Development of ZnO thin films for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells applications

Das, Joydeep and Raavi, Sai Santosh Kumar (2016) Development of ZnO thin films for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells applications. Masters thesis, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad.

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Abstract

In my present work, thin films of ZnO are optimized for DSSC operation. ZnO nanoparticles were prepared by sol gel method using two different solvents(Ethanol and 2MEA) while the precursor was the same Zinc Acetate Dihydrate. Then this sol was used to prepare thin films of ZnO using spin coating method. The thickness of the multiple coated films were found out to be roughly 100nm while the roughness was measured to be around 20nm when observed using Zeta 3D Profilometer.UV Vis. Spectroscopic analysis of the samples were done using UV-3600 PLUS spectrophotometer. The analysis showed peaks at around 345nm which corresponds to the band gap of ZnO. This evidence of ZnO being deposited on the substrates was substantiated by the GIXRD patterns of the thin films which was done using Bruker D8 Discover. The XRD patterns of the samples confirmed the presence of the expected phase with little impurities. Using G1 dye, Light I-V measurement were done on the samples which helped us record a maximum VOC of 612.6mV with an efficiency of 0.53%.J vs. V plots showed maximum J values for the cells with the film containing 3 coats of the sol. Photoluminiscence and absorption spectroscopy were used to observe electron transfer process in G1-ZnO interface. Electron injection from G1 dye to ZnO thin films were observed.Photoluminiscence spectra of dye G1(Anthracene based organic molecule)-ZnO showed electron injection occurring at 345 and 460nm of wavelength impinging.

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