Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) provide an efficient and economical alternative to conventional silicon solar cells. However, fabricating a high surface area semiconducting scaffold for adsorbed dye that also inhibits interception is challenging and limits the progress in DSSCs. To address this problem, a dual-layer zinc oxide nanostructure containing a compact layer and a high surface area nanosheet superstructure was electrodeposited on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO). The compact layer prevents interception of photogenerated electrons by the electrolyte at the FTO support, while the superstructure increases the surface area of the zinc oxide. A higher surface area implies enhanced absorptivity for conventional organic dyes and even quantum dot sensitizers deposited via successive ionic layer absorption and reaction method (SILAR). The structures were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman spectroscopy. These nanostructures were used as photoanodes in DSSCs and the efficiency of the resulting solar cells was quantified via current-voltage measurements under AM1.5 conditions.

Single-step electrodeposition of zinc oxide nanosheets on a compact layer for dye-sensitized solar cell photoanodes

251st National Meeting (2016)

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