Structural, morphological, optical and compositional characterization of spray deposited Ga doped ZnO thin film for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell application

Zinc Oxide and Gallium doped Zinc Oxide films have been deposited by the Spray Pyrolysis method onto preheated glass substrates using Zinc acetate and Gallium (III) acetyl acetonate as precursors for Zn and Ga ions, respectively. The effect of ZnO and Ga doping on the structural, morphological, optical and chemical properties of sprayed ZnO and Gallium doped ZnO thin films were investigated. XRD studies reveal that the films are crystalline with hexagonal (wurtzite) crystal structure. The average transparency in the visible range was around 75% for the thin film deposited using Gallium doping. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) was utilized to view the changes in the oxidation state of ZnO and Gallium doped ZnO thin films. The ZnO and Gallium doped ZnO thin film has been deposited above the Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) coated glass substrate. The efficiency of the obtained DSSC measured for 0.1 M ZnO thin film by sensitizing for 12 h was, n = 2.5%. Similarly for Gallium doped Zinc Oxide, the efficiency n is found to be 3.9%, 4.1% and 4.3% for every increase in doping of Gallium concentrations which is utilized for the application of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.