Study of electrophoretic deposition of ZnO photoanodes on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs)

Abstract

Semiconductors, such as zinc oxide (ZnO), are used in different scientific fields, including energy. This study applied ZnO thin films on a photovoltaic cell, specifically a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). ZnO was used in solar cells due to its characteristics such as electronic mobility. Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) is an efficient method to deposit thin films since it can be done at room temperature and its parameters can be easily controlled. ZnO thin films were deposited on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass, changing the tension parameter, and used in a DSSC, with different dye immersion times, between 7 and 24 h, to observe time effects on cell efficiency. For lower tension, 30 and 40 V, 7 h improved the cell efficiency, and at 50 V, 24 h favored the current density and efficiency. The highest efficiency was for the photoanode EPD deposited at 50 V, for 24 h dye immersion, at about 2.68%, and photocurrent of 13.55 mA/cm².

Keywords:
zinc oxide; electrophoresis; DSSC; dye absorption; FTO glass