Improving the performance of FTO conducting glass by SiO2 and ZnO anti-reflection films for dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

In this work, a novel double-layered anti-reflection (AR) structure involving SiO2 and ZnO films was applied to modify the optical and electrical performance of FTO conducting glass for DSSCs. A SiO2 anti-reflection (AR) layer was fabricated on the non-conducting surface of FTO by spraying method, and a ZnO layer was prepared by spin-coating method on the conducting surface of FTO. The ZnO film not only plays the role of an AR coating layer, but also plays the role of an ancillary layer which restrains charge recombination. The combined use of SiO2 and ZnO AR thin films can improve the performance of the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) effectively, the current density increases from 10.79 to 12.90 mA/cm2 and the conversion efficiency enhances from 4.67% to 5.79%, respectively.