Fabrication and synthesis of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) using Pd doped ZnO photoanodes and extract of plant leaves as a natural dye

Abstract

ABSTRACT A dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is a photovoltaic-based electrical panel available in different colors. The working electrode of the cell consists of a Pd-doped ZnO nanocomposite. UV-Visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, Selected-area electron diffraction (SAED), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), and Incident Photon-to-Current Conversion Efficiency (IPEC) techniques characterized nanoparticles so synthesized. XRD results revealed that the hexagonal wurtzite phase of ZnO remains constant by doping with different molarity concentrations of Pd. The TEM result suggested that the particle featured a spherical shape with uniform distribution over the surface of ZnO. The effect of the thickness of semiconducting layers at the photoanode shows that photocurrent density stopped increasing and became constant for samples doped with 0.46 M Pd. On the other hand, the photocurrent density of the network cell gave a linear increase for samples doped with natural dye, contributing to the enhanced performance of the DSSC. It is about the thickness of the photoanode choice of chemical and natural dye that makes a difference with other solar cells synthesized by different methods. The electricity produced by our synthesized solar cell possibly allows us to harvest with a safe and power output conversion efficiency of 11.92% in real-time without interruption.