Effective electron collection in highly (110)-oriented ZnO porous nanosheet framework photoanode

Abstract

A highly (110)-oriented ZnO porous nanosheet framework is designed as the photoanode in photoelectrochemical systems, by virtue of its anisotropic electronic properties. It can be facilely prepared in large scale via a hydrothermal method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses show that the orientation index of the (110) diffraction plane is 3.54, indicating the films possess (110) preferred orientation. Field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) images exhibit that most of the nanosheets stand nearly perpendicularly on the substrate. The {002} lattice planes work just like conducting wires and induce the electrons to transport to the substrate. Chronoamperometry measurement demonstrates an effective electron collection. When the nanostructured photoanode is introduced to dye-sensitized solar cells, a conversion efficiency of 3.7% is obtained. The photoanode also has potential application in the other photoelectrochemical systems, such as photocatalytical splitting of water.

Facile synthesis of tungsten carbide nanorods and its application as counter electrode in dye sensitized solar cells

“…These 1D nanorods facilitate rapid transport of photogenerated holes to the conducting glass through straight conduction pathway along the direction parallel to the axis of the nanorods that leads directly to the electron collecting electrode. The highest electrochemical activity for regeneration of the I À /I À 3 redox couple due to the 1D nanofeatures, provided good electron transport [32,33]. The current density-photovoltage (J-V) characteristics of the fabricated DSSC are shown in Fig.…”

Photovoltaic Performance of ZnO Nanosheets Solar Cell Sensitized with Beta-Substituted Porphyrin

“…This result clearly indicates an effective increase in the conversion efficiency of the cell by tuning the morphology of the ZnO nanostructures. The increase in the efficiency is attributed to the fast electron diffusion within the nanosheets, which is expected to enhance the J sc [19,33,41,42]. The efficiency of the ZnO NS based solid-state DSSC is low when compared with conventional ZnO NS based DSSCs [43].…”

Post-Annealing Effects on Properties of ZnO Nanorods Grown on Au Seed Layers

“…The release of volatile gas and surface reconstruction or evaporation of unreacted material such as zinc nitride during the annealing process is also discussed in the other studies. 21,22 The surface of ZnO nanorods grown by hydrothermal method was prone to absorb various kinds of functional groups. According to the chemical reaction in the solution, these functional groups should be related to the elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen.…”