Thermalization losses limit the photon-to-power conversion of solar cells at the high-energy side of the solar spectrum, as electrons quickly lose their energy relaxing to the band edge. Hot-electron transfer could reduce these losses. Here, we demonstrate fast and efficient hot-electron transfer between lead selenide and cadmium selenide quantum dots assembled in a quantum-dot heterojunction solid. In this system, the energy structure of the absorber material and of the electron extracting material can be easily tuned via a variation of quantum-dot size, allowing us to tailor the energetics of the transfer process for device applications. The efficiency of the transfer process increases with excitation energy as a result of the more favorable competition between hot-electron transfer and electron cooling. The experimental picture is supported by time-domain density functional theory calculations, showing that electron density is transferred from lead selenide to cadmium selenide quantum dots on the sub-picosecond timescale.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04623-9 | DOI Listing |
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January 2025
Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, P. R. China.
The ligands in metal-organic framework (MOF) play as light absorption center and transfer photogenerated electrons to metal node through ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) during photocatalysis, and energy utilization efficiency is strongly restricted by the light inertness of ligands. Herein, a ligand updating strategy is proposed by inserting energy centers to MOFs to activate the inherent ligands, realizing boosting hot electron generation and photocatalytic activities via the cascaded proceeding of energy transfer and charge transfer. By taking PCN-777 (a zeotype mesoporous Zr-containing MOF) as an example, this study shows that the embedded energy center of 1-pyrenecarboxylic acid (PCA) can activate the inherent ligand of PCN-777 through triplet-triplet energy transfer, where triplet excitons would dissociate into photocarriers migrating to the Zr metal cluster via LMCT process.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Nano
January 2025
Department of Chemistry, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, United States.
Plasmonic semiconductors exhibit significant potential for harvesting near-IR solar energy, although their mechanisms of plasmon-induced hot electron transfer (HET) are poorly understood. We report a transient absorption study of plasmon-induced HET in p-CuS/CdS type II heterojunctions. Near-IR excitation of the p-CuS plasmon band at ∼1400 nm leads to ultrafast HET into the CdS conduction band with a time constant of <150 fs and a quantum efficiency of ∼0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Adv
January 2025
Department of Physics, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Republic of Korea.
Metal electrode deposition is universally adopted in the community for optoelectronic device fabrication, inducing hybridization at electrode interfaces, and allows efficient extraction or injection of photocarriers. However, hybridization-induced midgap states increase photocarrier recombination pathways, creating a paradoxical trade-off. Here, we discovered that efficient photocarrier extraction and a long photocarrier lifetime can be achieved simultaneously in MoS/van der Waals Au contact, minimizing photocarrier loss at the interface.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMolecules
October 2024
Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Solid State Physics and Devices, School of Physical Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China.
Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have garnered immense attention in recent years due to their outstanding optoelectronic properties and cost-effective fabrication methods, establishing them as promising candidates for next-generation photovoltaic technologies. Among the diverse strategies aimed at enhancing the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of PSCs, the incorporation of plasmonic nanoparticles has emerged as a pioneering approach. This review summarizes the latest research advancements in the utilization of plasmonic nanoparticles to enhance the performance of PSCs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNano Lett
December 2024
Laboratory of Nanoscience for Energy Technologies (LNET), STI, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Exploring nonequilibrium hot carriers from plasmonic metal nanostructures is a dynamic field in optoelectronics, with applications including photochemical reactions for solar fuel generation. The hot carrier injection mechanism and the reaction rate are highly impacted by the metal/molecule interaction. However, determining the primary type of reaction and thus the injection mechanism of hot carriers has remained elusive.
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