Influence of pH on the DSSC Performance of Template Assisted SnO2 Nanostructures

Abstract

This paper reports the performance of alizarin based SnO2 dye-sensitized solar cells. A novel template assisted method has been applied for the preparation of tin oxide nanoparticles. For the first time, onion (Allium cepa) was used as a template for the synthesis of tin oxide nanostructures at different pH values. Tin oxide nanostructures were used for the photoanode preparation. A sandwich cell was prepared by using the dye soaked SnO2 film as a photoanode and platinum as a counter electrode. The structural, morphological and optical properties of the nanoparticles were studied using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron microscope (SEM), Photoluminescence (PL), Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) spectra and UV-visible spectroscopic techniques. Current-voltage (I-V) characteristics have been measured using electrochemical workstation under the presence of solar illumination. Characteristic parameters of the fabricated cell were determined on the basis of the measured I-V curves.