Effect of Growth Solution Concentration on the Performance of Boron Doped ZnO Dye-sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC)

Abstract

Synthesis parameter plays important role in modifying physical property of metal oxide films which serve as photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). This paper reports the synthesis of boron doped ZnO nanostructures via seed mediated growth hydrothermal technique and their application as photanode in DSSC. The growth process was carried out at various solution concentrations, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 M. The solution contains 1 % wt. dimethyl borate as boron source, hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) surfactant and zinc nitrate (Zn(NO3)2). The samples are crystalline with wurtzite phase. The morphological shape of the samples changes with the growth solution concentration. The optical absorption increases as the concentration increases. However, the band gap does not significantly change with the concentration. The DSSC utilizing the ZnO sample prepared at 0.1 M solution performs the best photovoltaic parameters with the JSC of 0.969 mA cm-2, FF of 0.48 and η of 0.222%, respectively since it shows the highest absorption and lowest photoluminescence in visible region.

Palladium Role in Growth of ZnO Nanostructure with Plasmonics Layering by Seed Mediated Hydrothermal Method

“…Both solutions are mixed in 10 ml deionized (DI) water. The seeding sample is grown in the precursor solution and placed in the oven at 90°C for 8 hours [10][11][12].…”

“…The growth of ZnO nanorods has been widely used for various applications such as sensors, piezoelectric devices, and photoelectrochemical solar cell [7][8][9][10][11]. ZnO nanorod enables the detection of H2 over CO gas sensitively [8].…”

“…Intense spontaneous piezoelectric polarization can be generated by ZnO nanostructures because of its unique wurtzite structure [9]. In solar cell technology, ZnO nanostructure can replace TiO2 role as an active material for dye-sensitized solar cells [10][11][12] In order to enhance the metallic nanostructures on nanomaterial surfaces, layering and coating techniques may be applied. Many researchers have developed a seed-mediated growth method for decorating ZnO surfaces which capable to control morphology and size of the nanomaterial [13][14][15][16].…”

“…Optical Properties. Analysis of UV-Vis absorption is important for solar cell and photocatalytic applications [10][11][12][25][26][27][28]. UV-Vis absorption analysis reveals the optical absorption spectra of the four samples as depicted in Fig.…”