Screen‐Printing of ZnO Nanostructures from Sol–Gel Solutions for Their Application in Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract

Diblock copolymers have been used in sol-gel synthesis to successfully tailor the nanoscale morphology of thin ZnO films. As the fabrication of several-micron-thick mesoporous films such as those required in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) was difficult with this approach, we exploited the benefits of diblock-copolymer-directed synthesis that made it compatible with screen printing. The simple conversion of the diblock copolymer ZnO precursor sol to a screen-printing paste was not possible as it resulted in poor film properties. To overcome this problem, an alternative route is proposed in which the diblock copolymer ZnO precursor sol is first blade coated and calcined, then converted to a screen-printing paste. This allows the benefits of diblock-copolymer-directed particle formation to be compatible with printing methods. The morphologies of the ZnO nanostructures were studied by SEM and correlated with the current density-voltage characteristics.

Morphology regulation, structural, and photocatalytic properties of ZnO hierarchical microstructures synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method

“…Various synthesis techniques are used to fabricate ZnO particles. These techniques include chemical vapor deposition (CVD) , pulsed laser deposition , sol‐gel methods , precipitation , hydrothermal methods , electrochemical deposition , and microwave‐assisted techniques .…”

Printing ZnO Inks: From Principles to Devices

“…Sarkar et al investigated the use of diblock copolymers in ink formulation, in order to direct the shape and morphology of metal oxide nanostructures in thin films, where the sol-gel-based metal oxide formation was combined with the assembly of hydrophilic metal oxide precursor sols within the hydrophilic domain of self-assembled amphiphilic diblock copolymer mesophases [95]. They further investigated this approach in order to obtain several-micron-thick films containing tailored ZnO nanostructures required for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) applications [96]. In their work, the sol-gel solution was first used to synthesize ZnO NPs of different sizes, which were then used to prepare the screen-printing paste containing poly(styrene-block-ethylene oxide) polymers.…”

Applied bias photon-to-current conversion efficiency of ZnO enhanced by hybridization with reduced graphene oxide

“…A large part of research has been devoted to improve the materials through the incorporation of dopants and photosensitizers to harvest better the light and minimize electron-holes recom-bination [9][10][11][12][13][14] , but this form of hybrid nanostructure risks the formation of crystal defects which act as recombination centers and reduce an efficient charge transport. The electron transport through the nanostructure is crucial to achieve a good photon-toelectron quantum efficiency [15] .…”