Porous Zn-doped TiO2 nanowall photoanode: Effect of Zn2+ concentration on the dye-sensitized solar cell performance

We report the study of the utilization of a new synthesized-photoactive materials of Zn-doped TiO2 nanowall (ZTNW) in a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) and the study of the effect of Zn2+ concentration in the ZTNW on the DSSC performance. ZTNW was prepared directly on the ITO substrate using a liquid phase deposition (LPD) method in an aqueous solution containing TiO2 and Zn precursors. The effect of Zn2+ dopants on the performance of DSSC was studied by preparing the ZTNW with several concentrations of Zn2+, namely from 10.0 to 40.0 mM. It was found that the performance of DSSC with a structure of ITO/ZTNW/N719/Electrolyte/Pt increases with the increasing of Zn2+ concentration and optimum at 24.0 mM. Typical power conversion efficiency as high as 1.98% was obtained from the optimum ZTNW sample. The role of Zn2+ concentration in the device performance will be discussed and examined using electrochemical-impedance spectroscopy method. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.