Effect of ZnO films immersion duration in N719 dye on energy conversion efficiency of DSSCs

Abstract

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015. In this research, ZnO films composed of porous spherical nanoparticles were prepared by a sol-gel method and used to fabricate dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). ZnO films with different thicknesses and different lengths of immersion duration the films in N719 dye were used for solar energy conversion. Among them, the DSSC of ZnO film 5.6-6.2 μm thick immersed in N719 dye for 30 min has the highest performance efficiency. Inappropriate duration for soaking ZnO films in the dye can cause lower efficiency of the DSSCs caused by dye loading, detachment of ZnO films, reduction in number of free electrons, promotion of the recombination process, and transformation of porous films into denser ones.