Tuning luminescence and reducing reabsorption of CdSe quantum disks for luminescent solar concentrators

Cadmium selenide (CdSe) quantum disks (QDs) have been synthesized for application in luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs). Luminescence tuning and reabsorption reduction of the QDs were achieved by controlling their size using a hot injection method. The overlap of the absorption and photoluminescence spectra of the as-prepared CdSe QDs was negligible. The as-prepared CdSe QDs were incorporated into polymethylmethacrylate without aggregation and luminescence quenching. The obtained highly transparent composites with non-affecting light-emitting properties were used as LSCs. The placement of a CdSe QDs doped LSC prototype (10 x 1 x 0.1 cm) on a Si-cell resulted in a 201% increase in the electrical power output of the Si-cell compared with that of the bare Si-cell.