Conduction Band Matching in CdSe – Metal Oxide Quantum Dot Solar Cells: The Competition Between Energetics and Electron Transfer Kinetics

Quantum dot solar cells were constructed by pairing CdSe quantum dots with metal oxides whose conduction band is very close to that of the CdSe. We hypothesized that the reduced loss of energy due to the closely matched conduction bands would result in a higher open circuit voltage. It was found that the band-matched solar cells perform more poorly and that the improved electron kinetics resulting from a large difference between CdSe and metal oxide conduction band energies seems to have a larger influence on the efficiency of these quantum dot solar cells.