Harnessing the Synergetic Effects of Ag, Mn Dopants in Eco-Friendly Ultraviolet Selective Quantum Dots for Luminescent Solar Concentrators

Quantum dots (QDs) are promising building blocks for luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs), yet most QD-based LSCs suffer from toxic metal composition and color tinting. UV-selective harvesting QDs can enable visible transparency, but their development is restricted by large reabsorption losses and low photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY). The developed here Ag, Mn: ZnInS2/ZnS QDs show a high PLQY of 53% due to the passivating effect of ZnS shell. These QDs selectively absorb UV light and emit orange-red light with a large Stokes shift of 180 nm. A LSC of 5 x 5 x 0.2 cm3, fabricated using a poly(lauryl methacrylate) (PLMA) as a matrix, maintains 87% of integrated PL after 7 h of UV exposure. The QD-PLMA achieved 90.7% average visible transparency (AVT) and a color rendering index (CRI) of 95.8, which is close to plain PLMA (AVT = 90.8%; CRI = 99.5), yielding excellent visible light transparency. Incorporating Si-PVs at LSC edges, the Ag, Mn: ZIS/ZnS QD-LSC achieved an optical efficiency of 1.42%, ranking competitively among high-performing UV-harvesting LSCs. Eco-friendly Ag,Mn-doped ZnInS2/ZnS quantum dots exhibit UV-selective absorption, emitting orange-red light with a 180 nm Stokes shift. With ZnS passivation, PLQY reaches 53%. A proof-of-concept luminescent solar concentrators (LSC) reaches 90.7% visible light transparency, akin to pure PLMA (90.8%). The LSC's optical efficiency reaches 1.42%, competing with high-performance UV-harvesting transparent LSCs. image