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Temperature dependency of SnO2/NiO/MWCNT nanocomposite thin film for dye-sensitised solar cells

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Abstract

A series of SnO2/NiO-doped MWCNT heterojunctions were prepared in various process temperatures, and dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated with dye N719. All samples were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Under the irradiation of 100 mW cm−2, the short-circuit photocurrent density (Jsc) and overall conversion efficiency (ɳ) were improved when the aging temperature increased from 30 to 40 °C. Nevertheless, decreasing Jsc were revealed when the growth temperature was further increased over 40 °C. In contrast, the conversion efficiency was found to increase gradually when the temperature was further increased over 60 °C. The kinetic parameters of electron transport were investigated using the transient photoelectrical and electrical impedance measurements. The effect of process temperature on electron transport performance in DSSCs was discussed elaborately. The results showed that when the process temperature was in the range of 30 to 40 °C, the electron lifetime (τ) in DSSCs was increased. Conversely, these parameters decreased gradually with further increase in process temperature that influenced the electronic transport performance of DSSCs.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia for providing financial support by Project No. UKM-DIP-2016-021 and the Photonic Technology Laboratory, Department of Electrical, Electronics and Systems Engineering, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia for the laboratory facilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical, Electronics and Engineering System, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43000, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

    S. N. F. Zainudin, H. Abdullah & M. Ahmad

  2. Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, UCSI University, 56000 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    S. N. F. Zainudin

  3. Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43000, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

    M. Markom

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  1. S. N. F. Zainudin
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Correspondence to H. Abdullah.

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Zainudin, S.N.F., Abdullah, H., Markom, M. et al. Temperature dependency of SnO2/NiO/MWCNT nanocomposite thin film for dye-sensitised solar cells. Ionics 24, 4063–4069 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-018-2522-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-018-2522-6

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