Browse
Submit Data
Databases
API
Help

Dataset Information

21 Views

0 Connections

0 Citations

0 Reanalyses

0 Downloads

Omics score: 0

Efficiency Enhancement of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells' Performance with ZnO Nanorods Grown by Low-Temperature Hydrothermal Reaction.

ABSTRACT: In this study, aligned zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods (NRs) with various lengths (1.5-5 µm) were deposited on ZnO:Al (AZO)-coated glass substrates by using a solution phase deposition method; these NRs were prepared for application as working electrodes to increase the photovoltaic conversion efficiency of solar cells. The results were observed in detail by using X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, UV-visible spectrophotometry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, incident photo-to-current conversion efficiency, and solar simulation. The results indicated that when the lengths of the ZnO NRs increased, the adsorption of D-719 dyes through the ZnO NRs increased along with enhancing the short-circuit photocurrent and open-circuit voltage of the cell. An optimal power conversion efficiency of 0.64% was obtained in a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) containing the ZnO NR with a length of 5 µm. The objective of this study was to facilitate the development of a ZnO-based DSSC.

SUBMITTER: Lai FI

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5458823 | biostudies-other | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

ACCESS DATA

Json Xml

Similar Datasets

Design of Morphology-Controllable ZnO Nanorods/Nanopariticles Composite for Enhanced Performance of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.

Project description:A facile one-pot approach was developed for the synthesis of ZnO nanorods (NRs)/nanoparticles (NPs) architectures with controllable morphologies. The concrete state of existence of NPs and NRs could rationally be controlled through reaction temperature manipulation, i.e., reactions occured at 120, 140, 160, and 180 °C without stirring resulted in orderly aligned NRs, disordered but connected NRs/NPs, and relatively dispersed NRs/NPs with different sizes and lengths, respectively. The as-obained ZnO nanostructures were then applied to construct photoanodes of dye-sensitized solar cells, and the thicknesses of the resultant films were controlled for performance optimization. Under an optimized condition (i.e., with a film thickness of 14.7 µm), the device fabricated with the material synthesized at 160 °C exhibited the highest conversion efficiency of 4.30% with an elevated current density of 14.50 mA·cm-2 and an open circuit voltage of 0.567 V. The enhanced performance could be attributed to the coordination effects of the significantly enhanced dye absorption capability arising from the introduced NPs and the intrinsic fast electron transport property of NRs as confirmed by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) absorption.

| S-EPMC6669986 | biostudies-literature

ZnO nanowires array grown on Ga-doped ZnO single crystal for dye-sensitized solar cells.

Project description:High quality ZnO nanowires arrays were homoepitaxial grown on Ga-doped ZnO single crystal (GZOSC), which have the advantages of high conductivity, high carrier mobility and high thermal stability. When it was employed as a photoanode in the DSSCs, the cell exhibited a 1.44% power-conversion efficiency under the illumination of one sun (AM 1.5G). The performance is superior to our ZnO nanowires/FTO based DSSCs under the same condition. This enhanced performance is mainly attributed to the perfect interface between the ZnO nanowires and the GZOSC substrate that contributes to lower carrier scattering and recombination rates compared with that grown on traditional FTO substrate.

| S-EPMC4477229 | biostudies-other

Photovoltaic Performance of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Containing ZnO Microrods.

Project description:At an elevated temperature of 90 °C, a chemical bath deposition using an aqueous solution of Zn(NO3)2·6H2O and (CH2)6N4 resulted in the formation of both nanoflowers and microrods of ZnO on F-doped SnO2 glass with a seed layer. The nanoflowers and microrods were sensitized with dyes for application to the photoelectrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). By extending the growth time of ZnO, the formation of nanoflowers was reduced and the formation of microrods favored. As the growth time was increased from 4 to 6 and then to 8 h, the open circuit voltage (Voc) values of the DSSCs were increased, whilst the short circuit current (Jsc) values varied only slightly. Changes in the dye-loading amount, dark current, and electrochemical impedance were monitored and they revealed that the increase in Voc was found to be due to a retardation of the charge recombination between photoinjected electrons and I3- ions and resulted from a reduction in the surface area of ZnO microrods. A reduced surface area decreased the dye contents adsorbed on the ZnO microrods, and thereby decreased the light harvesting efficiency (LHE). An increase in the electron collection efficiency attributed to the suppressed charge recombination counteracted the decreased LHE, resulting in comparable Jsc values regardless of the growth time.

| S-EPMC6956303 | biostudies-literature

Influence of Tin Doped TiO2 Nanorods on Dye Sensitized Solar Cells.

