The photovoltaic conversion enhancement of CuAlO2/LaNiO3 quantum dots/SnO2 transparent pn junction via dual functional perovskite LaNiO3 QDs

A CuAlO2/LaNiO3 quantum dots/SnO2 transparent pn junction is prepared by a sol-gel-annealing-hydrothermal method. The obtained CuAlO2/LaNiO3 QDs/SnO2 exhibits a high transmittance of ∼90%, obvious photovoltaic enhancement of ∼3.0 × 103-fold compared to intrinsic CuAlO2/SnO2 (PCE of ∼1.03%), and stable output during 3000 s and 6 months of cycling. This is mainly ascribed to the dual functional perovskite LaNiO3 QDs, which obtain an appropriate Fermi level and high quantum yields and can optimize the carrier kinetic equilibrium efficiently while maintaining higher transparency. Moreover, the p-type carrier induction of Cu vacancies, interstitial oxygen and Ni2+/Ni3+ ions can further optimize the carrier efficiency. Additionally, CuAlO2 and SnO2 with stable intrinsic physical-chemical properties can efficiently increase the photovoltaic conversion stability.