S, N co-doped graphene quantum dots decorated CdSe for enhanced photoelectric properties

Cadmium selenide and S, N co-doped graphene quantum dots (CdSe/S, N-GQDs) nanocomposites were synthesized via a solvothermal method. The results show that S, N-GQDs have a grain size of around 5 nm and an average height of 0.5 nm, which contains only 1-2 layers of graphene sheets. The CdSe/S, N-GQDs composites exhibit distinct lattice fringes with a layer spacing of 0.24 and 0.35 nm, corresponding to (1120) and (111) crystal planes of S, N-GQDs and the cubic CdSe, respectively. The photoelectric properties of CdSe/S, N-GQDs were evaluated under ultraviolet light (365 nm) irradiation. Compared with CdSe and CdSe/GQDs, CdSe/S, N-GQDs composites have the largest photocurrent density of 4.286 × 10^-5 A cm^-2, which is about 10.5 times and 7.5 times as high as that of CdSe and CdSe/GQDs, respectively. The increase in photocurrent density of CdSe/S, N-GQDs can be attributed to the incorporation of S and N to promote separation of photogenerated carriers. Moreover, S, N-GQDs are nano-fragments of graphene, which can provide a larger specific surface area and greatly increase the contact surface with CdSe. In addition, the photoelectric properties of CdSe/S, N-GQDs composites can be adjusted by varying the doping ratio. When the doping ratio is 1:1, CdSe/S, N-GQDs have the best photoelectric performance.