Effects of oxide nanoparticle size and shape on electronic structure, charge transport, and recombination in dye-sensitized solar cell photoelectrodes

M. Hosni, Y. Kusumawati, S. Farhat, N. Jouini, Th Pauporté*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

49 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Forced hydrolysis in polyol medium is a versatile synthesis method for the preparation of metal oxide particles with controlled properties. We investigated the D149-dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) performance of ZnO film electrodes prepared with four different types of nanoparticles having various sizes and morphologies. The photoanode dye loading has been determined, and the cells have been studied by impedance spectroscopy (IS) at various applied voltages. From the analysis of the IS spectra, the key functioning parameters of the various photoelectrodes such as trap-state distribution, electron-transfer time, and electron lifetime have been determined. The particle shape and size deeply influence the dye loading and the electronic structures of the trap-state levels localized below the conduction band minimum. Low open circuit voltage and fill factor are found in the case of small (8 nm) spherical particles because of very deep energy states related to large particle necking and high density of grain boundaries. On the other hand, layers made of sintered large hexagonal rodlike particles (35 nm in diameter) of high crystalline quality show satisfying dye loading, shallower energy trap states, higher conductivity, and very high charge-collection efficiency.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)16791-16798
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Physical Chemistry C
Volume118
Issue number30
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 Jul 2014
Externally publishedYes

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