Issue 16, 2014

Electrodeposited ZnO nanowires as photoelectrodes in solid-state organic dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

A new approach for developing solid-state dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSCs) on glass/ITO and plastic substrates (PEN/ITO) is presented in this manuscript. A two step electrodeposition technique has been employed to realize the ZnO photoelectrodes. First a ZnO thin film is deposited on the ITO substrate and subsequently on this buffer layer 650 nm long ZnO nanowires are grown. The different nanostructured electrodes are crystallized and show a transparency close to 80% in the visible spectral range. The electrodes are then sensitized with a new purely organic dye, whose synthesis is presented here, which reveals a wide absorption spectrum and a high molar extinction coefficient. Finally, the sensitized electrodes were employed for the fabrication of liquid and solid-state DSSCs, using, respectively, a liquid iodine/iodide electrolyte and the spiro-OMeTAD hole transporter. These devices represent the first solid-state DSSCs fabricated using electrodeposited zinc oxide nanowires. Their power conversion efficiency is still limited, respectively, 0.18% and 0.03% under standard AM 1.5G sunlight (100 mW cm−2), nevertheless, these results prove the interest in this low-temperature deposition method for the realization of nanostructured electrodes on rigid and flexible substrates, and open up new perspectives for the development of solid state DSSCs on plastic substrates.

Graphical abstract: Electrodeposited ZnO nanowires as photoelectrodes in solid-state organic dye-sensitized solar cells

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
06 Oct 2013
Accepted
03 Mar 2014
First published
14 Mar 2014

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2014,16, 7472-7480

Author version available

Electrodeposited ZnO nanowires as photoelectrodes in solid-state organic dye-sensitized solar cells

H. Muguerra, G. Berthoux, W. Z. N. Yahya, Y. Kervella, V. Ivanova, J. Bouclé and R. Demadrille, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2014, 16, 7472 DOI: 10.1039/C3CP54210F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements