Optimum Particle Size of ZnO for Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

Large particle sizes having a strong light scattering lead to a significantly decreased surface area and small particle sizes having large surface area lack light-scattering effect. How to combine large and small particle sizes together is an interesting work for achieving higher solar efficiency. In this work, we investigate the solar performance influence of the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) by the multiple titanium oxide (TiO2) layers with different particle sizes. It was found that the optimal TiO2thickness depends on the particle sizes of TiO2layers for achieving the maximum efficiency. The solar efficiency of DSSCs prepared by triple TiO2layers with different particle sizes is higher than that by double TiO2layers for the same TiO2thickness. The choice of particle size in the bottom layer is more important than that in the top layer for achieving higher solar efficiency. The choice of the particle sizes in the middle layer depends on the particle sizes in the bottom and top layers. The mixing of the particle sizes in the middle layer is a good choice for achieving higher solar efficiency.

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Ga-Modified Nanostructured ZnO: Characterization and Application in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Materials Science Forum ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/msf.591-593.13 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 591-593 ◽

pp. 13-17

Author(s):

Agnaldo S. Gonçalves ◽

Ana Flavia Nogueira ◽

Marian R. Davolos ◽

Naruhiko Masaki ◽

Shozo Yanagida ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Particle Size ◽

Optical Properties ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Band Gap ◽

Optical Band Gap ◽

Dye Sensitized Solar Cells ◽

Binding Energies ◽

Precipitation Method ◽

Dye Sensitized ◽

Sensitized Solar Cells

ZnO has received great attention in many applications due to its electronic and optical properties. We report on the preparation of ZnO and gallium-containing ZnO (ZnO:Ga) nanoparticles by the precipitation method. The nanoparticles have the wurtzite structure and a high crystallinity. Gallium ions are present as Ga3+, as evidenced by the binding energies through XPS. Porosity and surface area of the powder increased under increasing gallium level, explained by the smaller particle size of ZnO:Ga samples compared with ZnO. The estimated optical band gap of ZnO was 3.2 eV, comparable to ZnO:Ga.

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EFFECTS OF TiO2 PARTICLE SIZE ON THE PERFORMANCE OF DYE-SENSITIZED SOLAR CELLS USING IONIC LIQUID ELECTROLYTES

NANO ◽

10.1142/s1793292014400104 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 09 (05) ◽

pp. 1440010 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

SEIGO ITO ◽

TAKUROU N. MURAKAMI ◽

SHAIK M. ZAKEERUDDIN ◽

TETSUO YAZAWA ◽

MASAO MIZUNO ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Particle Size ◽

Ionic Liquid ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Dye Sensitized Solar Cells ◽

Impedance Measurement ◽

Tio2 Particle ◽

Distribution Analysis ◽

Dye Sensitized ◽

Photovoltaic Effects ◽

Sensitized Solar Cells

Different-sized nanocrystalline- TiO 2 particles have been used for the optimization of photovoltaic effects of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) using an ionic-liquid (IL) electrolyte. Ru dye (Z907) was used for the IL-DSC optimization. The TiO 2 nanoparticle sizes and the thickness of nanocrystalline- TiO 2 electrodes ranged from 13 nm to 81 nm and 2 μm to 23 μm, respectively. The particle size of the nanocrystalline TiO 2 film greatly affected the photovoltaic characteristics, particularly for the IL electrolyte due to limitation of the photocurrent by [Formula: see text]-diffusion. The optimized electrode for IL-DSC had a 15 μm thickness using a 27 nm diameter of nanocrystalline- TiO 2 particles. In order to characterize the effect of the TiO 2 particle size on the photovoltaic effects of IL-DSCs, a scanning electron micrograph (surface and cross section of nanoparticles), BET specific surface area analysis, pore-size distribution analysis, photocurrent transient measurements, haze spectroscopy, photovoltaic measurements, incident-photon-to-current conversion efficiency spectroscopy and impedance measurement have been used.

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