Photovoltaic Application of Rice Flake-Shaped ZnO Nanostructures

• Published in: Journal of electronic materials 2020-05, Vol.49 (5), p.3290-3300
• Main Authors: Unni, Gautam E., Vineeth, V. N., Anjusree, G. S., Vadukumpully, Sajini, Pillai, V. P. Mahadevan, Nair, A. Sreekumaran, Suresh, S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Crystallites; Dye-sensitized solar cells; Dyes; Electronics and Microelectronics; Flakes; Instrumentation; Light scattering; Materials Science; Nanoparticles; Nanostructure; Niobium oxides; Optical and Electronic Materials; Photoelectrons; Photovoltaic cells; Polymers; Solid State Physics; Spectrum analysis; Zinc coatings; Zinc oxide; Zinc oxides
• ISSN: 0361-5235; 1543-186X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11664-020-08008-x

Rice flake-shaped zinc oxide nanocrystallites were synthesized through a polymer-assisted, one-step hydrothermal route with an average size of 200–600 nm. The role of polymer concentration in the evolution of the nanostructure was evaluated, and the material was characterized using x-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy. The two-dimensional (2D) nanoflakes were demonstrated as promising photoanode material for dye-sensitized solar cells. Compared with hydrothermally prepared zinc oxide nanoparticles, the rice flake-shaped crystallites exhibited higher dye loading and light-scattering ability, which elicited a substantial increase in the light conversion efficiency. Thus, a fabricated solar cell with an active area of of 0.25 cm 2 was provided with a niobium pentoxide blocking layer through radio frequency magnetron sputter coating at the zinc oxide/transparent conducting oxide interface to boost the efficiency up to 7.09% from 5.72% under 1.5-AM conditions.