Premium
Sonochemical Preparation of Hierarchical ZnO Hollow Spheres for Efficient Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells
Author(s) -
He ChunXiu,
Lei BingXin,
Wang YuFen,
Su ChengYong,
Fang YuePing,
Kuang DaiBin
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.201000264
Subject(s) - ostwald ripening , materials science , spheres , dye sensitized solar cell , energy conversion efficiency , nanoparticle , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , photovoltaic system , solar cell , open circuit voltage , optoelectronics , voltage , electrode , chemistry , electrolyte , ecology , physics , quantum mechanics , astronomy , engineering , biology
Abstract Hierarchical ZnO hollow spheres (400–500 nm in diameter) consisting of ZnO nanoparticles with a diameter of approximately 15 nm have been successfully prepared by a facile and rapid sonochemical process. The formation of hierarchical ZnO hollow spheres is attributed to the oriented attachment and subsequent Ostwald ripening process according to time‐dependent experiments. The as‐prepared ZnO hollow spheres are used as a photoanode in dye‐sensitized solar cells and exhibit a highly efficient power conversion efficiency of 4.33 %, with a short‐circuit current density of 9.56 mA cm −2 , an open‐circuit voltage of 730 mV, and a fill factor of 0.62 under AM 1.5 G one sun (100 mW cm −2 ) illumination. Moreover, the photovoltaic performance (4.33 %) using the hierarchical ZnO hollow spheres is 38.8 % better than that of a ZnO nanoparticle photoelectrode (3.12 %), which is mainly attributed to the efficient light scattering for the former.