ZnO Nanobelts as a Photoelectrode for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell
Niyom Hongsith and Supab Choopun* Author for corresponding; e-mail address: supab99@gmail.com
Volume: Vol.37 No.1 (JANUARY 2010)
Research Article
DOI:
Received: 1 July 2009, Revised: -, Accepted: 29 July 2009, Published: -
Citation: Hongsith N. and Choopun S., ZnO Nanobelts as a Photoelectrode for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell, Chiang Mai Journal of Science, 2010; 37(1): 48-54.
Abstract
ZnO nanobelts layer of the dye-sensitized solar cell were prepared by RF sputtered ZnO target onto a copper substrate and characterized by FE-SEM. The structures of solar cells based on ZnO as a photoelectrode, Eosin-Y as a dye sensitizer, iodine/iodide solution as an electrolyte and Pt/TCO as a counterelectrode. The photoelectrochemical characteristics of ZnO DSSCs were tested under simulated sunlight AM 1.5 came from a solar simulator with the radiant power of 100 mW/cm2 It was found that DSSCs based on ZnO nanobelts can . generate photocurrent with photoconversion efficiency of 0.6% (JSC = 2.11 mA cm-2, VOC= 0.52, FF = 0.61).The higher JSC in ZnO nanobelt DSSC sample indicates that larger amount of dye adsorbed on surface of ZnO nanobelts than that of ZnO powder. The JSC increases with increasing a thickness of the ZnO photoelectrode for both powder and nanobelt. Moreover, the VOC of ZnO DSSCs is independent on morphology and dye adsorption surface area of ZnO. The obtained photoelectrochemical results can be explained by using energy band diagram.