Structural, optical and morphological studies of CdSe/P3HT-nanofiber thin film

Abstract

Hybrid solar cells can potentially make use of the advantages offered by both organic and inorganic materials to generate high efficiency solar cells. This possibility has driven substantial research effort in this field in recent years. Bulk heterojunction configuration is presently the best performed structure for a hybrid solar cell, since good intimate contact between the organic and inorganic photoactive materials are critical. In this study, CdSe nanocrystals were grown onto poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) nanofibers by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method using Cd(NO3)2 and Na2SeSO3 solution to form a coaxial heterostructure thin film. A number of characterization techniques were used identify the properties of this heterojunction films. XRD revealed that CdSe were successfully deposited onto P3HT-nanofiber thin films and confirmed that the crystal structure of CdSe was maintained during the SILAR process. This successful deposition was further supported by the EDX and UV-Vis studies. AFM and FESEM revealed that most of the CdSe nanocrystals was coated around P3HT-nanofiber, which proved that there is favourable interaction between CdSe and P3HT. To the best of our knowledge, SILAR deposition of CdSe nanocrystal onto P3HT-nanofiber have been demonstrated for the first time, and this novel process can be used to make high performance CdSe/P3HT hybrid solar cells with good interconnect charge transport networks.