Efficient Luminescent Solar Concentrators Based on Environmentally Friendly Cd‐Free Ternary AIS/ZnS Quantum Dots.

Luminescent solar concentrators (LSC) allow to obtain renewable energy from building integrated photovoltaic systems. As promising efficient and long‐term stable LSC fluorophores semiconductor nanocrystals like quantum dots (QDs) with size and composition tunable optoelectronic properties have recently emerged. The most popular II/VI or IV/VI semiconductor QDs contain, however, potentially hazardous cadmium or lead ions, which is a bottleneck for commercial applications. A simple aqueous based, microwave‐assisted synthesis for environmentally friendly and highly emissive AgInS2/ZnS QDs is developed using 3‐mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) and glutathione (GSH) and their incorporation into polylaurylmethacrylate (PLMA) polymer slabs integrable in LSC devices (10.4 × 10.4 × 0.2 cm3, G = 12.98). With this simple approach, optical power efficiencies (OPE) of 3.8% and 3.6% and optical quantum efficiencies (OQE) of 24.1% and 27.4% are obtained, which are among the highest values yet reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]