Characterization techniques of sandwich-type TiO2/QD composites for low-cost quantum dots' solar cell

Abstract

There is a high impact of the solar cells on energy manufacturing. For several years the energy efficiency was limited due to base-materials' structural and technological limits. High increase of energy harvesting of solar cells has been observed since the first solar cell based on dye-sensitized colloidal TiO₂ films occurred. One of the most promising solutions are used quantum dots (QD) for light energy conversion. In this paper, we described the use of selected characterization techniques for sandwich-type TiO₂/QD composites for a low-cost quantum dots' solar cell in the point of view of mass manufacturer of solar cells and research and development laboratory. Moreover, the increasing role of Raman spectroscopy and mapping for the TiO₂/QD was presented and compared with other necessity techniques for solar cell investigations such as ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS).