One-pot synthesis of Cd1−x In x Te semiconductor as a sensitizer on TiO2 mesoporous for potential solar cell devices

We demonstrated the synthesis of a new ternary semiconductor nanoparticle Cd1−x In x Te, as a sensitizer for solar cell devices via a one-pot mixed precursor solution. The Cd1−x In x Te nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared using the chemical bath deposition process and coated onto a TiO2 photoelectrode. A tetragonal structure of Cd1−x In x Te NPs was constituted on the TiO2 photoelectrode with a diameter range ∼25–30 nm, and the atomic percentages of the chemical elements showed that the structure could be Cd0.1In0.9Te incorporated with the CdIn2Te4 structure. When the dipping cycle increased, the energy gaps became narrower from 1.2 to 0.6 eV due to the increasing amount and the larger size of nanoparticles. The photovoltaic properties of various cycles were investigated, and the best power conversion efficiency (η) of 0.49 % under full 1 sun illumination (100 mW/cm2, AM 1.5G) was obtained for the seven-cycle-Cd1−x In x Te NPs with a current density (J sc) of 2.64 mA/cm2, an open-circuit voltage (V oc) of 638 mV, and a fill factor (FF) of 0.29. The efficiency of this material can be further improved for higher potential solar cell devices.