Current density enhancement in ZnO/CdSe photoelectrochemical cells in the presence of a charge separating SnO2 nanoparticles interfacing-layer

Supriya A. Patil; Dipak V. Shinde; Sambhaji S. Bhande; Vijaykumar V. Jadhav; Tran N. Huan; Rajaram S. Mane; Sung-Hwan Han

doi:10.1039/C3DT51149A

Current density enhancement in ZnO/CdSe photoelectrochemical cells in the presence of a charge separating SnO₂nanoparticles interfacing-layer

Supriya A. Patil,^a Dipak V. Shinde,^a Sambhaji S. Bhande,^b Vijaykumar V. Jadhav,^b Tran N. Huan,^c Rajaram S. Mane*^b and Sung-Hwan Han*^a

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* Corresponding authors

^a Department of Chemistry, Hanyang University, Sungdong-Ku, Haengdang-dong 17, Seoul, Republic of Korea
E-mail: shhan@hanyang.ac.kr
Fax: +822-2299-0762
Tel: +822-2292-5212

^b Center for Nanomaterials and Energy Devices, School of Physical Sciences, Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, Dnyanteerth, Vishnupuri, Nanded 4316006, India
E-mail: rsmane_2000@yahoo.com
Fax: +822-2299-0762
Tel: +822-2292-5212

^c Department of Chemistry and Research Institute for Convergence of Basic Sciences, Hanyang University, Seongdong-Gu, Haengdang-Dong, Seoul 133-791, South Korea

Abstract

Photoelectrochemical cells (PECs) of ZnO/CdSe decorated with a charge separating SnO₂ nanoparticles (NPs) layer of various thicknesses are prepared and characterized by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), UV-visible absorption, energy dispersive X-ray analysis spectroscopy (EDX) and incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) measurements. A uniform coverage of the SnO₂ NPs layer over ZnO/CdSe electrode surface is evidenced. The EDX elemental mapping analysis of the ZnO/CdSe/SnO₂ PECs demonstrates the presence of Sn and O over the surface. A remarkable improvement in the light harvesting efficiency confirmed from the IPCE measurement, supports an enhancement in current density in the current density–voltage measurement due to increased electron transport and smaller charge recombination. Moreover, these observations are corroborated with the EIS measurement as a cell with SnO₂ reveals a reduced charge transfer resistance due to which the power conversion efficiency is increased from 2.20 to 3.41% i.e. 55% compared to the pristine ZnO/CdSe PEC.

Article information

https://doi.org/10.1039/C3DT51149A

Article type

Paper

Submitted

02 May 2013

Accepted

11 Jun 2013

First published

11 Jun 2013

Download Citation

Dalton Trans., 2013,42, 13065-13070

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Current density enhancement in ZnO/CdSe photoelectrochemical cells in the presence of a charge separating SnO₂ nanoparticles interfacing-layer

S. A. Patil, D. V. Shinde, S. S. Bhande, V. V. Jadhav, T. N. Huan, R. S. Mane and S. Han, Dalton Trans., 2013, 42, 13065 DOI: 10.1039/C3DT51149A

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