Choosing the right nanoparticle size-designing novel ZnO electrode architectures for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells

Pfau M, Kunzmann A, Segets D, Peukert W, Wallace GG, Officer DL, Clark T, Costa RD, Guldi DM (2017)


Publication Status: Published

Publication Type: Journal article, Original article

Publication year: 2017

Journal

Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry

Book Volume: 5

Pages Range: 7516-7522

Journal Issue: 16

DOI: 10.1039/c6ta11012f

Abstract

A novel concept for constructing optimized ZnO-based photoanodes as integrative components of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) is realized by deploying differently sized nanoparticles, ranging from 2 to 10 nm, together with commercially available 20 nm nanoparticles. The 2 nm nanoparticles were used to construct an efficient buffer layer for transparent electrodes based on 10 nm nanoparticles, resulting in a relative increase of device efficiency from 1.8 to 3.0% for devices without and with a buffer layer, respectively. A mixture of 10 and 20 nm nanoparticles was optimized to maximize the diffuse reflection and to minimize the charge transport resistance in a light-scattering layer. This optimization resulted in a homogenous layer of more than 15 mm that provided a device efficiency of 3.3%. The buffer layer, transparent electrode, and light-scattering electrode, were then combined to give an overall efficiency of around 5%. Thus, this work demonstrates that varying the electrode architecture with nanoparticles of different diameters is a powerful strategy for improving the overall efficiency of ZnO-based DSSCs.

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How to cite

APA:

Pfau, M., Kunzmann, A., Segets, D., Peukert, W., Wallace, G.G., Officer, D.L.,... Guldi, D.M. (2017). Choosing the right nanoparticle size-designing novel ZnO electrode architectures for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 5(16), 7516-7522. https://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c6ta11012f

MLA:

Pfau, Markus, et al. "Choosing the right nanoparticle size-designing novel ZnO electrode architectures for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells." Journal of Materials Chemistry A 5.16 (2017): 7516-7522.

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