Abstract
ZnO and TiO2 are direct wide band gap semiconductors with intriguing properties. A wide range of applications makes it one of the most studied materials in the past decade, particularly when elaborated as nanostructures. In this work, we focus on synthesis of CNTs modified ZnO and TiO2 thin films using sol-gel method. The morphological and optical characterizations of the based ZnO and TiO2 films were carried out using scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM), XRD and UV spectroscopy. Electrical properties of the deposited ZnO/CNTs and CNTs /TiO2 were studied using I-V measurements at room temperature in metal/semiconductor/metal configuration, by the use of an array of metallic micro-electrodes deposited on the surface of the elaborated thin films. This allows determining qualitatively the electrical conductivity of thin films and the different parameters of the Schottky junction between the composites nano-films and the substrate. This study is necessary for future applications in solar cell.
Highlights
Solar energy is the most inexhaustible and available renewable energy [1,2,3,4,5]
We focus on synthesis of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) modified zinc oxide (ZnO) and TiO2 thin films using solgel method, and make a comparative study of the effect of CNTs on ZnO and TiO2 thin films
The spectrums show a highly transmittance up to 89% in the visible domain for the uncharged thin film of TiO2 (Fig. 1(a)) and 76% for the uncharged ZnO thin film (Fig. 1(b)), which indicates that TiO2 and ZnO are highly transparent materials, it is emphasized that the transmittance in the overall wavelength range is significantly reduced with increasing CNT filler content ranging from 0.05 to 0.9 wt.% CNT up to 64% for CNT/TiO2 and 30% for CNT/ZnO
Summary
Solar energy is the most inexhaustible and available renewable energy [1,2,3,4,5]. the development of photovoltaic devices has attracted much interest in the scientific world. Dye photovoltaic cells are commonly developed in the last decades as the 3rd generation of solar cells [6] It is a simple and inexpensive technology according to the literature because it uses inexpensive and available semiconductor materials; for example: titanium dioxide (TiO2) [7,8,9,10,11] or zinc oxide (ZnO) [12,13,14,15]. In this study we present a simple and economic method to elaborate thin films and we make a comparative study between ZnO and TiO2 thin films loaded with CNTs by different mass percentage and to see the effect of CNTs in the optical and structural properties and to see the most efficient metal oxide for photovoltaic use
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