Efficient Luminescent Solar Concentrators Based on Environmentally Friendly Cd-Free Ternary AIS/ZnS Quantum Dots

Abstract

Luminescent solar concentrators (LSC) allow to obtain renewable energy from building integrated photovoltaic systems. As promising efficient and long-term stable LSC fluorophores semiconductor nanocrystals like quantum dots (QDs) with size and composition tunable optoelectronic properties have recently emerged. The most popular II/VI or IV/VI semiconductor QDs contain, however, potentially hazardous cadmium or lead ions, which is a bottleneck for commercial applications. A simple aqueous based, microwave-assisted synthesis for environmentally friendly and highly emissive AgInS2/ZnS QDs is developed using 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) and glutathione (GSH) and their incorporation into polylaurylmethacrylate (PLMA) polymer slabs integrable in LSC devices (10.4 × 10.4 × 0.2 cm3, G = 12.98). With this simple approach, optical power efficiencies (OPE) of 3.8% and 3.6% and optical quantum efficiencies (OQE) of 24.1% and 27.4% are obtained, which are among the highest values yet reported.