Stimulus Effect of Solvents on Cadmium Sulfide Quantum Dots Prepared for Solar Cell Application

Abstract Cadmium Sulfide quantum dots were prepared in three solvents such as distilled water, ethanol, and isopropyl alcohol respectively. Solvent dependence of cadmium sulfide quantum dots was investigated under XRD, TEM, UV, PL, and I-V characteristics. The results showed CdS quantum dots with sizes ranging from 7.5 nm, 8.2 nm, and 9 nm which enabled the control of the optical properties and consequently the solar cell performance. The optical absorption spectrum was observed near the ultra-violet region. Absorbance spectra reveal that there is a blue shift in the absorbance as the quantum dot size decreases due to the quantum confinement effect. For photoluminescence spectra, the emission peaks were observed at 430 nm, 468 nm, and 470 nm respectively. Among the solvents, cadmium sulfide quantum dots prepared with ethanol has the highest power conversion efficiency of 0.68%.