In this communication, we report the synthesis and characterization of a new donor–acceptor type conjugated polymer carrying alternate 3,4-didodecyloxythiophene and (1,3,4-oxadiazol-yl)pyridine moieties and evaluation of its optical and electrochemical properties. The polymer was synthesized through precursor polyhydrazide route. It has well defined structure, stability and it shows good solubility in common organic solvents. Optical and electrochemical properties were studied by UV-visible, fluorescence spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetric studies, respectively. It displays bluish-green fluorescence both in solution and in film state. Cyclic voltammetric studies showed that the polymer P1 possesses a HOMO energy level of −6.01 and LUMO energy level of −3.34 eV. The preliminary studies clearly reveal that the new polymer can have potential application in the fabrication of light emitting diodes. The studies on its device application are in progress.

Undoped and aluminium (Al)-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods have been synthesized by electrochemical route. The synthesized materials have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, UV–visible spectrometer and scanning electron microscope. The Al-doped ZnO nanorods have been coated with polyvinyl alcohol. Current–voltage characteristics have been investigated in dark and under UV-light illumination. Aluminium doping in ZnO increase its electrical conductivity and further polyvinyl alcohol coating on Al-doped ZnO increase UV sensitivity of the material. Response and recovery time of Al-doped ZnO and PVA-coated Al-doped ZnO nanorods have been recorded. PVA-coated Al-doped ZnO nanorods shows very fast response and recovery time of 10 s in comparison to uncoated ZnO (20 min) nanorods.

Quantum dots (QDs), the zero-dimensional semiconductor nanocrystals, due to their distinctive optoelectronic properties like size-tunable bandgap, broad absorption spectrum, size-dependent narrow emission profile, and better transport properties with the possibility of multiple exciton generation, have attracted wide attention as photosensitizers for developing QDs-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs). Among all types of QDs, metal chalcogenide (MCh) QDs especially lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd)-based chalcogenide QDs have been proven to be most suitable for the application as sensitizers in QDSSCs. This review paper presents a general overview of the QDSSC technology followed by the role of MCh QDs as the sensitizers in DSSCs. Despite their better sensitizing properties, lead (Pb)-based QDs have some serious issues such as lower stability and high toxicity associated with them. Therefore, this review is focused on Cd-based QDs (CdSe and CdTe) and presents a detailed prospective of recent trends in CdSe- and CdTe-based QDSSCs research. It tries to suggest the prospects of improvement strategies like co-sensitization of photoanode; deposition mechanisms, post-synthesis chemical treatments and doping/co-doping of sensitizers; optimization of synthesis parameters and interface modifications, etc. adopted for tailoring the bandgap of CdSe and CdTe QDs.