Mass Synthesis in Polyol of Tailored Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles for Photovoltaic Applications

Abstract

Zinc oxide nanoparticles with different sizes and shapes have been synthesized in polyol using a bottom-up approach. We have studied the scale-up of the process to massively produce high quality nanoparticles of controlled size and shape. The scale-up strategy required the effective mixing of reagents using either axial or radial mixing configurations and was experimentally validated by comparing structural properties of particles obtained in a small and a large size reactor. In addition, the flow patterns in these reactors have been calculated using three-dimen-sional turbulent computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. Our results indicate a strong connection between the flow patterns, as obtained by CFD simulations, and the size and shape of the particles. Actually, our pilot scale reactor allowed producing sample aliquots of ~50 grams with nanoparticle sizes ranging from 8 nm to 600 nm and aspect ratio varying from 1 (nanospheres) to 20 (nanorods). After their synthesis, these two nanoparticle classes have been tested as building blocks in D149-dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). The measured power conversion efficiency (PCE) was 4.66% for nanorods shaped particles and 4.21% for nanospheres. These values were significantly higher than the 3.90% PCE obtained with commercial Degussa VP20 ZnO nanoparticles.

Polyol Synthesis of Nanoparticles: A Decade of Advancements and Insights

“…Polyol synthesis is a widely used technique for synthesizing metal nanoparticles, particularly noble metals like gold, silver and platinum, as well as metal oxides and nanocomposites. It is known for its bottomup assembly technique with atomic precision and minimal defects, proves to be effective in creating nanostructures [12]. The type of nanoparticle formed depends on the choice of metal precursors, reaction conditions and stabilizing agents used during the synthesis process.…”

Polyol Modification of PEDOT: PSS as Hole Transport Material Affects the Performance and Stability of Calcium Titanate (CaTiO3) Solar Cell and UV Photodetector

“…Alternatively, ethylene glycol (EG) have been explored as dopant material for PEDOT:PSS that is able to increase conductivity [13,14]. Ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol (DEG) are both known as polyol material that plays a role in coordinating solvents, complexants, and surfactants which prevents agglomeration affecting electronic properties [15]. Nonetheless, the optimum doping condition of these EG and DEG modified PEDOT:PSS has not been reported.…”