Investigation of the structural and electrochemical properties of a ZnO–SnO2 composite and its electrical properties for application in dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

This study compares the photovoltaic and electrochemical properties of a nano-sized ZnO–SnO₂ composite synthesized by a simple yet effective mechanical mixing technique for use as a photoanode material with ruthenium N719 dye in DSSCs for energy harvesting applications. The formation of the composite was confirmed by the X-ray diffraction technique. The electrochemical properties of the composite and pure samples were studied by cyclic voltammetry, Mott–Schottky analysis and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results show that the nanocomposite behaves as a single semiconducting material with a single flat-band potential and oxidation/reduction potentials with superior photovoltaic performance (>33% compared with the pure ZnO sample) in comparison with its constituent metal oxides. The higher stability of the nanocomposite has been confirmed in this work by the improved electron lifetime of this material. The results achieved by the fabricated device and the analysis of the photovoltaic properties suggest that these composite nanomaterials can serve as new-generation photoanodes in high-efficiency DSSCs.