Dye-sensitized solar cells based on a 1D/3D double-layered ZnO photoanode with improved photovoltaic performance

Abstract

Engineered metal oxide anode materials highly affect the photovoltaic performance of solar cells. In this research, we fabricate double-layered ZnO nanoarray (NR)/ellipsoid or sphere films on a fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate as photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The results indicate that DSSCs based on the double-layered ZnO NR/sphere film (∼3.19%) show an obvious 41.2% enhancement of power conversion efficiency (PCE) compared to the ZnO NR/ellipsoid film (∼2.26%), which is confirmed by IMPS, IMVS, EIS and UV-vis diffuse reflectance studies. This study provides a scheme for the selective combination of specific ZnO morphologies into an ideal photoanode configuration with more dye loading and superior light scattering ability for enhanced photovoltaic performance.