Manufacturing process and optical properties of zinc oxide thin films as photoanode in DSSC
Journal Title: Journal of Achievements in Materials and Manufacturing Engineering - Year 2018, Vol 1, Issue 86
Abstract
Purpose: It has been recently observed, that zinc oxide thin films are gaining much popularity, particularly in applications such as toxic gas sensors, photocatalytic materials and photovoltaic cells. Due to much better physical properties of ZnO compared to the ones of titanium dioxide (TiO2), which is currently the most used material in dye sensitized solar cells, efforts are being made to fabricate DSSCs with thin films and/or nanostructures, including nanowires, nanofibres and nanoparticles of zinc oxide. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper, zinc oxide thin films were prepared using sol-gel and spin coating methods from Zn(COO)2 x 2H2O dissolved in ethanol and acetic acid with ZnO monocrystalline nanoparticles of 0 and 10% (wt.) relative to the final concentration of produced solutions. The effect of calcination process on ZnO thin films at 600°C were examined using atomic force microscope to investigate the morphology of semiconductor coatings, infrared spectroscopy to prove the chemical structure of material. Besides, optical properties were analysed on the basis of absorbance in the function of wavelength spectra and the values of energy band gaps were studied. Findings: The topography analysis of ZnO thin films showed an increase in roughness with the increase of zinc oxide nanoparticles in the thin films material. In addition, the analysis of the optical properties of ZnO thin films showed a decrease in absorption level in the range of near-ultraviolet wavelength for the obtained layers after annealing. Research limitations/implications: It was found that ZnO thin films produced by spin coating and calcination method are a proper material for photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cells, as zinc oxide layers provide better conductivity across the photovoltaic cell. Practical implications: The results provide the possibility of production DSSCs with zinc oxide thin films as photoanode. Originality/value: The dye-sensitized solar cells based on zinc oxide photoanodes could be alternative semiconductor material to titanium dioxide, which is used in nowadays solar cells. It was estimated that ZnO, especially zinc oxide nanostructures have much better physical properties, than TiO2 structures. What is more, zinc oxide thin layers are characterized by the lower energy losses resulting from the physical properties of such nanostructures, which results in more efficient solar energy into electricity conversion.
Authors and Affiliations
Wiktor Matysiak, Tomasz Tański, Marta Zaborowska
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP270272
- DOI 10.5604/01.3001.0011.6016
- Views 90
- Downloads 0
The structure and corrosive properties of the CoCr-base dental alloy obtained by soft material milling followed by sinterization
Purpose: Presented researches aimed at evaluating the structure and corrosion propertiesof CoCr-base elements fabricated by means of soft material milling with later sinterization ina protective atmosphere in comparison...
Physico-chemical properties of the ESR slags system CaF2-Al2O3-(MgO, TiO2)
Purpose: The main task of this work was the developing of new compositions of the ESR slag that would keep the required amount of easily oxidizable elements in the superalloys and have the favourable physicochemical prop...
Effect of graphene as anti-settling agent for magnetorheological fluid
Purpose: Magnetorheological fluids are field-responsive fluids containing magneticparticles suspended in a suitable medium. In this proposed work, the iron powder wasdispersed in silicone oil to obtain magnetorheological...
Parametric optimization of dissimilar delding of AISI 409 ferritic stainless steel to AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel by using PCA method
Purpose: Taguchi design has been adopted in order to identify optimal parametriccombination for desired quality of weld. Microscopy was conducted to study the effectof welding input process parameters (welding current, g...
Methods of data mining for modelling of low-pressure heat treatment
Purpose: This paper addresses the methods of the modelling of thermal and thermochemical processes used in computer-aided design, optimization and control of processes of thermal and thermochemical treatment in terms of...