Aligned Zinc Oxide Nanostructures for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells: A Review

Abstract

The optoelectronic and electrical properties of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures are dependent on the morphology and dimensions at the nanoscale. The present work explains different methods to grow zinc oxide nanostructures to be applied in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The importance of aligned nanostructures of ZnO has been described with advantages specific to DSSC applications. The aligned ZnO nanostructures are generally helpful in reducing recombination instances and faster electron collection rates when used as photoanode in DSSCs. This helps to enhance short-circuit current density and open-circuit voltage which result in increased efficiency of the devices. The significance of optimization of the thickness of the photoanode has also been explained to achieve these advantages.