Preparation of CdS quantum dot sensitized solar cell based on ZnTi-layered double hydroxide photoanode to enhance photovoltaic properties

[Display omitted] •A photoanode composed of ZnTi layered double hydroxide was fabricated.•The photoanode was sensitized by CdS quantum dots.•The utilizing of ZnTi-LDH/CdS leads to a 100% enhancement in the in PCE. One of the most important factors in low power conversation efficiency of quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) is the electron-hole recombination. A photoanode composed of CdS QDs deposited on ZnTi layered double hydroxide film was fabricated to enhance the photovoltaic performance of CdS QDSSCs. The performance of fabricated photoanode in the QDSSCs is compared with TiO2/CdS photoanode. The results show that the application of the ZnTi-LDH considerably enhance the light harvesting and electron-hole separation efficiency. The energy conversion efficiency of 3.92% is obtained using the QDSSC fabricated based on the ZnTi-LDH/CdS photoelectrode, under the illumination of one sun (AM1.5, 100 mW/cm2). The achieved efficiency is higher than the efficiency of usual QDSSCs assembled by TiO2/CdS photoanode (1.91%).