Performance of natural-dye-sensitized solar cells by ZnO nanorod and nanowall enhanced photoelectrodes

• Saif Saadaoui,
• Mohamed Aziz Ben Youssef,
• Moufida Ben Karoui,
• Rached Gharbi,
• Emanuele Smecca,
• Vincenzina Strano,
• Salvo Mirabella,
• Alessandra Alberti and
• Rosaria A. Puglisi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 287–295, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.31

•  6a gives the SEM images illustrating the morphology of the ZnO NRs annealed in forming gas (FG) (N2/H2, 95:5). From this figure, we observe that nanorods cover the entire surface of the fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) conductive glass and have a hexagonal shape with uniform size and length [23]. The

• high mobility and diffusion rate of the ZnO. This covering layer also increases the efficient electron diffusion from the TiO2 layer to the ZnO NWs. Using this structure, the electrons were quickly transported from the sensitizer to the ZnO through the TiO2 to reach the FTO (Figure 8b). This solution

• the ZnO NR layers on FTO, they were annealed in O2, FG and N2 gas at 300 °C. As shown in Table 1, the sheet resistance of the ZnO NRs depends on the used annealing gas. By using O2, we obtained the highest sheet resistance with a ratio of 103 compared to those prepared under N2 or FG. The best sheet

Performance of colloidal CdS sensitized solar cells with ZnO nanorods/nanoparticles

• Anurag Roy,
• Partha Pratim Das,
• Mukta Tathavadekar,
• Sumita Das and
• Parukuttyamma Sujatha Devi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 210–221, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.23

• . ZnO nanoparticles and nanorods were synthesized by a solution-growth process, the details of which are reported elsewhere [31][32]. Fabrication of CdS-NP-sensitized ZnO-based films ZnO nanoparticle (ZnO-P) and nanorod (ZnO-R) films were fabricated by the doctor blade method on FTO glass (7 Ω/cm2) and

• followed by 0.05 M Na2S solution in ethanol on the FTO glass (7 Ω/cm2) and fired at 420 °C for 20 min. [34][35]. In some cases, a platinum counter electrode was also used. Characterization of CdS NPs The structural properties of dried CdS powder were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis on

• nanorod-based nanostructures of ZnO on the FTO surface. The FESEM elemental mapping with distinct color contrast along with line scale mapping were recorded on the sensitized films as shown in Figure 6a,b for the CdS-ZnO-P and CdS-ZnO-R samples, respectively. The homogeneous distribution of Zn and O

Sb₂S₃ grown by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis and its application in a hybrid solar cell

• Erki Kärber,
• Atanas Katerski,
• Ilona Oja Acik,
• Arvo Mere,
• Valdek Mikli and
• Malle Krunks

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1662–1673, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.158

• , situated in the electrical junction created by TiO2 and P3HT (polythiophene) as the electron and hole conductor, respectively. For these type of solar cells, fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) is prevalently used to contact the TiO2 while evaporated Au has been used to contact the P3HT. The use of a polymeric

Synthesis and applications of carbon nanomaterials for energy generation and storage

• Marco Notarianni,
• Jinzhang Liu,
• Kristy Vernon and
• Nunzio Motta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 149–196, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.17

Influence of wide band gap oxide substrates on the photoelectrochemical properties and structural disorder of CdS nanoparticles grown by the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method

• Mikalai V. Malashchonak,
• Alexander V. Mazanik,
• Olga V. Korolik,
• Еugene А. Streltsov and
• Anatoly I. Kulak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2252–2262, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.231

• corresponding to the maximal IPCE values should be at least several tens and depends essentially on the substrate used due to the above-mentioned revealed distinctions in properties of nano-heterostructures based on the different WBGOs. Experimental ZnO, In2O3 and TiO2 films were synthesized on FTO, ITO and

• carried out by potentiostatic cathodic polarization of FTO electrodes at −1000 mV vs Ag/AgCl/KCl (sat.) reference electrode (+0.201 V vs SHE) for 25 min. Because of the formation of hydroxyl ions, a local increase of рН occurs, and the hydrolysis of Zn2+ ions is promoted and precipitation of Zn5(OH)8Cl2

Experimental determination of the light-trapping-induced absorption enhancement factor in DSSC photoanodes

• Serena Gagliardi and
• Mauro Falconieri

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 886–892, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.91

• . Experimental Preparation of photoanodes and cell assembly A standard procedure was used as described in many literature papers [15] using fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glasses, (Pilkinton TEC8®, 2 mm thick, cut in 2 × 2 cm2 square) as substrates. The photoactive layer was prepared by screen printing Solaronix

• . The R(λ) is calculated as the sum of the experimentally measured collinear and diffuse reflectivity spectra, also shown in Figure 1. In order to measure the amount of light absorbed by the dye that is useful for photovoltaic conversion, the light absorbed in the titania layer and in the FTO was

• separately measured on a “blank” sample. This sample consisted of a non-diffusive titania layer on FTO, containing the same amount of titania as the sensitized PA. This blank spectrum was subtracted from the data obtained from Equation 5. The resulting value of the absorbed light fraction in the dye of the

Optical modeling-assisted characterization of dye-sensitized solar cells using TiO₂ nanotube arrays as photoanodes

• Jung-Ho Yun,
• Il Ku Kim,
• Yun Hau Ng,
• Lianzhou Wang and
• Rose Amal

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 895–902, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.102

• light illuminated from a back side passing through Pt-deposited FTO glass, and subsequently the penetrated light is absorbed by dye-sensitized well-ordered TNT arrays. In Figure 2, the photocurrent density–voltage curves for the TNT-based N719 DSSCs are shown depending on 3.3, 11.5, and 20.6 μm long TNT

