Synthesis of Co-Electrospun Lead Selenide Nanostructures within Anatase Titania Nanotubes for Advanced Photovoltaics

Fibers

Evan K. Wujcik¹  Stephanie R. Aceto²  David Heskett³  Arijit Bose² 

[1] Materials Engineering and Nanosensor (MEAN) Laboratory, Dan F. Smith Department of Chemical Engineering, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX 77710, USA;Laboratory of Soft Colloids & Interfaces, Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881, USA; E-Mail:;Department of Physics, The University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881, USA; E-Mail:

关键词: lead selenide (PbSe);    titania (TiO₂);    nanocomposite;    co-electrospun;    nanostructure;    nanotube;    photovoltaic;    synthesis;   

DOI  :  10.3390/fib3020173

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Inorganic nano-scale heterostructures have many advantages over hybrid organic-inorganic dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC or Grätzel cells), including their resistance to photo-bleaching, thermal stability, large specific surface areas, and general robustness. This study presents a first-of-its-kind low-cost all-inorganic lead selenide-anatase titania (PbSe/TiO₂) nanotube heterostructure material for photovoltaic applications. Herein, PbSe nanostructures have been co-electrospun within a hollow TiO₂ nanotube with high connectivity for highly efficient charge carrier flow and electron-hole pair separation. This material has been characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electron diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) to show the morphology and material composition of the synthesized nanocomposite. Photovoltaic characterization has shown this newly synthesized proof-of-concept material can easily produce a photocurrent under solar illumination, and, with further refinement, could reveal a new direction in photovoltaic materials.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.