Investigation the effect of ZnO nanoparticles decorated TiO2 nanotube arrays on the performance of dye sensitized solar cells

AuthorsZ.Chamanzadehb, M.Zahedifarab, M.Noormohammadia
Conference Title7th International Conference on Nanostructures (ICNS7)
Holding Date of Conference2018-02-27
PresentationPOSTER
Conference LevelInternational Conferences

Abstract

We fabricated ordered TiO2 nanotubes (NTs) arrays by anodization of Ti metal sheets. TiO2 nanotube arrays transferred to fluorine tin oxide (FTO) glass substrates via a re-anodization together a chemical process. Then, free-standing TiO2 NTs films decorated with ZnO nanoparticles, followed by sol-gel spin coating process. The as-prepared films were characterized by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and the dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Compared to conventionally anodized nanotubes, the dye sensitized solar cells based TiO2 nanotubes modified by ZnO nanoparticles exhibit an enhanced open circuit voltage (Voc) about 14 % compared with that of TiO2 NT dye sensitized solar cell, due to the formation of an energy barrier layer. The dark current analysis confirmed suppression the interfacial recombination from TiO2 NTs to electrolyte. dye sensitized solar cell with an overall 5.8 % energy-conversion efficiency was obtained, which showed 11.5 % improvement over the DSSC that using pure TiO2 NTs as photoanode.