• the electrolyte layer and the Pt deposited FTO glass in the counter electrode through back side illumination [20]. The steady increase in IPCE with longer tube lengths is attributed to the increase in Jsc by the increased amount of dyes adsorbed on the longer TNT arrays, followed by a further increase

• . A sandwich-type DSSC was assembled using the dye-sensitized TNT array onto the Ti foil (20 × 20 mm2) as a photoelectrode and platinum-deposited fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass (20 × 15 mm2, Asahi, Rs ≤ 8 Ω·sq−1) as a counter electrode separated by a sealant (Surlyn 60 µm thickness, Solaronix

Biomolecule-assisted synthesis of carbon nitride and sulfur-doped carbon nitride heterojunction nanosheets: An efficient heterojunction photocatalyst for photoelectrochemical applications

• Hua Bing Tao,
• Hong Bin Yang,
• Jiazang Chen,
• Jianwei Miao and
• Bin Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 770–777, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.89

• of CN/CNS heterostructure > CN > CNS. The low photocurrent density might be due to the poor contact among CN particles and FTO substrate. Figure 6d shows the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of CN, CNS and the CN/CNS heterostructure, which matches well with the corresponding photocurrent density. It

• purging nitrogen for 30 min. The working electrode was prepared as the following: briefly, 10 mg of as-prepared sample was suspended in 1 mL of isopropyl alcohol (IPA). Then, 50 μL of the colloidal suspension (10 mg/mL) was dropcasted onto precleaned fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate with a fixed

Kelvin probe force microscopy of nanocrystalline TiO₂ photoelectrodes

• Alex Henning,
• Gino Günzburger,
• Res Jöhr,
• Yossi Rosenwaks,
• Biljana Bozic-Weber,
• Catherine E. Housecroft,
• Edwin C. Constable,
• Ernst Meyer and
• Thilo Glatzel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 418–428, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.49

• received substantial attention from both academic and industrial communities focusing on new materials and advanced device concepts [3][4][5][6][7][8]. A typical DSC consists of a dye-coated TiO2 photoelectrode, deposited on a fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) conductive-glass substrate, an redox-couple

• the incident light since the nanoporous TiO2, deposited on top of the FTO-layer, is only about 10 μm thin and transparent to visible light (Eg = 3.2 eV). Due to the high n-dopant density of SnO2:F (ND ~ 1020), it can be approximated to being nearly metallic. Generally, the SnO2:F contact is regarded

Reduced electron recombination of dye-sensitized solar cells based on TiO₂ spheres consisting of ultrathin nanosheets with [001] facet exposed

• Hongxia Wang,
• Meinan Liu,
• Cheng Yan and
• John Bell

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 378–387, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.44

• dye-coated TiO2 electrode, which is deposited on a fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) conductive-glass substrate, a I−/I3− redox-couple-based electrolyte and a platinum counter electrode. Upon illumination, a photon with high energy (higher than the energy difference between the HOMO and LUMO level of the

• the TiO2 film before reaching the current collector, which is based on the conductive fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate. Meanwhile, a parallel reaction, which involves transfer of the hole from the oxidized state of the dye (dye+) to the surrounding I− ions of the redox couple of the

• size of 20 nm was employed for comparison. Assembly of dye-sensitized solar cells The procedure for the fabrication of the dye-sensitized solar cells was reported in our previous work [11][12]. Briefly, a substrate based on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) conductive glass (TEC15, Pilkington) was

Highly efficient ZnO/Au Schottky barrier dye-sensitized solar cells: Role of gold nanoparticles on the charge-transfer process

• Tanujjal Bora,
• Htet H. Kyaw,
• Soumik Sarkar,
• Samir K. Pal and
• Joydeep Dutta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 681–690, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.73

• sensitizer dye molecules, the photoexcited electrons in the Au nanoparticles are transferred to the conduction band (CB) of ZnO, and then diffuse through the ZnO nanorods towards the conducting fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate resulting in higher photocurrent and photovoltage, as observed. The

• %). The lower PCE observed in the case of the large-area DSSCs compared to the small-area DSSCs is mainly attributed to the increase in the sheet resistance of the conducting FTO substrates resulting in an overall increase in the series resistance (Rs) of the large area DSSCs, which plays an important

• ZnO/Au-nanocomposite systems irrespective of the presence of the Schottky barrier. In the case of the large area ZnO/Au DSSCs, efficiency dropped to 3.27% and 1.16% for active areas equal to 0.25 cm2 and 1 cm2, respectively, which was mainly attributed to the increased sheet resistance of the FTO

Schottky junction/ohmic contact behavior of a nanoporous TiO₂ thin film photoanode in contact with redox electrolyte solutions

• Masao Kaneko,
• Hirohito Ueno and
• Junichi Nemoto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 127–134, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.15

• are transported first to the fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO, SnO2:F) conductive layer through TiO2 grain boundaries and then to the cathode reducing electron acceptor there (O2 in the present case). In a Schottky junction, under the conditions when the band structure is flat without any bending, the

• the FTO. When TiO2 is excited by UV light, excitons are formed, but many of these would recombine simply wasting the excitation energy if band bending did not exist. However, due to the band bending in the space charge layer formed at the TiO2/liquid interface, the excitons formed here would be

• separated into electrons and holes due to the slope of the VB and CB bands, the h+ then being reduced by MeOH present in the liquid, and the e− being transported in the CB through TiO2 grain boundaries to the counter cathode via the FTO. As reported earlier by us [13], resistances at the grain boundaries