Open‐Circuit Voltage Loss in Lead Chalcogenide Quantum Dot Solar Cells

Lead chalcogenide colloidal quantum dot solar cells (CQDSCs) have received considerable attention due to their broad and tunable absorption and high stability. Presently, lead chalcogenide CQDSC has achieved a power conversion efficiency of ≈14%. However, the state‐of‐the‐art lead chalcogenide CQDSC still has an open‐circuit voltage (Voc) loss of ≈0.45 V, which is significantly higher than those of c‐Si and perovskite solar cells. Such high Voc loss severely limits the performance improvement and commercialization of lead chalcogenide CQDSCs. In this review, the Voc loss is first analyzed via detailed balance theory and the origin of Voc loss from both solar absorber and interface is summarized. Subsequently, various strategies for improving the Voc from the solar absorber, including the passivation strategies during the synthesis and ligand exchange are overviewed. The great impact of the ligand exchange process on CQD passivation is highlighted and the corresponding strategies to further reduce the Voc loss are summarized. Finally, various strategies are discussed to reduce interface Voc loss from charge transport layers. More importantly, the great potential of achieving performance breakthroughs via various organic hole transport layers is highlighted and the existing challenges toward commercialization are discussed. Current high‐efficiency lead chalcogenide colloidal quantum dot solar cells still have high Voc loss, which places great restrictions on the performance enhancement. The origin of Voc loss from solar absorber and interface is discussed in detail and various strategies for reducing the loss are summarized. Moreover, promising research directions are provided to further improve the solar cell performance.