Photoelectrochemical properties of CdSe quantum dot sensitized p-type flower-like NiO solar cells with different deposition layer

•Synthesized nanosized flower-like NiO by a hydrothermal method.•(CH3)4N2S/((CH3)4N)2Sn was employed in CdSe/NiO solar cell.•The PCE of 1.06% (Voc 0.755 V, ff 0.27%, Jsc 5.21 mA cm−2) had been achieved.

Flower-like NiO nanoparticles was successfully synthetized by homogeneous precipitation. A novelty modified (CH3)4N)2S/((CH3)4N)2Sn electrolyte was introduced in solar cell successfully and NiS was used as the counter electrode. Moreover, CdSe sensitized p-type NiO was synthesized by chemical bath deposition (CBD) in a precursor solution to ensure the nanosized flower-like NiO films obtain a better uniformity and high penetration. Meanwhile, a series of parallel experiment were designed to investigate the effect of different CdSe deposition layers on the photoelectric characteristic of the cell. The result showed that when the film was eight layers, the maximum efficiency of 1.06% had been achieved, with a significantly open circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.755 V, a fill factor (ff) of 0.27% and a short circuit current density (Jsc) of 5.21 mA cm−2.

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