Effect of organic dye, the concentration and dipping time of the organic dye N719 on the photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized ZnO solar cell prepared by ammonia-assisted hydrolysis technique

Abstract

This work investigated the influence of the organic dyes N719, N3 and Z907 as photosensitizers on the photovoltaic parameters of ZnO nanorod dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). It also evaluated the effect of the concentration and dipping time of the best dye, N719, on the performance of the cell. TiO2 nanorods, used as the photovoltaic material of the cell, were prepared via an ammonia-assisted hydrolysis technique. The platinum film as the counterelectrode of the DSSC was prepared using a platinum pellet on an ITO substrate. The redox couple of the electrolyte utilized in the DSSC was iodide/triiodide. The cells sensitized with the N719 and Z907 dyes demonstrated the best performance compared with the cell sensitized with the N3 dye. This occurred as N719 and Z907 demonstrated the highest optical absorption in the visible region. The cell sensitized with a dipping time of 6h in 0.3mM N719 performed with the highest short-circuit density, Jsc, of 1.07mAcm−2 and conversion efficiency, η, of 0.135% since it possessed the highest optical absorption in the visible region. The corresponding incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) of the cell was 41.0%.