ZnO nanosphere fabrication using the functionalized polystyrene nanoparticles for dye-sensitized solar cells |
| |
Authors: | Mi-Hee Jung Sanghee Kim |
| |
Affiliation: | a Thin Film Solar Cell Technology Research Team, Advanced Solar Technology Research Department, Convergence Components & Materials Research Laboratory, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, 138 Gajeongno, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-700, Republic of Korea b BioMed Research Team, BT Convergence Technology Research Department, IT Convergence Technology Research Laboratory, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, Republic of Korea |
| |
Abstract: | The nano-hollow spherical ZnO (NHS ZnO) photoelectrodes were prepared using functionalized polystyrene nanoparticles with flexible dimensional control of the particle diameter for dye-sensitized solar cells applications. NHS ZnO was formed by ZnO nanoparticles that accumulated on the surface of functionalized polystyrene with a high ionic strength. This method represents a one-step preparation method for an inorganic shell via polymerization between ZnO complexes. Even though NHS ZnO has a submicron size, it composed of nanoparticles that connect with each other, thereby implying good electron transfer properties, and has a high surface area. The submicron-sized diameter NHS ZnO has an enhanced light scattering capacity, which promotes the photons with more opportunities to be absorbed by the N719 dye molecules. Therefore, the ZnO films prepared from 600 nm to 1000 nm NHS ZnO possessed higher IPCE values over a wide range (from 400 nm to 750 nm) compared to films of the 300 nm ZnO due to the enhanced light scattering capacities of the film. In photocurrent-voltage measurements, the short-circuit current density of 300 nm and 600 nm NHS ZnO increases from 3.33 mA/cm2 to 6.53 mA/cm2 while the cell efficiency increases from 1.04% to 3.02% due to the light scattering efficiency. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy showed that electrons in NHS ZnO with a larger particle size have a longer electron lifetime than NHS ZnO with a smaller particle size, as the latter hinders the electron transport in the NHS ZnO nanostructured films. |
| |
Keywords: | ZnO Polystyrene Dye-sensitized solar cells Scattering layer Nano-hollow |
本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录! |
|