Synthesis of self-light-scattering wrinkle structured ZnO photoanode by sol-gel method for dye-sensitized solar cells

Authors

C Justin Raj, Dongguk University
S N. Karthick, Pusan National University, Indian Institute of Science
K V. Hemalatha, Pusan National University, Coimbatore Institute of Technology
Soo-Kyoung Kim, Pusan National University
Byung Chul Kim, Dongguk UniversityFollow
Kook Hyun Yu, Dongguk University
Hee-Je Kim, Pusan National University

RIS ID

116014

Publication Details

Raj, C. Justin., Karthick, S. N., Hemalatha, K. V., Kim, S., Kim, B. Chul., Yu, K. Hyun. & Kim, H. (2014). Synthesis of self-light-scattering wrinkle structured ZnO photoanode by sol-gel method for dye-sensitized solar cells. Applied Physics A: materials science and processing, 116 811-816.

Abstract

A special morphological zinc oxide (ZnO) photoanode for dye-sensitized solar cell was fabricated by simple sol-gel drop casting technique. This film shows a wrinkled structure resembling the roots of banyan tree, which acts as an effective self scattering layer for harvesting more visible light and offers an easy transport path for photo-injected electrons. These ZnO electrode of low thickness (*5 lm) gained an enhanced short-circuit current density of 6.15 mA/cm2 , open-circuit voltage of 0.67 V, fill factor of 0.47 and overall conversion efficiency of 1.97 % under 1 sun illumination. This shows a high conversion efficiency and a superior performance than that of ZnO nanoparticle-based photoanode (g * 1.13 %) of high thickness (*8 lm).