Review of roll-to-roll fabrication techniques for colloidal quantum dot solar cells

Colloidal quantum dots(CQDs)are of great interest to photovoltaic(PV)technologies as they possess the benefits of solution-processability,size-tunability,and roll-to-roll manufacturability,as well as unique capabilities to harvest near-infrared(NIR)radiation.During the last decade,lab-scale CQD solar cells have achieved rapid improvement in the power conversion efficiency(PCE)from~1%to 18%,which will potentially exceed 20%in the next few years and approach the performance of other PV technologies,such as perovskite solar cells and organic solar cells.In the meanwhile,CQD solar cells exhibit long lifetimes either under shelf storage or continuous operation,making them highly attractive to industry.However,in order to meet the industrial requirements,mass production techniques are necessary to scale up the fabrication of those lab devices into large-area PV modules,such as roll-to-toll coating.This paper reviews the recent developments of large-area CQD solar cells with a focus on various fabrication methods and their principles.It covers the progress of typical large-area coating techniques,including spray coating,blade coating,dip coating,and slot-die coating.It also discusses next steps and new strategies to accomplish the ultimate goal of the low-cost large-area fabrication of CQD solar cells and emphasizes how artificial intelligence or machine learning could facilitate the developments of CQD solar cell research.

Highly luminescent zero-dimensional lead-free manganese halides forβ-ray scintillation

Because of their moderate penetration power,β-rays(high-energy electrons)are a useful signal for evaluating the surface contamination of nuclear radiation.However,the development ofβ-ray scintillators,which convert the absorbed high-energy electrons into visible photons,is hindered by the limitations of materials selection.Herein,we report two highly luminescent zerodimensional(0D)organic-inorganic lead-free metal halide hybrids,(C_(13)H_(30)N)_(2)MnBr_(4)and(C_(19)H_(34)N)_(2)MnBr_(4),as scintillators exhibiting efficientβ-ray scintillation.These hybrid scintillators combine the superior properties of organic and inorganic components.For example,organic components that contain light elements C,H,and N enhance the capturing efficiency ofβparticles;isolated inorganic[MnBr_(4)]2−tetrahedrons serve as highly localized emitting centers to emit intense radioluminescence(RL)underβ-ray excitation.Both hybrids show a narrow-band green emission peaked at 518 nm with photoluminescence quantum efficiencies(PLQEs)of 81.3%for(C_(13)H_(30)N)_(2)MnBr_(4)and 86.4%for(C_(19)H_(34)N)_(2)MnBr_(4),respectively.To enable the solution processing of this promising metal halide hybrid,we successfully synthesized(C_(13)H_(30)N)_(2)MnBr_(4)colloidal nanocrystals for the first time.Being excited byβ-rays,(C_(13)H_(30)N)_(2)MnBr_(4)scintillators show a linear response toβ-ray dose rate over a broad range from 400 to 2,800 Gy·s^(−1),and also display robust radiation resistance that 80%of the initial RL intensity can be maintained after an ultrahigh accumulated radiation dose of 240 kGy.This work will open up a new route for the development ofβ-ray scintillators.