Effect of ZnO seed layer thickness on hierarchical ZnO nanorod growth on flexible substrates for application in dye-sensitised solar cells

Peiris, T. A. Nirmal; Alessa, Hussain; Sagu, Jagdeep S.; Bhatti, Ijaz Ahmad; Isherwood, Patrick J. M.; Wijayantha, K. G. Upul

doi:10.1007/s11051-013-2115-2

Cited by 35 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Zn(OH)2, precipitated through the reaction between the zinc ions (Zn 2+ ) and hydroxide ions (OH − ) provided from zinc nitrate and ammonium hydroxide (see Equation (2)), respectively, and then dehydrated to form ZnO. Generally, the concentration of the CBD solution determines the density of a nanostructure, while temperature and growth time affect aspect ratio and morphology of the nanostructure [11][12][13][14][15].…”

Section: Morphological Characteristics Of Zno Layers With Growth Timementioning

confidence: 99%

Photovoltaic Performance of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Containing ZnO Microrods

et al. 2019

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At an elevated temperature of 90 °C, a chemical bath deposition using an aqueous solution of Zn(NO3)2·6H2O and (CH2)6N4 resulted in the formation of both nanoflowers and microrods of ZnO on F-doped SnO2 glass with a seed layer. The nanoflowers and microrods were sensitized with dyes for application to the photoelectrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). By extending the growth time of ZnO, the formation of nanoflowers was reduced and the formation of microrods favored. As the growth time was increased from 4 to 6 and then to 8 h, the open circuit voltage (Voc) values of the DSSCs were increased, whilst the short circuit current (Jsc) values varied only slightly. Changes in the dye-loading amount, dark current, and electrochemical impedance were monitored and they revealed that the increase in Voc was found to be due to a retardation of the charge recombination between photoinjected electrons and I3− ions and resulted from a reduction in the surface area of ZnO microrods. A reduced surface area decreased the dye contents adsorbed on the ZnO microrods, and thereby decreased the light harvesting efficiency (LHE). An increase in the electron collection efficiency attributed to the suppressed charge recombination counteracted the decreased LHE, resulting in comparable Jsc values regardless of the growth time.

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Section: Morphological Characteristics Of Zno Layers With Growth Timementioning

confidence: 99%

Photovoltaic Performance of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Containing ZnO Microrods

et al. 2019

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“…To date, a large variety of techniques are used to obtain ZnO seed layers, such as RF sputtering, atomic layer deposition (ALD), spray pyrolysis, chemical vapor deposition, and wet chemical synthetic routes, including spin and dip coatings [47,48]; however, most of them are confined to a laboratory scale and require an additional procedure for preparing patterned layers through expensive and complex processes such as photolithography and etching [49]. Moreover, the typical synthetic routes usually require high temperature annealing post-treatment for improving the crystallinity of the ZnO seeds, thus excluding polymers from the choice of flexible substrates [50][51][52].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low-Temperature Growth of ZnO Nanowires from Gravure-Printed ZnO Nanoparticle Seed Layers for Flexible Piezoelectric Devices

et al. 2021

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Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires (NWs) are excellent candidates for the fabrication of energy harvesters, mechanical sensors, and piezotronic and piezophototronic devices. In order to integrate ZnO NWs into flexible devices, low-temperature fabrication methods are required that do not damage the plastic substrate. To date, the deposition of patterned ceramic thin films on flexible substrates is a difficult task to perform under vacuum-free conditions. Printing methods to deposit functional thin films offer many advantages, such as a low cost, low temperature, high throughput, and patterning at the same stage of deposition. Among printing techniques, gravure-based techniques are among the most attractive due to their ability to produce high quality results at high speeds and perform deposition over a large area. In this paper, we explore gravure printing as a cost-effective high-quality method to deposit thin ZnO seed layers on flexible polymer substrates. For the first time, we show that by following a chemical bath deposition (CBD) process, ZnO nanowires may be grown over gravure-printed ZnO nanoparticle seed layers. Piezo-response force microscopy (PFM) reveals the presence of a homogeneous distribution of Zn-polar domains in the NWs, and, by use of the data, the piezoelectric coefficient is estimated to be close to 4 pm/V. The overall results demonstrate that gravure printing is an appropriate method to deposit seed layers at a low temperature and to undertake the direct fabrication of flexible piezoelectric transducers that are based on ZnO nanowires. This work opens the possibility of manufacturing completely vacuum-free solution-based flexible piezoelectric devices.

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“… ( A ) Schematics of ZnO NW growth depending on substrate surface conditions and seed layer: ( a ) Without the ultraviolet ozone (UVO) treatment under a lower annealing temperature (T annealing ); ( b ) with UVO treatment; ( c , d ) with varied T annealing conditions [ 67 ]; ( B ) schematic representation of the NWs; growth [ 68 ]. …”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

A Review on the Effects of ZnO Nanowire Morphology on the Performance of Interpenetrating Bulk Heterojunction Quantum Dot Solar Cells

Xing

Wang

2021

Nanomaterials

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Interpenetrating bulk heterojunction (IBHJ) quantum dot solar cells (QDSCs) offer a direct pathway for electrical contacts to overcome the trade-off between light absorption and carrier extraction. However, their complex three-dimensional structure creates higher requirements for the optimization of their design due to their more difficult interface defect states control, more complex light capture mechanism, and more advanced QD deposition technology. ZnO nanowire (NW) has been widely used as the electron transport layer (ETL) for this structure. Hence, the optimization of the ZnO NW morphology (such as density, length, and surface defects) is the key to improving the photoelectric performance of these SCs. In this study, the morphology control principles of ZnO NW for different synthetic methods are discussed. Furthermore, the effects of the density and length of the NW on the collection of photocarriers and their light capture effects are investigated. It is indicated that the NW spacing determines the transverse collection of electrons, while the length of the NW and the thickness of the SC often affect the longitudinal collection of holes. Finally, the optimization strategies for the geometrical morphology of and defect passivation in ZnO NWs are proposed to improve the efficiency of IBHJ QDSCs.

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Effect of ZnO seed layer thickness on hierarchical ZnO nanorod growth on flexible substrates for application in dye-sensitised solar cells

Cited by 35 publications

References 43 publications

Photovoltaic Performance of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Containing ZnO Microrods

Photovoltaic Performance of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Containing ZnO Microrods

Low-Temperature Growth of ZnO Nanowires from Gravure-Printed ZnO Nanoparticle Seed Layers for Flexible Piezoelectric Devices

A Review on the Effects of ZnO Nanowire Morphology on the Performance of Interpenetrating Bulk Heterojunction Quantum Dot Solar Cells

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