Stable crystalline aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO) nanopowders were synthesized using hydrothermal treatment processing. Three different aluminum precursors have been used. The Al-precursors were found to affect the morphology of the obtained nanopowders. AZO nanoparticles based on zinc acetate and aluminum nitrate have been prepared with different Al/Zn molar ratios. XRD investigations revealed that all the obtained powders have single phase zincite structure with purity of about 99%. The effect of aluminum doping ratio in AZO nanoparticles (based on Al-nitrate precursor) on structure, phase composition, and particle size has been investigated. The incorporation of Al in ZnO was confirmed by UV-Vis spectroscopy revealing a blue shift due to Burstein-Moss effect.

The influences of thermal annealing on the microstructure, dye-adsorption, surface area, electrical properties and power conversion efficiency of well-crystallized TiO 2 photoelectrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells have been systematically investigated. Although the heat treatment of TiO 2 photoelectrodes at higher temperatures was found to result in an enhanced electron transport, it was accompanied with a reduced specific surface area and less adsorbed dye molecules. A power conversion efficiency of 5.1 ± 0.2% was obtained with a negligible deviation for the samples heat-treated at temperatures ranging from 350 C to 600 C.

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