ZnO Dye Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract:
ZnO and TiO2 coated ZnO solar cells, dye sensitized with N3 dye, were studied and modeled.
The data collected from a source was analyzed and the PMAX, IMAX and VMAX were calculated.
When the data was analyzed using MATLAB, some inconsistencies were found as the theoretical
results did not agree with the experimental data downloaded from the source. This is because the
2

source never talked about the ideality factor. For ZnO, the ideality factor was found out to be 3,
1

while for TiO2 coated ZnO, the ideality factor was found out to be 2.
Introduction:
ZnO has been used in dye-sensitization process for a long time. The important reasons for
choosing ZnO for the dye sensitization process are that it has very good electron mobility, wide
band gap, and richest nanostructures. ZnO has a band gap of 3.37 eV (Shimizu). ZnO has the
incredible ability to keep the electron into its conduction band once it has been transferred from
an organic molecule.
Methodology:
There are many dyes that can be used for the dye-sensitization of ZnO; natural dyes like spinach,
small molecules like xanthene, organic dyes like rhodamine, ruthenium complex, indoline etc.
(Anta). My research is focused towards use of ruthenium complex as dye for the dyesensitization process of ZnO. The chemical formula for ruthenium complex is C26H16N6O8RuS2,
also commonly known as N3 dye.
The ZnO films are dipped in the N3 dye for sensitization process. The amount of time for which
they are dipped in the solution is very critical. If the ZnO is immersed into the dye solution for
very long time, the photocurrent of the solar cell decreases. This is because if the ZnO is
immersed in the dye for long, dissipation of Zn atoms starts to happen and Zn2+ ions are formed
which stop the electron transfer from dye to the conduction band. Also, if ZnO is not immersed
in the dye for long enough, the maximum amount of current that can be achieved from this
process is not achieved. The immersion time that results in a very good photocurrent for the dyesensitization of ZnO in the N3 dye is approximately 20 minutes (Zhang).
The dye is optically excited. After the excitation of the dye, an electron from the dye is injected
into the conduction band of the ZnO. The dye molecule, which has been now oxidized, gets an
electron from a redox reaction that surrounds the dye to get back to its ground state. So now we

have three layers: metal oxide, the dye and the electrolyte. Along with dye sensitized ZnO, other
materials coated on top of ZnO further increase the efficiency, fill factor etc. of the solar cell.
The coated materials can be TiO2, lithium etc.
Results:
When the ZnO is sensitized with N3 dye, the short circuit current ISC, open circuit voltage VOC,
maximum power PMAX, fill factor FF and the efficiency are given below (Zhang):
Sample
VOC (mV)
ISC (mA)
FF

ZnO
65.8
16.3
0.48
5.2%
Whereas, when the TiO2 coated ZnO is sensitized with the N3 dye, the short circuit current ISC,
open circuit voltage VOC, maximum power PMAX, fill factor FF and the efficiency are given
below (Zhang):
Sample
VOC (mV)
ISC (mA)
FF

TiO2 coated ZnO 70.9

15.8
0.56
6.3%
Using this data, and the equation given below (Streetman), the maximum power can be
calculated.
=

Which can be rearranged to get:

=
Using this equation, the maximum power can be calculated for both the cases. The
maximum power for the ZnO dye sensitized with N3 dye is given by:
= 0.48 16.3 65.8 = 0.51482
And for the TiO2 coated ZnO, the maximum power is given by:
= 0.56 15.8 70.9 = 0.62732
Using the calculated values of maximum power and the given data, the maximum current IMAX
and maximum voltage VMAX can be calculated. For this, the I-V product needs to be maximized
and it can be done in the following way (Streetman). We take the derivative of the power and set
it equal to zero. The current is given by:
= ( 1)

(1)

And the power is:

= = ( 1)
Differentiating this with respect to voltage and rearranging leads to expression:

(1 + ) = 1 +

Which can be rewritten as:

ln ( ) = ln ( )

(2)

As mentioned earlier, the current is given by:

= ( 1)
Where can be calculated as follows:

= (

1)

Using this value of , the equation (2) above can be solve graphically. For the ZnO solar cell,
dye sensitized with N3 dye, the maximum voltage can be calculate and it is given by:
= 47.83
Then, using the maximum power and the maximum voltage , maximum current
can be calculated and it is given by:
= 10.76
Similarly, the maximum current and the maximum voltage for the TiO2 coated ZnO solar, dye
sensitized with N3 dye, the maximum voltage and the maximum current can be
calculated and are given by:
= 52.68
= 11.91
These values of maximum voltage and the maximum current when multiplied, in
each case, should give the maximum power and in fact, this is ture and the relationship
holds.
Using these results, the I-V characteristics of the solar cell can be modeled for both ZnO and
TiO2 coated ZnO. It can be modeled using the equation (1) that shows the relationship between
the current and the voltage. But lets write the equation again, but this time with the inclusion of
the ideality factor n.
= ( 1)
The plot for the ZnO solar cell, dye sensitized with N3 dye, is shown below.

The asterisk is the point of maximum power and it does not lie on the curve. This curve
was plotted assuming that the ideality factor is = 1 as the source does not talk about the
ideality factor. To better fit the data with the curve, the ideality factor will need to be something
other than = 1. Using the curve fitting tool of MATLAB, it was found out that an ideality
2

factor of = 3 for the ZnO solar cell and = 2 for the TiO2 coated ZnO solar cell, the
maximum power point does lie on the curve. The plot in this case is shown below:

Now, the points of the maximum power in each case, indicated by an asterisk on the plot, lie
exactly on the curve and thus account for the correction in the data. Therefore, inclusion of
ideality factor is important here.
Conclusion:
Dye sensitization of the solar cell increases the fill factor, which results in higher efficiency of
the solar cell. Furthermore, adding a coat of other elements along with dye sensitization, like in
our case TiO2 coating, increases the efficiency even more. Dye sensitized solar cells are good
technology because they have higher solar conversion efficiency and they cost less. Because they
have richest nanostructures, the photons easily get absorbed. The dye only introduces electrons
and not any hole, which is why the product of maximum current and maximum voltage increases
and thus the efficiency increases.

References:
Anta, Juan A., Elena Guillen, and Ramon Tena-Zaera. "ZnO-Based Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells."
Research Gate. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Apr. 2012. Web. Oct. 2016.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263946464_ZnO-Based_DyeSensitized_Solar_Cells
Shimizu, Steven. "ZnO Bandgap." ZnO Bandgap. Mckittrick Group, 3 Apr. 2013. Web. 04 Dec.
2016.
http://maeresearch.ucsd.edu/mckittrick/index_files/Page945.htm
Streetman, Ben G., and Sanjay Banerjee. Solid State Electronic Devices. Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2006. Print.
T, Marimuthua, Anandhana N, Thangamuthub R, Mummoorthia M, and Ravic G. "Synthesis of
ZnO Nanowire Arrays on ZnOsingle BondTiO2 Mixed Oxide Seed Layer for Dye
Sensitized Solar Cell Applications." Journal of Alloys and Compounds (2016): 211-18.
Print.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925838816308398
Zhang, Qifeng, Kwangsuk Park, and Guozhong Cao. "Synthesis of ZnO Aggregates and Their
Application in Dye-sensitized Solar Cells." Sigma-Aldrich. Materials Science and
Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA, 2010. Web. 17 Oct.
2016.
http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/technical-documents/articles/material-matters/synthesis-ofzno-aggregates.html