A ZnO/TiO2 composite nanorods photoanode with improved performance for dye‐sensitized solar cells. Issue 10 (16th August 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Feng, Yamin; Chen, Jinghua; Huang, Xintang; Liu, Weifeng; Zhu, Yu; Qin, Wei; Mo, Xiaoyuan
• Is Part Of: Crystal research and technology. Volume 51:Issue 10(2016)
• Page Start: 548
• Page End: 553
• Publication Date: 2016-08-16
• Subjects: ZnO/TiO2 composite NRs film -- dye‐sensitized solar cells -- power‐conversion efficiency; Crystallography -- Periodicals; 548
• DOI: 10.1002/crat.201600012
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0232-1300

Abstract

Abstract : A ZnO/TiO2 composite nanorods photoelectrode by integrating thick ZnO NRs as an overlayer and thin TiO2 NRs as an underlayer has been successfully synthesized on the FTO substrate; the composite film electrodes applied in DSSCs exhibit a photoelectric conversion efficiency of 4.36%, which is obviously higher than that of DSSCs based on pure ZnO NRs (3.10%) and pure TiO2 NRs (0.63%). Abstract : A dye‐sensitized solar cell (DSSC) based on ZnO/TiO2 composite nanorods (NRs) photoanode is fabricated. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the ZnO/TiO2 composite NRs film DSSC is 4.36%, which is obviously higher than that of DSSCs based on pure TiO2 NRs (0.6%) and ZnO NRs (3.10%). The enhanced performance of ZnO/TiO2 composite NRs film DSSC can be attributed to the combined effects of ZnO and TiO2 NRs. In this architecture, the thick ZnO NRs overlayer offers a large surface area for enough dye absorption, while the thin TiO2 NRs underlayer not only offers a direct and quick pathway for photoinjected electron transfer along the photoanode but also acts as a blocking layer, which effectively hinders the direct contact between the substrate and the electrolyte resulting in lower carrier recombination.