD surface that acts as a shielding layer and thus stands in the way of oxidation of the CQD surface. The devices (unencapsulated) retain >80% of their initial efficiency following 300 h of continuous operation in air, whereas CQD PV devices without KI lose the amount of performance within just 21 h. KI shielding also provides improved surface passivation and, as a result, a higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 12.6% compared with 11.4% for control devices.

AB - Colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) are promising materials for photovoltaic (PV) applications owing to their size-tunable bandgap and solution processing. However, reports on CQD PV stability have been limited so far to storage in the dark; or operation illuminated, but under an inert atmosphere. CQD PV devices that are stable under continuous operation in air have yet to be demonstrated—a limitation that is shown here to arise due to rapid oxidation of both CQDs and surface passivation. Here, a stable CQD PV device under continuous operation in air is demonstrated by introducing additional potassium iodide (KI) on the CQD surface that acts as a shielding layer and thus stands in the way of oxidation of the CQD surface. The devices (unencapsulated) retain >80% of their initial efficiency following 300 h of continuous operation in air, whereas CQD PV devices without KI lose the amount of performance within just 21 h. KI shielding also provides improved surface passivation and, as a result, a higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 12.6% compared with 11.4% for control devices.

KW - colloidal quantum dots

KW - continuous operation

KW - device stability

KW - oxidation

KW - solar cells

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DO - 10.1002/adma.201906497

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AN - SCOPUS:85077910200

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JO - Advanced Materials

JF - Advanced Materials

SN - 0935-9648

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Stabilizing Surface Passivation Enables Stable Operation of Colloidal Quantum Dot Photovoltaic Devices at Maximum Power Point in an Air Ambient

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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