Project description:The one-step hydrothermal method was used to synthesize Sn-doped TiO2 (Sn-TiO2) thin films, in which the variation in Sn content ranged from 0 to 7-wt % and, further, its influence on the performance of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) photoanode was studied. The deposited samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy, which confirmed the existence of the rutile phase of the synthesized samples with crystallite size ranges in between 20.1 to 22.3 nm. In addition, the bare and Sn-TiO2 thin films showed nanorod morphology. A reduction in the optical band gap from 2.78 to 2.62 eV was observed with increasing Sn content. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis confirmed Sn4+ was successfully replaced at the Ti4+ site. The 3-wt % Sn-TiO2 based DSSC showed the optimum efficiency of 4.01%, which was superior to 0.87% of bare and other doping concentrations of Sn-TiO2 based DSSCs. The present work reflects Sn-TiO2 as an advancing material with excellent capabilities, which can be used in photovoltaic energy conversion devices.

| S-EPMC8585088 | biostudies-literature

Tunable localized surface plasmon-enabled broadband light-harvesting enhancement for high-efficiency panchromatic dye-sensitized solar cells.

Project description:In photovoltaic devices, light harvesting (LH) and carrier collection have opposite relations with the thickness of the photoactive layer, which imposes a fundamental compromise for the power conversion efficiency (PCE). Unbalanced LH at different wavelengths further reduces the achievable PCE. Here, we report a novel approach to broadband balanced LH and panchromatic solar energy conversion using multiple-core-shell structured oxide-metal-oxide plasmonic nanoparticles. These nanoparticles feature tunable localized surface plasmon resonance frequencies and the required thermal stability during device fabrication. By simply blending the plasmonic nanoparticles with available photoactive materials, the broadband LH of practical photovoltaic devices can be significantly enhanced. We demonstrate a panchromatic dye-sensitized solar cell with an increased PCE from 8.3% to 10.8%, mainly through plasmon-enhanced photoabsorption in the otherwise less harvested region of solar spectrum. This general and simple strategy also highlights easy fabrication, and may benefit solar cells using other photoabsorbers or other types of solar-harvesting devices.

| S-EPMC4123315 | biostudies-literature

Metal-free organic dyes for TiO2 and ZnO dye-sensitized solar cells.

Project description:We report the synthesis and characterization of new metal-free organic dyes (namely B18, BTD-R, and CPTD-R) which designed with D-?-A concept to extending the light absorption region by strong conjugation group of ?-linker part and applied as light harvester in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). We compared the photovoltaic performance of these dyes in two different photoanodes: a standard TiO2 mesoporous photoanode and a ZnO photoanode composed of hierarchically assembled nanostructures. The results demonstrated that B18 dye has better photovoltaic properties compared to other two dyes (BTD-R and CPTD-R) and each dye has higher current density (Jsc) when applied to hierarchical ZnO nanocrystallites than the standard TiO2 mesoporous film. Transient photocurrent and photovoltage decay measurements (TCD/TVD) were applied to systematically study the charge transport and recombination kinetics in these devices, showing the electron life time (?R) of B18 dye in ZnO and TiO2 based DSSCs is higher than CPTD-R and BTD-R based DSSCs, which is consistent with the photovoltaic performances. The conversion efficiency in ZnO based DSSCs can be further boosted by 35%, when a compact ZnO blocking layer (BL) is applied to inhibit electron back reaction.

| S-EPMC4704050 | biostudies-literature

Significant enhancement of power conversion efficiency for dye sensitized solar cell using 1D/3D network nanostructures as photoanodes.

Project description:The single-crystalline TiO2 nanorod arrays with rutile phase have attracted much attention in the dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) applications because of their superior chemical stability, better electron transport properties, higher refractive index and low production cost. However, it suffers from a low surface area as compared with TiO2 nanoparticle films. In order to enlarge the surface area of TiO2 nanorod arrays, the 1D nanorods/3D nanotubes sample was synthesized using a facile two-step hydrothermal process involving hydrothermal growth 1D/3D nanorods and followed by post-etching treatment. In such bi-layer structure, the oriented TiO2 nanorods layer could provide direct pathway for fast electron transportation, and the 3D nanotubes layer offers a higher surface area for dye loading, therefore, the 1D nanorods/3D nanotubes photoanode exhibited faster electron transport and higher surface area than either 1D or 3D nanostructures alone, and an highest efficiency of 7.68% was achieved for the DSSCs based on 1D nanorods/3D nanotubes photoanode with further TiCl4 treatment.

| S-EPMC4371153 | biostudies-literature

ZnO@SnO2 engineered composite photoanodes for dye sensitized solar cells.

