Abstract
We report an effective method for mass production of ZnO hierarchical flowers (HFs) that are constructed by interlaced single crystalline ZnO nanosheets with dominant surfaces of{112¯0}and{11¯00}. The size of ZnO HFs, thickness and parking density of the nanosheets, and HF inner porosity can be tuned by changing the synthesis conditions. The HFs containing porous inner structures showed an excellent performance as the photoanode material in quasi-solid (using polymer gel electrolytes) dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) because of their superior optical and electrical properties. The high current density (10.26 mA cm−2) and efficiency (4.93%) of the HF-based DSCs indicate a great potential for the development of high-efficient quasi-solid DSCs.
Highlights
In the past two decades, porous photoanodes have been intensively studied as one of the key components used to enhance the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) [1,2,3]
We report a systematic investigation of the morphology variations of the ZnO hierarchical flowers (HFs) formed under different experimental conditions and the relationships between flowers’ morphologies and their DSCs’ performances
ZnO HFs containing hierarchical structures were synthesized by a direct precipitation method, and all reactants were used without further purification
Summary
In the past two decades, porous photoanodes have been intensively studied as one of the key components used to enhance the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) [1,2,3]. Different sizes of particles such as nanoparticles (∼20 nm) and submicron particles (∼200 nm) are employed to construct a double-layered photoanode structure with aims to guarantee dye-loading and improve light-scattering efficiency, respectively [1]. Photoanodes constructed by hierarchical structured materials have been found to effectively increase the photoanode efficiency. This is because, with the advantages of nanosized primary particles and the submicron-sized secondary aggregates, the hierarchical photoanodes can offer a large surface area for sufficient dye-loading and in the meantime ensure the efficient lightscattering [4]. ZnO hierarchical photoanode structures based on nanocrystalline aggregates, flower-like spheres, and dendritic nanowires have been reported in recent years [17,18,19,20,21]
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