Enhancement of Photovoltaic Performance of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells using Hierarchical Zinc Oxide/Tin Oxide (ZnO/SnO2) Nanocomposites Synthesized via Hydrothermal Method

  • Manisha Chaskar
  • , Vishal Kadam
  • , Chaitali Jagtap
  • , Nithesh Naik
  • , Sandesh Jadkar
  • , Habib Pathan
  • , Parag Adhyapak*
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The study reports heterostructured photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) based on zinc oxide/tin oxide (ZnO/SnO2) nanocomposites. These nanocomposites have been synthesized via a simple two-step hydrothermal method. The varied amount of SnO2 has been incorporated into ZnO to fabricate ZnO/SnO2 heterostructures. The as-synthesized heterostructures and pristine oxides, when investigated for their morphological studies, revealed a variety of morphologies such as nanoparticles, nanoflakes-like structures, nanopetals, etc. These hierarchical morphologies of the nano-heterostructures were advantageous for solar cell performance. Further, the photoanodes of DSSC fabricated with ZnO/SnO2 nanocomposites were characterized by density–voltage (JV) measurements and exhibited enhancement in photovoltaic properties compared to pristine ZnO and SnO2. Optimized ZnO/SnO2 nanocomposite exhibited nearly three times higher photovoltaic efficiency than pristine ZnO-based DSSC. A high-power conversion efficiency (PCE) of around 2.42 % was obtained at 1 sun for ZnO/SnO2 nanocomposite with a 1:5 Zn: Sn molar ratio. The Photovoltaic parameters such as current density (Jsc), open circuit voltage (Voc), and fill factor (FF) are 0.66V, 7.65mA/cm2, and 0.48, respectively. The enhancements in the device performance can be ascribed to increasing surface area due to hierarchical morphology and reduction in recombination of charge carriers leading to enhanced mean electron lifetime.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1250
JournalES Energy and Environment
Volume26
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 12-2024

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Environmental Engineering
  • Materials Science (miscellaneous)

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