Novel nanostructure zinc zirconate, zinc oxide or zirconium oxide pastes coated on fluorine doped tin oxide thin film as photoelectrochemical working electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cell

Abstract

Zinc zirconate (ZnZrO3) (ZZ), zinc oxide (ZnO) (ZO) and zirconium oxide (ZrO2) (ZRO) nano-particles were synthesized by simple sol–gel method. ZZ, ZO and ZRO nano-particles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectrum (DRS). Nanoporous ZZ, ZO and ZRO thin films were prepared doctor blade technique on the fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) and used as working electrodes in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC). Their photovoltaic behavior were compared with standard using D35 dye and an electrolyte containing [Co(bpy)3](PF6)2, [Co(pby)3](PF6)3, LiClO4, and 4-tert-butylpyridine (TBP). The properties of DSSC have been studied by measuring their short-circuit photocurrent density (Jsc), open-circuit voltage (VOC) and fill factor (ff). The application of ZnZrO3 as working electrode produces a significant improvement in the fill factor (ff) of the dye-sensitized solar cells (ff=56%) compared to ZnO working electrode (ff=40%) under the same condition.