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Intrinsic and Extrinsic Incorporation of Indium and Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes for Improved ZnO‐Based DSSCs
Author(s) -
Schol Peter R.,
Zhang WenShan,
Scharl Tobias,
Kunzmann Andreas,
Peukert Wolfgang,
Schröder Rasmus R.,
Guldi Dirk M.
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
advanced energy materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.08
H-Index - 220
eISSN - 1614-6840
pISSN - 1614-6832
DOI - 10.1002/aenm.202103662
Subject(s) - materials science , carbon nanotube , semiconductor , indium , optoelectronics , charge carrier , band gap , nanotechnology , conductivity , chemical engineering , engineering , chemistry
A common goal in renewable energy research is the production of semiconductor layers with matching additives to gain desirable effects and advantages. Important examples are adjustment of the band gap, enhancing the conductivity, tailoring roughness of the semiconductor, or reducing the recombination rate of charge carriers. In this work a twofold approach is demonstrated. First, the intrinsic incorporation of indium into zinc oxide tunes the band gap of the semiconductor layer of the DSSCs. Second, single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) as an extrinsic additive improves the charge transport capabilities. To better combine the SWCNTs with the semiconductor layer a protective ZnO shell is grown on the SWCNTs. A combination of current–voltage, incident photon to current efficiency, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopic assays corroborates the positive effects of both additives on the cell performance. The effective charge‐carrier diffusion lengths are enhanced from 0.52 µm for pure ZnO to 5.12 µm for low SWCNT concentrations and 15 mol% of indium. This, as well as the increase in collection efficiency from 30.3% to 62.3% enables enhanced transport in these novel devices. A final device utilizing 0.1 wt% SWCNT@ZnO 20nm and In 15 Zn 85 O yields a current density of 16.49 mA cm −2 and an efficiency of 4.46%.