Self-assembled peptide nanofiber templated ALD growth of TiO2and ZnO semiconductor nanonetworks (original) (raw)

ZnO Nanorod–TiO 2 -Nanoparticulate Electrode for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, 2009

Highly dense ZnO nanorods were synthesized on TiO 2-nanoparticulate coated fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates by the chemical vapor deposition method for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The uniformly grown ZnO nanorod layer has a thickness of 4 mm on the TiO 2-nanoparticulate layer with a wurtzite structures as confirmed by the X-ray diffraction pattern. The DSSC fabricated with a ZnO nanorod/TiO 2-nanoparticulate electrode had an overall light-to-electricity conversion efficiency of 3.7% with a short-circuit current density J SC of 8.12 mA/cm 2 , open-circuit voltage V OC of 0.76 V, and fill factor FF of 0.59, whereas ZnO nanowire/TiO 2-nanoparticulate-electrodebased DSSCs exhibited a low of 1.1% with J SC of 2.14 mA/cm 2 and slightly high V OC of 0.79 V. It is expected that the enhanced photovoltaic performance of the ZnO nanorod/TiO 2-nanoparticulate electrode can be attributed to high dye loading and high light harvesting through large surface areas of ZnO nanorods incorporated with TiO 2-nanoparticulate as compared with the ZnO nanowire/TiO 2nanoparticulate electrode.

Nanocrystalline TiO 2 /ZnO Thin Films: Fabrication and Application to Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2005

Nanocrystalline TiO 2 thin films composed of densely packed grains were deposited onto indium-doped tin oxide (ITO)-coated glass substrates at room temperature using a chemical bath deposition technique. A layerby-layer (LbL) process was utilized to obtain a 1.418-µm-thick TiO 2 /ZnO structure. The TiO 2 surface was super-hydrophilic, but its hydrophilicity decreased considerably after ZnO deposition. Other TiO 2 /ZnO films were studied to assess their suitability as photoelectrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs).

Zinc oxide nanostructure-based dye-sensitized solar cells

Journal of Materials Science, 2017

Developing new technologies that could lead to alternatives to the traditional silicon-based solar panels, and to efficiently light the world in the future, is critically important because of limited natural petroleum resources. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are promisingly efficient and clean hybrid, organicinorganic, low-cost molecular solar cell devices. The key components of DSSCs are the organic dyes that play the role of a photosensitizer-like the chlorophyll of a green plant that is responsible for photosynthesis-and nanostructured semiconductor metal oxides. Because of their unique, multifunctional properties, zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures are promising materials to use to create photoanodes for DSSCs. This review looks at recent developments in the field of ZnO-based DSSC devices; synthesis of ZnO nanostructures with variable morphologies, including nanorods, nanofibers, nanotubes, nano-/microflowers, thin sheets, and nanoaggregates; factors that control the growth and morphologies of these nanomaterials; and the role of crystallographic planes for the synthesis of versatile ZnO nanostructures. This review also covers photoelectrode fabrication, DSSC device components, nature and chemical features of the dyes used as photosensitizers, and operational principles. In addition, various photovoltaic parameters such as current density, open-circuit voltage, fill factor, photoconversion efficiency, and factors that influence these parameters for ZnO-based DSSCs are summarized and discussed.

Synthesis and fabrication of TiO2–ZnO nanocomposite based solid state dye sensitized solar cell

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, 2016

TiO 2 , TiO 2-ZnO (TZ) nanocomposite and PANI (Poly aniline) have been synthesized by simple sol-gel and direct chemical method, respectively, for the application in Dye Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC). Structural, morphological and optical analyses were carried out using XRD, SEM, EDAX, PL and FTIR. PANI film has been fabricated for solid state DSSC. The photovoltaic performance has been checked for both liquid state and solid state in outdoor and indoor environmental condition. The results show that for TZ showed better performance compared to the monophasic TiO 2. Stability test showed that the solid state DSSC shows a better stability under constant illumination. Liquid state DSSC loses its efficiency by about 52.5 % while solid state to DSSC by about 13.3 % after 5 h of constant illumination.

Nanostructured ZnO electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cell applications

Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry, 2002

Dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical solar cells constitute a promising candidate in the search for cost-effective and environment-friendly solar cells. The most extensively studied, and to date the most efficient systems are based on titanium dioxide. In this paper, the possibilities to use nanostructured ZnO electrodes in photoelectrochemical solar cells are investigated. Various experimental techniques (e.g. infrared, photoelectron, femtosecond and nanosecond laser spectroscopies, laser flash induced photocurrent transient measurements, twoand three-electrode photoelectrochemical measurements) show that the thermodynamics, kinetics and charge transport properties are comparable for ZnO and TiO 2. The preparation techniques of ZnO provide more possibilities of varying the particle size and shape compared to TiO 2. However, the dye-sensitization process is more complex in case of ZnO and care needs to be taken to achieve an optimal performance of the solar cell.

ZnO and TiO2 Nanostructured Dye sensitized Solar Photovoltaic Cell

Materials Today: Proceedings, 2019

The performance of nanostructured metal oxides (ZnO and TiO 2) based dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC) were investigated. Natural dye, chlorophyll extracted from fresh spinach leaves, was used as sensitizer for fabrication of the cells. ZnO was synthesized by chemical bath deposition technique.The Field emission scanning electron microscopic (FESEM) images show hexagonal patterned ZnO nano-towers of 5 µm length and ~ 1 µm diameter. TiO 2 was synthesized by sol-gel method.The FESEM images show that the TiO 2 nano-rods of 2 µm length and ~ 300 nm diameter.TiO 2 based DSSC was possessed better efficiency of 0.27% as compare to ZnO based DSSC of 0.13%.

ZnO Nanotube Based Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Nano Letters, 2007

Atomic layer deposition is utilized to coat pores conformally, providing a direct path for charge collection over tens of micrometers thickness. Compared to similar ZnO-based devices, ZnO nanotube cells show exceptional photovoltage and fill factors, in addition to power efficiencies up to 1.6%. The novel fabrication technique provides a facile, metal-oxide general route to well-defined DSSC photoanodes.