Crystallographic phase-mediated dye-sensitized solar cell performance of ZnO nanostructures

Abstract

A facile fabrication of ZnO nanostructures with different crystallographic phases on indium tin oxide glass substrates by using an aqueous solution growth method at low temperature is explored. Electron charge transportation in ZnO crystallographic phases is probed for dye-sensitized solar cells. Due to the decrease in the electron lifetime from 5.5 to 1.36 ms the ZnO electrode primed with nanoparticles and sensitized with ruthenium dye (N3) delivers light conversion efficiency of up to 1.33%, which is higher than electrodes made up of nanoplates (0.81%), nanorods (0.50%) and microrods (0.28%). (C) 2013 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.