Zinc oxide nanostructured material for dye sensitized solar cells

ZnO nanowires have been grown either by Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) or Chemical Bath Deposition (CBD). MOCVD allows to tune the wire diameter under a wider range whereas CBD gives rise to better oriented wires. Nanowires can be covered by CBD with Layered Hydroxide Zinc Acetate (LHZA), which is thermally decomposed into 20 nm ZnO particles to achieve nanowire-nanoparticle composite structure. Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC) performed with this type of composite structure are compared to nanowires or nanoparticles based DSSC. Composite cell is a compromise between high specific surface area provided by nanoparticles and direct conduction path thanks to nanowires. Measurement of I-V curves shows that using composite material can increase the short circuit current of the cell.