In this study, we investigated the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) with the ruthenium (Ru) coated multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) on the counter electrode (CE). High purity MWCNT (0.01~0.06 g) was sprayed on glass/fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO). Then 30 nm-thick Ru thin films were coated on a MWCNT template at low temperature by atomic layer deposition (ALD) using RuDi and O2 as precursor to prepare Ru-CNT CE and the 0.45 cm2 DSSC device of glass/FTO/TiO2/Dye (N719)/electrolyte (C6DMII, GSCN)/Ru-CNT CE was fabricated. The surface morphology of CEs and the energy conversion efficiency of the DSSC device were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), and photocurrent-voltage (I-V) measurement. We confirmed that effective surface of the CE increased linearly as the amount of MWCNT spray increased and the crystallized Ru was deposited very conformally around the MWCNT nano template. Moreover, the efficiency of the DSSC increased up to 3.3% as the amount of MWCNT increased.
ZnO thin films were deposited on Si(100) substrates at low temperatures (44℃~210℃) by atomic layer deposition using DEZn (diethyl zinc) and water as precursors. The film thickness was measured by ellipsometry calibrated with cross-sectional TEM. The phase formation, microstructure evolution, UVabsorbance, and chemical composition changes were examined by XRD, SEM, AFM, TEM, UV-VIS-NIR, and AES, respectively. A uniform amorphous ZnO layer was formed even at 44℃ while stable crystallized ZnO films were deposited above 90℃. All the samples showed uniform surface roughness below 3 nm. Fully crystallized ZnO layers with a band-gap of 3.37 eV without carbon impurities can be formed at substrate temperatures of less than 90℃.
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