Design of Morphology-Controllable ZnO Nanorods/Nanopariticles Composite for Enhanced Performance of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract

A facile one-pot approach was developed for the synthesis of ZnO nanorods (NRs)/nanoparticles (NPs) architectures with controllable morphologies. The concrete state of existence of NPs and NRs could rationally be controlled through reaction temperature manipulation, i.e., reactions occured at 120, 140, 160, and 180 °C without stirring resulted in orderly aligned NRs, disordered but connected NRs/NPs, and relatively dispersed NRs/NPs with different sizes and lengths, respectively. The as-obained ZnO nanostructures were then applied to construct photoanodes of dye-sensitized solar cells, and the thicknesses of the resultant films were controlled for performance optimization. Under an optimized condition (i.e., with a film thickness of 14.7 µm), the device fabricated with the material synthesized at 160 °C exhibited the highest conversion efficiency of 4.30% with an elevated current density of 14.50 mA·cm−2 and an open circuit voltage of 0.567 V. The enhanced performance could be attributed to the coordination effects of the significantly enhanced dye absorption capability arising from the introduced NPs and the intrinsic fast electron transport property of NRs as confirmed by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and ultraviolet–visible (UV−vis) absorption.

Optical absorption modeling of bilayer photoanode based on Cu@TiO2 plasmonic dye sensitized solar cells towards photovoltaic applications

“…Among the nanoparticle morphology studied, the highest optical absorption can be obtained by using the sphericalshaped copper nanoparticles coated with TiO 2 . Considering the use of bilayer structures, the UV-VIS absorption of hybrid nanorods/nanosphere photo-anode is superior to nanospheres/nanorods, which are in accordance with obtained results [30]. The optical properties associated with these unique morphology and photo-anode structures will lead the copper nanoparticles for further development of solar cell technology.…”

Photovoltaic Performance of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Containing ZnO Microrods

“…Zn(OH)2, precipitated through the reaction between the zinc ions (Zn 2+ ) and hydroxide ions (OH − ) provided from zinc nitrate and ammonium hydroxide (see Equation (2)), respectively, and then dehydrated to form ZnO. Generally, the concentration of the CBD solution determines the density of a nanostructure, while temperature and growth time affect aspect ratio and morphology of the nanostructure [11][12][13][14][15].…”

Modeling and Piezoelectric Analysis of Nano Energy Harvesters

“…Vertical highly aligned, uniform, and straight arrays of the ZnO nanorods on surfaces and their interfaces have a prominent role in the performance of MEMS devices. ZnO nanorods aligned in the c-axis of applied stress can cause deformation to develop an electric field [ 10 ]. The vibrational energy harvester with a piezoelectric effect was reported with a downshift of resonance frequencies [ 11 ].…”