Electrostatic fabrication of RGO-g-SSS/CdTe graphene/quantum dot nanocomposites with enhanced optoelectronic properties

We report a simple and facile strategy for fabricating RGO-g-SSS/CdTe graphene/quantum dot nanocomposites via electrostatic interactions at room temperature. Firstly, sodium p-styrenesulfonate (SSS) was successfully grafted on the reduced graphene oxide (RGO) surface via in situ free radical polymerization. Then, through the electrostatic interactions between positively charged amino groups of CdTe QDs and negatively charged sulfonic acid groups of the RGO-g-SSS surface, we have successfully fabricated RGO-g-SSS/CdTe nanocomposites. We have systematically analysed the structures and photoluminescence behaviors of RGO-g-SSS/CdTe nanocomposites. Finally, by virtue of their special electronic properties, we extended the as-prepared RGO-g-SSS composites as an excellent conductive scaffold to employ in quantum dot sensitized solar cells. These RGO-g-SSS/CdTe hybrids present enhanced optoelectronic properties compared with the pure CdTe QDs, especially in power conversion efficiency, indicating an improvement of 56%.