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Synthesis of self-light-scattering wrinkle structured ZnO photoanode by sol–gel method for dye-sensitized solar cells

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Abstract

A special morphological zinc oxide (ZnO) photoanode for dye-sensitized solar cell was fabricated by simple sol–gel drop casting technique. This film shows a wrinkled structure resembling the roots of banyan tree, which acts as an effective self scattering layer for harvesting more visible light and offers an easy transport path for photo-injected electrons. These ZnO electrode of low thickness (~5 μm) gained an enhanced short-circuit current density of 6.15 mA/cm2, open-circuit voltage of 0.67 V, fill factor of 0.47 and overall conversion efficiency of 1.97 % under 1 sun illumination. This shows a high conversion efficiency and a superior performance than that of ZnO nanoparticle-based photoanode (η ~ 1.13 %) of high thickness (~8 μm).

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (No. 2011-0001295).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Dongguk University-Seoul, Seoul, 100-715, Republic of Korea

    C. Justin Raj, Byung Chul Kim & Kook-Hyun Yu

  2. Department of Electrical Engineering, Pusan National University, San 30, Jangjeong-Dong, Gumjeong-Ku, Busan, 609-735, South Korea

    S. N. Karthick, K. V. Hemalatha, Soo-Kyoung Kim & Hee-Je Kim

  3. Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India

    S. N. Karthick

  4. Department of Chemistry, Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, 641014, India

    K. V. Hemalatha

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  1. C. Justin Raj
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  4. Soo-Kyoung Kim
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Correspondence to C. Justin Raj or Hee-Je Kim.

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Justin Raj, C., Karthick, S.N., Hemalatha, K.V. et al. Synthesis of self-light-scattering wrinkle structured ZnO photoanode by sol–gel method for dye-sensitized solar cells. Appl. Phys. A 116, 811–816 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-013-8164-7

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