Project description:Layered multi-oxide concept was applied for fabrication of photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells based on ZnO and SnO2, capitalizing on the beneficial properties of each oxide. The effect of different combinations of ZnO@SnO2 layers was investigated, aimed at exploiting the high carrier mobility provided by the ZnO and the higher stability under UV irradiation pledged by SnO2. Bi-oxide photoanodes performed much better in terms of photoconversion efficiency (PCE) (4.96%) compared to bare SnO2 (1.20%) and ZnO (1.03%). Synergistic cooperation is effective for both open circuit voltage and photocurrent density: enhanced values were indeed recorded for the layered photoanode as compared with bare oxides (Voc enhanced from 0.39 V in case of bare SnO2 to 0.60 V and Jsc improved from 2.58 mA/cm(2) pertaining to single ZnO to 14.8 mA/cm(2)). Improved functional performances of the layered network were ascribable to the optimization of both high chemical capacitance (provided by the SnO2) and low recombination resistance (guaranteed by ZnO) and inhibition of back electron transfer from the SnO2 conduction band to the oxidized species of the electrolyte. Compared with previously reported results, this study testifies how a simple electrode design is powerful in enhancing the functional performances of the final device.

| S-EPMC4588567 | biostudies-other

Performance of colloidal CdS sensitized solar cells with ZnO nanorods/nanoparticles.

Project description:As an alternative photosensitizer in dye-sensitized solar cells, bovine serum albumin (BSA) (a nonhazardous protein) was used in the synthesis of colloidal CdS nanoparticles (NPs). This system has been employed to replace the commonly used N719 dye molecule. Various nanostructured forms of ZnO, namely, nanorod and nanoparticle-based photoanodes, have been sensitized with colloidal CdS NPs to evaluate their effective performance towards quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs). A polysulphide (S x2-)-based electrolyte and Cu x S counter electrode were used for cell fabrication and testing. An interesting improvement in the performance of the device by imposing nanorods as a scattering layer on a particle layer has been observed. As a consequence, a maximum conversion efficiency of 1.06% with an open-circuit voltage (VOC) of 0.67 V was achieved for the ZnO nanorod/nanoparticle assembled structure. The introduction of ZnO nanorods over the nanoparticle led to a significant enhancement of the overall efficiency compared to the corresponding bare nanoparticles.

| S-EPMC5301656 | biostudies-other

Structural Properties of Zinc Oxide Nanorods Grown on Al-Doped Zinc Oxide Seed Layer and Their Applications in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.

Project description:We fabricated zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods (NRs) with Al-doped ZnO (AZO) seed layers and dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) employed the ZnO NRs between a TiO? photoelectrode and a fluorine-doped SnO? (FTO) electrode. The growth rate of the NRs was strongly dependent on the seed layer conditions, i.e., thickness, Al dopant and annealing temperature. Attaining a large particle size with a high crystallinity of the seed layer was vital to the well-aligned growth of the NRs. However, the growth was less related to the substrate material (glass and FTO coated glass). With optimized ZnO NRs, the DSSCs exhibited remarkably enhanced photovoltaic performance, because of the increase of dye absorption and fast carrier transfer, which, in turn, led to improved efficiency. The cell with the ZnO NRs grown on an AZO seed layer annealed at 350 °C showed a short-circuit current density (JSC) of 12.56 mA/cm², an open-circuit voltage (VOC) of 0.70 V, a fill factor (FF) of 0.59 and a power conversion efficiency (PCE, ?) of 5.20% under air mass 1.5 global (AM 1.5G) illumination of 100 mW/cm².

| S-EPMC5453348 | biostudies-literature

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

OmicsDI is an Elixir interoperability service. Learn more ›

OmicsDI Databases

PRIDE
PeptideAtlas
MassIVE
JPOST Repository
Physiome Model Repository

EGA
EVA
ENA
LINCS
PAXDB
Cell Collective

MetaboLights
Metabolomics Workbench
MetabolomeExpress
GNPS
BioModels
FAIRDOMHub

ArrayExpress
dbGaP
ExpressionAtlas
GEO
NODE

Information

Databases
Help
API
Contact us
Code on GitHub
Terms of use
Submit Data