Issue 5, 2024

Exploring zinc oxide morphologies for aqueous solar cells by a photoelectrochemical, computational, and multivariate approach

Abstract

Dye-sensitized solar cells assembled with aqueous electrolytes are emerging as a sustainable photovoltaic technology suitable for safe indoor and portable electronics use. While the scientific community is exploring unconventional materials for preparing electrodes and electrolytes, this work presents the first study on zinc oxide as a semiconductor material to fabricate photoanodes for aqueous solar cells. Different morphologies (i.e., nanoparticles, multipods, and desert roses) are synthesized, characterized, and tested in laboratory-scale prototypes. This exploratory work, also integrated by a computational study and a multivariate investigation on the factors that influence electrode sensitization, confirms the possibility of using zinc oxide in the field of aqueous photovoltaics and opens the way to new morphologies and processes of functionalization or surface activation to boost the overall cell efficiency.

Graphical abstract: Exploring zinc oxide morphologies for aqueous solar cells by a photoelectrochemical, computational, and multivariate approach

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
04 Jan 2024
Accepted
26 Apr 2024
First published
29 Apr 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Energy Adv., 2024,3, 1062-1072

Exploring zinc oxide morphologies for aqueous solar cells by a photoelectrochemical, computational, and multivariate approach

E. Maruccia, S. Galliano, E. Schiavo, N. Garino, A. Y. Segura Zarate, A. B. Muñoz-García, M. Pavone, C. Gerbaldi, C. Barolo, V. Cauda and F. Bella, Energy Adv., 2024, 3, 1062 DOI: 10.1039/D4YA00010B

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