Boosting the photovoltaic performance of Zn₂SnO₄‐based dye‐sensitized solar cells by Si doping into Zn₂SnO₄

Abstract

In the present work, Zn 2 SnO 4 nanoparticles were doped with silicon to improve their electrical and optical properties by the conventional solid-state reaction method. The results showed that the minimum electrical resistivity of about 0.09 Ωcm was obtained for Zn 2 SnO 4 nanoparticles with 3% Si doping. The decrease in the electrical resistivity can be attributed to the insertion of Si +4 atoms into the Zn +2 and/or Sn +4 sites and also the formation of more oxygen vacancies in the Zn 2 SnO 4 lattice. The formation of the more oxygen vacancy defect states in Si-doped Zn 2 SnO 4 nanoparticles was verified by photoluminescence spectroscopy. The efficiency of a dye-sensitized solar cell based on 3% Si-doped Zn 2 SnO 4 was significantly better, by about 81%, compared to that of a cell based on the undoped Zn 2 SnO 4 . The enhancement in the efficiency can be ascribed to the facilitation of electron transport throughout a photoelectrode due to increase in the charge carrier concentration which was caused by Si doping.

In situ TEM observation on the ferroelectric‐antiferroelectric transition in Pb(Nb,Zr,Sn,Ti)O3/ZnO

“…The stabilized ferroelectric phase is verified to be rhombohedral in the R 3 c space group (Figure 2). It should be noted that Zn 2 SnO 4 crystallizes in the cubic spinel structure and is semiconductive, 38 − 40 and hence its impact on the pyroelectric effect of the composites may not be as strong as that of ZnO.…”

Preparation and characterization of heteroepitaxial Zn2SnO4 single crystalline films prepared on MgO (100) substrates

“…Notably, ZTO exhibits higher thermal stability than SnO 2 in hydrogen plasma and better acid‐base stability than ZnO . Besides, ZTO has many excellent properties such as high electron mobility, attractive optical properties, prominent ferroelectric polarization and large charge‐discharge capacity, which make ZTO widely used in photo catalysis, lithium‐ion batteries, gas sensors and solar cells . However, ZTO has potential for application in semiconductor optoelectronic devices but has not been widely used.…”

“…4 Besides, ZTO has many excellent properties such as high electron mobility, attractive optical properties, prominent ferroelectric polarization and large charge-discharge capacity, which make ZTO widely used in photo catalysis, 5 lithium-ion batteries, 6 gas sensors 7 and solar cells. 8,9 However, ZTO has potential for application in semiconductor optoelectronic devices but has not been widely used. At this time, preparation of high quality single crystal ZTO film is one of the strategies to extend its applications.…”

Cu2ZnSnS4 thin film as a counter electrode in zinc stannate-based dye-sensitized solar cells

“…This ntype semiconductor, as a non-toxic and economical material with wide bandgap energy between 3.4 and 3.9 eV, is considered a convenient alternative for traditional TiO 2 photoanode in DSSCs. Zn 2 SnO 4 (ZTO) exhibits large corrosive resistivity and high electron mobility (10-12 cm 2 V −1 s −1 ) [45], which is ten times greater than that of TiO 2 DSSCs. A considerable attempt has been made to employ the ZTO layer as a photoanode because this material would transfer electrons with ease, mainly due to its high electron mobility property.…”