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Synthesis of two-dimensional ZnO nanosheet-structures for the application in dye-sensitized solar cells

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Abstract

A large amount of nano-ZnO with a thin sheet-like morphology has been manufactured by a simple citric acid assisted hydrothermal route. The influences on the morphologies and structures of ZnO products for the introduction of citric acid in the reaction system have been investigated. A dye-sensitized solar cell assembled by the ZnO nanosheets as photoanode shows an efficiency of 1.82 % with a short-circuit current density of 7.48 mA cm−2 which is over 1.5 times higher than the one without adding citric acid during the synthetic process. This result is mainly connected to the unique superiority of the two-dimensional sheet-like ZnO nanostructures for light scattering and dye loading.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. JB-ZR1137).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Material Science and Engineering, Engineering Research Center of Environment-Friendly Functional Materials for Ministry of Education, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, People’s Republic of China

    Yongming Meng, Yu Lin & Yibing Lin

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  1. Yongming Meng
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  2. Yu Lin
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  3. Yibing Lin
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Correspondence to Yu Lin.

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Meng, Y., Lin, Y. & Lin, Y. Synthesis of two-dimensional ZnO nanosheet-structures for the application in dye-sensitized solar cells. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 24, 5117–5121 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-013-1532-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-013-1532-4

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