Photovoltaic cells fabricated by electrophoretic deposition

Nathanael J. Smith, Kevin J. Emmett, and Sandra J. Rosenthal

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to observe the efficiency of photovoltaic cells made with CdSe nanocrystals that have been electrophoretically deposited onto titanium oxide. The efficiency of these cells are lower to other solar cells (~10^-6%).

Methods/Procedures Used

Electrophoresis was used to deposit the CdSe nanocrystals in a fast and non-destructive manner. Rutherford backscattering was used to compare the composition of the films on both the positive and negative electrodes during the deposition.

Key Findings

1. Too much TOPO solvent made electrophoresis difficult. This is due to an effect seen in previous literature where CdSe prefer to stay in solution.
2. An interesting effect was observed where cadmium precursor attaches to the negative electrode during deposition in a greater concentration than onto the positive electrode. This concentration difference was determined by Rutherford backscattering
3. Nanometer thick photovoltaic cells were successfully created within one minute with this technique.