Development of CulnSe 2 nanocrystal and nanoring inks for low-cost solar cells

Abstract

The creation of a suitable inorganic colloidal nanocrystal ink for use in a scalable coating process is a key step in the development of low-cost solar cells. Here, we present a facile solution synthesis of chalcopyrite CulnSe 2 nanocrystals and demonstrate that inks based on these nanocrystals can be used to create simple solar cells, with our first cells exhibiting an efficiency of 3.2% under AM1.5 illumination. We also report the first solution synthesis of uniform hexagonal shaped single crystals CulnSe 2 nanorlngs by altering the synthesis parameter. © 2008 American Chemical Society.