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Dye-sensitized solar cells based on ZnO nanoneedle/TiO2 nanoparticle composite photoelectrodes with controllable weight ratio

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Abstract

To possess the merits of both building blocks, i.e., the rapid interfacial electron transport of ZnO nanoneedles (NNs) and the high surface area of TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs), the ZnO NN and TiO2 NP composite photoelectrodes were prepared with controllable weight ratio. The dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) prototypes were fabricated based on this composite photoelectrodes, and the photoelectrical properties have been systematically studied. The results indicate that the composite cells achieve higher power conversion efficiency compared to pure TiO2 NP cells by rational tuning the weight ratio of ZnO NNs and TiO2 NPs. The DSSC with 1 wt% ZnO NNs yields the highest T) of 5.16%. It is elucidated by the interfacial electron transfer of DSSC with different weight of ZnO NNs using the electrochemical impedance spectra. And it is found that the DSSC with 1 wt% ZnO NNs displays the fastest interfacial electron transfer.

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Acknowledgment

The National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51072038), NECT, Outstanding Youth Foundation of Heilongjiang Province (Grant No. JC201008), Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province, China (Grant No. F200828), the Fundamental Research Fund of Harbin Engineering University (Grant No. HEUFT07056) have supported this work. We are grateful to Y. Qu and K. Pan for technical support and helpful discussion.

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  1. Department of Physics, College of Science, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, 150001, People’s Republic of China

    Lihong Qi, Qingshan Wang, Tieshi Wang, Chunyan Li, Qiuyun Ouyang & Yujin Chen

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  1. Lihong Qi
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  2. Qingshan Wang
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Correspondence to Lihong Qi.

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Qi, L., Wang, Q., Wang, T. et al. Dye-sensitized solar cells based on ZnO nanoneedle/TiO2 nanoparticle composite photoelectrodes with controllable weight ratio. Journal of Materials Research 27, 2982–2987 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2012.350

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